TA 413 Cam

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by Yardley, Oct 17, 2010.

  1. Yardley

    Yardley Club Jackass

    Regardless, in no way was I going to open up a trans and start messing around in there. I know nothing about transmissions and wouldn't even think about it.

    "It was a great copulation."
     
  2. Yardley

    Yardley Club Jackass

    Update
    I called TCI and here is the conversation we had:

    TCI: It looks like your transmission will be shipping back to you next week.
    Me: Did you find out what the problem was?
    TCI: It says here that the governer was stuck.
    Me: Well, Dennis, if you recall, you suggested I remove the governer and make sure it wasnt stuck. And I told you I would do that and also swap in a known-good governer. And then I called you back and when I told you it made no difference you said youd pick up the transmission and have it looked it.
    TCI: Thats right, Jeff. I remember that.
    Me: So, if you are planning to ship that transmission back to me on the theory that the governer was stuck, then dont even bother. There is a bigger problem with that transmission besides the governer and it needs to be looked at beyond just pulling out the governer and seeing if it moves freely.
    TCI: OK, Jeff. Ill make a note of that and well have it looked at.

    Now, I was feeling very uncomfortable about the quality of tech support I had received once the transmission got back to TCI. So I called Jegs, who I made the purchase through. I told them that I thought I should get a new transmission instead of having that one sent back, and they agreed. So they called TCI and TCI agreed too, but it would take 4 weeks to get me a new one.

    So, I said fine. Id just have to live with my car on blocks another month. Then I called Coan to see what they recommend regarding my converter. They were sympathetic, especially since they just cut my converter open and rebuilt it two weeks ago. They also told me that many of the parts TCI uses in their transmissions are made by Coan!

    So I called Jegs. They and TCI agreed to just cancel my order and refund my money. I will be ordering a transmission from Coan. They will have both my transmission and converter there at the same time to confirm all is well. Ill flush my cooler and lines with a few gallons of trans fluid and install the new trans when it arrives custom-built in TWO WEEKS.

    I have been VERY satisfied with the customer service I received from BOTH Jegs and TCI . And if TCI had not been convinced it was a governer problem Id have just let them fix it and be done with it. But I dont believe a governer would let it leave 1st gear and then free rev. So I dont think their techs did a thorough job troubleshooting this issue and Id rather cut my losses and move on.

    Oh, and Jegs/TCI are reimbursing me for the 11 quarts of trans fluid I wasted during this ($75). All in all, Im pleased with the outcome, so far. Stay tuned.
     
  3. Smartin

    Smartin antiqueautomotiveservice.com Staff Member

    Unreal....
     
  4. StageTwo

    StageTwo It's a Beauty Too.

    Good customer service can go a long way. Good for you!
     
  5. 69GS400s

    69GS400s ...my own amusement ride!

    Good job sticking to your guns and getting the resolution you were looking for.
     
  6. Iceman8.6

    Iceman8.6 Well-Known Member

    I also would have sent it straight back to TCI. In no way should you have to open it up and start troubleshooting a mega dollar transmission from TCI. The time to pull it out would not matter in this case. I'm wondering who actually builds their trannys. Are they outsourced and TCI slaps there sticker on it or do they actually build them in house? A good tranny shop will ops check a tranny before it goes out the door. Makes me wonder. At least they are making good on the warranty. IMO you did the right thing.
     
  7. Yardley

    Yardley Club Jackass

    I just ordered a Coan trans. With the STEEPER 1st and 2nd gearset!

    And Coan makes EVERY PART of the gearset themselves in-house. They also dyno test each trans before shipping.

    They want me to send them all my parts:
    deep pan/extensoin
    tailhousing cover (Riv specific)
    governer
    speedo gear
    vacuum modulator

    They will assemble all my stuff there on the new trans THEN dyno it. That way there is no question.

    2 weeks. We shall see.

    I told my saga to the Coan guy (all 8 transmissions, extra R&I I have done and the fact that their 3000 stall converter was a 6000 stall converter right out of the box). He was rivited.:rolleyes:
     
  8. 462 Chevelle

    462 Chevelle 462 chevelle

    yards.. hopefully you dont stroke out when your car is right again!
     
  9. 462 Chevelle

    462 Chevelle 462 chevelle

    u know what would be messed up.. if a friend helped you with the install and he unhooked the vac modulater and plugged it after you got out from under it :moonu:
     
  10. Yardley

    Yardley Club Jackass

    easy now
     
  11. Yardley

    Yardley Club Jackass

    OK.

    So here is the update.
    Trans was supposed to arrive last Friday. FedEx Freight called at about 1PM on Friday to make sure someone would be at Nick's shop to receive delivery. I was there from 10AM on. The truck never showed up!!!

    I was less than happy.

    So it arrived yesterday. I took it home and installed it.

    On the maiden drive away from my house AGAIN all I had was FIRST and REVERSE!!!!!

    At that point I realized it was not a trans issue since the odds that 2 different transmissions from 2 different top-of-the-line shops were both defective in the exact same way was nil. So I decided to look at everything that changed from when I pulled my old (but questionable) trans out and put the TCI trans and now this Coan trans in. 3 things were changed:

    1) The metal vacuum line from the intake to the vac modulator was installed upsidedown, so I had flipped that over. I have 13" of vacuum at the modulator.
    2) A B&M trans cooler with fan and thermostat were installed in place of my old cooler.
    3) A set of Jim Weise trans lines were installed to ease mounting of the cooler and to move the metal lines away from the headers.

    So I decided to loop the trans lines to bypass the trans cooler just to see if it made a difference.

    And it shifts fine. I drove it 500 feet to make sure it shifts then pulled it back into the garage until my (another!) new trans cooler arrives tomorrow to prevent overheating the trans. I don't know yet if it has cured the laying over problem that began this whole jag. I'll know that by early next week when I have a hood on it.

    B&M = BM (bowel movement/excrement/crap) B&M is a good name for that company.

    I'll never use nor recommend a B&M product again. The 2 B&M products I've used were both failures right out of the box. One cost me dearly.

    But there is a bright side, the failure of the B&M trans cooler allowed me the opportunity to purchase of a second trans, which allowed me to rethink my purchase and add the steeper gearset to this one!

    Stay tuned.
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2011
  12. 462 Chevelle

    462 Chevelle 462 chevelle

    finally! hopefully your problems will be solved. you sure deserve it after all the crap. now you will definately appreciate your car more than most! :beers2:
     
  13. Big Matt

    Big Matt Well-Known Member

    I'm curious about the cooler. What B&M one was it? One of their plate jobbies?
     
  14. 71GSX455-4SPD

    71GSX455-4SPD Nick Serwo Magic Car

    Plate job either a 70297 or 70298 (think it's a 70298). This is the one with a fan controlled with a built in thermostat. Weird that this would be a problem as it wasn't completely clogged as fluid would move through it. I think the plate jobs are a bit more restrictive to keep fluid in there longer to cool it. But there's no denying that two different trans behaved the same way with it installed. I was on the phone with Yards looking through the trouble shooting guide in the FM for "no 1-2 shift" and it seemed that any of the possible causes cold be lack of of pressure related, although pressure was not explicitly stated. That's when the decision was made to bypass the cooler and the trans shifted fine. He didn't reconnect it to complete the problem on-problem off-problem on confirmation (hey, I'm an engineer, that's what we do), but he was pretty frustrated having muscled in a few trannies on his back and spent a lot of time waiting, so I don't blame him.

    He did have the cooler mounted sideways, which is correct per B&M instructions; and he had the bottom tranny line going to the inlet closest to the thermostat, which should also be correct. I can only assume that even though it would flow tranny fluid, it must have a defect like a big chunk of solder or something that was acting as a major restriction and greatly rducing line pressure..
     
  15. Yardley

    Yardley Club Jackass

    No. I think B&M is just a POS (pun intended) company.
     
  16. 71GSX455-4SPD

    71GSX455-4SPD Nick Serwo Magic Car

    I guess I'm a little more analytical than you and like to understand why something does or doesn't work.
     
  17. 69GS400s

    69GS400s ...my own amusement ride!

    you should have your own Mini-Series
     
  18. SpecialWagon65

    SpecialWagon65 Ted Nagel


    Smartin! :TU: 12-05-2010, 11:35 AM Yards, I can't wait to see the Riv in action
    Cheers!<!-- / status icon and date -->
     
  19. 71GSX455-4SPD

    71GSX455-4SPD Nick Serwo Magic Car

    Ted, this particular cooler was just mounted to the car and is responsible for the TCI and Coan tranny issues (only 2 of Yardley's many transmissions, lol). Of course, perhaps his old cooler may have had issues also.:Do No:
     
  20. 71GSX455-4SPD

    71GSX455-4SPD Nick Serwo Magic Car

    "Karma Katastrophe", the story of a man who gives so much but always seems to manage to never get it back.

    Only kidding, Yards. I feel for ya man! Hopefully this problem will be laid to rest once and for all!
     

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