Ptc 9.5" non lock rpms at cruise

[Clark6]

Hi guys Bison basically had it all covered. I haven't done performance or temperature test yet. I gotta buy a temp sensor to feed my auto meter temp gauge.

Just a quick note though on my 17 blade non lock my cruise speed at 55 mph is 1800 or so rpms on flat road.
But how long does roads stay flat here in south GA. lol.

slight inclines could take it to 1825 and slight declines @ 55 to 1675 rpms. 1750 average.


I came from a 9/11 i know my car turns over faster on the crank as if i have no converter on the flywheel

I cant tell any shifting difference at lite throttle , drives just like a lock up to fourth. I think with the lock up my rpm ranges was around 1400-1600 same scenario's . ( tires 275/60/15 with 25psi of air in them).


So again with my 200r set up driving out of town (30/40) miles one way looking at rpms on scanmaster @55 anywhere between 1775-1800 mostly n lik i say up/down grade will take it either way a 25 30 rpms. I drive 55 to save gas....


I'll report back with the other two results when i get to them. No spooling problems either. At 21 psi actuator set at I can brake boost to about 3000 before creeping forward. That's all i can think of for now. I have an external cooler bypassing the radiator i'll get n giv measurements when i do the temp test. Im out.


SO FAR: THANKS DUSTY.

 

[TT/Ameasap]

You will be impressed at the track too. I pick up 3mph all the way down the 1/4 mile with 1-2 psi less.

 

[Clark6]

You will be impressed at the track too. I pick up 3mph all the way down the 1/4 mile with 1-2 psi less.

you shift yours manually or let it do its own thing? what boost you at?

 

[psycho6cyl]

very interested in the temps..

 

[TT/Ameasap]

you shift yours manually or let it do its own thing? what boost you at?

I picked up the MPH with it just shifting on its own, but it flashes at 52-5300 and I need to shift at 5800 for max power. So I should pick up more when manually shifting when I get a good ratchet shifter. Other people on the boards have had the same issue as mine and after shifting manually had great success.
I first noticed it when my log showed no RPM drop with a linear graph of RPM's at WOT.
Im at 22psi boost.

 

[Mr.Spool]

more boost will flash it higher or one can swap out the br valvebody .i have driven the ptc everywhere only a 50rpm increase over the lockup I took out.temps are well under control with an external cooler and syn fluid,with a deep pan.i run an out of the box combo so I don't like jumping on a lot of threads but driving a ptc seems to be coming up a lot,they can be driven.i have checked my temps and dropped the pan and on my combo I am more than satisfied.

 

[Clark6]

Thanks TT thats what I was told as well on the 5800 shift... Thank you also Mr. Spool I've been driving around town alot with mine lately; I used the red synthetic dex(Merc) from valvoline dont' know if 3 or 4 I'd have to look at jug, I also have a semi deep Hugh's pan with the fins running through. it I just ordered the temp sender for pan today it should be in shortly. I do intend to turn it up to about 25/27 on single noz weather is hot down here I may throw the other nozzle back on.

 

[turbo nasty]

What are the said temps? On flat ground and just bumping around town is one thing.
I.E.-
On a hot summer day..... two lane road your cruising along and have to kick it to pass a semi, etc and then putting the cruise back on and then hitting a decent grade where the car is loading the conv and making a few psi to maintain cruise speed up the hill in OD.
No way with a spragless non lockup you wont see a big temp increase/spike and then you encounter another slow driving semi and have to nail it again to get around them , then what.
Cruising around town in stop and go traffic not really loading the conv isnt a true test for a street car.
A couple of stop light runs where your at WOT for a bit then idling in traffic and then hit the interstate and put the cruise on 65-75 and then that guy you ran back at the red light comes along side and wants to do a lil from 45 action and you power brake it and go on 3 and run it up to triple digits, then its over and your back on cruise and hit a mild long uphill grade where the conv is loaded and the car needs a few psi to maintain the cruise control. You will find that the fluid/trans temps are going to be HOT
The thing is gonna heat soak the trans...PERIOD. This is just a few scenarios.. I drive my car and will be the guy pulling in the BG from MN having driven it the whole way there....street car!
While driving through the mountains of KY going to the nats the first year I had the spragless 9.5 I had the cruise on 72 and kicked up to go around a semi up a grade and smoke rolled from under my car (I didnt have a temp sensor in the pan then) and pulled over and my dipstick tubed had burped over. I thought it was maybe overfilled. In reality that was my first experience with the spragless getting the fluid hot. Being that the trip was in Oct and the temps were quite cool im sure that helped it from burning up in short order. FWIW the trans did die from heat not many miles after I got back home that year and after trans was rebuilt thats when I started checking temps and had a sprag added. Thanks for the quick service from Lane at PTC.
These are just a few scenarios but you get the picture. True test is under load where the conv is under a heavy load (BOOST) .
I have a deep finned sump and a H7B Tru cool cooler and it couldn't handle it. Added a sprag and the temps dropped 20 degrees and dont heat soak and not recover like before.
Not trying to sling mud at anyones product or a individual person. But I have had some people contact me that have had this same issue so its real world. Cant lie with the mechanics of how a convertor works. Take some time and call several big name conv shops and ask them about running a spragless on the street and highway.....they all will say....HEAT HEAT HEAT.

 

[Mr.Spool]

I think guys should look at their trans temps to see what is happening,it depends on the combo,on my combo no problems with temps in heat, hills, racing etc,my dipstick stays where it should and I have plenty of hard miles in all conditions.my car makes a lot of power and is very efficient throughout the rpm range.i am also not the only one im my area using a ptc on the street.ive been running the ptc for years and thousands of miles and am located in the northeast so we have a few hills.

 

[psycho6cyl]

does that tru cool cooler have a fan on it? it was my understanding these nlu need externals w fans

 

[turbo nasty]

It needs a fan if the cooler isnt in the airflow coming through the grill and the car is at a stand still, like traffic, etc Mine was/is in clean air and has a fan pulling across it.

 

[ITSAV6]

Quit being anal Raythe converter is awesome!

 

[Clark6]

Ok TRANS TEMP TEST #1
turob nasty you were right on a few things. But this was just a light test as to what I'M USE to driving..... I repeat this is a light test as for me driving normal the way I would... I will do the performance TEMP TEST later in the fall when i get some tires.

Keep in mind i have no loooong hills just slight hills regular on the highway spaced apart though. I don't live by an interstate I roughtly drive 55/65 MAXX. ON our public highways. I will go around a car/truk if i see a clear path & will stomp it quick to get on out the way. Thats why i bought the car If a guy comes up want to do a 45 mph roll after all this take place as long as i can see my trans temp I don't see a problem. But I'm not to proud to wait or say no either. I'd rather do it from a dig.
So these are my conservative conditions & driving style. Performance is another animal for me.

autometer sport comp to gauge - couldn't get it to read anything & realized this is why i thought it was the sensor in the first place years ago, I chunked the original & bought a shorty and it wouldn't work until i placed a ground wire around the sensor itself, the teflon tape was keeping it from reading at all- fixed that. I have F body radiator, bypassing it my trans going through a semi medium trans cooler only, also no engine oil cooler either. Hugh's tranny pan with the fins on it Dex/Merc synthetic fluid red Valvoline jug....................................... Now on to the test.

Outside temp 87* i waited til evening. Logged run 15 miles 8 in town 7 on the highway.

Driving down the road engine coolant temp 180* temp coming up for trans 140. Get into town stopped at 9 red lights total 4 stop signs went into store; back out; temp 150* in town.(So Nasty was right on that no load which is good cuz that's what i wanted to know n what i was wondering about). speed 55 going to & from town roughly 45/50mph in town stop & go traffick.


Now headed home.
on the way back i said well i know a lil 1/8 mile cut i can do...... not from a stand still just gas pedal press to the floor & go 21 psi bout the 1/8mile mark felt like i got kicked in the back that time... n came to stop sign turned left. temp 180* but as I drive it goes back down to 165* & holds. (1) pass. i usually do 2/3 lol
ok I'm on the way back home.engine(coolant temp 190*) after that pass. drive 3 more miles going home & 1 mile to house I say ok, topped the hill saw everything clear stomped it while rolling 55 mph but this time longer say 1/4 mile.Pulled great Still 21ish psi. 1/8th mile left to go pulling into the yard after that run glance at tranny temp 210* (engine coolant temp 198*) As I pulled in the yard I'm sure if i'd drove it around the block temps wudda settled down again. But I pulled in the yard with the 210 temp parked the car let it idle about 4 minutes temp dropped to 185* within 4 minutes. I switched the car off gave it a quick soap & rinse washoff right quick cuz im drivin it to work in the morning. I say it took me 10min tops to wash it crank it to chek the temp again while backing the car under shelter temp was at 180*

Conclusion for this first temp test for me:165/180* I can definately live with that. Next Ima tryit on a hotter day N stay in town longer.

I do believe if I wanted to go outta town I'll chk later.or in town my temps prolly would stay round 150/165* No getting on it;
say if i want to drive to a race or something. common sense now would tell me to let it cool down first as much as i can I'd prolly do a test hit first then let it cool while everyone is talkin trash gettin it hyped up lol.

Now on the performance test from these results I can see letting the car cool between each runs & no back to back unless serious cash was on the line... who said that... But that would be even with a lock up i'd say let it cool..
Now I LOVE THE LOCK UP dont get me wrong i just got tired of going through 4 converters with the lock up feature or portion going outta hi $ converters after 2/3 years but thing is LONNIES TRANS still making it through them all,, that man builds one TUFF transmission.... but hopefully I'v bought my last converter.


I'll do back/back backroad runs test this fall from a standstill 1/8th mile first then the 1/4 (i have g-tech) but no more than that & let you know what the temp is.
At the track with trans break times will be 45 min. between runs.

 

[psycho6cyl]

great read thx for info. you have a fan on ure trans cooler? also where is it mounted?

 

[Clark6]

No fan-- mounted on the left corner (facing car) in path of wind on left side of front of radiator. I'll do more readings like this in town through out the month to make sure nothings changed too drastically.

Wish I had done the temp readings with the lock up to have something to compare by, but the gauged never worked for years because of the sender I just now started to get it to work. I've been driving like this for years & no problems with the lock up in town & driving I actually done back to back to back runs tuning one winter night trying to find a miss thinking i had fixed it but didn't. (lost the race lol). but drove at least 40 miles back home & the next day is when i found the Lock up feature not working in the converter After doing all sorts of test. My fault, if I had monitored temps I woulda saw the trans probably getting too hot even with the lock up, so I pulled the converter fluid change & new converter Is where I'm at now. I was wondering if I damaged trans........ hasn't missed a beat still going strong.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Have run the 9.5 PTC for a few years now on trans Bison rebuilt for me. Running a B&M cooler with fan only, not using cooler in the radiator. Has a sensor for turning on the fan but I decided to put a manual switch on it. My temps have never gone over 180 with this setup, have a deep pan on it with the temp sensor in the pan. Using the manual switch I have to keep an eye on the gauge but it is 2nd nature now after all these years. If I know I am going to be sitting in traffic or climbing a long hill I just turn on the fan before temps start climbing. Long pulls to 140mph a few times and no issues. Using Dex 6 fluid.

 

[turbo nasty]

http://www.tciauto.com/tc/trans-life-expectancy

Chart above shows the trans life with temp exposure.

Clark 6 good lil write up. The amb temp wasnt too hot out and as you stated it was a mild test. If you saw 210 during your mild test.......Its obvious the higher temp will rear its ugly head with a hilly area followed by a floor to pass on a two lane, a 1/4 mile test with a lil foot brake start, etc etc.

Also if you do a test in the fall with cooler AMB temp that plays into it as well.

This info just needs to be out there and I have posted my results in other threads where my car was ran in a lil different scenario.

Biggest thing is now Clark6 has shown how fast the trans jumped to 210 with a mild run yes it recovered some but he didnt really do a full pass or lengthy highway driving, hilly area, passing or a run or two on the road, either, this is great info for people to see for future searches, purchasing a convertor for street use.

 

[ITSAV6]

Ray I would get a small fan for the tranny cooler and use a relay for it tied to the rad fan wiring and recheck the temps. I have the f body rad also and I had to use sealing foam to get my fan to seal to the rad since it was farther away. I do use the cooler in the rad and an aftermarket cooler but i have a filter in the return line.

 

[Clark6]

Now these test I'm doing are just for cruising speeds. & driving normal..
outside temp today 95* total miles driven 12

got off work went back into town/post office with the traffic & all temp actually stayed around 140* in town never really got outta 3rd gear. On the way home I decided to try a little highway mile stroll before going home with the slight hills, slight incline & down grades etc. coolant temp in car now 176 in town & now driving out on the road coolant temp 180* Trans temp going 56mph 1825 rpms with gradual hills to 1925 down hill 1650 rpms etc. 149 lets say 150* to round it off. I'm figuring if i stay at this speed to the next near by 20/25 mile town it should stay roughly around that.

turned around & decided to go around a car but not gradual going around like you normally would but actual stomp to the floor 21psi unnecessary pass lol. Trans temp eased up to 168 eased back out let it settle down for the last several miles home it went back to 165* & stayed there pulled in the yard under shelter hot letting it idle for a bit & engine coolant temp 189 there idling & trans temp 170* & stayed there not moving. I switched off.

Still NOT bad at all If it stays like this other than the gas... I do not miss the Lock up at all. Oh yeah again on that going around the car pass flooring it I could almost say for a certain after about 2 seconds into the flooring at only round 5000 rpms it definitely feel like someone kicks you in the back or that someone flipped a lock up switch on a lock up converter!! I don't know if its a power band kicking in or tune or converter what. (My car use to feel like that when the 9/11 was new & lately it didn't feel like that anymore...... But also Yesterday I felt it on the first romp without a doubt.... but i didn't feel it on the second long pass rolling from 55 mph I did or didn't feel it as good rather i dunno. I'll still play with it & see whats up.

Conclusion: for me the way I drive n the places I go as far as town I definitely feel this converter can be driven In, around, & out of town with NNOOOO problems. I'll do the out of town soon & post the results back also. Bison did the interstate test I'll do the out of town grocery shopping temp next. For me the in town temp test is No problem almost not even a factor as I thought it would. Actually you already know the performance tests from other people with all the results just need to keep eye on temp is all.... Later guys I'm out.

 

[Clark6]

Ray I would get a small fan for the tranny cooler and use a relay for it tied to the rad fan wiring and recheck the temps. I have the f body rad also and I had to use sealing foam to get my fan to seal to the rad since it was farther away. I do use the cooler in the rad and an aftermarket cooler but i have a filter in the return line.

What is your transmission temp with all of that? I figure I just flip my hi speed relay switch for the radiator if I need to they are in line but so far I dont think i really need it. ( tryin to make my car lighter not heavier lol)

I may consider that when doing my performance test if i need to. Thanks Doug. I'll be coming to see you that'll be a good temp test for me since you stay outta town.