10R80 Transmission Failsafe's?

[sirben711]

At this pricepoint, you're going to have downsides to the operation. You can't have the smoothness of a $300k Bentley putting around and the performance of a $300k GT3RS when driving hard. You're going to have clunks, you're going to have rough shifts etc. but as others mentioned these aren't necessary signs of a failing transmission.

As Luca eluded to, it sounds like you just don't like how it operates. At this point, you can try and tune it for a slight improvement (at the cost of your warranty), you can dump a bunch of money into re-building it to operate alot better. Or just drive the piss out of it knowing you have a pretty reliable transmission and a warranty on top of it if anything should go wrong.

I think I will end up going the tune route and void the warranty. I came from the 6R80 (which I absolutely loved) and going to the 10R80 hasn't been very fun.

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[EFI]

I came from the 6R80 (which I absolutely loved) and going to the 10R80 hasn't been very fun.

It's interesting, because I also used to have a 6R80 and I thought it was whack, especially compared to the 10R80. Sure it was smooth, but shifts were slow(er) and just overall very long gears. The 10R80 on the other hand rips through gears, up and down, and is much faster. However I do agree around town it definitely isn't as refined.

For me using this as a track car, I mainly care about performance and don't mind the odd rough shift the few times I drive it on the street. But for someone who mainly street drives it, I can see wanting a smoother transmission even if it doesn't perform as well in a racing environment.

 

[luca1290]

I think I will end up going the tune route and void the warranty. I came from the 6R80 (which I absolutely loved) and going to the 10R80 hasn't been very fun.

It can be an option but keep in mind that you will definitely hurt the clutch packs.
The only way a tuner have to make the transition smoother is to let the clutches/brakes slip more, and this will create additional wear.
Because these are wet clutches they don't suffer as much, except when temperatures become very hot.

This is applicable both to the clutch inside the torque converter and to the brakes on the gear cases. Just so you know what you are going to pursue.

 

[MyStang]

Did you buy the car New or Used?

 

[sirben711]

It can be an option but keep in mind that you will definitely hurt the clutch packs.
The only way a tuner have to make the transition smoother is to let the clutches/brakes slip more, and this will create additional wear.
Because these are wet clutches they don't suffer as much, except when temperatures become very hot.

This is applicable both to the clutch inside the torque converter and to the brakes on the gear cases. Just so you know what you are going to pursue.

Thanks for the information, I will keep it in mind!

Did you buy the car New or Used?

Brand new

 

[Gfswindle]

It can be an option but keep in mind that you will definitely hurt the clutch packs.
The only way a tuner have to make the transition smoother is to let the clutches/brakes slip more, and this will create additional wear.
Because these are wet clutches they don't suffer as much, except when temperatures become very hot.

This is applicable both to the clutch inside the torque converter and to the brakes on the gear cases. Just so you know what you are going to pursue.

I worked in a transmission shop through my senior year in high school part time as a helper and later hands on. The shop owner had 30 years transmissions experience and his No. 1 lesson was that in all auto transmissions, the less time it takes to perform a shift the longer they will last. In the pursuit of NVH reduction manufacturer's built in shift strategies that would please the consumer, but ultimately cause the demise of the trans.

It appears with the 10R80, ford kept the longevity factor in mind at the expense of NVH. I am personally immune to these characteristics as I owned a 95TA 4l60E car with an aftermarket valve body that shifted so hard that on a particularly traction happy day I exploded 2nd gear. The sprag and sunshell left the chat in a hurry. I bought the car with those mods added but during that rebuild I did ask my builder to tone down the shifts a bit as I didn't want to break hard parts any longer.

 

[EFI]

the less time it takes to perform a shift the longer they will last.

I think that's the case with anything that has clutches, whether it's a DCT or manual or transfer case. The longer you make that clutch slip, the faster it wears. The best way to kill your manual trans clutch is to ride it and slip it alot during takeoff or shifts.

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