I'm at a decision point. Do I rebuild my 700R4, or do I swap in the NV3500? No, I don't need a 4L80 or NV4500 - I'm easy on transmissions.
When I first started driving the truck, I had the TV cable a bit loose. It would hang, then hammer into second gear, and it would shift up to third almost immediately. I changed the transmission filter, cleaned the pan, and the fluid looked and smelled good. I topped the fluid off, tweaked the TV cable bracket, and tightened the adjustment a bit. It shifts beautifully, but freewheels when I give it more than 1/2 throttle. I drained a bit of fluid the other day so I could put in some Type F, and it came out black. I stopped there.
And now I'm paralyzed with indecision.
At this point I don't think adding two quarts of Type F will crutch the current transmission. A week ago I bought a spare 700R4 so I could rebuild it while limping the current transmission, but now I'm thinking I should swap in the spare and rebuild my original transmission.
The original transmission had a stock-looking torque converter and no signs of a rebuild. The truck has about 130k on it.
The junkyard truck I pulled the spare from had over 200k and an aftermarket torque converter. I'm pretty sure someone's been in it. It also had a hole punched in the pan and the truck had no body damage, so I figure there's about a 70% chance the transmission is why it was in the yard.
Either way, I'll need to rebuild a transmission. I'm looking at about $400 in parts - a $40 rebuild kit, a $70 high-energy friction pack, $240 worth of Sonnax upgrade parts, and a $40 for oil pressure and vacuum switches to eliminate the computer control of the torque converter clutch - I'm already running a Holley Sniper, so I could ditch the entire ECU and wiring.
My other option is to do the NV3500 swap I've been considering. I have everything except the shift boot. No TV cable to adjust, no more money to spend, I can still ditch the ECU, and I prefer manual transmissions anyways. However, I'm not a fan of having a manual when I have to hook up my trailer. That said, I'll probably only be using the trailer about once a month.
Finally, I don't have an open spot in the shop right now. As soon as I got the truck running I pulled it out and put a Beetle TDI in. The leaky turbocharger is out and I just spend $290 on RockAuto for that little pig. Hopefully I can turn it pretty quick and release some funds.
Answering Dubs' input (Thanks!), I very rarely see stop-and-go traffic.
I posted this question on my build thread, but I figured if I made it a poll and posted it here I might actually get some ideas. What would you do?
When I first started driving the truck, I had the TV cable a bit loose. It would hang, then hammer into second gear, and it would shift up to third almost immediately. I changed the transmission filter, cleaned the pan, and the fluid looked and smelled good. I topped the fluid off, tweaked the TV cable bracket, and tightened the adjustment a bit. It shifts beautifully, but freewheels when I give it more than 1/2 throttle. I drained a bit of fluid the other day so I could put in some Type F, and it came out black. I stopped there.
And now I'm paralyzed with indecision.
At this point I don't think adding two quarts of Type F will crutch the current transmission. A week ago I bought a spare 700R4 so I could rebuild it while limping the current transmission, but now I'm thinking I should swap in the spare and rebuild my original transmission.
The original transmission had a stock-looking torque converter and no signs of a rebuild. The truck has about 130k on it.
The junkyard truck I pulled the spare from had over 200k and an aftermarket torque converter. I'm pretty sure someone's been in it. It also had a hole punched in the pan and the truck had no body damage, so I figure there's about a 70% chance the transmission is why it was in the yard.
Either way, I'll need to rebuild a transmission. I'm looking at about $400 in parts - a $40 rebuild kit, a $70 high-energy friction pack, $240 worth of Sonnax upgrade parts, and a $40 for oil pressure and vacuum switches to eliminate the computer control of the torque converter clutch - I'm already running a Holley Sniper, so I could ditch the entire ECU and wiring.
My other option is to do the NV3500 swap I've been considering. I have everything except the shift boot. No TV cable to adjust, no more money to spend, I can still ditch the ECU, and I prefer manual transmissions anyways. However, I'm not a fan of having a manual when I have to hook up my trailer. That said, I'll probably only be using the trailer about once a month.
Finally, I don't have an open spot in the shop right now. As soon as I got the truck running I pulled it out and put a Beetle TDI in. The leaky turbocharger is out and I just spend $290 on RockAuto for that little pig. Hopefully I can turn it pretty quick and release some funds.
Answering Dubs' input (Thanks!), I very rarely see stop-and-go traffic.
I posted this question on my build thread, but I figured if I made it a poll and posted it here I might actually get some ideas. What would you do?
