6R transmission - lock out 6th??

[Spades]

Any way to lock out 6th gear? The manual states that turning OD off locks out 5th & 6th which i think is too big of a jump. My purpose is for towing a pair of jetskis at a total tow weight of around 2200 lbs including accessories and trailer which i dont think is all that much, and i think towing in 5th would be perfectly fine. Is there maybe a mod or flash available to achieve this?

 

[Spades]

I guess there is no solution? So at 2200 lbs load, do you just leave it in OD or 4th? Seems kinda heavy for 6th but overkill to go down to 4th.

My other approach was to go down to 4th and counter with larger tires giving me almost an effective 5th gear

 

[Trac Marks]

I have hundreds of miles pulling my pair of skis, never even considered turning OD off due to (what I consider) the insignificant weight. There is never any hunting or shifting between 5-6 that I can sense or feel. The 4.6 at highway speeds in 4th gear has horrible, horrible MPG. Like single digits. Its been a few years back but I recall a thread here or somewhere else that suggested tuners, at the time, couldn't lock out only 6, just 5 & 6 like stock. Hope this helps.

 

[boominXplorer]

Invest in a Scanguage if you want to feel comfortable about being in OD. It's about $150 now and will tell you mpgs and transmission temp while rolling down the road so you can keep an eye on it. I would say if it goes over 185* while driving with tow turn the OD off and see what the temp difference is. Anything over 200* is no good.

 

[Spades]

Im using the Torque Pro app, but im still trying to figure out how to get the Trans Fluid temps, it wont display on my 07 Explorer V8 but it works on my 03 Expedition. My next thought is with the air-oil cooler and trying to figure which is most efficient method:

Replace OEM with larger cooler
add secondary cooler
add fan to OEM cooler

 

[jrford]

I too would like to lock out 6th, i've got a bunch of miles towing 4k lbs always running with O/D off @3,000rpm's which puts me at 60-65mph, and i've been getting 11mpg. There has to be a way ???? . . . i did notice the 6r has full manual shift capability if there was a way to enable it?

 

[Spades]

Im reading up on Hypertech Max Energy 2100 or 42501 and it says its able to "Adjust individual automatic transmission shift points and shift firmness"... So rather than disable 6th gear, cant i just raise the 6th gear shift point to a higher value like 6K RPMs to keep it from upshifting into 6th gear?

*** A quick call to Hypertech and im told that it is for WOT only and will not have any effect on cruise

 

[Spades]

Still onto this... Man i wish we could just cut and splice in a switch to the 6th gear shift solenoid.

 

[06bluez]

i wonder what would be involved to add the f150 style gear selector buttons that let you select any gear to hold on the 6r80? probably programming update as well as the hardware and wiring...

 

[Spades]

We need a transmission expert on the electronics side of things. Id like to design some kind of piggy back controller that would intercept the signals to the shift solenoids, and mimic exactly what is being sent while in 5th gear. Somewhat like the BWM (brown wire mod) that is done to prevent engaging into 4wd mode, only id be preventing (or delaying) 6th gear. I just dont know about transmissions and what it is asking for (electronically) to know what i need to supply it

 

[Spades]

Still hoping for this, anyone come across anything any ideas? I was thinking to cut the wire going to the 6th gear shift solenoid and add a switch... kinda like the BWM (Brown Wire Mod) to disable 4WD and force it to run 2WD

 

[kvunck]

I tow a car on a dolly and to be able to lock out 6th would be a godsend. 4500 lbs for 650 miles is a lot of shifting!

 

[CDW6212R]

Find out what the shift wires are changing to/from for each gear. the four speed 4R uses two wires, four combinations of no current or current. If the 6R does something similar with simple signals, you could do what I did for one of my 95 Crown Vics.

I used two relays and a switch, to disable 3rd gear, because I didn't want it shifting past 2nd, when I was delivering mail. That did work, but note it made the CEL light come on after a short while, the PCM could tell it wasn't getting into 3rd gear. It worked just as I wanted, but the dash light bothered me some. You could live with that and erase the code each time you did that.

 

[Spades]

That is exactly what im wanting to do, but i thought each gear solenoid would have its own pair of wires... So if the 4R uses 2 wires, i imagine the logic to be this below:
OFF-OFF
OFF-ON
ON-OFF
ON-ON

With 6th speeds it would need a minimum of 3 wires to accomplish 6 combinations:
OFF-OFF-OFF
OFF-OFF-ON
OFF-ON-OFF
OFF-ON-ON
ON-OFF-OFF
ON-OFF-ON
ON-ON-OFF
ON-ON-ON

The question is, Which gear associates with which logic? If i could get a hold of the schematics for the TCM, id like to analyze the functions and maybe come up with a logic circuit. Im not worried about the CEL because it would only be for towing purposes, and id simply clear it immediately after the trip

 

[CDW6212R]

The wire signals are listed in the ATSG manual for the 4R70W. You might do well to buy the one for your 6R, those aren't very expensive, and they are must have's if you ever work on the VB or anything else besides the pan and filter.

Here's a link for the 6R60 trans ATSG manual($25), is this the 07 Sport Trac's model?
http://www.oregonperformancetransmi....mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ATSG-6R60-75-80

You might find a member here who has the manual and can find that information.

 

[Spades]

I came across this site for the logic for each gear selection >> http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/evaluating-5r55s-w-to-6r60-upgrade.436041/ . I had the logic drawn up on paper already, but then found that the signals are PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) to vary the pressures. Hopefully others can chime in with ideas and help out. I was thinking to merge E3 into E2 so that when it calls for 6th gear you will get 5th gear instead (when you get the condition of S1+E3 or E3+E4). The problem is the PWM signal as the input will chatter the relay ... Also i cant tell if those wires are available on the outside of the transmission or if they are internal from the Mechatronics to the solenoids?

 

[CDW6212R]

Are they all PWM? I don't know anything past the 4R, but the 5R55E uses PWM for the EPC solenoid, and no others. If that 6R does use PWM for the shifting solenoids, about the only simple thing I can think of is a relay that triggers with lower voltage(minimizes the level where it could shut off).

I had such a stock relay from an old Mark VII that triggered with less than 4v, and used it to power my start circuit of a swap project(the starter wire only had 5-6v when tested). I did that instead of ripping the wiring back open, and never went back to find the issue(the relay always worked). Call that back woods engineering, I never mentioned that deal online before. Time flies, that was 1994ish.

 

[Spades]

According to that page it looks like all signals are PWM. And another obstacle is that gears 1-3-6 feed or supply a lower pressure, while 2-4-5 feed off higher pressures, so i cannot use a signal for 6th gear and feed it into 5th gear because they operate at different pressures. The only way i see this happening is to trick something on the inputs to the TCM as opposed to trying to alter the outputs to the transmission.

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, sorry to get your hopes up. The past transmissions are much simpler, they just keep adding more technology and parts.

 

[Christobal65]

I'd kill for updated shift logic like a tow haul mode on Expeditions and F150's. I don't care if it uses 6th as long as it keeps those shifts hard and firm when I'm loaded up.