What did you do to your GT350 today?

[bdub85]

Scraped my front lip, though it was just the rivets - again :headbonk:

That's what they are there for. I scrape mine all the time.

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[TDC]

Big thanks to KevDog. :hail:

Looks like I have my tranny temp. working on my IPhone Fusion OBD app. and using a Kiwi3 to read and transmit.

Heading out to an autocross tomorrow and will confirm if all the readings make sense.

 

[Spacebird]

I spent some time trying to improve panel gap and alignment.

The right fender to hood gap was a bit off. The hood and bumper are good, while the fender was wonky compared to the hood and the door. I loosened the 3 10mm bolts that hold the top of the fender to the apron, as well as the 8mm bolt that holds the fender to the chassis between the hood and the door. I ended up using a Dremel to open up one of the holes on the fender to all for more adjustment. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good.

The left side of the bumper where it meets the quarter panel wasn't well aligned from the factory. I used a 7mm deep well socket on a 1/4 drive wrench to loosen the bolt. This was a very easy fix and it looks much better.

My bumper to quarter panel gap is better than most people's. I'm tempted to leave it as is.

 

[zombiekiller]

retrofitted a factory differential cooler to my tech pack. Took me a little bit to figure out the evap shield/radiator fitment, but all in all, it's pretty damn easy. If the evap shield is the same on a regular GT, it should fit without issue on 5.0s as well (with a diff cover swap.)

All I have left to do is Finalize the wiring on it. I made a Alpha harness to verify pinout and function. Everything fired up fine. I'm probably not going to do a thermal switch this go-around, but i'm using weatherpack ends and making it modular so it won't be too difficult to add a thermal switch and/or sending unit for temp controlled on/off and monitoring. This way, once ford releases their stuff, if there is a computer flash, I can also take my wiring out easily, add theirs, then do the flash.

Tomorrow is trans cooler day.

 

[montreal ponies]

retrofitted a factory differential cooler to my tech pack. Took me a little bit to figure out the evap shield/radiator fitment, but all in all, it's pretty damn easy. If the evap shield is the same on a regular GT, it should fit without issue on 5.0s as well (with a diff cover swap.)

All I have left to do is Finalize the wiring on it. I made a Alpha harness to verify pinout and function. Everything fired up fine. I'm probably not going to do a thermal switch this go-around, but i'm using weatherpack ends and making it modular so it won't be too difficult to add a thermal switch and/or sending unit for temp controlled on/off and monitoring. This way, once ford releases their stuff, if there is a computer flash, I can also take my wiring out easily, add theirs, then do the flash.

Tomorrow is trans cooler day.

I sure hope you are doing a DIY with lots of pics and comments as you go along .

 

[TDC]

Big thanks to KevDog. :hail:

Looks like I have my tranny temp. working on my IPhone Fusion OBD app. and using a Kiwi3 to read and transmit.

Heading out to an autocross tomorrow and will confirm if all the readings make sense.

Readings are making sense. After running the car in 5th for 10 minutes at 80 mph (rpm about 4K or slightly below) the tranny temp steadied at 185. Took a screenshot after I exited the parkway; tranny at bottom left, coolant at top right.

 

[zombiekiller]

I sure hope you are doing a DIY with lots of pics and comments as you go along .

I will not be documenting anything transmission related for the time being. No clue how this will all play out.

UI started today with installing the factory radiator portion of the trans cooler setup. After I installed the finned radiator part, I put everything back together and went for the recommended 20 min drive to get the trans fluid warmed up ( as noted in the fluid change procedure doc from optimum. )

A bit of background because it matters... I generally park my car inside my yard, under my car port when I'm using it on a semi-regular basis. ) I rotate other cars in my collection and my garage is about 20 mins from my house.)

The driveway in this area is a split concrete setup with grass in the middle. I thought that the grass was dying because of the infestation of a specific type of larvae/moth that New orleans has been dealing with. When i park my car, the drain plugs are obviously over this grass strip. Turns out.. it isnt the moths killing the grass.. it's my car!

This is probably the first time that I have driven my car, then brought it home and parked it right on top of concrete in a couple months.


So today, being that I'm on a mission, I pull the car inside my house's garage.
I put the car up on my race ramp wheel cradles, then go inside to let it cool for a bit. About 30 mins later, I come back out and find that the car has decided to mark it's territory. You guessed it. transmission fluid. I'm completed perplexed, as i haven't touched the trans yet.

I start looking around to try to find the leak. Keep in mind, I have NOT touched the transmission at all yet. All I have done is install the finned part and brackets. I'm not able to locate the source of the leak at first glance

So! before I go any further, I take my pictures because I know there is something wrong. Cars with 2600 miles on them are not supossed to leak transmission fluid. Here is what it looked like after i wiped it with a rag to take the pic.

After I snap the pic, I decide to gently remove the plug to see how much fluid is left in the trans. I drain it into a fresh, clean pan. I measure. 1.6 quarts. Now, My impression is that the car takes 2.6-2.7 quarts. I still can't figure out why it is leaking, or where it is coming from.


Oddly, My trans has been reading in the upper range of those that have been reporting their transmission temps. It's almost always over 200 degrees after the car warms up. Now I know why.

So, I go back inside to look at the pictures on my computer in hopes that blowing them up will make it more obvious. and.....

The transmission split right at the casting/weld! Go back and look at the pic i posted, you can see the split right down the seam.

I'm calling my dealer in the morning to have the car towed to them. Pretty blown away by this. I'd never had a vehicle that split a transmission like this.

 

[Voodooo]

I will not be documenting anything transmission related for the time being. No clue how this will all play out.

UI started today with installing the factory radiator portion of the trans cooler setup. After I installed the finned radiator part, I put everything back together and went for the recommended 20 min drive to get the trans fluid warmed up ( as noted in the fluid change procedure doc from optimum. )

A bit of background because it matters... I generally park my car inside my yard, under my car port when I'm using it on a semi-regular basis. ) I rotate other cars in my collection and my garage is about 20 mins from my house.)

The driveway in this area is a split concrete setup with grass in the middle. I thought that the grass was dying because of the infestation of a specific type of larvae/moth that New orleans has been dealing with. When i park my car, the drain plugs are obviously over this grass strip. Turns out.. it isnt the moths killing the grass.. it's my car!

This is probably the first time that I have driven my car, then brought it home and parked it right on top of concrete in a couple months.


So today, being that I'm on a mission, I pull the car inside my house's garage.
I put the car up on my race ramp wheel cradles, then go inside to let it cool for a bit. About 30 mins later, I come back out and find that the car has decided to mark it's territory. You guessed it. transmission fluid. I'm completed perplexed, as i haven't touched the trans yet.

I start looking around to try to find the leak. Keep in mind, I have NOT touched the transmission at all yet. All I have done is install the finned part and brackets. I'm not able to locate the source of the leak at first glance

So! before I go any further, I take my pictures because I know there is something wrong. Cars with 2600 miles on them are not supossed to leak transmission fluid. Here is what it looked like after i wiped it with a rag to take the pic.

After I snap the pic, I decide to gently remove the plug to see how much fluid is left in the trans. I drain it into a fresh, clean pan. I measure. 1.6 quarts. Now, My impression is that the car takes 2.6-2.7 quarts. I still can't figure out why it is leaking, or where it is coming from.


Oddly, My trans has been reading in the upper range of those that have been reporting their transmission temps. It's almost always over 200 degrees after the car warms up. Now I know why.

So, I go back inside to look at the pictures on my computer in hopes that blowing them up will make it more obvious. and.....

The transmission split right at the casting/weld! Go back and look at the pic i posted, you can see the split right down the seam.

I'm calling my dealer in the morning to have the car towed to them. Pretty blown away by this. I'd never had a vehicle that split a transmission like this.

Once I seen the pic I knew what you were getting at. Jesus Christ! Some asshole tightened the plug to tight. Fill and drain plugs are tapered. You gotta be kidding me. Guess what now! You'll be getting the R / track pack / 2017 trans! This will help your trans cooler install since it has a pump in it! I guess you could call it a blessing in disguise. I hope to God the dealer doesn't give you shit for the mods you already done. I'd be pissed if they did. Good luck. I would also contact ford performance.

 

[zombiekiller]

Once I seen the pic I knew what you were getting at. Jesus Christ! Some asshole tightened the plug to tight. Fill and drain plugs are tapered. You gotta be kidding me. Guess what now! You'll be getting the R / track pack / 2017 trans! This will help your trans cooler install since it has a pump in it! I guess you could call it a blessing in disguise. I hope to God the dealer doesn't give you shit for the mods you already done. I'd be pissed if they did. Good luck. I would also contact ford performance.

if headers, exhaust, rear suspension and interior mods caused a transmission case to split, I'm morgus the magnificent.

 

[GT Pony]

Once I seen the pic I knew what you were getting at. Jesus Christ! Some asshole tightened the plug to tight.

Yep ... I saw the crack right away in the boss the drain plug screws into. :doh:

 

[zombiekiller]

Yep ... I saw the crack right away in the boss the drain plug screws into. :doh:

whats crazy is that the crack goes all the way up tot he point in the casting where they grid/trim.

Furthermore, it is impossible to see in the pics because i took them with a shitty camera phone, put it looks like it was welded then ground down where the crack happened.

My intitial thought after looking at the pic was.. "Who filled the trans with fluid? the incredible hulk? WTF!"

 

[Voodooo]

Its shit like this that pisses me off. A $60K car and some loser that the plant didn't care. Now it's gonna turn into a cat and mouse game. Let's see how the dealer plays this out. I'm a self employed mechanic and my biggest customer is Colimbia gas of Ohio. I manage their fleet of over 400 vehicles and equipment. They bought 20+ new F550 trucks. Each truck is A powerstroke 6.7 diesel with 6 speed auto. Each one has a pto and a Vanair underdeck rotary screw compressor/generator. In 3 months I had 5 trannys go out. They would start out in 1st gear, skip 2-3-4-5 and go right to 6th gear. I took it to the local dealer, and once they seen the pto mounted to the trans they blamed the pto. This is before they even tore the trans apart. Mind you the pto can not be turned on while the truck is being driven. Period. Anyhow, the dealer removed the trans, I removed the pto from the trans after they removed the trans from the truck. I waited for them to start tearing the trans apart and they didn't want to disassemble the trans while I was there. They still wanted to blame the pto gear box. So me being a drivetrain specialist, I proved to them it wasn't the PTO's fault and just to get a second opinion I sent the pto to the manufacturer to have them check the pto. I didn't tell them anything about the trans issue because I didn't want them to say the transmission is at fault. Anyhow they called back and said the pto was perfect. Ford still didn't want to warranty the trans and it cost columbia gas $8000.00 for each truck. Once they were shown the pto was good, we disassembled the trans and the clutch packs were fried, the pump hub was cracked and shavings everywhere. Bs. And they still charged the company. These trucks had less then 15000 miles and all 5 had sequence vin numbers coming right down the assembly line. Tell me that's not bs.

 

[GT Pony]

whats crazy is that the crack goes all the way up tot he point in the casting where they grid/trim.

Furthermore, it is impossible to see in the pics because i took them with a shitty camera phone, put it looks like it was welded then ground down where the crack happened.

This photo you took doesn't look like any welding was done to me - I zoomed in on it some more. It's just a nice clean crack all the way up the side of the drain plug boss all the way to the main case. I think that flashing you see to the right of the crack is just normal casting flashing that they probably ground off ... not a weld IMO.

The other side of the plug boss opposite the crack is part of the main case, so it's much more stronger that the section the crack is in and can take the stress of an over tightened drain plug. Obviously the side that cracked can't take the stress. It's also possible your transmission case has some kind of casting flaw in that area and cracked from the stress from a normally tightened plug.

For all you guys removing and reinstalling that plug, I'd use plenty of Teflon sealing tape and take it easy on the torque.

 

[Voodooo]

A parting line or casting flash is the weakest point. It's like a sharp edge vs radius. I agree I don't see any weld but I do see the casting rib. They definitely over tightened the tapered plug and being that it's right on the edge it's a weak point. Sorry zombie. It still sucks to deal with this bud.

 

[swedensky]

Guess what now! You'll be getting the R / track pack / 2017 trans!

I would love to be optimistic in that thinking but I got my new transmission 2-3 weeks ago and they wouldn't give me the better one.

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