Thread: 700R4 Noise and Fluid Temp Issue

Tweet

Three things(again)one Call TCI tech line as I said,two,I don't think jury rigging you going to get the correct TV cable adjustment,three if that is wrong,you going to burn up the 700R4.NOT a guess here,just a matter of time.

Now I can only suggest the best path for you to take,BUT if you decide not to follow that,it is all I can do.

I got to be honest with you.I am aggravated abit because I gave you a ref to the best RV site on the web and I can tell you never even bothered to look by what you are posting.That equals to any of the advise anyone gave you and you not taking it.It is kind of frustrating.BTW-a trans shop telling you a trans can handle 700 hp needs to put on their big boy pants.Because 700hp means something different to a 1800lb vehicle than it means to a 8000 lbs one in terms of a trans.Sooooooooooo what they said logically means not much.

Originally Posted by Dq383500

I don't have enough miles on my setup to give mpg, although I don't expect it to be good. In just the little driving I have done I can tell with the 700r4 there's no way with the gear vendors I can pull double overdrive as the engine is just out of the sweet spot,
What I'm getting at is I wonder if when your in overdrive could you be off the sweet spot? I know it's a diesel but isn't their a cruising rpm that is preferable.

I was trying to get closer to that sweet spot with the overdrive transmission. With the old TH400 the engine was revving high at cruising speed of about 55mph. It really didn't feel comfortable going any faster. And with this setup I was getting 18mpg towing my Saturn SL2 on a dolly.
Now the whole idea was reducing the engine rpm with the overdrive transmission, so that I could go a little faster, with less noise and slightly improved fuel consumption.
I was aiming at like 20mpg. I agree with you as far as the "sweet spot" goes. I'll have to figure out what the best cruising speed is for the best fuel economy.
However, first I guess I have to figure out why this many gallons of fuel were just turned into transmission heat instead of miles on the road.

Originally Posted by 1gary

I got to be honest with you.I am aggravated abit because I gave you a ref to the best RV site on the web and I can tell you never even bothered to look by what you are posting.That equals to any of the advise anyone gave you and you not taking it.It is kind of frustrating.BTW-a trans shop telling you a trans can handle 700 hp needs to put on their big boy pants.Because 700hp means something different to a 1800lb vehicle than it means to a 8000 lbs one in terms of a trans.Sooooooooooo what they said logically means not much.

I've got to take exception to your getting frustrated. The site you mention may be good or even the best.. but it is YOUR opinion! Someone asks a question and you graciously offered guidance and YOUR opinion. Remember the old saying, you can lead the horse to water but... your not gonna make him drink!

Don't get aggravated and then complain because someone didn't immediately run to your selected site or follow your advice in what you determined to be a reasonable amount of time. Not all of us can spend so much time surfing the web or doing a bunch of research to a problem. That's why we get together in these forums and discuss our "issues" good & bad.

I humbly offer the above that you can shake off this issue and accept that you cannot live the posters life and cannot make his decisions, you can offer your OPINION and your ADVICE and leave it at that. We all hope that things work out for the best for the OP and I think we all would agree that your passion for helping others is evident but don't let that get you into a bad mood! And I hope you can accept what I've written in the spirit it was intended. It's just a vehicle after all!

Originally Posted by 34_40

I've got to take exception to your getting frustrated. The site you mention may be good or even the best.. but it is YOUR opinion! Someone asks a question and you graciously offered guidance and YOUR opinion. Remember the old saying, you can lead the horse to water but... your not gonna make him drink!

Don't get aggravated and then complain because someone didn't immediately run to your selected site or follow your advice in what you determined to be a reasonable amount of time. Not all of us can spend so much time surfing the web or doing a bunch of research to a problem. That's why we get together in these forums and discuss our "issues" good & bad.

I humbly offer the above that you can shake off this issue and accept that you cannot live the posters life and cannot make his decisions, you can offer your OPINION and your ADVICE and leave it at that. We all hope that things work out for the best for the OP and I think we all would agree that your passion for helping others is evident but don't let that get you into a bad mood! And I hope you can accept what I've written in the spirit it was intended. It's just a vehicle after all!

In the sprite of all of the regulars being a family affair and being offended this O/P ignored everyone,I am simply defending everyone and all the good intentions everyone put for in advise.Also-it is rare that I get this wound up.After all this isn't my first rodeo on forums.But thanks for the thoughts.

The ref links and not the least iRV2 is the same thing as me telling someone about this forum and for some very good reasons..............

Originally Posted by 1gary

I got to be honest with you.I am aggravated abit because I gave you a ref to the best RV site on the web and I can tell you never even bothered to look by what you are posting.That equals to any of the advise anyone gave you and you not taking it.It is kind of frustrating.BTW-a trans shop telling you a trans can handle 700 hp needs to put on their big boy pants.Because 700hp means something different to a 1800lb vehicle than it means to a 8000 lbs one in terms of a trans.Sooooooooooo what they said logically means not much.

I really don't know what you are getting so upset about. I admit I haven't been on that RV site, simply for a lack of time. This is a motorhome. It's not my primary vehicle. I'm in not too much of a hurry to get this issue fixed. The vehicle is not being driven in this condition so I won't burn up the transmission any more than it already is.
I am in fact considering all the feedback I'm getting here.
I know very well that adjusting the TV cable correctly is crucial for this transmission, as I have said somewhere in one of my replies above.
I'm going to work on this as soon as I get the pressure test kit.
Using the constant pressure valve kit from TCI is certainly a good option, but it adds another $250 to a project that has already gone way over budget (not talking about the transmission here).
BTW - I'm pretty sure the TCI tech is gonna ask me what my line pressure readings are. So I should know those before I call, don't you think?
As far as the transmission shop people are concerned - they build the transmission specifically for my application.
They knew the vehicle specs, the engine, and especially the fact that it is heavy.
They said the trans can handle that weight. If in fact it cannot I will go back there and shove it up their...
But I'm not at that point yet. For now I'm just trying to figure out what the noise in OD lock up is, and why it's turning so much of my gas mileage into heat.

So please don't be upset that I haven't run out yet to get the part from TCI.
My next step is taking pressure readings and making sure it's not an issue with the TV cable adjustment.
Thank you for your and everybody else's input.

Don't sweat it.
You don't need the part from TCI.

Setting up the cable correctly is all thats req'd.

I had an issue with an aftermarket TV cable that was binding inside the sheath and it felt as though I was at full pull when in fact is was actually hung up.
I discovered this by dropping the pan and having someone work the throttle and seeing the valve not fully depressed.

Originally Posted by steve48348

I was trying to get closer to that sweet spot with the overdrive transmission. With the old TH400 the engine was revving high at cruising speed of about 55mph. It really didn't feel comfortable going any faster. And with this setup I was getting 18mpg towing my Saturn SL2 on a dolly.
Now the whole idea was reducing the engine rpm with the overdrive transmission, so that I could go a little faster, with less noise and slightly improved fuel consumption.
I was aiming at like 20mpg. I agree with you as far as the "sweet spot" goes. I'll have to figure out what the best cruising speed is for the best fuel economy.
However, first I guess I have to figure out why this many gallons of fuel were just turned into transmission heat instead of miles on the road.

ya know 1gary,,, makes some very valid points, yes it will burn up without correct TV cable set up, I would think that you would have allready done so with the miles you have on it with MPG and all. I had to use Lokar cables for throttle and TV cable so as you know It became important to get the setup correct. Bowtie overdrives has a very good website that will help with the pressures and such in each gear. I did purchase from them a piece of linkage that fits on the carb linkage because im running edelbrock carbs and not the stock qjet, the geometry must be correct for the pull of the tv cable. as far as the high tranny fluid temp I don't know on that one, I would think if slipping It would allready be done I went back reread the original post and as far as the noise I can only guess that the planitaries are noisy best guess here and only a guess wish I could help more enjoy the camping! By the way my 2004 Nissan Titan only gets 15MPG on a good day pulling nothing!

18mpg on any RV deserves a bumper kiss.So go out right now and take care of that next.

I got some work done this weekend, so here is what I found.

I took pressure readings. From what I found the line pressure in OD should be 90-110psi minimum and 190-230psi max. Mine was 70psi at idle, didn't increase much until I was at around 50% throttle, around 100psi when cruising at 55mph in OD, and maxed out at about 130psi at full throttle.
Readjusted the TV cable so that pressure increases as soon as I hit the accelerator.
Readings are now 70psi idle, increases quickly to 100, 120psi. It's around 150psi when cruising at 55mph, and maxes out at about 180psi.
Still a little below the should-be ranges but better than before. Any thoughts about the pressure readings?

The howling noise at 60mph in OD with TC locked hasn't changed at all.
Rewired the solenoid. Simply gets 12V from a toggle switch and is grounded right at the transmission case. No difference. I figured it wouldn't make a difference since the solenoid only draws about 1/2 amp so cable length doesn't have much of an impact.

Drove a few miles today to take the pressure readings. After readjusting the TV cable I did about 30 miles of highway driving in OD with the TC locked (despite the noise) and found that the oil was staying around 160F.
It seems like most of the heat issues I had on my recent trip came in fact from the TC when it ran unlocked.

Now here is something else I found.
Took the drive shaft and the tail housing off to find out the speedometer gears installed as my speedometer is about 18% too fast. There seems to be a lot of play in the rear main bearing. I would guess the play in the bearing is about 1/32 of an inch, which I think is a lot. The rear end of the output shaft moves almost 1/4" up/down or left/right. I got a feeling that's where my noise and vibration is coming from.

Check out this video and photos:
http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/...110911a006.mp4
http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/...110911a002.jpg
http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/...110911a001.jpg

I don't think a freshly rebuilt transmission should have this kind of play.
Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks a lot.
Steve

We and I am including myself have much to offer in advise,but the advise I insist you could get for free is the TCI tech line.No cost if I didn't make my point clear.Do yourself a big favor,tomorrow call them up letting us know what they said and then tell you trans shop what you think is the problem armed with that information.Remember-it is cost free.

That line pressure isn't going to get it done.

Again

www.TCIAUTO.com

The play in the output shaft is normal.

The yoke takes up the slack when it slides in. It rides in the bushing at the rear of the extension housing.

Originally Posted by 1gary

We and I am including myself have much to offer in advise,but the advise I insist you could get for free is the TCI tech line.No cost if I didn't make my point clear.Do yourself a big favor,tomorrow call them up letting us know what they said and then tell you trans shop what you think is the problem armed with that information.Remember-it is cost free.

That line pressure isn't going to get it done.

Again

Home - TCI® Auto

Talked to a TCI tech as you recommended.
They're saying my line pressure is too low at 70psi. On a rebuilt transmission the pressure should be 110psi. Depending on what causes the pressure to be that low the constant pressure valve body they sell may or may not fix the pressure issue.
The guy said the tolerance on the output shaft bearing is 25/1000" which seems a lot to me. So it seems the slack in the output shaft is in fact normal.
He couldn't help me with my noise in OD with TC locked. Nobody seems to have had that ever before.
I'll be talking to the shop that built the trans next.

Thanks again everyone.