Looks great! So you used the Krylon on the trim and SEM on the dash itself, right?
Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"
- Thread starter Rocket Man
- Start date
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Looks great! So you used the Krylon on the trim and SEM on the dash itself, right?
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Yes.
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Performabuilt called and said I broke the output shaft on the trans. They wanted to know if the tune is set to lock up the converter at WOT on the 1-2 shifts and I don't know what @BlackBearPerf has it set for so I emailed them. Also I need to make sure line pressure is set to stock which I remember asking them about. He said it shouldn't have broke the shaft if the converter isn't locking up at WOT. The Black Edition does come with billet output and input shafts but if the converter is locking up I will break the Black Edition and Ryan said they're having difficulty getting some of the parts from Sonnax for the Black so he's going to call them and see what's up and get back to me. At first he told me it was going to be 2 weeks but then he said he would call . Arrrrgh.
Damn. So the broken output shaft was not billet though, correct? Sucks man. Hope they get it back to you fast.
Dantheman1540
Full Access Member
Dang broke the output that's some tough stuff. If the tune does have it locking at WOT does that change their mind on the warranty?
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No it wasn’t. It was the stock one.
Technically the warranty is up. It was almost 2 years (which is what the warranty was) the last time it broke, last year. They’re working with me though. And no it wouldn’t void their warranty since it’s not stated in the details. They just put in their technical info the things they suggest, like they suggest to leave the line pressure tables stock, etc. The only thing that voids their warranty is installing it wrong like binding or improper converter to flexplate clearance causing the pump to break and they just recently started charging for the pump but not labor.
Dantheman1540
Full Access Member
Thats incredibly good service you don't ever hear about! Hopefully they can get those billet parts in and maybe tweak the tune and you should be good for awhile!
pwtr02ss
Full Access Member
That dash looks great, exactly like it came from the factory. How does the paint hold up? My buddy just traded for an 03 silverado and the previous owner painted the dash red to match the truck. He wants to go back to factory. I have shared your photos with him, just curious about the longevity. Thanks for sharing.
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The first time it was 3 years and it only chipped a bit around where the main bezel touched it. I’m not sure why it did that but I had pulled and installed that piece a dozen times so that might be why. So overall it lasted good.
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I removed all labels from the core support cover and the new used air box I bought from @reedal, repainted them and reinstalled them. I think they look a lot better. My air box was damaged, a couple of the screws that hold the top on had broken tabs and the mounts holding the base to the truck were broken. Never mind the dirty engine bay, I don’t want to wash it while the trans is out and the electrical connectors are hanging.
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Sure, come on by!
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I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with converter lockup. I haven’t dealt with this before and I’m unschooled on the subject so I’ve reached out to @randeez to answer some questions. From what I’ve read lockup is controlled by the pcm on the 4l60 which would mean I need to talk to Blackbear who did the tune. But Randy was talking about the converter itself being built to not fully lock up. Which would mean talking to FTI. But I bought the converter through Performabuilt. And it’s due to arrive at FTI on Thursday so they can cut it open, inspect and clean and reweld it. I went on FTI’s website to see exactly what they sold me and it’s a 10.5” Drag Race converter, triple disc billet, rated for 1400 HP. It seems a bit much. It was $1500 also. Anyway, I’m calling a Performabuilt tomorrow and discussing this with them. I’m out of my comfort zone on this.
Holy shit. That’s one hell of a converter!!
randeez
Full Access Member
just to clarify...theres no in between with the converter it's locked or not by the pcm. yours is built to handle WOT lock up but it gets expensive finding everything else that isnt up to the task
you want it locked up for cruising it helps mpg, keep trans cooler. should be able to come up with a strategy to lock up a few mph into each gear and unlock at the shift and back into it a few mph into the next. just takes some time to sort it all out. i would talk with FTI either way and let em know what youre doing with it. they can probably build it to where the little bit of gain you'll get from locking it up isnt worth breaking parts every other month
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I don’t understand- if lockup is controlled by the tune, what would FTI do different in the build? And I didn’t ask Blackbear to lock it through shifts so I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t do that, correct?just to clarify...theres no in between with the converter it's locked or not by the pcm. yours is built to handle WOT lock up but it gets expensive finding everything else that isnt up to the task
you want it locked up for cruising it helps mpg, keep trans cooler. should be able to come up with a strategy to lock up a few mph into each gear and unlock at the shift and back into it a few mph into the next. just takes some time to sort it all out. i would talk with FTI either way and let em know what youre doing with it. they can probably build it to where the little bit of gain you'll get from locking it up isnt worth breaking parts every other month
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I talked to Performabuilt and FTI today. Performabuilt can’t get parts for the Black Edition right now and besides they don’t think that’s what my problem is, the Level 3 should be plenty enough for my application and something else like converter lockup through shifts is most likely the cause. FTI agreed and said there isn’t anything they can do with the converter, it’s the transmission telling it to lock up or not. And I still haven’t heard back from @BlackBearPerf regarding the tune but it looks like I need to work with them to solve this issue. I’m having the trans rebuilt to the Level 3 and I think they’re going to cover it. Possibly. They didn’t discuss money today when we decided on the work. It’s weird that both times it’s broke it has been at WOT on a 1-2 shift. Hmmm.
Hello Mark, it looks like Justin just emailed you in regards to this.
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Yes he did, thanks. Unfortunately the tune doesn’t reveal any silver bullets, the converter isn’t locked up during shifts. So it looks like the only thing we can do is increase torque management which currently is at 25% of the factory level. I have contacted Performabuilt to ask for a suggestion. Justin mentioned the servo is pretty much in control of how hard the 1-2 shift is; they use the Sonnax billet 2nd gear servo and they utilize their own proprietary shift kit. Hope we can figure this out. Breaking the output shaft hitting second is pretty hard core shifting. Sure is fun to drive though.
