EFIDynoTuning Forum

I was outside of an auto parts store today and I heard a truck start. It was some mid 1960s Chevy and had absolutely no muffler whatsoever. I do appreciate the power of new motors but when a classic like that starts up and you see someone's head turn... you know that's a gear head.

The street where I grew up, there was a guy who had a 1974 Dodge Dart with a 440 that he made into a 1/4 mile racer. For about the first 15 years I lived there, this Dart was not street legal, but he didn't race it anymore. Every once in a while he would start the motor just to keep it running well.

After about 15 years, he wanted to drive it on the street. So he did the minimum needed to make it street legal. Lights and things like that. He put headers on there that were so big, he had to do a 3 point turn to get in the driveway. I grew up in Orange County, so it's not like the streets were very wide.

At one time he thought of selling it and some people came to look at it, but couldn't sell it. Too many memories. I feel the same with my truck. It's worthless to someone else but priceless to me. I've owned it since 1996, it's taken me to Mexico, northern CA, Colorado and not to mention the stories that go along with that.

I've been down on my luck lately with my own truck but I was driving with my girl and I just started laughing. She asked me what was up and I told her it was the Challenger a few spots up. A good ear could tell that the sound was coming from the motor and it wasn't just a muffler. This thing was a rare beast.

Serious note... After going through the process of building a new motor and having a custom tune, you can hear the difference down the street. Some people put on a loud muffler, but a good ear can hear it in the motor.

Thanks D for all you taught me

When you ask if I have the check balls in the right spots...I had ordered this trans from a company in Florida and installed it...the most modification I have done to it was to drop the pan and switch out the solenoid you told me to, I have not got deeper into the trans than that so I don't know of the check balls are in the right spot or not.

I have been driving the truck short distances lately. The trans is worse than a year ago. What does it mean when I am at a stop and when I am ready to go, the trans will not shift into first gear unless I put the shifter into 1st gear? After it gets into first gear, it will shift into second. This happens before the truck reaches 200 degrees, not even up to where the fans will turn on.

I been thinking about my trans for a few weeks and fixing it. I really have no desire to take this thing apart and try and figure out what the fuck is wrong with it, I'd really like to be able to just drive the damn truck. It was a couple of years ago when I went against your advice and bought my current trans from transdepot thinking things would be fine.

I drove the truck Tuesday, about 4 or 5 miles. That was the first time I had driven it in about a year. There were some shifts between first and second that were a bit hard but I think it just needed some fluid. Then I drove it again today (Wednesday) and it felt a lot better, no hard shifts, but I didn't drive it too far and I am fairly confident it still has the shifting problem I noticed a year ago. It's not like it will just fix itself. I still don't feel like getting under there and trying to dissect this thing piece by piece while trans fluid drips on my face. I am not a transmission mechanic and I could see myself chasing this problem and working on this until I die, which I don't want.

What would you suggest if I were to get a replacement 4R70W for my truck, where would I get one that I can consider reliable that I can bolt up and just start driving? I'm figuring this will be about $1500 or $2000. A lot less than what I paid for the POS I have in there now.

I am starting to think about working on my 4R70W again. In the previous thread about my trans, can't find that thread, you said the reason why the trans stops shifting after about 10 miles could be a problem with the valve body. If that does turn out to be the case, is the valve body something I can remove from the transmission while the transmission is still in the truck or is this something I would need to remove the trans for? I know there are some