zigg
Full Access Member
Towcat, how about some way of disengaging the lockup at low speed? The cruise control for example does that, is there some wire that can be tapped so that it allows the manual lockup only when the cruise is allowed to operate, (whatever that speed is)? Like, use the signal that the cruise module "watches" so it knows when the truck has slowed down too much, and use the same signal for enabling/disabling the manual lockup? Or is that all done internally in the ECM, so there's really no external wire we can mess with?
Another thing that can be done is tap into the brake lights switch, and use that to trigger a relay that opens the TCC circuit and thus unlocks the converter? That oughta be easy to do...
Seems to me that was what the engineers were doing when the figured out the "Auto" setting for the computer.
Towcat. I hear what you're saying. I'm not familiar at all with the guts of an E4DOA. I'm going strictly on what others have told me.
Oldmisterbill has done this mod to his truck, and has run it like this for years with ridiculous loads always towing, so that says something. I think he only uses his on the hwy though. I think that constantly unlocking/locking with every shift, every time you touch the brakes or take your foot off the throttle would wear out the clutch pretty fast too. He strongly believes that these trans's will give good service if they are serviced properly and especially not overheated, so that's what I'm shooting for with mine.
I rarely tow much more than a TT with about 6,000lbs, so hopefully mine will give me decent service. I do recall someone else doing this that said much the same thing, that it shouldn't be locked at speeds below 25mph, and rpms less than 1,000, so that's what I'm using as my guide.
The way I'm using mine at present, is to have it off in town. When I'm heading out onto the hwy, I put it in "Auto" mode, and the computer shifts as normal, and once the T/C has engaged (at about 35mph on mine) I flip the Second switch to lock it in, and then just drive like that until I need to come to a stop, where I unlock it manually, and then continue in that fashion. Only other place I've used it a bit is coming down from the ski hill. I drop down into 3rd gear, lock it up, and then take my foot off the throttle, and never have to touch the brakes descending over 5,000ft.!
Here's the updated photo...
Zigg