Automatic Valve Body/Shift Kit - Help Please

[Bigrig]

Howdy

I had the resistor changed a while back to 1K ohm's and found this made little difference so I removed it. Now that I've put the turbo in, the auto box is simply not up to the challenge, so I'm looking into modifying it with a decent valve body and/or shift kit.

First question - do most upgraded valve bodies come with a shift kit anyway?

Second question - i figure I need the valve body (to get more oil through etc), but do I 'need' the shift kit?

Third question - should I do both the valve body/shift kit AND put the resister back in?

Last question - has anyone done this and can you suggest a brand/supplier (found wholesale automatic transmission who do a heap of patrol specific upgrades it appears) and what did you find the major differences with the mod (cooler temps, smoother/sharper gear changes, no flaring etc)?

Thanks a million in advance one and all!!!

[NissanGQ4.2]

Sorry boss, can't help you.

Ring Wholesale Automatics and ask for Rod, he will let you know what you need for what your trying 2 achieve.

Cheers,

Todd

[YNOT]

Chaz is the man (again) to answer this question.

Tony

[patch697]

Im no wizz with auto's but I've plaid with a few in my day (Not a Patrol one though).

From what I know & learned from playing with Hi performance Holdens, Fords & Chryslers mostly, You don't always need a new Valve body to upgrade your auto with say a mild to medium shift kit Stage 1 or 2.

Some shift kit require some modifications be made to the valve body but these are usually a simple hole enlargement here or there & maybe a spring change in one or more of the valves themselves.

A lot of the modifications are in the separation plate that goes between the valve body & the transmission body itself & the modified plate normally comes with the kit or a list of instruction for the modifications that need to be done to your existing plate.

All these mods are designed to increase fluid flow & increase pressure to improve the auto's gear shifting ability & the added pressure improves its ability to hold more firmly whilst in gear to minimize slippage.

Most all STD auto transmissions are only designed to work with the power output of there intened power plants & when faced with a sizable increase of power (ie a modified engine) they begin to fail.

Shift kits are normally a quite effective way to overcome this problem on a small medium scale power increase & as long as the trans is beefy enough. (which a Patrol one generally is) will produce a good result.

Outside of this, more internal modifications are generally required.

[Bigrig]

Im no wizz with auto's but I've plaid with a few in my day (Not a Patrol one though).

From what I know & learned from playing with Hi performance Holdens, Fords & Chryslers mostly, You don't always need a new Valve body to upgrade your auto with say a mild to medium shift kit Stage 1 or 2.

Some shift kit require some modifications be made to the valve body but these are usually a simple hole enlargement here or there & maybe a spring change in one or more of the valves themselves.

A lot of the modifications are in the separation plate that goes between the valve body & the transmission body itself & the modified plate normally comes with the kit or a list of instruction for the modifications that need to be done to your existing plate.

All these mods are designed to increase fluid flow & increase pressure to improve the auto's gear shifting ability & the added pressure improves its ability to hold more firmly whilst in gear to minimize slippage.

Most all STD auto transmissions are only designed to work with the power output of there intened power plants & when faced with a sizable increase of power (ie a modified engine) they begin to fail.

Shift kits are normally a quite effective way to overcome this problem on a small medium scale power increase & as long as the trans is beefy enough. (which a Patrol one generally is) will produce a good result.

Outside of this, more internal modifications are generally required.

Thanks mate - I'm sort of thinking if I'm going to do it then, in my mind at least, do the lot IF that means its strong as an ox and up to the task ... especially if it means more life out of it.

[Bigrig]

This begs the question - what transmission do I have?? lol

This is from Wholesale Automatic Transmissions - this seems to suggest no need for a shift kit??


Nissan RE4R01A & RE4R03A High Performace Valve Bodies
Rodney Hudson-Davies posted at 21/06/2011

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/06/48.jpgNissan High Performance RE4R01A & RE4R03A Stage 1, 2 or full manual Valve Bodies make all the difference. These complete Heavy Duty Valve Body assemblies are much more advanced than the basic do it yourself shift kits as they come complete with Brand New Solinoids, Thick Lazer Cut Sandwich Plate, Oil Filter, Pan Gasket and have been Fully Pre-assembled and Tested by a Qualified Automatic Transmission Technician.

Often we hear owners complaining about the quality of their Nissan Automatic Transmission when shifting through the gears, most come from everyday drivers who simply can't stand the constant slipping and flaring between the gears. We have had dozens of owners contact us about improving the transmission in some way to overcome the problem.

We put together a development program and have come up with a cheap and easy way to turn your Nissan transmission into a firm shifting transmission without having to remove the transmission from the car. Simply remove the valve body and exchange it for one of our Stage 1, 2 or full manual Recalibrated Extreme Nissan Valve Bodies.

The valve body comes with easy to read instructions for the removal and refitting of the new valve body. It has undergone a tremendous amount of testing including Nissans that have had Turbo Chargers, Super Chargers and even V8's and in every single case the customer has been quite overwhelmed about the difference the New Valve Body made to the vehicle.

The transmission once fitted with the new valve body can easily handle more than twice the power and torque with firm shift points even while towing trailers that are of considerable weight. The New Valve Body has also been tested behind High Performance V8 & Turbo Charged Engines including the V8 Infinity and other engines, We simply couldn't fault the new Extreme Valve Body no matter what we did to it (At time of print the valve body had been tested to 607Hp = 450Kw without failure to the transmission).

[YNOT]

Check the build plate under the bonnet to see what transmission you have.

Tony

[Bigrig]

Check the build plate under the bonnet to see what transmission you have.

Tony

Really? That simple?? Well I'll be ... lol

Thanks mate!!

[Chaz]

This begs the question - what transmission do I have?? lol


Hi Bigrig,

What model Patrol do you have? I’m guessing that you have a GQ, seeing that you put a turbo on it. If so, you’ll have an earlier version of the RE4R03A Jatco box which is basically the same as the GU transmission apart from a few minor differences.

I can’t comment on the Wholesale valve bodies because I haven’t used one yet. I have heard that they are a bit harsh on shifting, but you’ll get that if you want the strength and you’ll also gain a few other benefits like being able to lock the converter in lower gears. Personally, I think the Wholesale valvebody would be the ultimate for strength and durability for the Nissan trans, but if cost is a major factor, then you may want to look at other options. Fitting a shift kit will improve the transmission over the standard offering at much lower cost, depending how much of the work you have to farm out.

Replacing the line pressure resistor should also make a noticeable improvement as well as using synthetic trans fluid, but you’ll need to take into consideration how many k’s the trans already has on it because the benefits won’t be as noticeable with a high mileage transmission.

I guess it comes down to how much more power you make, how much better do you want the transmission to be and how big your wallet is.

[patch697]

Really? That simple?? Well I'll be ... lol

Thanks mate!!

Providing that when your trans was replaced it just pulled out & rebuilt & not changed over for one on the shelf???

[Skull]

The guys are right about Wholesale auto's. Was looking into Bullet supercharged 6.5 Chevy V8 before I decided to upgrade instead. They use RE4R03A behind them. They are taking 860 odd NM. Thats bloody tough. They use exchange from W/Auto's at $6500 (probably got bullet profit in there). Has upgrade Nomad Valvebody, Massive low stall torque converter, extra clutch's in third I beleive and bigger bands. Call W/Autos or get onto their site. Manuals could not take that power with their week fifth gear thats for sure.

[Ade]

:smile: I have that stage 1 re calibrated valve body from Wholesale A.T in my auto box mate..its marvelous..!!! Almost non slippage..no flaring and good engine braking. Gear change if very FIRM. A bit too firm on light throttle but okay on half and full throttle. On temperature wise, my maximum atf outlet temperature (before the cooler) was 140c full throttle on a long big hill run (fully loaded but not towing). And that is with aux cooler in series with the factory cooler. I'm quite satisfied with the atf temperature as my coolant temperature was 115c when the atf was at 140c. I supposed my atf temperature should be lower than that if I can get the coolant temp below 95c. Plus..I cant find fully synthetic Castrol atf here just yet and currently am using Castrol semi. I've read and heard fully synthetic make huge difference too.

Anyway, would definitely recommend that re calibrated valve body from Wholesale A.T mate, they're :thumbup:

[Bigrig]

Outstanding - thanks lads.

Ade - do you know what the difference is with the stage 1 and stage 2's??

Thanks again mate - appreciate the info.

[Ade]

I'm not so sure what's the difference mate, but I suppose stage 2 is a later version with some finer tuning to it. Rodney from W.A.T spoke to me about that on phone but I couldn't really catch his Aussie's accent :redface: Rang him up mate..good bloke he is.

[Bigrig]

I'm not so sure what's the difference mate, but I suppose stage 2 is a later version with some finer tuning to it. Rodney from W.A.T spoke to me about that on phone but I couldn't really catch his Aussie's accent :redface: Rang him up mate..good bloke he is.

Thanks mate - just spoke with Rodney and yep, stage 2 is the upgraded Nomad series. Got all the information and will sort it in the coming weeks.

Probably get the temp kit and torque converter lockup kit also. He didn't recommend changing the resistor by the way - reckons it causes more problems (long term) than benefits.

Many thanks for the info everyone!!!

[NissanGQ4.2]

This begs the question - what transmission do I have?? lol


Considering yours is identical 2 mine, ( except mine has none of TANKS fancy mods ) you will have the RE4R03A, but I would check the tag anyway just 2 be sure

[Bigrig]

Considering yours is identical 2 mine, ( except mine has none of TANKS fancy mods ) you will have the RE4R03A, but I would check the tag anyway just 2 be sure

Thanks fella - nothing "fancy" about those mods old mate ... they're installed to do the hard stuff!!!! lol

[Bigrig]

Looks like I'm going one of their Nomad valve bodies - I'll obviously update pre and post install in the build thread as to the outcome/ease of installation etc.

Then there's really nothing left to do on Tank ...

Except the winch ..

And the petrol tank ...

And the new injectors (660cc) ...

And the new ECU (Wolf) ...

And then the dyno ...

Not to mention the new rear windows and rubbers ...

And the windshield rubber ...

Oh, and the air conditioning fixed up ...

And the ...

Ahhhh, you get my point!!!! lmao

[NissanGQ4.2]

Thanks fella - nothing "fancy" about those mods old mate ... they're installed to do the hard stuff!!!! lol

Well I'm 1 up on TANK then, mine done all the hard stuff without all those fancy mods.......

I just looked up Nissan Fast for you and even that says to confirm the transmission by looking at the ID tag *L*

[Bigrig]

Well I'm 1 up on TANK then, mine done all the hard stuff without all those fancy mods.......

I just looked up Nissan Fast for you and even that says to confirm the transmission by looking at the ID tag *L*

Thanks mate ... and you just hold into those dreams!!! lmao

As Patch said, I've got to check the box itself to be sure as it was a rebuilt/reconditioned unit about 12 months before I got it ... so hopefully the same model variant ...

[NissanGQ4.2]

Thanks mate ... and you just hold into those dreams!!! lmao


No dreams, don't think it was bad driving, think it was pushin it way beyond it limits, but at least mine has been on its side...........which gave me easy access to grease some bearings........................ok it might of been bad driving *LMAO*

[Bigrig]

No dreams, don't think it was bad driving, think it was pushin it way beyond it limits, but at least mine has been on its side...........which gave me easy access to grease some bearings........................ok it might of been bad driving *LMAO*

Hahaha ... understood mate!! I put the last GU on its side also, so at least now you've provided me a 'real' excuse as to why I did it!!!! lmao

[taslucas]

Hi big,
My Q's in at the doctors at the moment getting a rebuilt auto and an upgrade to heavy duty valvebody. It has made me very happy to hear all the good reports. Cant wait to try it out:)

[Ratchetzila]

l looking for gu1 98 ti upgraded transmission .
l have problems transmission 2nd time
l go bush with deep water 2 nd time problems transmission drvie
i need help ?