My best friend has an 05 truck with auto tranny, and has had a smarty about 3 months now. No tranny mods, just straight pipe, AFE, and SMARTY and started running 130hp until the tranny started slipping...then took it down to 90hp.

Friday night he calls me...tranny gave up in the middle of an intersection. So i went with a tow strap and pulled him off the road. Just goes to show you that you have to pay to play.

The tranny does nothing when you put it in gear so i'm thinking its prolly the TC more than anything else. He will know today when the dealer calls him today to give him the verdict on the damage and the status of his warranty. I am pretty sure that there is at least a TC and VB in the works, if not a whole built tranny.

Whats a good 3rd gen torque converter and valve body? I'm a manual guy, I don't know anything about autos.

 

I love my Goerend tranny. Holds my BDDL CL tune just fine...

 

I can laugh because the exact same thing happened to me! But, my smarty had help of a 6gun. I went w/ a BD VB and TC, so far so good w/ 500+HP. Knockin' on wood

 

did you have to have the stock tranny rebuilt with internals...or was it just the TC that gave up?

i think his is the TC because there is NO gears, not just some gone. it doesnt buck or move when you drop it into gear like the trucks normally do, so i think its the TC. plus the fluid is almost as black as motor oil and smells like a BBQ

 

My TC gave up, my truck would move, but w/ very little power. No other mods were done and the tranny was torn down and inspected for any other damage.

 

well i'll find out tonight what the dealer says...its 99% the TC. if they dont want to warranty it then im gonna MAKE him buy a goerends triple disc and put in it.

 

I bet the tc isnt the problem,it may be hurt from slipping,but that wont stop it dead.It sounds like it broke the input shaft. I've also seen the filter inlet plugged solid with debris to the point where it wont even go in gear.

 

my guess is the flexplate because they are paper thin

 

it makes NO noise whatsoever when i put it in gear and revved it up, no rattling or grinding. no attempted movement, NOTHING.

also he said it happen while he was hammering down the road...not on a launch so that "could" rule out the input/flexplate. but he did say he heard quite a pop when it happened so i wont rule it out completely

he said its been slipping for about 3 months and was still running 90hp when it went.

 

when the TC goes, it generally throws metal shavings throughout the trans. ugly. good luck.

 

You confirmed it for me.A loud POP. You didnt mention it not being able to start now,or a lot of rattling,so that rules out the flex plate.Besides a stock trans will be hard pressed to be able to transfer enough torque to break a flexplate.Ive seen inputs break on bone stock trucks.

 

shouldnt drive like a moron..

 

Get Blown5.9, reply back with dealer warranty info on your buddies truck. See if they say anything about Smarty, Or any other reasons if they void warranty on tranny. I am planning on getting Smarty in the future and would like to know what the dealer says. Probably should put stock intake back on before they open the hood.

 

maybe its just me but it seems like DC could avoid quite a few warranty claims if they just beefed up the stock TC. We'd still be on our own if we break a shaft, but the TC seems to be the most common pain point, even for guys running stock trucks; and not that costly of an upgrade really.

It would be alot cheaper than paying mechanics to do the R&R on them, plus parts, under warranty. (and cheaper and friendlier than trying to deny every claim)

And how many of us would pay $750 to $1000 extra to get a good TC right off the showroom floor? seems like a no-brainer on both sides of the fence.

 

DC makes the TC a very weak point for one reason...they'd rather have it not transfer all that torque so well and eat up the clutches etc in the tranny. this will make the tranny last longer under normal conditions. now when someone either drives leadfooted 100% of the time or adds a power device...that TC is the weak link.