I called a local shop today that specializes in tranny work. I want to prepare my tranny for Nitrous, NEX kit. This is in light of the long delays from Don.

I explained to the shop owner, one man operation, that I am interested in getting my VB upgrade. The guy spends about 15-20 minutes telling me that doing a VB upgrade will significantly shorten the life of my auto-tranny.

You get what you pay for......etc.etc. Upgrade the bands yaddy yaddy yaddy.

I kept an open mind as the guy does a lot of race work and has about 18 years of experience with transmission work, developed a patent etc. and thinks that he knows everything about tranny's. He is entitled to his opinion however, most of what he told me directly contradicts what I have read here about other Maxima owner's experiences. Not from a book but from your first hand trial and error efforts.

He was pushing me towards an upgrade.

I have a 1997 GLE with 98,000 miles on it. For the majority of it's life, it was driven with care and consideration. I bought the car at 47,000 miles from my father in law. Almost all of my miles are highway miles and the car has been babied.

Tranny was recently flushed and the old fluid was in excellent shape.

I do not beat the car.

However, I just ordered a NEX kit and will be installing my MEVI.

The car will be seeing more wear and tear and I do plan to hit the track.

Are there any owners here that wrecked their tranny with a VB upgrade?

I have and do read almost all of the posts here and have yet to discover one person with the VB that is unhappy with it.

VB users, what kind of mileage are you putting gon your cars and what kind of boost are you running?
-SC
-Nitrous

Why would I be told the VB upgrade will reduce the life of the tranny?



Please advise! Flames are welcome from the more ASTUTE post ******.

DL

 

the few hours he spends doing tranny work for you could be spent doing easier and more common work for a soccer mom and getting paid the same ammount. think about it, when you don't want to do something you give people reasons, whether they are true or not, to rethink the favor they're asking you for.

 

my vb mod has been holding up great. i put it on with around 87k on my tranny.

there has not been a problem for me. i love the vb recalibration.

secound my turn around time from don in texas was 3 days. sent it out mon got it back wed. the problems he has been having are with the 5th gen guys. i think for some reason. but then i don't really know how many 4th geners are still waiting on there vb from don.

i have not had any problems as of yet.

hope this helps

 

yup i think it's teh 5th gen guys, i emailed him y'day, got a response back today, 2 responses.

 

Well, I don't know how the VB would destroy your tranny when it prevents wear due to slipping and excessive heat. The forces of the shift could feel harsh when laying on it. It could be hard on engine mounts, cv joints or maybe the gears. Thus far we haven't seen these kinds of problems in the auto from adding the VB.
By the way, Don isn't the only one who stand by the VB mod. Level 10 does also.

 

JDMmax, did you get your nitrous running yet?
Deezo do you have the VB mod? Where did you get it done?

Right now redmaxpa007 and myself are installing his tranny cooler and tranny temp gauge.

I just think the guy may not be real familiar with the whole thing.

anyway, some 4th gen guys I know are still waiting for the VB mod. It could be Don does not have enough cores?

Anyway, thanks in advance!

DL

 

I don't have one but I drove Medicsonic's Max with the Level 10 VB upgrade.

 

I've had mine for about 6-8 months now. I installed it myself and got it from Don. I am really satisfied with the results and how it performs. I did not have the trouble some of the guys on the org are having in turn around times. As for your friend at the shop, he is probably just trying to tell you that he basically doesn't know, doesn't want to, or doesnt' have the time to do it (as someone else mentioned). You will be hard pressed to find "upgrades" for our auto tranny. I researched for a while before having mine rebuilt. The only thing really readily available is probably a beefed up torque converter. I don't know anywhere where to get "bigger" bands or clutches, as our trannies are basically rebuilt from an oem kit. This is probably a good reason why you SHOULD get a VB mod, stronger converter, and cooler. There is really nothing else available, short of getting a level 10 tranny, that you can upgrade. I may be wrong, and honestly I hope to be since I have an auto and would love to find stronger aftermarket parts to "bullet proof" the tranny.

 

It seems to me:

VB Mod + Hayden Tranny Cooler = As close to bulletproof as one can get.

I got my VB Mod in and the car responds better and the shifts feel FAR more solid (no slipping, which I did get occasionally on cold mornings before)

And Don's turnaround time for me was literally 12 hours between Seattle and Texas.

Don rocks.
IanS

 

theoretically the vb should shorten the trannies life. i agree witht he mechanic u are talkin' to. the valve body consists of a few washers and a stiffer spring for the fifth gen. no drilling is needed. (total cost of parts can't be more than 20bux) the valve body recalibration just allows the fluid to flow at a higher rate. it's basically raising the over all flow rate even at lower rpms (that's why we are running tranny coolers with it, higher flow, more heat). the valve body makes the shifts more "firm" from that more stress is put on the clutch plates. imagine driving a stick and speed shifting, instead of easing off the clutch after you shift you punch the clutch in and dump it instantly, that wears down on the clutch alot more. because of the firmer shifts, our engine mounts also take a bigger hit during shifts. i've noticed, with alot of people that don't have the vb mod, when u punch it and go wot all the way the shifts are just as firm compared to our cars that have the vb recalibration. there is no proof that the vb extends to life of the tranny and there is also no proof that it does either. just put a little physics into it. more heat, rougher transition (energy) means more wear and tear. the only reason i got the vb mod was because of the "sale" and i hadn't put much research into it and i didn't know what the parts consists of.. i remeber a few years back someone was playing with the signal wire for line pressure and the tranny shifted very hard, i guess that would be the better route, as long as someoen can find a way to adjust using an adustable resister without frying nothing.

the above is my opinion, and anyone is welcome to contradict it.
daniel

 

Did you send him your VB?

 

You have got to remember that 5spd is totally different in both physics and mechanics. The auto trannies have bands, clutches, and torque converters. The oem tranny/ecu are designed for smooth and even more important SLOW shifts. The tranny is spinning on it's bands and clutches during that transition between gears, similar to a 5spd that has it's clutch "ridden". Therefor, the tranny will wear out faster when it, everyday, shifts over and over again lagging between gears. The VB mod makes that transition as close to instantaneous as possible, thereby not allowing the clutches/bands to "slip" between engagements to the next gear change. The tranny cooler is beneficial not only with the mod, but it also helps w/o the mod. Trans. fluid is designed to be more efficient and last longer at a certain range of temp. The lower the temp that it sustains for a longer amount of time, the less it "breaks down". That is why a tranny cooler is beneficial.

I don't know of anyone's oem tranny (w/o the mod) that shifts as you have stated. I had my tranny for over 50k before rebuilding and adding the VB mod. It never shifted "hard" at all. As a matter of fact, when I initially rebuilt the tranny I had a "shift kit" installed and it did nothing different than oem. The shifts were smooth, but slow.

The anology of a 5spd to an auto would be more accurate if you said that a 5spd, to compare longevity, would shift not as a speed shift but as a slow and "riding the clutch" shift. This type of shifting will wear out a clutch on a 5spd substantially faster than speed shifting ever would and it comes as a closer comparison to what an auto tranny shifts like when it's still oem (lag between gear changes). Also take into consideration that under "normal" conditions the auto tranny does not shift at high rpms (as your analogy of speed shifting would suggest) thereby again not making it an accurate analogy. Remember that once either the 5spd or auto "engages" the bands/clutch and go into gear, the wear of each after that comes from the power and not the engaging itself (in it's simplest form since I know that there are other variables such as already worn parts that will cause the downfall of either also).

You may be absolutely correct that it does make for additional stress on motor mounts and the like because it does shift "harsher" and more positive, but that's another issue all together. Personally, I would rather change motor mounts than tranny.

 

hehehe yeah i got my kit running. and i got my first spray in last night. wow heheheh what a difference. i turn on arm the kit and leave from the light and as i punched it. the integra GSR next to me also punched it. heheheheheheheheheehe yeahhhh he got walked on. hehehehehehehehehe

any ways i did everything by myself. with a little help from my gf. heheheh i don't see why i sould pay someone for installing something like this on my car. and i would have no idea what they did. just in case i ever had to trouble shoot a problem.

 

Yes. Overnight.

 

Domestic guys have been recalibrating automatic transmission valvebodies for decades now. Hear any of them talking about it killing your tranny? Nope.

 

Oh, and by the way, I had the VB on my auto (sig pic). Just so you guys dont think I'm some random guy busting in with useless info.

 

Good point. Most tranny shops know how to do those,they just don't know how to do ours. On domestics, usually a "shift kit" will work and net similar results. It's much easier and widely known how to do than ours. Only a handful of people know how to do ours, and they're not telling how....

 

Thanks Ian and Jamie.

I was glad to hear from some of you running more power.

Jamie, what did you do for you rebuild and what did it cost you?

Was it a preventative measure?

How big a shot are you running now?

I had a NOS kit I was going to install but I sold it and am moving in another direction.

I obviously do not have the VB and my main concern is downtime with sedning it away and getting it back in a prompt and efficient timeframe. My car is my daily driver so I need it!

Also, I am kind of surprised this thread is not whored up



Dave in York

 

people dont' always speed shift at high rpms. and using the analogy of riding the clutch with a 5speed isn't apropriate because the shifting of the auto isn't that slow. perhaps i'm just so lucky that every auto 5th gen i tend to drive shifts as hard as the VB at WOT it must be a fluke. but having driven 5 or 6 different 5th gens that have firm shifts has convinced me that it is more than a fluke to me. i am aware that alot of domestics have been doing this mod for years but like i said there's no evidence that the vb mod lengthens the life of the tranny nor is there evidence that the vb mod shortens the life of the tranny. jamiecbr900 your side of the argument is very similar to what don has advertised before however i'm still not convinced.

 

down time may vary. i'm not sure if you looked up posts regarding the down time other people have experienced with the vb. it didn't take long for me to get mine, but it was longer than i expected. and there is a annoying buzz coming from my tranny oil pain. don claimbs no other members with this mod has had this problem, however every maxima that i've seen locallly with this mod has the same buzz sound as me but theirs is just alot less audible.. and i am confident enough to say it is not installers error on my part, i've been formally trained in automotive tech and have pulled the vb out adn put it back in twice in hopes of me being at fault, however, no luck, the tranny buzzes like crazy. the only thing i have successfully done to reduce the noise of the vb was to raise my idle by adjusting the set screw on the throttle body. however the ecu keeps self adjusting the idle to drop down lower.. i'm not saying this mod is the worst mod ever, i'm just saying the money can be spent elsewhere. but if you're considering on doing this mod i recomend doing it when you need to flush out the tranny that way you don't waste "good oil" i've went through countless bottles of redline and that hit me real real hard.

 

I got my valve body done at Maximum Tuning in long island. the shifts are a lot firmer and the car feels great..i dunno if itll kill the tranny or not.. i got it like last month. i just dropped off my car and picked it up the next morning. but from what ive heard, except for mingo, everyone thinks that the vb is a big plus for the max. one more thing..i thing its recommended that you change your solenoids if you have more than like 70,000 miles.

 

solenoids??

 

My rebuild was a total rebuild of all internal parts that are normally replaced (bands, clutches, torque converter, etc.) with no "hard" parts like the gears or differential changed. It ran me around $1800 because I used a more expensive handbuilt converter.

I am running approx. a 120 shot DPI.

 

Any shifting, hard or soft, only involves the engagement and disengagement of either clutches or bands. If you shift "hard" as I stated before, the engagement part is the only part involved that would possibly cause any damage. If you have a positive shift (i.e. it engages hard w/o any slipping), you either grab or you don't. The slipping of the clutches/bands is what causes a substantially bigger amount of wear than does the actual engagement. On oem auto trannies the shifts are slow and meticulous in order to keep them smooth, which in turn means slipping the clutches slower and engaging in a lagging motion. I have had 2 auto maximas, a 2nd gen and a 4th, and neither shifted "hard" at all at any throttle position. I have had people ride in my car with both 4th gen and 5th gen cars and all have said the exact same thing, "I'm sold on the VB mod". The reason why I said that a 5spd riding the clutch is similar is because that's the closest to "lag" that a 5spd has since it always (barring bad clutch already) shifts positively.

I understand you're not convinced, and that is perfectly fine to express your opinion. Maybe this young man asking for personal feedback will make a more educated decision since he did not get 100% positive feedback. After all he is attempting to mod a maxima instead of a Honda.....so it's all good anyway.

 

There are 4 "solenoids" (actually they're more like actuators) on the VB itself. They are responsible for electrically opening different passages for fluid to flow thru and the tranny to shift.

 

Question: What is the 4th Gen Auto Tranny Model Code? I have a 3rd gen VE Auto and my code is RE4F04V. I'm just wondering if they're the same exact tranny with the same valve body.

 

which company did your rebuild? i plan to get my tranny rebuilt too after i blow it.. it's gotta hold up to over 400ponies tho.. i knwo level ten warranties their trannies for life and boast that they can handle 600hp

 

I had an individual who owns a tranny shop rebuild mine. He and I both did some research before hand to try and find beefier parts to replace it with, but found none except for the torque converter. Level 10 trannies have mixed reviews, do a search and you'll see. I know a guy who has it on his Supra Turbo race car, and he loves it. Considering he's running something sick like 500+ Hp to the ground he really needed it. I don't know that I'd pay that kind of money for a tranny to later find out that it's not worth it. I thought about that myself, but figured that since mine was around $1800 then I could afford to go through atleast a couple before reaching the price of one Level 10. Just my thoughts though.

What are you gonna run that's gonna net 400 HP?

 

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think for 4th gen auto's= RE4F04A. Not sure if VB's are the same since codes for the tranny are different.

 

i'll tell u when it happens he he he. yeah i've read alot on the level ten reviews.. i hear they have real bad customer service too..

the 4th and 5th gen vb are different.. for the 4th gen a hole had to be enlarged using a drill, a few washers added here and there and a stiffer spring. but for the 5th gen only a few washers were added plus ONE spring was replaced.

 

Uhhhh..... nope. There are no washers in the VB.

 

I don't know much about the schematics of the VB other than it looks like a mini maze. All I can say is that everyone that rides in my car that doesn't have one has the same reaction....Dang the tranny slams the gears. Even the guy that owns the Supra I mentioned has rode in it and agrees that the shifts are very strong and quick.