[Weatherlite]

It's the truck in my signature. Recently it's started to do the dreaded 3-5 engine flare when I've got a little bit of the pedal into it. If I'm just normally accelerating, it shifts fine with no delay. Any power, surge and/or major delay. From everything I have read, this is the beginnings of clutch slippage. Supposedly an aftermarket upgraded solenoid will help to remedy this by increasing the pressure, thereby reducing the slip. This kind of feels like a band-aid, but $125 is also a heck of a lot cheaper than a new tranny.

So, the questions I have are: Is this definite sign of the beginnings of transmission failure? If so, what's the typical length of life left before I HAVE to do something about it? Consensus on installing the aftermarket solenoid? When it comes time, should I buy the rebuild kit and do it myself, or should I purchase a whole tranny? I would do an upgraded power unit, not stock. I've never rebuilt an auto trans before, but I'm confident I could, given the right instructions and videos to watch. lol

 

[matthewd11]

The solenoid really does nothing IMO. The pcm will adjust for clutch apply time with the aftermarket solenoid.

Do you have any reverse engagement issues? It’s possible it could be the start of direct clutch failure but it could also be a lazy solenoid. If you have no reverse delay problems then it could be just a solenoid.

Have you pulled the pan to check things out?

These transmissions are bad to build but you will need s handful of specialty tools. And it’s worth building it. If you decide it’s not your cup of tea shoot me a PM I build them as a side business

You can try resetting the trans adaptatives to see if it just got into some bad habits. It does happen.

 

[Weatherlite]

It has reverse engagement issues as well. Not too bad, but noticeable. Basically, no engagement for about 2 seconds and then a "thunk" as it goes into reverse. Since reverse uses the same pack but different solenoid, I figured this meant it was the pack starting to glaze over.

I just looked at rebuild kits and I'm kind of in shock. I could spend $7000 on just the rebuild kit from Suncoast!! I paid $11,000 for the whole truck! lol I guess things have changed, because I remember looking at built trannies when I first bought the truck and they were less than this rebuild kit.

So, are you thinking it's just a solenoid or is it the pack? Also, it's got a fairly fresh fluid change (maybe 7-8k on it) and there was nothing out of the ordinary as far as material sitting in the pan/on the magnet.

 

[matthewd11]

Direct is applied in reverse by the manual valve...no solenoid in reverse for direct. The low/reverse solenoid applies the reverse clutch. Since you have 3-5 and reverse issues you can likely rule out a solenoid. Either the clutch has excessive clearance, is burnt or you have piston or sealing ring issues.

You don’t need everything in the suncoast kit forget buying from them. It’s way over kill and over priced.

PM me if you want more detailed info about how much things cost or advice on what kits or parts to buy. You can build one far less to hold more for what suncoast wants.

Also each clutch has its own solenoid (other than forward). There is the EPC solenoid and TCC in addition to the the other 5 clutch sets (7 total). They are all individual so no actual solenoid “pack”.

Edit: sorry I see now you were using “pack” for clutch not solenoid. And I meant to say “not” to bad in my previous post.