Hello Everyone - I really like this site, it's been very helpful. I need help! I installed a wicked wheel tonite and now the tranny seems to hold the shifts a lot longer and shifts very slopppy. Truck is an 01 - Mods are Air Force One Intake, Superchips 1705 & Magna flow exh & gages. Before the w/w it shifted great. I'm hoping I am missing the obvious. I used Jonny's install method from BCD. It worked good btw. Thanks John!

 

Dugyii, welcome to FTE!


you need the Sonnax Valve and Tricumulator springs, found at www.blackclouddiesel.com. it firms up the transmission shifts and adds line pressure by a valve with tighter clearances. no more unpredicted shifts. about $50. easy install.

 

Welcome to the forum dugyii
Johnny8 did a great writeup.
I can't think of anything that would affect shift points simply by changing the intake wheel.
Strokin's suggestion is valid. Those automatics really need that extra help.

 

Did you unplug the batteries for any reason? According to my book the Transmission needs 10 warm up cycles to "learn" how to shift properly. My truck is an 01 as well and you can tell for several days if I have unplugged the batteries. Just a thought...
Sonnax Valve/Springs all the way.

 

Well I reprogrammed it back to stock and it seemed fine. When I put the tow-safe mode back in, it started shifting really bad again. This is frustrating because I did nothing to affect the trans. I did not unplug the batteries. The only thing I can think of is the green line in the intake tube. Whats that for? Is that a vacuum sensor line for the trans or is that for the heater/ac controls? BTW it runs great! The sound from the wheel is cool. But I don't want to spend more money on the trans when it did'nt have this problem in the first place. Like I said above it was perfect before. I'm thinking the different pressure in the inlet tube has something to do with it. Any ideas?

 

Changing the tuner program has the same effect on the PCM as diconnecting the batts.

Try taking it out and really pouring the coals to it for 30 miles or so....drive it aggressively. that should tell you if it's relearning the shift stragety or if the problem is in the tuner.

You might also try one of the other programs.

 

I'm working on that right now. Does anyone out there have a wicked wheel installed and using the superchips 1705 at the same time? If so which one was done first and how did it affect the other?

 

the only effect the tuner would have on the wheel is more whistle and more boost, the tuner adds fuel, which equals more drive pressure, which equals boost. they do not affect each other to the point it would change the transmission.

 

no problem bro..! i'm glad my little write helped you out..! as for your tranny... the ww shouldn't make any difference... i will tell you and don't think i could stand the way my tranny shifted when it was stock again now that i know how well it shifts with the sonnax mod... i used the "hard" shift firmness option in my predator tuner, but the sonnax works better than that... i will say that the added power that my tuner gave my truck really did overwhelm my tranny, without the "hard" shift setting i really noticed the "slippage" as my tranny tried to get to the next gear with all the extra torque running through it... i got the sonnax put in and bingo... all that extra power gets put right on the ground..!

 

speaking of all that extra power that the tuner makes, i had to drive my truck on the stock setting today. i was one day late on my emissions (i was exempt, just had to take it in there so show them its a diesel) and i put the attitude on setting 0, (stock). i then tied the monitor up under my dash, near the brake pedal. then i hid the mount. when i was driving there, i noted how much more throttle position i would need to get up a hill, where i would barely tap it with the edge. i love this thing, the stock truck is a DOG!

 

well... truth is the stock setting has lots of power... but the tunes add sooooo much more...! beware the dark side..!

 

Ok guys, thanks for all the advice. I guess I need to invest the mere 50 bucks and get what I need - the Sonnax Valve and Tricumulator springs. Will post again when I have the parts installed (or need help installing). Either way Thanks again!