5R55S swap

[jah81592]

Here are the pics of the MAP sensor mounting position, the cruise module is only in mock up at this moment (not bolted to the fender)for representational purposes. Also the manifold cover is removed till I get my air intake and fan/shroud assy back on. I am currently contemplating a e-fan swap so this is the reasoning behind me not having this assembled yet. The bottom pic is of the computer showing the finished product (wiring and mounting of the STS solenoid). It is slowly coming together. I am on the downhill side of things!

[jah81592]

Yesterday my Y-pipe came in. This particualar pipe is supposed to be a prototype. It is very far from a prototype. The quality of bends,welds,flanges and bungs are already there. I was really impressed immediately after unpackaging the product. Eventually I will purchase a stainless version as I am currently prototyping this particular model. For information regarding this pipe contact Jakee on the availability. Thanks again,Jakee- really nice product!!!!!!

[Jakee]

There's room for improvement and we've already figured out what changes we're going to make for a better pipe. We'll include a 3" ball for future pipes.


Back to the tranny. How hard do you think it's going to be to tune this tranny?

[jah81592]

I will definately know tonight! I am getting the basetune file and supposed to talk to the customer service rep about the initial setup. There is a few checks to be done and initial tune loaded. I will let you know for sure once I am able to drive down the road.

[jah81592]

Got my exhaust finished. Currently I don't have a muffler at this moment so the only thing that I have is the turbo muffling it. It is too loud. Got the tranny software installed it has taken gear (on the jackstands) and everything seems ok at this point. I believe I should be good for a short drive sunday. I will post up pics later.-j

[rocket 5979]

James- Oh this brings back so many memories. I dealt with pretty much the exact same issues that you just did when I did my standalone swap.


Jakee- That is one quality piece you sent James there. Far from prototype just like James said.

[jah81592]

Rocket and other members,
There has been a on rush of emotions since I started this project. One day I love it one day I hate it, to the point I am ready to push the truck off a cliff. As a matter of fact you remember the tele conversation the day that everything was going wrong and dissassmebling previous assemble hardware. I was pissed. I am on the down hill side of things and hope to drive really soon. I am not going to give a day when I will drive because something is constantly coming up everytime I do so. Right now we are working on the tuning just to get the trans to shift. It is taking gear and the vehicle is completely assembled as of now...... Who knows for how long??????
I stongly recommend before anyone takes on a project like this to be sure they have something else to drive. This truck is being retired as a daily driver so from now on she will only pull my boat, go to the track and take the wife and child out every once in a while. I have intentions to pull it to Lake Villa where Rocket and I will hang out and have fun. Also am pulling to Huntsville Texas when I tune Jakee for his future turbo project just to run a few passes down the dragstrip at each location .

[Turdle]

I'm pulling for ya!!

The end is near--you'll get it.

[Jakee]

well James, this is a huge project. A bunch of people would of given up by now. But you're different. It may get frustrating at times, and thats when you walk away from it and do something else. Although, when your trying to do something else, this will always be on your mind. You won't stop and till you get it figured out. I know your kind, and it's called a succesful person.

You charted into uknown territory, and bugs are to be expected. You'll get it, hang in there, and don't make me drive to alabama to help you. My wife would kill me.

(Help you drink beer that is; I have no clue how to tune a tranny?!)

[rocket 5979]

Originally Posted by Jakee

(Help you drink beer that is; I have no clue how to tune a tranny?!)

Hey, I have a fella like that here! His name is Jim and while he does help me occassionally, he mostly just drinks my beer and eats my food. Its ok, I am talking him into a turbo here in the future once I become an STS dealer. He drinks my beer, I influence him to spend thousands of dollars. Hehehe. I win!

I took a look at the programming and some example tunes for this PTCS and I think James will not have much problem tuning it as he knows quite a bit about tuning (with SCT software). The advantage of being an SCT tuner is that we understand how these systems work well enough to extrapolate data from the tuning for one tranny and use it for another. This process will not be a cut and paste by any means, but using data from a previous tune will give great information for comparative analysis.

[Turdle]

Originally Posted by rocket 5979

Hey, I have a fella like that here! His name is Jim and while he does help me occassionally, he mostly just drinks my beer and eats my food.

Yeah-what ever happened with Jim's project truck?

[rocket 5979]

Originally Posted by jtsmith

Yeah-what ever happened with Jim's project truck?

Jim took a while to get off his rear and get his heads done. I figuratively booted him in the ass and he is back on track now.

[Jakee]

I'm honestly not a lazy person, I just know when NOT to mess with something. I know my limitations.....sort of?

My limitations are around 6 beers. I'm a light weight.

Any of you guys want to come up and help me with this add on? I need to get this done so that I can Tubo charge my ride. Darn women, don't have there priorities straight!!!

[jah81592]

Tuning(shift firmness,shift scheduling,etc) the trans isn't going to be the problem. Pretty cut and dry. But getting the thing to shift properly is(knowing when to energize solenoids,which solenoids to use,etc-could be the problem.). This trans hasn't been coupled to a standalone as of yet,or that I am aware of. So yes this is unchartered territory. The guys at PCS (Russ & Dan) have been incredible and we are making excellent progress. Worked on the trans tuning yesterday around 6hours(thanks Russ!) and did drive down the street. I will hopefully finish the initial setup this evening and then I can start tuning the trans.
The exhaust is very loud and the turbo seems to spool very easily now with the new y-pipe. I will post pics when I get the first chance.

[jah81592]

Originally Posted by Jakee

well James, this is a huge project. A bunch of people would of given up by now. But you're different. It may get frustrating at times, and thats when you walk away from it and do something else. Although, when your trying to do something else, this will always be on your mind. You won't stop and till you get it figured out. I know your kind, and it's called a succesful person.

You charted into uknown territory, and bugs are to be expected. You'll get it, hang in there, and don't make me drive to alabama to help you. My wife would kill me.

(Help you drink beer that is; I have no clue how to tune a tranny?!)

Jake, Just ask Rocket about the conversation I had with him last week. I was very disgusted. So if you would've been in Alabama you probably would've gotten a hell of a deal on my truck. But, you are out of luck. I have calmed down now.

[rocket 5979]

Originally Posted by jah81592

Jake, Just ask Rocket about the conversation I had with him last week. I was very disgusted. So if you would've been in Alabama you probably would've gotten a hell of a deal on my truck. But, you are out of luck. I have calmed down now.

[Jakee]

What's frustrating to me is trying to make an X go fast! I've been tempted to cut into the sucker, and gut the whole thing. If I can get into the 14's I'll probably have a heart attack; that seems to be my luck.


I got one question for you. How costly was this project? You're gonna offer some sort of kit, right?

[rocket 5979]

Originally Posted by Jakee

What's frustrating to me is trying to make an X go fast! I've been tempted to cut into the sucker, and gut the whole thing. If I can get into the 14's I'll probably have a heart attack; that seems to be my luck.


I got one question for you. How costly was this project? You're gonna offer some sort of kit, right?

Shoot buddy you don't know the meaning of frustration yet. When you have modded your vehicle as far as James and I have it gives new meaning to "big project" or "hard project". I will be doing a custom STS single turbo system on the LS soon (next 6 months) and I am looking at that as a relative cakewalk project now.

You are at one huge advantage with a family member who can fabricate metal tubing like your dad can. That will help immensely when you do your turbo.

[jah81592]

Originally Posted by Jakee

What's frustrating to me is trying to make an X go fast! I've been tempted to cut into the sucker, and gut the whole thing. If I can get into the 14's I'll probably have a heart attack; that seems to be my luck.


I got one question for you. How costly was this project? You're gonna offer some sort of kit, right?

You don't even want to know what I have in this project as of date!!!!!Heck I don't want to know. No really I am estimating about $4000 neighborhood(haven't added it up yet, and remember some of this stuff is my dealer pricing as well-so the overall customer cost will be a tad higher). Will I be able to have a kit. This can be a 2-3 part answer. I will offer everything to install the trans into the truck with detailed instructions,wiring schematics,PCS computer,tuning, driveshaft,fittings,nuts,bolts and such. A second alternative is to sell a tranny with above mentioned parts..And thirdly have a complete "lock and key" you drop it off and drive it away job!(I would prefer this because I would know the wiring is correct and would have full schematics at my disposal) I would not recommend this conversion for the bolt on crowd-way too expensive and the 5R55E will handle anything you throw at it with bolt on's (with good trans tuning and maintenance-I strongly believe this is what held mine together). If you have a power adder truck making some ponies then this is for you. Even on a truck with a 100 shot of N2O I would evaluate the cost of this project. This has easily been the 2nd most expense in my modding.

One thing to remember when you remove the stock tranny you computer still thinks it has one so custom tuning will be a must!!!!!!I had 10 CEL's when I turned the ignition switch on the first time. Now they are shut off and everything is fine. This is an added expense to the job that people don't realize and I didn't have to pay for this service!

[Willard]

for anybody who thinks and explorer is hard to get goin fast, check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO-MI4GC5XI