Pcmtech - changing tcc lock up

[Robottrainer]

Further to my Ratiotek question. With this kit, it gives you the option to firm up the converter lock up. They recommend changing the lock up so it's at 5th gear.

I looked this up on PCMTek. There is a lock up section divided into every drive mode Ford has. I believe the ones I'm interested in are base (normal), sport, SST, SST hot, mud (track), sand (drag). The table has gear and throttle percent with OSS in rpm. I assume to direct the lock up to 5th I would set the rpm to 10000 from 1st to 4th. Is this correct?

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[engineermike]

That’s confusing instructions.

In the calibration there are unlock, slip, and lock maps. Myself and others have attempted using the lock maps (and enabling “performance lock”) and it made no difference….but that’s ok because we don’t need it anyway.

Unlock is obvious. It’s sort of the converter clutch version of a downshift map.

Lock map you leave alone, defaulted to 10,000 or whatever it is.

Slip map is where you activate converter engagement. There are other tables that specify the slip rpm amount that coincides with slip engagement, and these values are typically set to 0-10 rpm. For performance, I set the slip rpm to 0 for high speeds and torques. In this way, the converter is commanded to “hard lock” even though the slip map is what engaged it.

As for the ratiotek instructions I don’t know what to tell you. For max performance you definitely would want the converter engaged much earlier than 5th, like 2nd or 3rd. Not sure why they’d want to delay that.

All that said, you can easily firm up the converter lock by making small changes to the Tcc pressure-to-current 1d table in PCMtec. You can easily make it too harsh though, so take baby steps.

 

[Robottrainer]

That’s confusing instructions.

In the calibration there are unlock, slip, and lock maps. Myself and others have attempted using the lock maps (and enabling “performance lock”) and it made no difference….but that’s ok because we don’t need it anyway.

Unlock is obvious. It’s sort of the converter clutch version of a downshift map.

Lock map you leave alone, defaulted to 10,000 or whatever it is.

Slip map is where you activate converter engagement. There are other tables that specify the slip rpm amount that coincides with slip engagement, and these values are typically set to 0-10 rpm. For performance, I set the slip rpm to 0 for high speeds and torques. In this way, the converter is commanded to “hard lock” even though the slip map is what engaged it.

As for the ratiotek instructions I don’t know what to tell you. For max performance you definitely would want the converter engaged much earlier than 5th, like 2nd or 3rd. Not sure why they’d want to delay that.

All that said, you can easily firm up the converter lock by making small changes to the Tcc pressure-to-current 1d table in PCMtec. You can easily make it too harsh though, so take baby steps.

Well it all started with a question I had about the kit. One of the instruction is to cut the end off of the TCC valve, install it into the sleeve so then end of valve sits flush against the sleeve. Them drill a hole I to the grove of the sleeve, and then grind the drill bit to length and install it into the hole.

This mod increases converter apply pressure making a firmer shift. I'm assuming they want to delay the lock up to 5th gear to make it less harsh for street driven cats. They mentioned they assumed folks would use HP tuners to do this. I asked about PMCtec and they said it should work. I'm just wondering how to accomplish this.

 

[Robottrainer]

Well it all started with a question I had about the kit. One of the instruction is to cut the end off of the TCC valve, install it into the sleeve so then end of valve sits flush against the sleeve. Them drill a hole I to the grove of the sleeve, and then grind the drill bit to length and install it into the hole.

This mod increases converter apply pressure making a firmer shift. I'm assuming they want to delay the lock up to 5th gear to make it less harsh for street driven cats. They mentioned they assumed folks would use HP tuners to do this. I asked about PMCtec and they said it should work. I'm just wondering how to accomplish this.

The lock map, depending on the drive mode, is set to 10000 in some portion of every gear. Typically up to 90% throttle in some gears, as low as 10% throttle in others.

 

[engineermike]

I’m not sure why they’re wanting to send more pressire to the converter. Even at 650 ftlb, mine sends significantly less than the maximum capable and it still keeps the slip down to nothing. If it can be fixed in the software then hardware changes aren’t necessary..

 

[Robottrainer]

I’m not sure why they’re wanting to send more pressire to the converter. Even at 650 ftlb, mine sends significantly less than the maximum capable and it still keeps the slip down to nothing. If it can be fixed in the software then hardware changes aren’t necessary..

It's possible this is for those that can't or don't wish to delve into the software, however that's a moot point if they are telling you to change the lock up in HP Tuners.

I can't find many users of this kit. The one I did find said that what he noticed most were the upshifts and down shifts were quicker. I'm going to install the Sonnex solenoid clips. Still on the fence about this kit however. It's suppose to increase lube flow and torque capacity which I assume it's by increasing the pressure as there are pump mods that go with it. Again, doing it mechanically rather than through software.

They did me tion that the TCC reprogram is for Hot Rods, which I assume means street drive as a means to tone down the rougher TCC engagement on the street. I don't thing they bother with cars that are geared towards racing.

 

[engineermike]

that's a moot point if they are telling you to change the lock up in HP Tuners.

That’s what I was thinking as well.

… I assume it's by increasing the pressure as there are pump mods that go with it. Again, doing it mechanically rather than through software.

The thing is that it’s very easy to simply increase pressure using tuning. The logic calculates the pressure needed and converts that to amperage sent to the 6 solenoids. You can change that relationship to fool it into sending more amps, thus pressure, if you like, but folks are finding the stock pressure control works fine up past 700 rwftlb. It has no pressure sensors so the logic doesn’t know what the end result pressure is.

However, the logic isn’t that simple. It doesn’t simply command a pressure (-> current). There is a feedback loop as well. It doesn’t measure pressure but it is always measuring slip and modulating pressure to control the clutch slip. If it’s not seeing any slip it will actually lower pressure until it does. Just like oil pressure, it tries to run the line pressure as low as possible to conserve fuel. If you log line pressure you’ll see the actual pressure isn’t constant and it doesn’t match any of the pressure tables in the calibration. That’s why I have my doubts as to whether fooling mechanically to run higher than intended pressure would actually do anything.

 

[K4fxd]

I think keeping the converter unlocked is for drag racing. Gives some multiplication then locks in high gear for more MPH

 

[engineermike]

Pretty much at high rpm you want it locked up because you aren’t getting torque multiplication anymore….only inefficiency due to slip.

 

[K4fxd]

Pretty much at high rpm you want it locked up because you aren’t getting torque multiplication anymore….only inefficiency due to slip.

Probably right, but some magazine tests on the A6 showed quicker 1/4 mile times in D compared to S, S locks up the converter sooner than D

I haven't tested this, maybe I will next test day.

 

[engineermike]

Possibly the wider ratios in the 6r make it beneficial to unlock at the bottom of each gear to keep the engine in a better rpm range.

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