RatioTek transmission upgrade how to

@gearcruncher you know more about these transmissions than probably anyone else on this site. I feel you would be the best person to give them a call and pick there brain on it. I would get lost in the technical banter.

 

I dont have all the answers and some of the members already have the kits installed . I would like to hear some feedback from the guys who have these shift kits in place and have been running them for some time .
At this point in time , the shift kit should also come with a flash for the ecm

 

Any idea what should be modified on the trans ecm? I think the guy who tuned my truck said he could toy with it, so if I had an idea of what he needs to do I would like to ask him and see if he can do it

 

Original post updated to include picture of actual top plate that is drilled out.

 

you mind taking the whole thing apart and videoing you putting it back together?

 

If I ever get a spare valve body to work on, I'll try to accommodate your request.

 

I said that in jest but ill gladly allow it

 

Nice work

 

I would be able to do that. I was working on my spare valve body today.
I had a spare transmission that I thought the clutch packs were going bad cuz it was slipping. So I use the valve body out of that one and when I installed it today took it for a test drive and it was slipping and 2nd gear I would have to manually move it to 3rd gear so it would shift then I put it in 4th gear and then back to drive. On the highway it doesn't want to shift past third gear. So tomorrow morning I will be tearing it apart and removing the plates from the bad valve body back to the one I took out today that I know works. I'm thinking the solenoids on the valve body that I had modified are bad.

 

Are you guys that have installed the Ratiotek kit still happy with it? Any complaints? Did you do the HD or regular kit?
I'm thinking about putting the HD kit in mine, but I think I have a solenoid (or multiple solenoids) starting to act up. For the last couple years it has been kicking down kinda slow, especially if I have the cruise control set. The slow kick-down is most noticeable going uphill with the cruise control set. It's kinda hard to describe, but it's like the torque converter unlocks, the engine starts to rev and then a fraction of a second later the transmission shifts down, sometimes making a thud as it grabs the next gear.

Most recently it has occasionally been a little slow on the upshifts, most noticeable from 1-2, and 2-3. It's not bad, most anybody else probably wouldn't even notice, but there is occasionally a slight delay between gears. It's not slipping, it's just a little sloppy between gears. My truck is an 07, has 84k miles, and a lot of idle time. On my current oil change interval I am at ~140 hours of runtime and around 1500 miles. This truck is shortripped daily, often driven less than a mile before being turned off, I have 3-4 stops and starts between destinations, so this transmission has been through a lot of shift cycles. The fluid has been flushed once and drained/filled several times. I drained and filled it last April, about 3-4K miles ago and the fluid is/was cherry red.

Would the RatioTek help with my sluggish shifting or do I need to take a look at the solenoids? Can the resistance of the solenoids be checked from the case connector or do they need to be checked at the solenoid connectors?
Thoughts?

 

No complaints on my end. HD kit is geared more towards turbo's or superchargers. Sounds like your fluid should be in good shape assuming its at the proper level. With the very short drives you do, I wonder about carbon build up. Have you recently cleaned your throttle body and MAF sensor? Such short drives dont give the engine much time to warm up and burn off condensation and such.

 

I talked to the company, they recommended the HD kit because I do tow quite a bit. The fluid is checked using the temp check mode every time, it should be at the correct level. The MAF sensor was cleaned at the last oil change. Throttle body was cleaned when I did spark plugs at 63k. The short trips are hard on my engine for sure, I do try to occasionally take a longer trip and let it burn off any moisture in the crankcase.

 

I think i have the same problem you have regarding the slow upshifts. Sometimes the truck will just hang in a gear and wont want to shift up. There a big overpass i drive over everyday and the truck will downshift going up and then will hang in 4th for a few seconds before shifting back into 5th. If i take my foot off the gas it will usually up shift then. My truck has 62K miles on it and i just flushed the tranny w/ synthetic maxlife atf a few thousand miles ago and put in a new filter. I think it might just be a quirk of the truck since it doesn't happen all the time, just every once in awhile.

 

@gearcruncher I'm at 217k (I have done the pan drain and fill 3 times since I got the truck with 142k so it has at least some new fluid in it) I'm also turbo'd and getting a little slippage. will the $28 kit suffice? also I have started experiencing some TC lock-up stutter once the trans is up to 90* ish degrees and I leave it in "D" but it doesn't do that if I manually sift from 4-D.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNJNW2S7ueE slippage is at around 60 mph shift

 

Hi Yota

Thats a tough question for me to answer over a keyboard .
There are all kinds of variables that come into play with the unknowns and the mileage involved for anyone to give you a quick answer .
Do some more reading over here and get back to me
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/

and page 6
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...s-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/page-6

 

I did do the brake check and it stops the shudder, forgot to mention and it acts like it now has too much fluid in it, or at least the first time i did the drain and fill, i did it cold and there was just a little too.much fluid and when it warmed up i would have a similar shudder, but it has just started since i have been a little harder on it in the last few months, and ive never heard of trannys gaining fluid... Ill do some more reading this weekend and see what else could be goin on

 

Start with a computer scan unless you have already performed one .
But yes, more reading for you !!! hehehe

On another note , I wish my truck went as good as yours .
I am thinking more along the lines of an IPT valve body for that beast .
Maybe one of the guys who already installed the kit can elaborate after watching your video

 

Yeah i have a vacuum leak which throw a o2 sensor stuck rich code which may be my issue, one of these days ill be caught uo enough to work on my truck again and get everything "fixed" and see what problems i have after that haha

 

Sub’d!