When installing the sonnax valve and tricummulator springs, will I have to pull the valve body or is there enough room to change them with the valve body in place?

 

Pull the valve body. With the parts being slippery with oil and the close quarters that you have to work in to remove the valve and springs, you will want to have the valve body on your bench. You can probably do the job without removing the body but it is soooooooo much easier when you can see what you are doing.

 

Thanks. I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow.

 

rirwin,

It really wasn't that hard of a job. If you have time to let the oil drain out of the tranny, it isn't too messy either. Actually the hardest part of the whole job was getting one of the plugs out of the body to change a spring. Or was it to change the valve? Been too long ago to remember which. But it took a little effort to get a plug out of a chamber which seemed to have a ring on the "cylinder" wall. Wasn't that bad but took a little time. I was very apprehensive about the whole thing but my college senior son didn't seem to have the same inhibitions. He did most of the wrenching and changing. I just helped when he needed some "expert" advice. It's really no different than working on hydraulic valves on tractors except it's aluminum instead of cast iron. Remember that. The body and valve are delicate. No nicks or scratches. We did torque the body back to the transmission carefully using a step-up in torque and a tightening pattern. Don't remember if that was with the kit info or not.

One thing to remember, KEEP IT CLEAN! You definitely don't want a speck of dirt to cause problems when you have the job done and are expecting good results.

Good luck, rirwin, and enjoy the fun of firm shifts.

 

does the valve body control the shift points or juts raise fluid pressure? ive got a trans command but it only raised fluid pressure, id like to change shift points what do i do

 

cowboy49,

This mod just raised fluid pressure to make the shifts firmer. Didn't seem to change shift point. To change shift points you would have to have Ford or someone reprogram the computer or get a chip that also controls the transmission. I have heard that they are available. Not much help for ya but others with more experience with chips can offer advice.

 

Can anyone tell me where to get the aftermarket sonnax valve and springs? Cant find them @motorhaven or anywhere else. Any idea how much the Ford stealer ship might charge me to put them in?

 

I got mine at blackclouddiesel.com. 50 bucks shipped.