Tranny out!

[StinkinLinkinLS01]

So the Xcal II finally killed my tranny.

I haven't been using the Xcal's tunes in the last few months due to the extremely rough shifts it was delivering at WOT that many of you seen me express my concerns about.

Well I had the tune programmed for the MAX perf +4 b/c I went to the track the other weekend.

The rough shifts only occured at WOT and otherwise the drive was pretty normal. A couple days ago I was forced to speed up to get onto the highway when a rough 2-3 shift gave my car an uneasy jolt. Soon after the message center read "Check Transmission" and the power seemed to reduce, either that or I was stuck in gear, couldn't really tell being the gear # on the dash displayed an "E" as in Emergency rather than a # for the gear. I immediatly pulled into a gas station directly off the highway, flashed my car back to stock and got a tow to the dealership. I've got full warranty and the car has 91,xxx miles so the stealship shouldn't have a problem covering it.

I'm not that upset being I get a new transmission for $100, but I'm done with the XCal II. Some people (quik) might like to contest that the XCal had nothing to do with this and that I'm somehow responsible for this but those of who have been following my displeasure with this device from day one know the stiff shifts were the first thing I worried about breaking my transmission.

If anyone wants to buy feel free to make me an offer, I'm hoping Torrie will refund me something as he all ready offered to do so a while back. Buyer beware, if the WOT shifts while using the XCal cause your belts to squeak a little bit and jolt the entire vehicle then watch out, your tranny is on the demise...

 

[beaups]

If you got the "e" and check transmission it sounds like you may just have a solenoid out. And that also could explain your rougher shifts. Those of us that have KILLED transmissions don't seem to get the "check transmission" or "E". Just fyi...

 

[2001LS8Sport]

It is indeed possible that a rough shift can damage a tranny. Broken sprags, bent or broken splines, lugs breaking cases, etc etc. I've seen it on dozens of trannys over the years that were modified for racing. That's why racing versions of otherwise bulletproof transmissions are so damned expensive. Tons of upgrades. But rather than blame the SCT, I would have been in touch with the tuner immediately and had him soften the shifts.

 

[Mac98SHO]

Actually firmer shifts extend the tranny life for the most part......and how may miles you have on the tranny. Slippage causes heat and excessive heat causes wear and failure over time.

I am a firm believer anything over 100K on the a ford tranny you are living on borrowed time. Though there is always eception to the rule.. I am really surprised I have about 180K on my SHO tranny.. which they have been known to fail, mainly in the TC side.

 

[LincolnTech38]

Yeah great let ford/warranty company pay for your screw up. Man up and pay for the trans yourself.

Thanks for taking money out of my pocket.

 

[Quik LS]

Well - since you mentioned me by name....

You been running your LS hard for the last few months - recently coming off the dragstrip. That is hard on your car, transmission and rear-end.

You've been complaining about the lack of performance you received/not received from the XCal since you got it.

Ever think that your transmission was already at the start of a problem and beating it up on the track put it over the line?

It's easy to blame things.

I blame my XCal for excessive rear tire tread wear.

I blame myslef when I am hard on my car and it breaks - which I have done many, many times (I am a slow learner).

 

[jumpman6235]

Yeah great let ford/warranty company pay for your screw up. Man up and pay for the trans yourself.

Thanks for taking money out of my pocket.

How about Ford "man up" and pay for everyones valve cover gaskets/coils/plugs

cost me about $500

 

[beaups]

and how about ford "man up" and pay for all the stabilizer bars, and PCV repairs and trannys that weren't abused, etc. etc. LincolnTech I agree w/you to a certain degree, however these cars take their tolls on owners' pocketbooks pretty good. Its sort of nice in a way to see someone get a little back. NOt to mention if it's esp then those are underwritten, so no money out of your (or Ford's) pocket anyhow.

 

[TheRebel]

Actually firmer shifts extend the tranny life for the most part......and how may miles you have on the tranny. Slippage causes heat and excessive heat causes wear and failure over time.
.

I've always heard that but didn't know it was ture. Makes sense though. Kind of like riding a clutch wears it out a lot quicker. Just the same I had my shifts tuned down a bit on my car because even if it is safe. It does make you wonder.

I bet beaups is right and it is just a solenoid. My car did the same thing when a solenoid went out before I had a xcal.

 

[hockey930]

Ford shouldn't put a tranny in that mans car?? what????? With all of the mess up's ford has had between gaskets, bushings, coilpacks and more. He learned a lesson and he's done, he's not going to do it again. If he continued to do what he did I might feel bad. I'm sure ford has already gotten thier money out of him. Unless he was doing neutral drops or something I woulnd't feel to bad about it.

 

[Fla02LS]

That does suck about the tranny, but for $100 it should work out to be a good thing, so this isnt directed at you. I have criticized the xcal and most of the mods that people do and now your car is an example. Dont care what anyone has to say otherwise but the LS is not a car to be screwing around with, especially when just about everyone here has their LS as a daily driving car. When people tend to do mods they abuse the car and it will eventually break. People like quik might be able to throw some stuff together but even if it ever does work on a reliable basis it'll be his tranny or rear end or something else. I am sure the coil issues are also something that gets advanced by the harsh driving. I guess i'll just keep my LS stock which may seem boring but i promise i wont have near the problems most have had. I dont wish problems on anyone but it sure makes for good reading when ya'll post "this broke" kind of stuff. Keep up the mods and make sure to be the first one to the next stoplight. Race on.

 

[DLS8K]

Yeah great let ford/warranty company pay for your screw up. Man up and pay for the trans yourself.

Thanks for taking money out of my pocket.

Doesn't the dealership get paid the same?

 

[DLS8K]

How about Ford "man up" and pay for everyones valve cover gaskets/coils/plugs

cost me about $500

You bought a used car. Pay for it yourself. If you wanted to not have to pay anything for repairs than you should have bought a new car. If you can't afford a new car, than enjoy paying for the repairs on your used one. Or you could learn how to work on your own car.

 

[DLS8K]

Ford shouldn't put a tranny in that mans car?? what????? With all of the mess up's ford has had between gaskets, bushings, coilpacks and more. He learned a lesson and he's done, he's not going to do it again. If he continued to do what he did I might feel bad. I'm sure ford has already gotten thier money out of him. Unless he was doing neutral drops or something I woulnd't feel to bad about it.

It's the facts of owning a used car.......cars have problems and they require fixing. Is Ford responsible for the faulty parts? Unless they cause a safety concern than I would say no. Once the car is out of warranty, the cost is left up to the consumer.

 

[DLS8K]

and how about ford "man up" and pay for all the stabilizer bars, and PCV repairs and trannys that weren't abused, etc. etc. LincolnTech I agree w/you to a certain degree, however these cars take their tolls on owners' pocketbooks pretty good. Its sort of nice in a way to see someone get a little back. NOt to mention if it's esp then those are underwritten, so no money out of your (or Ford's) pocket anyhow.

Again I say........its a used car. Expect to spend money fixing it.

 

[2001LS8Sport]

Actually firmer shifts extend the tranny life for the most part......and how may miles you have on the tranny. Slippage causes heat and excessive heat causes wear and failure over time.

That is true...up to a point. The firmer shifts are better for the clutches, but a lot worse on the hard parts. Like any performance upgrade, if you don't upgrade the components along with it, things will break. Sprags, shafts, planetary assemblies, Torrington bearings, bands and servos, and of course, cases...hard shifts are death on them. I have plenty of "souveniers" left over from my racing days. That's why a transmission properly built for hard use is so damned expensive. The upgraded components to handle the hard shifts and horsepower are exotic and priced accordingly.

 

[2001LS8Sport]

Yeah great let ford/warranty company pay for your screw up. Man up and pay for the trans yourself.

Thanks for taking money out of my pocket.

I agree with you. If you're going to play, foot the bill for it. Don't ask Ford to "sponser" you. Besides, if a dealership suspects you have been using an SCT tuner, and they REALLY want to find out, there is a way to prove it. Just ask any SVT rep. They know exactly where to look when they tap into the ECM.

 

[beaups]

OK. 1st, tranny is probably not shot. 2nd, you guys mean to tell me that if you were in the exact same situation and the dealer offered to fix it under ESP (this is NOT ford's money BTW) you guys would say "no, let me pay for it cause its my fault". You're either a.) ignorant....b.) lying....or c.) both. That's the biggest mouth turd i've heard in months.

 

[DixieRambler]

So the Xcal II finally killed my tranny.

If anyone wants to buy feel free to make me an offer, I'm hoping Torrie will refund me something as he all ready offered to do so a while back. Buyer beware, if the WOT shifts while using the XCal cause your belts to squeak a little bit and jolt the entire vehicle then watch out, your tranny is on the demise...

Let me know if you still want to get rid of that Xcal! If it makes you feel better, I cooked my transmission on the dyno a couple of months ago while tuning my Lightning bastard. Tune had nothing to do with it. I guess it could not take the abuse after 117K on the OEM 4RW70. Hope it all works out for you!

Thanks,

Jim

 

[LS4me]

OK. 1st, tranny is probably not shot. 2nd, you guys mean to tell me that if you were in the exact same situation and the dealer offered to fix it under ESP (this is NOT ford's money BTW) you guys would say "no, let me pay for it cause its my fault". You're either a.) ignorant....b.) lying....or c.) both. That's the biggest mouth turd i've heard in months.

Option 4, which escapes most of soceity today, is honesty. And since when is honesty ignorant??

I've been running tune 3 on my Xcal for over a year now. I have had no problems whatsoever! Then again, I don't abuse my luxury car by taking it to drag races.

 

[jumpman6235]

You bought a used car. Pay for it yourself. If you wanted to not have to pay anything for repairs than you should have bought a new car. If you can't afford a new car, than enjoy paying for the repairs on your used one. Or you could learn how to work on your own car.

are you serious? do you not know that this is a VERY common problem for the LS, meaning its not just another used car thing, it is flaws made by Ford, of course they wont do a recall because they will have to dish out major $$$$, so instead we are stuck paying for it... also your telling me i shouldve bought a new LS?? wouldnt the problem still arise in the future? Your saying a used Ford isnt reliable, so nobody should buy one?.. if your buying a brand new car you better be in it for a long time, cuz the second you leave that lot your resale goes down big time

 

[beaups]

Option 4, which escapes most of soceity today, is honesty. And since when is honesty ignorant??

I've been running tune 3 on my Xcal for over a year now. I have had no problems whatsoever! Then again, I don't abuse my luxury car by taking it to drag races.

Why do you have an xcal if you don't drive hard? This car was supposed to be built to be a performance sedan. Drive it hard and brake something then claim it under the extended warranty. There's nothing dishonest about that IMO. Saying "hey I drive my car real hard so you shouldn't pay for it, I will" is ignorant. Honesty is not ignorant, offering up information that will do no good other than take $2000 out of your own pocket is ignorant.

 

[TheRebel]

Why do you have an xcal if you don't drive hard? This car was supposed to be built to be a performance sedan. Drive it hard and brake something then claim it under the extended warranty. There's nothing dishonest about that IMO. Saying "hey I drive my car real hard so you shouldn't pay for it, I will" is ignorant. Honesty is not ignorant, offering up information that will do no good other than take $2000 out of your own pocket is ignorant.

I agree after all, you did pay for the warrenty so why not let it pay itself off with repairs? Are dealers being honest when they sell a car to person A for x amount and then sell the same car to person B for a lesser amount just because B haggled the price? No, if they were honest the price would have been the same for A and B. Also as mentioned above, the shop is still getting payed, only by the warrenty company instead of you.

 

[StinkinLinkinLS01]

I knew this post would spark a lot of controversy. I haven't read most of it but I think most people who criticize what I said don't know what they are talking about. I RAN THE LS TWICE AT THE TRACK. It was not hard on my car. BEFORE that I didnt even use the XCal for a good 2-3 months. I BOUGHT A CAMARO. I DON'T "BEAT" ON MY LS LIKE I DID WHEN I FIRST GOT IT.

I AGREE WITH FLA02LS. BOTTOM LINE. THE LS I NOT A RACE CAR. THAT IS WHY I KNOWINGLY PURCHASED MY CAMARO A MONTH AND A HALF AGO. I WAS SICK OF DUMPING $$ INTO THE LS "THINKING" I WAS GOING TO GO FAST.

I respect Quik and everyone else on this site who makes an effort to boost the LS' street credit. I love the car. I think Torrie is full of :q:q:q:q. I think people give that clown way too much respect for what he does. I mean, there are so many tuners out there that would blow Torrie's work out of the water. If they LS was actually a "sports car" then I'm sure there would be a much bigger market for tuners of the LS. Come to think about, most serious tuners deal with "high-performance" cars...I've heard Torrie strictly deals with the LS and if that is the case than he must not be very good dealing with the cars that really utilize tunes to go faster.

Not to gain 0.5 in the 1/4 mile or stiffen shifts so damn much that the belts squeak in the engine sounding as if I had a blowoff valve. Is that normal??!?!?! Belts squeaking when you shift 500 rpms before the redline? I shouldn't even say that because in all honesty it didn't matter where I shifted. As long as I was at WOT those shifts were hard as a mother ******.

BEAUPS WAS RIGHT. IT IS JUST A SOLENOID. SO THE XCAL DID NOT REALLY DESTROY MY TRANNY. THE DEALERSHIP HAD IT WRONG AT FIRST. THE CAR HAS 91,xxx BUT BEFORE I GOT THE XCAL (AT ABOUT 80,xxx) THE TRANSMISSION WAS FINE. THE DAY I GOT THAT THING THE SHIFTS WERE SO DAMN HARD I WAS REALLY WORRIED IT WOULD BREAK MY TRANNY. AND I SAID THAT. TO TORRIE. TO EVERYONE.

People are free to express their opinions by al means. From my EXPERIENCE I think that the Xcal could be a valuable option for LS owners, I just think that Torrie is flat out robbing people by trying to sell that thing for $400!!!

The XCal is just not worth $400!

AND **** YOU LINCOLN_TECH. WHY DON'T YOU COME OVER, DO YOUR JOB, AND FIX MY CAR YOU BUM! ;0)

AND YES. I DO TAKE MOST OF THE BLAME. I WOULD SAY THAT IT IS MOSTLY MY FAULT FOR THINKING THE LS SHOULD "GO FAST" IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I'm gonna get some nice shiny rims and just cruise. After 2 years of trial and error, that is what I think.

 

[Fla02LS]

That'll make two of us, just cruising. To me thats what Lincoln's are all about. I am sure your gonna catch some crap saying its not the mods, it was your driving. BS. Maybe with a manual, not with an auto. But i guess your supposed to be Mario Andretti to make the mods work like their supposed to. Again...BS. Its ok though, i'll take all the crap people want to throw my way, fact is, my LS's...both of them havent had near...no wait, NONE of the problems most of the people on here cry about. Its my opinion its their driving. So i'll just do my thing and let ya'll win all the races out there, but i'll be laughing to the bank with my slooooow LS. Let you guys pay the repair shops and keep them in business. Kudo's to Stinkin for seeing the light.