Brand new TCI Streetfighter, brand new 390. Got everything installed and hooked up and everything seemed to be working properly. The transmission shifted hard, fast and firm just like I expected it to. Its got maybe 40-50 miles on it total. Today I went for a drive and I noticed that the transmission was acting weird, not instantly downshifting when i shifted it manually, and 'slipping' ....when I came to a stop it would act as if it was in Neutral and would only engage after revving the engine. Made it back home and none of the gears will engage unless I rev the engine to 2500 or so, which makes it lurch forward (or back) and chirp the tires, very unsafe and not good on parts obviously.

Is there anything I should do besides ship it back to TCI? The transmission worked perfectly the first 20-30 miles and today it started acting up. I need this truck running I am sick of working on it. Why would it work fine for a few miles then all of a sudden start acting up????

The fluid is bright red and doesnt smell burnt, and it is actually reading a little bit high on the dipstick.

 

You did flush the tranny cooler lines and tranny cooler before installation, right?

'Sounds like the trans has a piece of trash blocking one of the circuits.
I'd try first to have it pressure flushed and see how it goes. If that doesn't fix it, then I'd pull it and send it back to TCI.

 

I installed brand new stainless lines and a brand new cooler. I blew the lines and cooler out with air, didnt seem to have any obstructions.

How do I go about pressure flushing the transmission???

 

Ya'd have to deliver it to a tranny shop to have it done.

 

The circuits that could be clogged causing my problem, are they in the valve body? Can I just drop the valve body and clean/replace it? At this point I would rather buy a new valve body then pull the transmission. (again)

 

It's worth a shot.

 

Pardon the ignorance, I really dont have a very good mental picture of how the c6 works internally. These 'circuits' that could be blocked from debris, are they in the valve body? Or are there other circuits beyond the valve body that could be clogged?

 

Most of the hydraulic circuitry is in the valve body but it connects to circuits to direct fluid pressure from the pump to the actuating pistons, planetaries, and clutches which are controlled by the modulators and linkage.

Have you called TCI for help? I mean, I recall they come with one-year of three-year warranties.

 

I sent TCI an email. They are closed for the day so I will call them in the morning.

I was needing to use the truck this weekend but looks like that isnt going to happen. I guess I could go ahead and drain it and drop the pan/valvebody and see if I can see any foreign objects blocking anything.

 

I drained the fluid from the pan/converter, it looks/smells great. Dropped the pan and everything looks very clean/normal to my untrained eyes.

Should I replace the valve body? Is it even possible that my symptoms could be eliminated by replacing the valve body?

It makes sense to me that a piece of debris could have been trapped somewhere. But could that really be causing these symptoms?? I don't think anything is physically broken in the transmission, it was running great but now wont go in gear at all unless I really rev the engine.

The only other option that I know of is to take the transmission out, ship it to TCI in Mississippi, (I'm in Missouri) and hope they warranty it. I would rather spend the $200 out of pocket to replace the valve body if that will fix it, as opposed to r&r the transmission and deal with shipping it to Mississippi.

 

what is TCI telling you to do?

i'd get ahold of them ASAP and follow their recommendations, otherwise they may not honor their warranty.

one of those things, if you want a company to stand behind their product for you, you gotta play by their rules, no matter how inconvinient.

 

I agree with meborder,

You get too far into it and you will not have a warranty at all.

 

did you reuse the converter, or replace it at the same time as the transmission?

 

Deep Roots is picking up on what I was thinking too. It almost sounds like a torque converter issue if it engages at higher rpm now than the other day. Is it possible that it is screwed up and the tranny is fine? Still needs to come apart to fix but my money is on the torque converter rather than the tranny being at fault.

 

wouldn't a bad pump do the same things?

possible that the TC was not engaged to the pump correctly and fragged the pump? Wouldn't be the first time that has happend.

if it's my truck, i'm on the phone with TCI *today* to get the process started. any and all attempts to fix by yourself should be approved in writing (e-mail would work) by TCI to ensure that the warranty is valid..... Companies don't have to look too far anymore to void warranties, even good companies like TCI.