I want to put a shift kit into my mark and I checked Baumann website but I cant find what I want. Isn't there a complete valve body replacement I can get. Any help would be great. :feedback

i dunno but all the "smart people" over at TOACCA(sp?) slam all shift kits as crap because they increase line pressure 24/7, not just when needed, and will wear out bands , etc eventually. It may take years but will happen. I dunno if this is true but just about 100% agrees that J-Mod is the way to go.

J-mod. Shift kits are S___.

Baumann Engineering ALL THE WAY!! Installed hundreds and have put thousands of trouble free miles on them as well.

What exactly makes them $hit? I am curious.

BAUMANN ROCKS! :D

Catalog Number: RK-AODE for 92-95 AODE/4R70W
or
Catalog Number: RK-AODE-2 for 96-2000 4R70W

plus 1 of the following...
Catalog Number: PR-1 for AODE/4R70W 92-95
Catalog Number: PR-2 for 96-UP 4R70W
Catalog Number: PR-3 with elevated pressure spring for 96-UP 4R70W

BAUMANN SITE (http://www.becontrols.com/products/aodecat.htm)

Go to TCCOA (www.tccoa.com ) and read the Jmod instructions, then go to my site and read the Baumann INSTRUCTIONS (http://imageevent.com/driller/baumannshiftkit), then YOU decide!

:wrench

J-mod and a shift kit are exactly the same thing. With the J-mod you are drilling holes in the seperator plate which will increase line pressure JUST like a shift kit. There really is no difference between them.....in theory.

Baumann ROCKS.....there is NOTHING better than the Baumann....go to the links provided by driller and order away. :Beer

Baumann Engineering ALL THE WAY!! Installed hundreds and have put thousands of trouble free miles on them as well.

What exactly makes them $hit? I am curious.


i'm not sure exactly. Just from what i was reading. They don't like any shift kits....even the Baumann. They talk bad about that too. Anyways, something about shift kits increasing the line pressure continously. Line pressure is good just not 24/7. Eventually this increased line pressure will cause failure of bands (i don't know which bands). Its just a matter of time, supposedly. They love the JMod. They explained the difference btw Jmod and shift kits but i don't remember, i will try to find that link if you want.

Most on TCCOA are J-Mod bandwagon riders. I am not talkin trash about the J-Mod, but there is not much difference between the J-Mod and Baumann......except really the price.

I have read most of the posts about the J-Mod and the Baumann over on TCCOA, and like I stated, most of the ppl that talk down about the Baumann kit are J-Mod bandwagon riders. Then you can read about ppl that have the Baumann kit and LOVE it......like I did....when I had the tranny still in my car.

If you want to save cash then go with the J-Mod. If you need tech help that is not answered in the J-Mod 'book' then you are on your own. If you need tech help Greg @ Baumann Engineering is MORE than willing to help. They KNOW alot about the AOD/AODE and have a very knowledgable staff.

Just my $.02. :Beer

Most on TCCOA are J-Mod bandwagon riders. I am not talkin trash about the J-Mod, but there is not much difference between the J-Mod and Baumann......except really the price.

I have read most of the posts about the J-Mod and the Baumann over on TCCOA, and like I stated, most of the ppl that talk down about the Baumann kit are J-Mod bandwagon riders. Then you can read about ppl that have the Baumann kit and LOVE it......like I did....when I had the tranny still in my car.

If you want to save cash then go with the J-Mod. If you need tech help that is not answered in the J-Mod 'book' then you are on your own. If you need tech help Greg @ Baumann Engineering is MORE than willing to help. They KNOW alot about the AOD/AODE and have a very knowledgable staff.

Just my $.02. :Beer


Agree fully........Pretty much your choice, almost everyone has had good come from both Baumann, and the JMOD... Wkyd is right if you think you might have some troubles with the job, go with Baumann, then you always have a phone number you can call up.

If you bought the Bauman shift kit would it be a good idea to replace the 1-2 and 2-3 accumulator pistons?

If you bought the Bauman shift kit would it be a good idea to replace the 1-2 and 2-3 accumulator pistons?

Sure thing, there cheap and easy to replace and you will already have it apart.

Ya at the track the other day, a tccoa guy came up to me and we were talking about are cars and I told him I had a shift kit, he look down and shook his head. He said the cuase more damage then good and never told me why. I just said police cars use them from day one and dont really have problems that im aware of

i have to agree with ray, i rather have live tech support!

If you bought the Bauman shift kit would it be a good idea to replace the 1-2 and 2-3 accumulator pistons?


Yes, best idea. Not only replace that, but depending on the year of your car, and how many miles you have on it, you can upgrade other things too. Baumann will ask you what year and how many miles you have on it, then recommend other parts to replace in the tranny. I do not remember the parts, but I purchased them as well and replaced them while I had the valve body out.......Baumann has EXCELLENT tech support and EXTREMELY knowledgable ppl.

The part I do not understand, and maybe someone can explain it to me like I am 2, but if you install a shift kit, or if you do the J-Mod you increase your line pressure inside the tranny. Basically you are modifying the seperator plate that goes between the tranny and the valve body. With the shift kit you are basically doing the same thing. There really is no difference. :Beer

Ya at the track the other day, a tccoa guy came up to me and we were talking about are cars and I told him I had a shift kit, he look down and shook his head. He said the cuase more damage then good and never told me why. I just said police cars use them from day one and dont really have problems that im aware of

Mention that you have a "TransGo" in your 4R70W to a TCCoA member and he will declare Modular Jihad on your ass...

Repeat, :Read the site's & make your own decision." I did a J-Mod & picked the size holes I needed for the amount of HP I have. The instructions are straight forward if you aren't hesitent about going into your tranny. I know some have bashed Baumen, but they seem really to be praising the J-Mod. Other than price being able to select your hp range, i.e. up to 300, 300 to 450, etc. like others above I think they are the same & actually I don't know that Baumen doesn't give the option to pick hp ranges as well, someone else can tell you that. But as Geno said, change both accumulators. I left the 2/3 spring out & changed top & bottom springs in the 1/2. If yours are not broken, if they haven't been changed, you should change them anyway. Either choice you will love the results. Good luck, Ed :cool:

Baumman gives 5 levels, while they don't give specific HP numbers they give the typical application for each level, way more useful than just HP numbers IMO.

Baumman gives 5 levels, while they don't give specific HP numbers they give the typical application for each level, way more useful than just HP numbers IMO.

:I :Beer :I :Beer

Politics, religion, shift kits, chips, ... such divisive issues. :F

Can't we all just get along? :W

One more time...

Baumann Instructions (http://imageevent.com/driller/baumannshiftkit) :give

Jmod - Instructions (http://www.tccoa.com/articles/tranny/index.html) :repost:

You decide, it's YOUR car.

Did I say... Baumann ROCKS! :D

Did I say... Baumann ROCKS! :D

:I :Beer :I :Beer

well, i have neither, and i need one or the other, and i have ridden in a couple Jmod cars, 1 mark, 1 Bird (mid 13sec blown 3.8 non SuperCoupe) and i havent really liked the shifting from either.. 1-2 is too harsh, engagement into drive/reverse is too harsh, 2-3 shift is too soft.. i have never been in a Baumann equipped car, so i cant compare, but as basically the concensus in this thread is trying to say.. DONT LISTEN TO TCCOI (*cough* i mean TCCOA)
9 out of 10 people over there just recite what someone read and spout it as if they wrote it and believe it as gospel.. its 1 step away from a ricer board..

If the 1-2 shift on a J-mod car is too harsh, just keep the lower 1-2 spring in. The 2-3 should come out always...

well, i have neither, and i need one or the other, and i have ridden in a couple Jmod cars, 1 mark, 1 Bird (mid 13sec blown 3.8 non SuperCoupe) and i havent really liked the shifting from either.. 1-2 is too harsh, engagement into drive/reverse is too harsh,


Too harsh for who?

2-3 shift is too soft..

Again, too soft for who? Was it even your car?

Perhaps the owner of the car liked it that way.

I J-modded my Mark VIII to a low setting and found that the shifts weren't strong enough for my liking. So I drilled the holes to a higher setting and things were more to my liking.

The J-Mod can be modded for different shift feels, so don't put a negative conotation on the whole process because you didn't like what the car you rode in was set to.
If I've interpretted the above posts correctly, the Baumann kit also offers different settings.

i have never been in a Baumann equipped car, so i cant compare, but as basically the concensus in this thread is trying to say.. DONT LISTEN TO TCCOI (*cough* i mean TCCOA)
9 out of 10 people over there just recite what someone read and spout it as if they wrote it and believe it as gospel.. its 1 step away from a ricer board..

There are a lot of real pros over there too; people who know what they're talking about (Driller; DirtyDog).

Don't ignore what people say purely because those people are just repeating what the pros say; you might be ignoring some good advice.

That said, the J-mod was thought up by someone who helped design the 4R70W; that is a fact. The instructions were easy for me to follow and doing it to my car only cost me the price of a couple of drill bits.

on this topic, which POS shift kit company sellsa kit that comes with a solid aluminum 1-2 accum retainer, and solid-wound spring to 'shim" the lower spring in the 1-2?

Because which ever company that is, they're JUNK. I've taken apart 3 trannies so far that came with this "kit" previously installed, and who ever makes it, should be shot.
They cost these poor tranny owner's new cases...The lower 'shim" spring gets cocked sideways once the line pressure is increased, causing case damage, and the solid aluminum retainer comes apart in chunks.

I dont know the Bauman, so I cant say anything(good or bad) about it. I am a JMOD bandwagon rider, and I ride shotgun!

which POS shift kit company sellsa kit that comes with a solid aluminum 1-2 accum retainer, and solid-wound spring to 'shim" the lower spring in the 1-2?

Sounds like TransGo; I remember Jerry blasting them because they did something to the 1-2 assembly similar to what you describe. NEVER use TransGo in a 4R70W transmission; you're asking for trouble sooner or later...

I have 13 pieces... YES 13! that had to be pulled out(not "fell out") from a 1-2 bore. 13 friggin pieces of shrapnel. The tranny had this so-called "shift kit" in it for 30k miles. Stock engine, so it isnt like it over-powered the kit.

I know some will blame "installation", but we all know, there is only one way to install a 1-2. if it works for 30k miles, it had to be installed right.

Only drawback is...the junk still had the old-style 1-2 piston, so a strong magnet wouldnt help be drag the beat up piston out. Hard to believe it STILL shifted...sporatically shifted, but still shifted.

Trans-go, huh?...good to know.

Yep, TG. I'll see if I can find that JW post on his thoughts about TransGo...

Too harsh for who?



Again, too soft for who? Was it even your car?

Perhaps the owner of the car liked it that way.

I J-modded my Mark VIII to a low setting and found that the shifts weren't strong enough for my liking. So I drilled the holes to a higher setting and things were more to my liking.

The J-Mod can be modded for different shift feels, so don't put a negative conotation on the whole process because you didn't like what the car you rode in was set to.
If I've interpretted the above posts correctly, the Baumann kit also offers different settings.



There are a lot of real pros over there too; people who know what they're talking about (Driller; DirtyDog).

Don't ignore what people say purely because those people are just repeating what the pros say; you might be ignoring some good advice.

That said, the J-mod was thought up by someone who helped design the 4R70W; that is a fact. The instructions were easy for me to follow and doing it to my car only cost me the price of a couple of drill bits.


For me on both accounts.. no, it wasnt my car, and i wasnt worried about what they liked, its their car, they did it the way they wanted it.. i was just giving my opinion of what i would want if it was my car.. thats all.. i dont have a baumann kit to compare to so...

Here it is:

Having helped design and worked on the trans that's in your GT, probably working on it before most on this board had drivers licenses, and being the Jerry of the Jerry Mod, I think I'm qualified to pipe in here and add my 2 cents....

I dont' care who recommends what, TransGo=bad. Here is why.

Once upon a time, oh 10 years or so ago, a higher up at the Blue Oval mandated to us that we make the transmission shift out of manual low gear into 2nd even if you didn't move the shifter. Kicking and screaming we complied. Starting in the late 90's we were able to change this back due to early retirement packages.

Along comes TransGo trying to be hero. They are going to change a whole bunch of stuff in the valve body to prevent the trans shifing out of manual low. All the shift valves get replaced, the solenoid pressure regulator valve, the manual valve, etc. All of this is done in an attempt to prevent it from shifting out of manual low and a few things like that. They are trying to take the control away from the EEC and put it in the trans. If you want to do this, buy a manual valvebody and be done with it.

Here's the problem.

TransGo doesn't realize there are things called production tolerances and stack ups. About one in every 20 TransGo kits won't shift. I have talked to some people on this board that have had this problem. Why doesn't it shift? They cannot account for all the variances in the valve body when trying to do something mechanically that should be done electronically. This is bad, very, very bad. A 5% failure rate is out of control. How lucky do you feel?

Next issue with TransGo. They put a TV pressure blow off valve in the valve body right under the main regulator valve in the cover plate on the bottom of the trans. They claim this is to prevent TV pressure spikes which occur in the trans. I bet I have personally done the post morteums on 500 trans's and looked over a few thousand others. I have taken more pressure data than can be imagined. Guess what? I have NEVER seen an excessive TV pressure spike, ever. The main reason I think they did this is because again, they are trying to change something that should be changed electronically. They change the main regulator valve spring to have a "flatter" line pressure curve based on TV pressure. The problem with changing that spring, you make so much line pressure that you will explode the clutch cylinders. So they add this blow off valve to keep TV pressure to some set limit. Two issues here. One, this should be done electronically by asking for more pressure (there are reasons why this is bad, but I'll get to that later) and not trying to override the electronics. Two, if you ever take the pan off of a trans, even one that functions well, you'll see friction material in the pan, totally normal. What happens when one of these little pieces of material lodge in the blow off valve and have it bleeding off because it doesn't seat? I can answer that, you get your trans rebuilt.

While this may be enough to convince you, I'll give you one more.

Anyone out there with a transgo kit notice that when you are in 1st gear and mash it, about half way through low gear the car seems to really take off (this would be mainly on blower cars, not N/A cars), almost like a turbo kicking in? Ever wonder what this is? It's the freaking trans slipping from the shift kit.

There is a circuit in the valve body to feed the torque converter. Under certain conditions, high pressure demand, lower RPM (<3000) the production valve body will reduce the flow to the converter circuit to keep pressure to the clutches. TransGo gets rid of this nice feature. So you feed the converter circuit full bore all the time. While this is great if you have enough pump flow, but you don't until you really get the pump spinning. So what happens? The line pressure, hence the pressure to the clutches, drops and is not what it should be. In fact, in many cases it drops enough to make the forward clutch slip.

Do you know nothing in the valve body causes shudder? It's a breakdown of the oil/friction interface in the converter causing a stick/slip condition? How do you fix this in the valve body? You rape the converter clutch circuit to slam it on. That way when shudder does happen the friction is so fried you need a new friction disc. You can lock the converter faster electronically. Change your trans fluid ever 21k like you should and you'll never have shudder.

Still want a TransGo? If you think PI knows more than I do then go ahead and get one. I didn't see any of them sitting next to me in the early 90's when we were designing this.

In all honesty it's not that hard to do. You remove two springs and drill about 4-5 holes, that's it.

If your still leary, and have the valve body out, when I come to TX next month I'll do it. Nothing like a chick in her 01 GT modding her own valve body....

Do you know nothing in the valve body causes shudder? It's a breakdown of the oil/friction interface in the converter causing a stick/slip condition? How do you fix this in the valve body? You rape the converter clutch circuit to slam it on. That way when shudder does happen the friction is so fried you need a new friction disc. You can lock the converter faster electronically. Change your trans fluid ever 21k like you should and you'll never have shudder.

:I Infinite wisdom displayed on those two issues.

I've seen too many try to fix 'shudder' without understanding the why's and how's of 'shudder'.

20K intervals(max) on the fluid(Merc V) is the best preventative medicine in the 4R70W.

{Rant on}

Ole JW can be a cantankerous fella, but his legacy of the Jmod is indisputable. Having said that, why do I have the Baumann? Well, past all the jive talk, and I am no tranny expert by any means, but I understand the tranny and how it works, and after ordering the Baumann I didn't run and install it, I studied it. I compared it. I analyzed it. I was prepared to go with the Jmod if the evidence convinced me. In the final analysis, I believe the Baumann shift kit accomplished the same results in almost the same manner with a couple of very minor but distinct differences.

If you can't read the TCCOA Jmod articles and understand it, maybe you're not qualified to make this decision and actually would be better off with the Jmod. And I'll be the first in line to tell you if you jump on the Baumann and throw it in haplessly at max levels across the board, say goodnight Irene to your 4R70W.

I had over 50 track runs with the Baumann shift kit last year. I have 25+ this year. Countless more WOT takeoffs on the street. My tranny could blow up tomorrow, being an early production with so many maladies, hell, it still had the 1-800 number do not service tag on the pan. But I'll never be convinced the Baumann shift kit caused it. I know Geno and Ray have recommended Baumann from day one. I know I had to drive a couple Mark VIII's with the Baumann kit before I was convinced. I personally installed mine as I would trust very, very few to do it. If you can't do the homework and sell yourself on it, don't blame me. I put up the Baumann instructions on my photo album site for those who want to see for themselves before they put out money.

I am NOT against the J-mod. Everyone says the Jmod costs nothing. BS. Find the drill bits. Get the gaskets. Buy the spring(s) -(which one?). It's not free. Who you gonna call when you you have a problem? Aamco? (I know, I know, you can call Craig!) I talked to Greg at Baumann when I bought mine. He's alive. A real person who has real answers. It's sort of comfortable knowing you reach out and touch someone if you need to. Now, how much is the Baumann kit? Oh, and don't forget the filter, pan gasket(maybe), accumulator(s), fluid, ...

On top of all this you need to really assess your capabilities, or the capabilities of the installer. J-mod or Baumann, you have the capacity to really screw up. And if it's not right and you don't correct it IMMEDIATELY, you'll be needing a new tranny, trust me. Do it right or have it done right, and you'll be grinning ear to ear!

{rant off}

:wrench

Everyone says the Jmod costs nothing. BS. Find the drill bits. Get the gaskets. Buy the spring(s) -(which one?). It's not free. Oh, and don't forget the filter, pan gasket(maybe), accumulator(s), fluid, ...


Most of those things are not a part of the J-Mod.

The J-Mod is drilling holes, and removing springs that are already there.
That's it. There's nothing else.

Any purchasing of new accumulators/springs has nothing to do with the J-Mod.

And you're mentioning fluid? So the Baumann kit comes with new transmission fluid? Right...

The J-Mod is not free, but you still save money.

I meant to say Darrin and DirtyD0g, in an earlier post (no offense).

Mention that you have a "TransGo" in your 4R70W to a TCCoA member and he will declare Modular Jihad on your ass...


I had one in my 95 cougar....also had a 2200 stall n 4.10.....along w/ other stuf.... no wrong w/ it...never had problems :N

Most of those things are not a part of the J-Mod.

The J-Mod is drilling holes, and removing springs that are already there.
That's it. There's nothing else.

Any purchasing of new accumulators/springs has nothing to do with the J-Mod.

And you're mentioning fluid? So the Baumann kit comes with new transmission fluid? Right...

The J-Mod is not free, but you still save money.

Nevermind. :Bang

I want to put a shift kit into my mark and I checked Baumann website but I cant find what I want. Isn't there a complete valve body replacement I can get. Any help would be great. :feedback

Here's what I did on my ;93:

1-2 and 2-3 accumulator upgrade. You can search and find many
posts for this job. Easy to do.

Baumann shift kit with conservative level 2 drilling.

Mercon V fluid.

Transmission temp guage.

I'm very happy with the results; smoother, firmer shifts, better downshift when I punch it to pass someone, no more shudder from 1st to 2nd.

Oh yeah, one more thing........Baumann Rocks!!
:steering