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My Driveway J-mod Experience, 2000 MGM HPP around 186,350km

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    My Driveway J-mod Experience, 2000 MGM HPP around 186,350km

    I’ve finally ‘recovered’ enough to provide a thread about my driveway J-mod experience. For those who haven’t seen Rizzo’s J-mod video yet, here's a link:

    http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...o-s-Jmod-video

    and here’s a link for other J-mod info:

    http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...E-4R70W-thesis

    As some may know, I like to suck out the tranny fluid through the fill tube. Here’s a pic of my setup:

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    And here’s a pic showing how much is left in the pan:

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    The tube actually gets stopped by the filter:

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    I’ll probably cut the edge off the tube and see how that works.

    Here’s a pic showing how dark my fluid was:

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    It had been at least that bad when I changed my fluid in summer 2014.

    Here’s a pic showing how dirty my valve body was:

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    I’m guessing the detergents in the fluid had been maxed out and couldn’t hold any more gunk.

    I left the springs in. For the hole sizes, I used ones provided by 88grandmarq. When I measured mine, they didn’t seem to be perfectly round, so I recorded the largest reading I could get. Here’s a table showing the intended stock, actual, and target sizes:

    1-2/2-1 shifts:
    #1....0.160.............0.166..................... .....no change required
    #2....0.081-0.089....0.067 (yup, six seven).....0.1015 (#38 drill)
    #3....0.180.............0.167 (yup, six seven)....no change required but I filed it to 0.180

    manual 2-1 downshift:
    #7....0.078-0.081....0.080....not needed but I did 0.125 for the helluvit
    I figured it might have some use in winter driving. I haven’t gotten around to trying it yet. I keep forgetting.

    2-3/3-2 shifts:
    #4.....0.81.....0.78.....0.110 (7/64 drill)
    #5.....0.81.....0.79.....0.110 (7/64 drill)
    holes in gasket for #4&5 need expanding, I wasn’t comfortable with a 1/8 punch so I just squared them out with a blade after checking the fluid passage pattern on the old gasket
    #6....0.125....0.131....0.160 (#20 drill)

    3-4/4-3 shifts:
    #8................not used....0.236.........................not used
    gasket slot 1..very thin....0.025...........................0.100
    #9..................0.081.......0.085............. .............0.110 (7/64 drill)
    #11................0.110.......0.067 (yup, six seven)....0.110 (7/64 drill)

    reverse:
    #10....0.078-0.081....0.070 (yup, seven zero)....0.089-0.093 (I used a 3/32 drill)

    When I checked some holes after drilling, they ended up being ~0.004-0.005 over the target at their widest points (though I haven’t noticed any issues). I was planning on recording the finished sizes, but I guess it slipped my mind. I would guess the enlargement is a matter of not drilling perfectly straight and/or having cheap drill bits. I ended up with a few nasty burrs too despite putting plywood underneath. I used a magnifying glass to make sure I cleaned them up properly.

    As per 88grandmarq's suggestion, I replaced the pressure regulator valve and boost valve and sleeve. Boy did it need them:

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    While the pics make it seem that the wear on the pressure regulator valve was only in one spot, there was a little bit of wear apparent on the opposite side too. I hadn’t noticed any obvious issues with how the car drove, and it’s not something I would have thought of myself, so a big THANKS!! to 88grandmarq.

    Since I’d heard about tranny filters occasionally working their way loose and falling into the pan, I decided to use some galvanized strapping to keep it in place (especially after seeing that the suction tube hits it). I put a long piece under one valve body bolt and a short piece under another valve body bolt and bolted them together after the filter was installed:

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    I actually had a helluva time getting the filter in all the way. Getting it in part way was easy enough, but it obviously had more to go. I positioned myself to get as much pushing force from my hand as possible, and I was worried about bending the damn filter, but it eventually went in. I’d guess at least some cases of the filter falling out is people not realizing how far it’s supposed to go in.

    I didn’t bother cleaning the pan magnet and checking the old filter until afterwards. The thick stuff on the magnet seemed normal enough, but I ended up finding a few slivers of metal among that stuff when I cleaned it. I also found a bit of metal in the filter:

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    Are there any scenarios where bits of metal don’t indicate the start of an eventual premature failure?

    Performance wise, the effects have been more subtle than dramatic, but that’s just fine since I’m only interested in the life-prolonging benefit rather than anything else. If my mind is elsewhere and I’m driving casually, I might not even notice the shifts. Now that I think about it, I haven’t really noticed anything significant with the downshifts, though I haven’t really been paying attention to those. Most of the time I can feel the up-shifts. Whereas before I could not really tell when 1-2 was happening, I can tell now. It’s kind of annoying knowing 1-2 happens during turns from a stop.

    I reserve my WOT use for the highway, so I don’t know if 1-2 will chirp a tire (with open diff), but 2-3 certainly does. I really need a tire rotation now.

    One annoying thing is that reverse wasn’t benefited as much as I was hoping. The shift itself is more pronounced, but it seems that the time between the lever going into R and the start of the shift is still long. This is how I am about that:

    https://youtu.be/3-vMzPi3IDg?t=1m11s

    Overall, very happy. Thanks again 88grandmarq!
    Last edited by IPreferDIY; 12-15-2015, 09:15 PM.

    2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
    mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

    #2
    I was going to include all of my tranny filter autopsy pics in the above post, but there's a 10-pic limit, so here are the other three:

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    Last edited by IPreferDIY; 12-15-2015, 09:16 PM.

    2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
    mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

    Comment


      #3
      That is some awful dark and nasty fluid. Do you have a trans cooler? If not, I'd add one. Making the fluid run hot is usually a big factor in how fast it gets dark. Its also a big factor in how fast the trans dies.
      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

      Originally posted by phayzer5
      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

      Comment


        #4
        It has a cooler, though no idea if it actually works. According to my father's service records, he had a pan drop and filter change at ~50,000km (why the dealer didn't do a TC drain is beyond me) but nothing after. When I got it around 125,000km, I did a suck and fill with generic Dex/Merc without realizing it was supposed to be Mercon V. With the car tilted forward, I get ~4L out. When I learned about the Mercon V spec, I did another suck and fill, and I'm pretty sure another after that. It was only in summer 2014 that I learned about the TC drain plug and did a TC drain with a suck and fill. I got ~9L that time. The J-mod fluid change was ~11L. I've just been figuring it's a matter of not having changed the fluid often enough (much like my black brake fluid). Is there an easy way to test the thermostat on the cooler?

        At least the drops on the valve body are red. If those were dark, then the tranny would probably be as good as dead.
        Last edited by IPreferDIY; 12-17-2015, 12:44 PM.

        2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
        mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

        Comment


          #5
          Trans fluid cooler should not have a thermostat in it. It should just be straight through.

          Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
          rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
          Originally posted by gadget73
          ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
          Originally posted by dmccaig
          Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

          Comment


            #6
            Hey... That was your 1000 post!

            Comment


              #7
              The Yosemite Sam thing was hilarious.
              1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
              1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by sly View Post
                Trans fluid cooler should not have a thermostat in it. It should just be straight through.
                It looks like one of those 98+ things:

                http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/u...67#Post1895967

                2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

                Comment


                  #9
                  take the car for a drive and see if the tubes on the cooler side of the thermostat get hot or not. If it doesn't, then the thermostat is probably not working. I kinda like the concept of a thermostatic bypass but its a possible point of failure. There is a magic temperature range with oil filled equipment where you get the best life and performance out of both the equipment and the lubricant. Its usually not "as cold as you can get it".
                  86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                  5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                  91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                  1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                  Originally posted by phayzer5
                  I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by IPreferDIY View Post
                    It looks like one of those 98+ things:

                    http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/u...67#Post1895967
                    well isn't that just something else to go wrong. Bah. I'd replace it with an aftermarket that keeps is as cool as possible. But then I'm in Texas and it never gets cold enough for us to really have issues with needing to warm up the trans fluid.

                    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                    rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                    Originally posted by gadget73
                    ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                    Originally posted by dmccaig
                    Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Steveh66 View Post
                      Hey... That was your 1000 post!
                      says the guy who joined a month before me but only has 21.

                      Originally posted by sly View Post
                      well isn't that just something else to go wrong. Bah. I'd replace it with an aftermarket that keeps is as cool as possible. But then I'm in Texas and it never gets cold enough for us to really have issues with needing to warm up the trans fluid.
                      Here's a link to a thread started by a guy in Texas (assuming his location hasn't changed) who bypassed the thermostat in January 2012:

                      http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/u...Number=2432200

                      2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                      mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

                      Comment


                        #12
                        too bad he didn't post pics or any real explanation, of course if I ever run across that issue... I can probably figure it out easy enough.

                        Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                        rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                        Originally posted by gadget73
                        ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                        Originally posted by dmccaig
                        Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Bahah... Ya.. Not really a posting guy.

                          But great post and pic. I'm rebuilding my 4R70W now so its very timely.

                          Steve

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by IPreferDIY View Post
                            (why the dealer didn't do a TC drain is beyond me)
                            Because the only people who do a torque converter drain are cvn'ers going overboard and maybe transmission shops. A pan drop and filter change is the typical trans service.

                            Alex.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by GM_Guy View Post
                              Because the only people who do a torque converter drain are cvn'ers going overboard and maybe transmission shops. A pan drop and filter change is the typical trans service.

                              Alex.
                              If you're suggesting that changing only 1/3 of the fluid at a time is what's best for the tranny, I would strongly disagree.

                              2000 Grand Marquis LS HPP, a hand-me-down in 2008 with 128,000 km; 175,000 km as of July 2014
                              mods: air filter box 'tuba', headlight relay harness, J-mod (around 186,350 km), 70mm throttle body, KYB Gas-A-Just shocks, aluminum driveshaft, ARA3 PCM

                              Comment

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