4+3 trans update, plz help

[Oldskool153]

As i stated last week I had corvette paramedics disconnect my OD and its driving great as a 4speed.. I had asked the question if driving it as a four speed is bad for it, everyone at corvette paramedics told me that its ok to just use as a straight 4speed and will not hurt anything and everyone on here told me the samething. my question is, i spoke to a company that rebuilds 4+3 trans and they told me that if you drive it as a 4 speed you wont get more than 6 months out of it becuase it causes a bearing inside the OD to burn up and that they dont recomend disconnecting the OD and that u shuldnt have the OD spinning wen its not under anyload. is this true? has anyone out there been using the 4+3 as just a 4speed with no problems? I like it much better as a 4 speed, i just dont want to ruin my trans..

 

[roger longman]

Hi, I'm surprised no one has come in on this ,I for one would be very interested to know the answer. I've had several vehicles with OD going back to a '56 Sunbeam Rapier but no vettes. I've messed around with them, ie. getting OD in every gear with no ill effects. Of course every system is different. Roger.

 

[Oldskool153]

well my OD is disconnected, thats what my question is about lol

 

[roger longman]

I realize that. LOLM. Roger.

 

[vetteoz]

Can you not try hot wiring it it via a manual switch as I suggested to see if the O/d does work correctly; independent of ECM control?

 

[Oldskool153]

i could if i knew how lol... but at this point my thinking is why invest all this time getting it to work correctly when i can simply use it as a 4spd? but if using it as a 4spd is bad for it than i guess i'll have to figure out how to get it working correctly

 

[Oldskool153]

btw vetteoz, i apperciate all the help u've been giving me threw all my posts. thanks again

 

[vdogamr]

When I first bought my car I didn't understand the OD system. Once I had accidently turned it off before driving away, and at the time I had no idea how to turn it on (or that it had a switch at all). Anyway I drove home on the interstate in 4th gear. I normally drive 70mph on the interstate, but my car just didn't sound right. The feel and sound of the car just seemed all wrong. The moment I got home I checked my owner's manual for the OD switch and did some research on the transmission.

I can't tell you if it is bad for the car or not, but it feels bad for the car. My OD is currently broken (in a good way). It is on when I am in second, third, or forth no matter the conditions, unless I explicitly turn it off. So I now drive my car like a 5 speed, just turning it on once I ma in 4th for a bit. It always feels nice, sounds nice, and gets awsome interstate gas mileage (for a sports car).

I know this was not the definitive answer you were looking for, but think of it this way. If you were biking everywhere, would you want to not have all your gears. It would probably be a strain on you just like for your car.

 

[Oldskool153]

when i 1st bought my car, i had the same problem you do.. except that my shiftswitch never worked so i would be in OD from 2cd-4th all the time no matter what. I took to to corvette paramedics and they did a check and it turned out to be my tps, they changed that and the ecm was controling my OD the way it should have been for about 2 weeks, after that i started getting irratic shifts and since my switch doesnt work and im unsure of how to manually wire one in, i had them disconect the OD all together and I enjoy it much more. (i hardly do any highway riding) just trying to figure out if its bad for the car..so far only one company told me it was bad but I wanna find out if what they told me is true or not

 

[vdogamr]

Stupid Question

So I read your other post, and I have a stupid question. What is the TPS? If it is the Tire Pressure Sensor like I think, why would that effect the transmission? Whatever it is, someone said if it was broken then your car wouldn't run well. My car runs well, but I don't know that it can't run better. So what is a TPS, how much did it cost to fix, and did you notice any performance increase?

 

[Oldskool153]

lol its throttle position sensor, i noticed a huge performance increase but only because my car was in OD ALL the time, the switch on my shifter didnt (and still doesnt work) and becasue my tps was bad the computer didnt realize I was flooring the car so it would not kickdown out of OD when i would accelerate hard. If your shifter switch is working you will not notice any increase in performance because u said ur only using OD in 4th and even so u have to option to take it out of OD. good luck hope I helped some

 

[tdr1919]

Old school, by any chance did you speak to Brian at SKS speed in long Island? The owner Brian has been rebuilding the Doug Nash overdrive for years and probably has the best reputation around, I have been to the shop in Lindenhurst (they have 2 locations) where he works out of, and he actually has a cut-away overdrive that he uses to show what is wrong. As I take it, the OD even when off is still in the drive train and if it fails internally you will not be able to move the car. My OD unit when hot, wether on or off, slips when I am in reverse and the car will not move. you might speak to Brian at SKS SK Speed - Peformance Auto Parts and Racing Accessories call the Lindenhurst location.
Tom

 

[Oldskool153]

yea I've spoken to him a few times

 

[FISHAWK]

4+3 trans

As i stated last week I had corvette paramedics disconnect my OD and its driving great as a 4speed.. I had asked the question if driving it as a four speed is bad for it, everyone at corvette paramedics told me that its ok to just use as a straight 4speed and will not hurt anything and everyone on here told me the samething. my question is, i spoke to a company that rebuilds 4+3 trans and they told me that if you drive it as a 4 speed you wont get more than 6 months out of it becuase it causes a bearing inside the OD to burn up and that they dont recomend disconnecting the OD and that u shuldnt have the OD spinning wen its not under anyload. is this true? has anyone out there been using the 4+3 as just a 4speed with no problems? I like it much better as a 4 speed, i just dont want to ruin my trans..

I really don't have any experience with the 4+3 but it seems to me if GM thought it would hurt it, running with the OD turned off they would not have provided a switch, that can do just that! Just a thought.

 

[Oldskool153]

lol thats good, I like that haha