5r55e: superior kit, sonnax boost valve, now it delays going in to first.. | Ford Explorer Forums
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5r55e: superior kit, sonnax boost valve, now it delays going in to first..

I

inh

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City, State
Springfield(ish), MO
Year, Model & Trim Level
'00 XLS
Installed my rebuilt valve body, with a superior kit and a sonnax -EZ kit for this trans, and now when it's in D or 1, when accelerating from a stop there is a slight delay until it firmly engages in to 1st gear. Usually around 1500 RPM it will fully catch. If I start off from a stop with the selector in 2, no problems at all.

My only option is to drop the pan tomorrow, put my old VB back up there, with the seperator plate that came with the rebuilt VB. Tomorrow is my final day to do anything to the truck before my road trip to CA on friday.

It's not low on fluid, I had to add 8 quarts to get it back in the sweet spot on the dipstick.
 



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I wish Chris could give his opinion, he knows this stuff well. I'd contact the company that rebuilds the VB's, did you get it from the recommended business? They should be able to help with that diagnosis.

Have you adjusted the bands, that is very important overall? I did mine when purchased, and need to do it again.
 






I ran out of time at the shop to adjust the bands, but would it really caused delayed engagement of first gear? The trans had no issues before the mods were done, aside from a very slight 2-3 shift flare.

I have the locknuts, and planned on doing the bands (and the servos, but that ain't happening with the stock exhaust on!) You really think an out of adjustment intermediate or overdrive band would cause this? I guess I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning before I put my old VB back in and see if it helps..

Oh, and the VB was purchased from 800700 trans, and was quite clean and looked pretty good overall..
 






The bands don't give you 1st gear so that wouldn't help there. It's just another maintenance item that comes to mind. I agree about the exhaust, I also skipped the servos due to the exhaust and lack of time. That was almost 30k miles ago now. I will get back into it when I have more time, and I think I'll get the Sonnax higher pressure regulator if I didn't have it before.

My 4R70W trans is collecting dust as I have it in pieces, waiting for a few more parts.

I had been to that site before where you got the VB, that looks to be a good source for used parts. I was hoping that you had the rebuilt VB that some in the big 5R55E thread had. I think that was much more though, say $200? You have found your way around in there though, you can do fine by yourself updating the VB.

See if you can search back through the 5E thread and find that VB source. I rebuilder like that should have a full background with the trans and be able to help with 1st gear.
 






I think the place you are referring is either transtar or more likely central valve bodies. I think calling them is a great idea, but it's Saturday night, and tomorrow is my last day to work on the truck.

I was hoping it might be from the Vaseline causing something to stick, but i would've figured that after 30 minutes of driving it would have fixed itself. My only hope is that its a bad solenoid, in which case I'll take one from the old VB and use it...
 






Yes, changing the shift solenoid is a good thought. Look everything over carefully when you go back into it. Look for signs of a gasket damaged or a valve sticking. Try to double check the valves in the VB which you had to work with, and the 1-2 shift valves as you can tell by diagrams etc.
 






Try to adjust the shift cable. It might be slightly off. Another thing to check is the alignment of the range sensor.
 






Valve body is just a nightmare, probably a stuck valve. Put the old one in, with a sonnax increased ratio boost valve and increased pressure spring, and all is well once more =]
 






Very good, did the Sonnax parts firm up the shifts also?
 






Yea just a tad though, I think the valve body sep plate mods the superior kit has you do is where the majority of the increased firmness comes from though.
 






Sorry to hear the VB is not working out. My gut tells me that if I also install the 800700trans vb it will also create a new set of problems. Kinda sucks because a guy named Johnny lied and told me it was a rebuilt vb with the upgrades... I wish their shop was nearby, we would both get a refund!! ;)
 






kumaxlt said:
Sorry to hear the VB is not working out. My gut tells me that if I also install the 800700trans vb it will also create a new set of problems. Kinda sucks because a guy named Johnny lied and told me it was a rebuilt vb with the upgrades... I wish their shop was nearby, we would both get a refund!! ;)
Click to expand...

I did some web searching on these 800700 guys before buying anything. "Wholesale Auto Transmission - 1902 Maple St. Tampa, FL 33605".

They have a friggin HORRIBLE reputation. I found all kinds of online complaints about them, ripping people off for rebuilt transmissions that arrived broken, refusing to accept the returns from the shipper, sending the wrong **** to begin with, going two weeks without shipping anything at all, people going 90 days before getting refunded - if at all. After reading up on them, I've decided to not even buy friggin solenoids from these clowns!
 






Fireside3 said:
I did some web searching on these 800700 guys before buying anything. "Wholesale Auto Transmission - 1902 Maple St. Tampa, FL 33605".

They have a friggin HORRIBLE reputation. I found all kinds of online complaints about them, ripping people off for rebuilt transmissions that arrived broken, refusing to accept the returns from the shipper, sending the wrong **** to begin with, going two weeks without shipping anything at all, people going 90 days before getting refunded - if at all. After reading up on them, I've decided to not even buy friggin solenoids from these clowns!
Click to expand...

Ditto, be careful. I bought a few used V8 4R70W parts from them because I knew they were likely to be good usable parts. The V6 trans parts are really critical to be in perfect condition. The V8 trans is strong enough that visually they are fine or bad, you can tell by looking at them. Don't buy any V6 trans parts from them. Regards,
 






I'll probably buy another valve body from them, but it will be COMPLETELY torn down, cleaned, and inspected before use.
 






Fireside3 said:
I did some web searching on these 800700 guys before buying anything. "Wholesale Auto Transmission - 1902 Maple St. Tampa, FL 33605".

They have a friggin HORRIBLE reputation. I found all kinds of online complaints about them, ripping people off for rebuilt transmissions that arrived broken, refusing to accept the returns from the shipper, sending the wrong **** to begin with, going two weeks without shipping anything at all, people going 90 days before getting refunded - if at all. After reading up on them, I've decided to not even buy friggin solenoids from these clowns!
Click to expand...

Can't argue with this post ;)
 












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