Excellent to hear that 'zilla will be "whining" soon.

Albany and Corvallis....he**, all of central Oregon best keep their children inside and lock the doors on Monday, as 'zilla re-invades the region

BTW, can you elaborate on your transmission cooler/ATF path comments? Is there something that bonne owners can/should do differently than plumbing/running the ATF through the radiator or using the stock/aftermarkettrans cooler. (i haven't put my Hayden on yet )

From what I've learned, the path through the rad is simply for pre-heating the fluid on a cold day.

That path runs direct inside the rad from one port to the other. That'* only about 10" or so? It'* a double walled pipe. Maybe .050" between the layers. The trans fluid runs in between the walls, and the coolant runs through about a 1/2" bore down the middle. Not much heat transfer there to begin with. I'm going with my trans builder'* suggestion to bypass it. If you do, make sure you use a thermostatically controlled trans cooler. It bypasses most of the cooler until it reaches a certain temp, then opens up fully. It can regulate it'* own temps that way.

That'* quite an interesting comment, Bill. I think it may help to explain some the heat-related surging problems I've been having. Would it be an accurate statement to say that an aftermarket tranny cooler is only helpful if you've got clean ATF paths in the radiator?

Maybe I need to look into a thermostatically-controlled cooler for my car as well. Tell me, when they decided not to use the stock radiator paths did they simply plug the inlet and outlet? Or is it more complicated than that?

Leave the ports open. After the ATF drains out, there will be no problems.

If that passage gets clogged, your circulation sucks.

Keep in mind this was dictated to me in the terms of my warranty. Too much loose debris may have clogged the passages for the ATF in my radiator. They want the new trans to last longer.

so, did you get a chance to clean up and paint that subframe while it was on the floor??


looking good, now for vids of it on the road...

Understood..... I just know that my TC surges under high heat conditions, and maybe it would help to have a completely new, clean cooler instead of the stock rad paths (which may or may not be partially clogged). So you wouldn't recommend bypassing the rad and using only my aftermarket cooler without a therm?



Anyway, I'm done hijacking. Can't wait to hear the report from you tomorrow! Give us detailed descriptions of the driveability and plenty of pics!

Ben, this isn't hijacking. This is rebuilding in general.

Your TC surge is likely caused by a worn seat and valve for the TCC. Mine was close to the surgin point when my Diff let go. It was replaced with a much improved design. As I understand it, as my new TCC ages, it either doesn't wear the seat, or the wear doesn't affect surging. I can get more details on Monday if you like.

That would be soooo nice.

Yes, I would like that. I know 1fatcat found the GM service bulletin on how to fix the valvebody that causes surging, but when it comes time for me to deal with the problem I'd like to have it upgraded as you have mentioned.

To clarify, your new tranny has been completely built up by your local shop? And you have the 4T60-HD? I'll need good solutions for my car in the coming years. From what I understand, the converters and differentials from Intense are only for the 4T65?

Any aftermarket torque converter on a series 2 oriented performance site will work with any 4T60. The differential might work in a 4T60. It has been done but there'* no info on it.