Trans in, but have a question?

[steves66]

I finally got my trans back from the shop from having it rebuilt with a bunch of performance parts. They also put a Cheetah automatic valve body in. My questions are when I take off from a stop at about 1/2 throttle the trans shifts alright from 1 to 2, but from 2 to Drive it will rev up as it is making the shift, almost like it is slipping into Drive. Taking off normal it is not that noticable. Question 2, the trans don't shift as hard as I thought it would. I have read that the Cheetah valve bodies will give a good hard shift, but this one don't. Should I give these issues some break-in time before I start worrying with them or could there be something wrong right out of the bag? Hensley's Mopar performance shop done the rebuild for me and they have a high reputation, but I am still kinda gun shy from the first rebuild from an unknown shop.  

[dodge freak]

The shop might have set it up to shift a little softer. Not sure which valve body you have-the full manual is for racing but it can be soften up to work on the street. Did you check the kickdown ajd. on the side of the trans. You back the big nut way off and turn the ajd. screw in till tight , then back it off about 2 1/4 turns. Try that, if its not how you like it, drive the car over there and have them make it shift harder.

[firefighter3931]

Steve, is this a full manual VB or a manual/automatic VB ? It sounds like a band adjustmaent might be needed to firm up the 2-3 upshift....


Ron

[steves66]

Ron, its a manual/automatic VB. He mentioned adjusting the bands at about 500 miles after they get seated in. Like I have said before, transmissions are not my strong point at all. I didn't know that you could adjust the bands for 2-3 up shifts.

[Plumcrazy]

I didn't know that you could adjust the bands for 2-3 up shifts.

You can't.   The rear band is applied for reverse and manual low.   The front band is applied for second gear.  It is released for third gear.

[dodge freak]

Yes but if the kickdown band is not adj. right it can cause third gear to slip at first. Its easy to adj. it, the pan does not come off. Its on the drivers side, he should ask his trans guy if he does not know how. You should get a trans book, it still might not help but you have a better idea what people are talking about.

[firefighter3931]

I didn't know that you could adjust the bands for 2-3 up shifts.

You can't.   The rear band is applied for reverse and manual low.   The front band is applied for second gear.  It is released for third gear.

So how do you firm up the 2-3 upshift then ? Perhaps increasing the line pressure ? I've used the full manual valvebodies forever and the shifts are allways firm.


Ron

[dodge freak]

That works too, there is other ways but my trans guy won't say how. It comes from the factory with a hard shift, his trans guy might have tamed it down for the street. If somebody knows please let us all in on it.

[John_Kunkel]

Although kickdown band adjustment can affect the 2-3 shift I wouldn't expect to see that on a fresh transmission.

Is the throttle pressure linkage hooked up and properly adjusted? If the linkage is missing or misadjusted the line pressure can be too low and it will affect the shift quality.

[steves66]

The linkage is hooked up, but I am not 100% sure how good it is adjusted. I will check that.

[firefighter3931]

Although kickdown band adjustment can affect the 2-3 shift I wouldn't expect to see that on a fresh transmission.

That's what i was alluding to in my previous post. Whether the band is loose or the line pressure is inadequate due to improperly adjusted KD linkage, the result will usually be the same....soft 2-3 upshifts. Steve, are you still using the factory linkage or a kickdown cable setup ?

Ron

[steves66]

Ron, I am still using the factory linkage. The shop also told me to use type F fluid because it is a better fluid than Dexron and since I have a 2-1/2 qt bigger pan I shouldn't fill it all the way to the full mark. He said he never fills his race cars up to the full mark. He keeps them right at the add mark with the bigger pan. Hopefully I can play around with the linkage and get this beast shifting right. Any tips?

[firefighter3931]

Hi Steve, the KD linkage should be fully extended when the throttle is wide open. I adjusted them with the pedal to the floor and removed all the slack with the threaded rod. Hope that makes sense 


Ron

[Plumcrazy]

When you adjust the linkage make sure that the linkage moves as soon as you begin to open the throttle.  You don't want any lost motion.

[firefighter3931]

When you adjust the linkage make sure that the linkage moves as soon as you begin to open the throttle.  You don't want any lost motion.

There is a second spring that often is overlooked that keeps the KD linkage snug to the throttle rod. Look at the pic : #5 is the spring i'm referring to.


Ron

[RD]

Ron,
  you mean #13 dontcha?

Jamey

[firefighter3931]

Ron,
  you mean #13 dontcha?

Jamey

Yep, thanks for the correction buddy 


Ron

[steves66]

Thanks for the tips fellas. Hope this is my problem.

[steves66]

Well I adjusted the linkage and it still does the same thing, you can here the enging reving up between 2 and 3 as its making the shift. I called the shop and he told me to adjust the band. His instructions were to loosen the lock nut and turn the adjusting screw in snug and then back it out 1-1/2 turns. I did that and still, same thing. I called him back and he told me to drive it and let it do some shifting both automatic and manual since I have only maybe 5-10 miles since the rebuild. He said it could be something as simple as something lodged in the valve body, and if that didn't work I could pull the VB off and bring it to him and he could take it apart to look at it. Then if that wasn't it, yep you guessed it, THE TRANS WOULD YET AGAIN HAVE TO COME BACK OUT. If my luck gets any better I might go out and buy a lottery ticket. S.O.B.

[TylerCharger69]

could you post a pic of the locknut and screw he told you to turn?

[dodge freak]

That has to be the kick band screw on the drivers side. 1 1/2 seems kind of tight, I adjust mine 2 - 2 1/4 turns out, factory calls for 2 1/2. Thats a pain-make that a mess to drop the valve body out. Why don't you just drive the car up to the shop ? A good shop would stand behind their work. Its not like you drove it for a few months or weeks and then it broke, they messed up. Maybe it is just a piece of dirt but still its who ever assmb. it fault, even if some dirt fell in as you put it in the car the filter would have caught it. Some people

[TylerCharger69]

That's a good point.....if it's wrong...then they should be the ones to do the fix....not the customer.

[steves66]

That has to be the kick band screw on the drivers side. 1 1/2 seems kind of tight, I adjust mine 2 - 2 1/4 turns out, factory calls for 2 1/2. Thats a pain-make that a mess to drop the valve body out. Why don't you just drive the car up to the shop ? A good shop would stand behind their work. Its not like you drove it for a few months or weeks and then it broke, they messed up. Maybe it is just a piece of dirt but still its who ever assmb. it fault, even if some dirt fell in as you put it in the car the filter would have caught it. Some people

It is the kickdown band adjutment on the drivers side I adjusted. Your right, if driving the car doesn't clear it up then the shop needs to deal with it. The trans has a 90 day warranty on it.

[firefighter3931]

Sorry to hear about this problem Steve. Lets hope a little drive time helps to make things right. On a related note, a buddy had his rebuilt and it was shifting wierd at the beginning then all of a sudden it was "right". Time for a mini road trip to loosen the Bandit up. 

Ron

[steves66]

Last night I drove it just like I was told, his exact words were, "Go out and stretch it out, let it do a bunch of high rpm shifts as well as you do a bunch of manual shifting", so I did just that. Seemed to me that it did get a lot better. One thing I did notice that when the rpms were up around 5000 on the 2-3 shifts it slammed right into 3 with no hesitation and even barked the tires, but on normal cruising the engine would rev a little between the 2-3 shifts. 1-2 shifts hard all the time especially when hammering down! Hopefully this thing will work itself out like your buddies did.
Another thing, I am not used to driving a performance "automatic" car with a high stall converter. All my experience has been with manual. So I really don't know the characteristics of a high stall converter.