Vacuum Regulator Valve/VRV for C6 transmission: convert or replace or search for NOS?

[lotzagoodstuff]

So I'm new to the diesel specific C6 transmission, and I just realized that the one on my new truck has a cracked tube which is making it shift poorly. I did a search and it appears that as of 2019, these things were pretty scarce. I'd really like to put a factory replacement part on it, but I realize that may not be possible. Here's the potential paths I see as of this writing:

1. Anybody have a decent know good used unit that they want to part with? [Bueller? Bueller?]
2. Convert to the mechanical version [https://www.accuratediesel.com/ford-6-9l-/-7-3l-idi-vacuum-regulator-valve-vrv-conversion-kit.html]
3. Buy a brand new unit from Nick Pisca [https://www.nickpisca.com/diesel/fu...new-idi-online-c6-vrv-vacuum-regulator-valve/]
4. Try to repair my existing unit

Again, I'm trying to make my way back into the non-lockup C6 educational series, but it's been a while since I worked on anything without a lock up converter. It seems I've traded one challenge for another: electronics versus obsolete vacuum parts

 

[franklin2]

Option C? https://broaderperformance.com/product/full-manual-valve-body-forward-pattern/

 

[Big Bart]

If you need new and want the factory style Nick Pisca is the only game in town I have seen for a couple years. I have not tried his product.

The mechanical version is some work to mount but likely available down the road. (Developed for racing I had heard.) So more of a long term play.

Used ones are getting hard to find but maybe someone here can help with a known good one. Mine is getting tired so have been looking myself.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

Option C? https://broaderperformance.com/product/full-manual-valve-body-forward-pattern/

That’s not a bad price for a complete valve body. Broader has a really good reputation too.

I just don’t want to shift it manually. I have a GV overdrive unit that I intend to install and a full manual valve body + GV: that would be a lot of shifting

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I also think that's the down side to the manual valve body. I wouldn't want to have to manually shift my automatic transmission all of the time either. That seems to mostly eliminate the "automatic" part of the transmission. That's also the reason that I've never mentioned a manual valve body in any of the VRV threads.

 

[Cubey]

I also think that's the down side to the manual valve body. I wouldn't want to have to manually shift my automatic transmission all of the time either. That seems to mostly eliminate the "automatic" part of the transmission. That's also the reason that I've never mentioned a manual valve body in any of the VRV threads.

Well, it's still not as bad, no clutch. I manually shift my C6 at times, but the kickdown doesn't seem to work very well or at all so that's partly why.

 

[SuperDave]

When I broke the vrv on my '86 I got so disgusted with trying to find one I did an e4od swap and just eliminated the need for the vrv all together. It really wasn't that difficult to do and the truck gets better mileage and can run highway speeds without being right against the redline. That being said if the options available today had been available then I'd have probably just done the cable operated modulator conversion or gotten a reproduction vrv from Nick.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

This interests me because I'm going to IDI swap my Red Truck soon. For some unknown reason, I wanted an automatic transmission when I bought the truck and I still want to keep it. I already have a C6 in the Ex Wife so I'm planning to use that. I'm also planning to keep the 9" rear end with the 2.47:1 gears so there's no way that I could use an E4OD. It would be barely above an idle at 70 MPH and would be next to unusable. That's why I'm planning to keep the C6. There's also the fact that I already have the C6 so the cost of a new torque convertor with less slippage and even a new VRV would be much less than an E4OD and a stand alone controller.

 

[Big Bart]

The C6 is also a very tough transmission and inexpensive to have rebuilt. Often it is used for racing. I once saw the specs from Ford which showed in 1988 the 2wd, IDI, 4.10 axle, with a C-6 had a higher towing rating than a stick in the same config. Now many members have shown here the stick is extremely capable And reliable. I would have thought the opposite, so found that interesting. Proving the C6 is a heavy duty tranny.

In CA state Law is 55mph while towing. Since I mainly use the IDI for towing it is a non-issue to be able to go say 75mph. At 2,800rpm the freeway speed in the truck is 65mph. But it would be nice to cruise faster when not towing.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I had no idea that the towing speed limit was so slow in California. Of course I've never been there. I'm just used to the speed limit being the speed limit, towing or empty.

 

[Old Goat]

55 is slow? When I was a kid the towing speed was 45 in Calif., and the double yellow was a double white line.

When we moved to Nevada, I was surprised the towing speed was the same as the posted speed.


Goat

 

[Big Bart]

Most folks tow 60-65mph and the police don’t seem to enforce the 55mph. But is not uncommon to see a guy going 70-75mph with a jacked up F150 gasser, towing a full 30 foot toy hauler, his bed full, with his front end practically doing a wheelie, on his way back from the river or desert after partying all night. Where is a cop when you need one?

Adding to that is you are only supposed to use the two right lanes like the big rigs. So get stuck behind some trucks going up on of our thousands of steep grades in this mountainous state and your screwed unless you want to be a rebel and break the law.

It also means no carpool lane in traffic or ability to use express lanes.(You can’t be in the left lanes.)

Now as IDIBranco touched on, the states around us generally do not site a different speed limit for when you trailer. So California as usual just wants to be special, even though the citizens of California don’t want to be special.

Old Goat I don’t recall 45mph, but I am sure you are correct. But I do remember the 55mph speed limit state wide. So likely their take on slower than the speed limit is better. CA was one of the last to move to 65mph and again one of the last to adopt a whopping 70mph in rural areas.

I do recall folks in the 70’s and 80’s towing a lot with cars and station wagons when I grew up. My friends parents towed a house boat with their station wagon, I look back and think that might not of been a safe way to tow.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Those F150/toy hauler types are definitely not being anything that comes even close to being safe. They are part of what I refer to as the "it has a ball on the back so I can tow anything with it" crowd. I've seen that one proven wrong several times. My favorite one was the guy who had a 1993(?) Dakota with a 318 in it. He even claimed that he could tow anything that he wanted to. The one and only time that he tried to haul a load of scrap iron in, they dropped their magnet on the trailer and bent the lower part of his frame. I never heard what a good tow truck it was after that.

 

[Cubey]

Most folks tow 60-65mph and the police don’t seem to enforce the 55mph. But is not uncommon to see a guy going 70-75mph with a jacked up F150 gasser, towing a full 30 foot toy hauler, his bed full, with his front end practically doing a wheelie, on his way back from the river or desert after partying all night. Where is a cop when you need one?

Adding to that is you are only supposed to use the two right lanes like the big rigs. So get stuck behind some trucks going up on of our thousands of steep grades in this mountainous state and your screwed unless you want to be a rebel and break the law.

It also means no carpool lane in traffic or ability to use express lanes.(You can’t be in the left lanes.)

Now as IDIBranco touched on, the states around us generally do not site a different speed limit for when you trailer. So California as usual just wants to be special, even though the citizens of California don’t want to be special.

Old Goat I don’t recall 45mph, but I am sure you are correct. But I do remember the 55mph speed limit state wide. So likely their take on slower than the speed limit is better. CA was one of the last to move to 65mph and again one of the last to adopt a whopping 70mph in rural areas.

I do recall folks in the 70’s and 80’s towing a lot with cars and station wagons when I grew up. My friends parents towed a house boat with their station wagon, I look back and think that might not of been a safe way to tow.

20 years ago and maybe less long ago, Texas had lower speed limits for towing too. I know this because at a state line crossing there was a huge white sign telling you all the different speed limits for different setups (autos, towing, semis, etc). School buses had a specific limit posted even (probably 55).

 

[Cubey]

Those F150/toy hauler types are definitely not being anything that comes even close to being safe. They are part of what I refer to as the "it has a ball on the back so I can tow anything with it" crowd. I've seen that one proven wrong several times. My favorite one was the guy who had a 1993(?) Dakota with a 318 in it. He even claimed that he could tow anything that he wanted to. The one and only time that he tried to haul a load of scrap iron in, they dropped their magnet on the trailer and bent the lower part of his frame. I never heard what a good tow truck it was after that.

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