Calling auto trans gurus! Vibration in low speed 'lock up'

[vombil]

Gday guys

this problem seems to haunt me with every car I buy. V6.
whenever they go into 'lock up' at 70-80kmph , there is a droning and vibration where they feel as though they are really labouring until the speed gets higher ie 90kms

the really poor ones ive had hit lock up at 70kmph. I have one atm that gets to 80 and locks up and then it feels really doughy until 90 or so.

bloke I spoke to today said its the lock up clutch in convertor. I later found out he's hooked on meth so not sure if it's a solid lead lols

thanks guys

 

[Ginger Beer]

When was the transmission last serviced?

 

[krusing]

As Above ^^^^
I was going to say the same thing,

As Auto's get forgotten about all the time.

They are very easy to service yourself.

PS: Meth and Advice dont mix to well !

 

[J_D 2.0]

Gday guys

this problem seems to haunt me with every car I buy. V6.
whenever they go into 'lock up' at 70-80kmph , there is a droning and vibration where they feel as though they are really labouring until the speed gets higher ie 90kms

the really poor ones ive had hit lock up at 70kmph. I have one atm that gets to 80 and locks up and then it feels really doughy until 90 or so.

bloke I spoke to today said its the lock up clutch in convertor. I later found out he's hooked on meth so not sure if it's a solid lead lols

thanks guys

Eventually the clutch wears out on the torque converter and then it starts slipping and swarfing metal shards into the transmission fluid. I’m pretty sure that’s what killed my old SV6 as there was plenty of metal in the oil when I dropped the pan.

If I had known what was happening at the time and changed out the torque converter it’s possible that I might have got more miles out of it as the transmission itself was running fine, until it wasn’t. It’s perceived like a light shudder or misfire when going up a slight slope at the TC lockup speed (70kph for the VE).

 

[Immortality]

Depending on the type of transmission the TCC solenoid valve wears out because it's pulse width operated to give a smooth seemless engagement which let's the valve leak and allows the TCC to slip.

On the 4l60e I tune it out or make the lockup very aggressive and this helps prolong the life of the TCC. Feels like you engage another gear when it's applied.

 

[vombil]

Depending on the type of transmission the TCC solenoid valve wears out because it's pulse width operated to give a smooth seemless engagement which let's the valve leak and allows the TCC to slip.

On the 4l60e I tune it out or make the lockup very aggressive and this helps prolong the life of the TCC. Feels like you engage another gear when it's applied.

thanks for the reply. yeah ive heard of it being tuned out. does this require the Kalmaker angle or ? its a 99 VS ute.

 

[vombil]

As Above ^^^^
I was going to say the same thing,

As Auto's get forgotten about all the time.

They are very easy to service yourself.

PS: Meth and Advice dont mix to well !

I've tried a service at least 6 times on past vehicles with same issue and it never improves mate

 

[vombil]

Eventually the clutch wears out on the torque converter and then it starts slipping and swarfing metal shards into the transmission fluid. I’m pretty sure that’s what killed my old SV6 as there was plenty of metal in the oil when I dropped the pan.

If I had known what was happening at the time and changed out the torque converter it’s possible that I might have got more miles out of it as the transmission itself was running fine, until it wasn’t. It’s perceived like a light shudder or misfire when going up a slight slope at the TC lockup speed (70kph for the VE).

i not long ago bought a ute from a deceased estate. a mechanic (deceased) owned it for many years. without doubt it had the filthiest trans pan i've ever seen and a full set of cut springs to match!

 

[Immortality]

thanks for the reply. yeah ive heard of it being tuned out. does this require the Kalmaker angle or ? its a 99 VS ute.

Someone who does memcal tunes should be able to do it, you just increase the %age of the PWM for the converter lockup tables.

IIRC from factory the PWM starts at about 20% which lets the converter slip into lockup without the vehicle occupants feeling it. I up those to about 80%.

There is an alternate option where you fit a small clip to the valve on the valve body in the transmission and this just locks out the PWM solenoid so when it applies it gets the full 100% like they did with the early 4l60e's (think back to early VR models).

 

[vombil]

Someone who does memcal tunes should be able to do it, you just increase the %age of the PWM for the converter lockup tables.

IIRC from factory the PWM starts at about 20% which lets the converter slip into lockup without the vehicle occupants feeling it. I up those to about 80%.

There is an alternate option where you fit a small clip to the valve on the valve body in the transmission and this just locks out the PWM solenoid so when it applies it gets the full 100% like they did with the early 4l60e's (think back to early VR models).

found a bloke but its a $500 exercise! somthing about buying software rights ?? anyways, the car is worth 6k so 10% of its value won't be recovered in a gearbox tune. Purchaser will just need to live with all 24 years worth of wear n tear thanks for the knowledge dude