GS430 Better Tranny shifts just by adjusting dial?
 

There was a thread before about the a650e tranny in the 430 that you can make it shift better just by adjusting the pressure regulator. Theres 3 settings its comes on the lowest setting factory. Has anyone done this? Will it decrease the life of the torque C or tranny unit? Looking forward to hearing feedback. Others said it was like a shift kit. You wont notice it in "D" just cruising but WOT shifts were alot quicker.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e5...Picture531.jpg

if anything i believe it would make it better on the transmission cuz it wont slip into gear causes more heat. least thats from what ive been reading in CL regarding valve body upgrades.

Wow! This is pretty cool! So basically this tranny "adjustment screw" can be accessed simply by jacking the car up, going over to the driver's side and locating the tranny pan?

Tell me a little more about the shifts.

-Is it night and day difference?

-Do you feel like the car performs better? i.e. quicker as result?

-Have you been monitoring your tranny fluid every couple of days since this "mod?"

-How is normal acceleration, does it bang into gear? Only reason why I mentioned this is because sometimes when a VB upgrade is performed (increasing line pressure for firmer shifts) it shifts firm and fast at WOT but sometimes it really bangs into gear hard when driving casually.

-Lastly, is this the same layout for the GS400? I think they share the same type of tranny IIRC.

Thanks!

In for more info..gonna try this when when I get home from work :)

While I have not done this on my GS there are a couple of things:
1) you will need to drop the transmission pan which means replacing the fluid
2) Not sure if you need to drop the valve body to get to the adjustment screw
3) Looking at the circuit diagram this will raise the pressure across the board (or rather reduce accumulator travel) which will increse both the speed and firmness of the shifts. It should be progressive though as it does not directly increase line pressure so the shifts will be close to norm at part throttle and then maybe a 10% increase at WOT.

I am curious as well for feedback from anyone that has done this.

Thanks

Good stuff in here...keep this thread going. I like!!! :)

i think the OP is trying to find more info on this :p haha. i dont think he tried this yet

I have a 2800 stall in there now havent done this yet lol All you need to do is drop the pan and change the gasket the dial should be visable. I bumped the thread in the sc430 forum. Members have done it and said it works I figured theres way more performance minded folks in here than sc430s lol it should help with the GS crowd.

this sounds pretty amazing!!! We need feedback.. Anybody who tries it first, please take some pictures :D

(place finger on nose). NOSE GOES!

someone should try it :)

Taking my tranny pan off as we speak. Can't wait to rerace my buddy's M3 again. This time I should pull him further before my speed cut off kicks in :)

DO IT MAN!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!

Cant wait for outcome :). see if you can do a DIY as well.

ill be needing to replace my tranny pan gasket/seal soon since its slowly leaking so itll give me something to do while im down there

Nice find OP, this plus a tranny cooler is gold. Now, I'm gonna eye a dragon tc.

Seriously, if this works it would make my car pull so much harder...plus it would hold me over until the SC install.

wait theres multiple sleeves. how come you only adjust just one vs maybe adjust the others as well?

:thumbup: post a actual pic please instead of the drawing

You only adjust the main one increasing pressure across the line

I bought the tranny gasket a few years ago....grrr...where is it now lol

how much do you turn it ?

push in, turn twice clockwise. Do you see the three grove held by the metal tab? That's it.

2 full revs? or just 2 clicks?

That's. A good question, I'm wondering if it will tighten more with a full rev or it'll just reset.

I would only do two clicks.

someone should be a guinea pig :)

If my ride wasnt my dd, i'd try it first. ;)

even better man :). this way u will feel the difference every single day haha. my next maintenance thing will be changing out the seal n replacing it with a gasket.. while im in there i might as well turn the thing

2`clicks its that easy like it had 3 settings from the factory.

Just got done doing it and will post up a video as soon as i get tranny fluids in there. It was an easy job but a headache from laying on the ground to do the work.

Sorry for the crappy pics from my blackberry. This is what i saw when i did it for the first time.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/845...1110071359.jpg

drained the fluids, 14mm socket

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/980...1110071403.jpg

Took of all the 10mm bolts holding the tranny pan up, forgot to count how many was there. With the tranny pan off, it sit where the white arrow is pointing

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1761/...1110071428.jpg

This is what it looked like. i used a short flat to turn it two clicks. Push it in and turning it was easy.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/675...1110071430.jpg

How it looks like after

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/4...1110071434.jpg

There it is all done:thumbup:

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/843...1110071435.jpg

I just cleaned and scraped all the old gasket maker off and used gasket maker to reseal the pan and slapped it back on. Excited to see the results.

Thanks to GammaLex for bringing this upon us. looks like it'll be a very promising mod to our slow granny shifts :woot:

very nice man! looks SUPER easy.

question: why not use a rubber gasket from your local parts store made for the GS400s?

something like this
http://www.partsgeek.com/assets/dima...87-1046092.jpg

Bravo! !!!!!!!! Btw, did you replace the tyranny oil? Might as well.

Yeah, it's very easy. I'm not planning on keeping this motor very long so i just went the easy way since i had the gasket maker laying around.
2 1/2 qts came out and i just refilled it back with new tranny oil.

Oh well, tranny blew up because of something but i'll have to check tomorrow to see what happened.













j/k :) it felt like it did shift faster going full throttle compared to before but i'll have to see when i race my bud's M3 again. when we raced he would gain on me everytime i shifted gears, due to the slow shifts. Seems like the shifts are also smoother like it didnt shift gears at all. pretty cool i say.

Oh btw remember to unplug your battery before you do this as i got a CEL after this and had to reset it cause i forgot to do it

Nice man! Do me a favor, definitely keep us posted on how the car feels because it could be:

- smoother, perhaps quicker shifting due to replacing the fluid with new
- you just re-set your computer; whenever I re-set my computer it always seems to be running better for the first 5 miles or so.

I just want to see if these are REAL results and not from anything else. Perhaps 1 FULL WEEK of driving will tell the truth. Please report back and thanks for doing this!

Did it this afternoon.
It does not matter how many times you rotate the valve 360 degrees, it is a floating valve. The difference in line pressure is accomplished because the three "indentations" are of different thicknesses. Depending on which "cutout" the key sits in determines the line pressure.

It definitely made a difference in shift speed and firmness. No where near a shift kit and not objectionable at all. I am getting a slight 1-2 shift flare at part throttle sometimes now though, I'll wait to see if it works itself out or dig in to see if I can find the problem.

I did not disconnect the battery nor did I get a CEL.

Cool, I bet the valve can be modified. I guess, based on the pic, the softer the shift, the more the valve extends out. I woundn't modify it...unless someone dares to pull the valve out :) or find pics of that valve. If someone wants to put a v plate to have that extra ooomp, that'll be interesting (the other hand, it could mean destroying the tranny). Wondering if it really does what OP says it does.

Good Info.

Bump

anymore updates? anyone else try it?

You guys should get Jeff to be involve in this...

does the gs300 tranny that jeff has, have this same valve? i would assume so but i havent ever paid attention to the I-6 or its tranny

All A650s in the GS line are the same internally. Only difference between the GS3 and GS4 is the torque converter and bell housing.

According to wikipedia The IS300, GS300, GS400, GS430, LS400, LS430 got the same transmission. :thumbup:

any updates?

No problems, the1-2 shift flare went away the next day. Shifts are still firmer.