I am definitely pro-VR trans, it's just a cost piece (if anyone's local to the Jacksonville, FL area that would be able to help with the swap, I'm all ears lol as ZX auto and Tyler's shop in orange park couldn't give me pricing on the swap there. I can source the trans myself no issue, but i'd also have to factor the shortened driveshaft as well (if I go VR, might as well go with a 1 piece drive shaft at that point and a lightened flexplate)

 

Oh yes you will need a driveshaft that is about 0.5" shorter than your current one. It would be the time to get a one-piece aluminum or even a CF driveshaft

That flexplate alone will cost you more than the transmission itself

 

None at all. Its solid throughout... You shouldn't have any issues with 3rd gear, known issue or not. That's my point in keeping it simple. why risk having any issues. That would be unacceptable for me actually. My trans was $600 plus fluids. I used a regular jack to lift the transmission and 2 days of work. YouTube is your best friend.

 

Yeah not sure what's up with that. It's intermittent and I just let off the gas and it goes into gear. The issue is probably electronic in nature and may have to do with my funky exhaust confusing the car's computer.

Ray just used a regular jack to lift the tranny into place. I could not do that as you have to find a way to tie down the tranny so it doesn't move around and fall off (happened once) while trying to bolt that beast in. It's surprisingly not crazy heavy like I thought transmissions would be. I think I was able to lift it by hand and move it around.

 

So I was talking with John at IPT as he hopped on a FB thread that I had going about this issue. He seems convinced that the trans itself is fine, and that this is a TCM issue. He's recommending that I rule out wiring inside the trans, then replace the TCM to see if that resolves the issue. I'm inclined to agree with him on this, because with the codes cleared, the trans shifts pretty smooth, it's fairly crisp (considering this transmission model), and doesn't act as if there is any type of mechanical problem like I would think if the valve body itself or a solenoid was bad. And I also feel like if this was a mechanical issue, it'd be cropping up a lot more frequently than it is currently.

I think I'm going to hunt down a properly-sourced model TCM from a used unit to have on standby for the next time this thing acts up. The TCM swap is something I can do in a night, and it'll give me a chance to see how the trans fluid is holding up after 30k or so of doing a 3x drain and refill.

 

Funny that you mention that about the mechanical part being fine.

That's what I felt about our 7 speeds when they were working flawlessly as you would expect from a transmission (those rare gem moments). What I think it all comes down to is the computer programming. The mechanical aspect of our transmissions are completely fine, but the computer could decide it wants to be T-1000 today instead of T-800 and **** your couch up.