Andy’s 1995 CCLB 7.4L TBI to Vortec Swap

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andy396

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There is a Maximum torque vs gear and on all gears in 2wd and 4wd hi it is at 1500. Nothing about % Max Torque

Brake torque limit idle and normal are all 4096.

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Supercharged111

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I can dig it up in EFILive, but it's not any of the things you mentioned. Do those values have alphanumeric titles?
 

andy396

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It seems I can’t catch a break.

Mileage since rebuild: ~1500mi

It has developed a whining sound. It’s only present in drive and reverse. It goes away in park and neutral. This to me indicates a torque converter problem. I thought I was being proactive by replacing the original torque converter with a remanufactured unit. My main motivation for doing so was the fact that it was a known issue that 2000 4L80e’s suffered early bearing failure due to a poorly design bearing they used. Maybe it was a good plan, but a poor execution on my part.

I bought a “Pro-King” brand which lives under the Transtar Holding product family. It’s sold by NAPA, Advanced Auto Parts and the like.

Needless to say, here’s my current state:

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I took the converter to a local trans shop and they cut it open for me. The first thing to notice was how some of the vanes looked to have been crudely hammered on. Digging a little further and low and behold we found this:

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The thrust bearing that rides between the impeller hub and stator was spalling.

Further investigation found that the surface it runs agains wasn’t even true!

But wait, there’s more. Check out the stator:

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Not sure how that even happens. Obviously this was an extremely poor “remanufacture”. Needless to say, I ditched it and bought one that was rebuilt by them.

I also decided to have them go over the valve body and pump for me after we talked through some of the stalling issues I was experiencing. They put in a new AFL (actuator feed limit) valve in the VB and a lube to line valve in the pump. Replacing the parts is certainly something I could have done myself but I don’t have the vacuum gauge to check all the clearances properly. At this point theirs something to be said about having more experienced eyes and all the right tools check things out. With these new parts I’m very confident my stalling issues will be resolved.

I’m still on the fence about if I want to keep the dual feed on the direct clutch. I’ve noticed some odd 3-2 downshifts that, I’m not sure, but might be caused by the dual feed mod. But it also could have been the torque converter or worn valves. So I don’t know...
 

andy396

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Any update? Enjoyed following your thread.

So I finally got some down time over the holiday to get back out in the garage and finish putting things back together. I ended up inspecting the whole transmission again just for good measure. I put fresh new frictions, again, in the direct clutch to try to reduce some of the clearance. I also eliminated the dual feed. I know many swear by it, but I’m not running a heavily modded engine or anything so from the advice of the guy at the trans shop, I think I’ll be just fine without it considering all the other Sonnax fixes that are in there now. Everything else inside the trans looked good so I buttoned it back up.

I also installed a new left bank cat to replace the one that I previously welded in but was rattling and driving me crazy. This time I used a cut off wheel to cut off the steel ends that come on the cat instead of a sawsall. I think all the vibrations from the sawsall is what shook the old one loose. I cut off the steel ends that come from the manufacture because that’s a stupid design. The steel quickly rusts, flakes and particulates apart and just plugs up the cat. All the tubing before a cat has to be stainless steel.

Final task was to try to eliminate a slight oil leak coming from the valve covers. It seemed to be just leaking around the gaskets, so I added some rtv this time.

After taking it on a test drive yesterday, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the difference in transmission performance. It’s much more smooth and well behaved! I didn’t push it too hard yet, but felt way better. The idle down when coming to a stop is perfect, just as is should be. Hopefully this is the last major issue for a while and I can get back to playing with the tune.
 
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andy396

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Finished out 2019 by replacing a recently very leaky rear axle pinion gear seal.

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Wow was that pinion nut tight! (or I’m just weak). I had to use a 4ft pipe on the end of the socket wrench to get it to break free. It took just as much to put it back so I guess there really is that much preload on the bearing.

I also treated myself to a luxury. The family got me a new sound system for the truck for my Christmas present.

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A Kenwood KMM-BT525HD. It’s got all the nice modern conveniences like blue tooth handsfree calling and a HD tuner. I know it’s no double din, but sure was a heck of a lot easier to install! Also got new Infinity 4x6’s to replace the rear speakers. Yet to be installed is an amp and a subwoofer. I have to make a box for it to fit under the seat how I want it to.

Happy New Year!
 

98chevy2500SS

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Kenwoods are good stereos! I have Kenwood's in both of my trucks, definitely worth the money imo. It's a shame that every car stereo went to the 13-band EQ after 2015 or 16, I'm thankful that my 98 still has the 3-band EQ stereo, which is easier to mess with, especially since I have a sub in it.

<rant> I hate how they are reducing the amount of stereos with a CD player. Not all of us want to move away from CDs, I still like to play them every now and again. </end rant>
 
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