valvebody upgrade
 

Haven't posted in a while. There about 20 Z's here and one GTM sc on a manual (not surprising cause the SC kit costs here about 12 grand.) I have an automatic and just purchased the Stillen kit. I know there are many opinions about the two kits; it's just that I had the opportunity to by the stillen from someone who sold there car before installing (only 8 grand.) My question is what does the valvebody upgrade do and can I install it at a later time after I install the SC kit. I do not track and rarley drive the car hard. Thanks

you're going to need a tranny cooler. and don't boost in the high gears. the valve body upgrade will give you better shifts and a better driving experience all around. you can install that later, but you should address cooling issues first. also i think the stillen kit has some parts that are prone to failure so you might want to look into that too.

Thanks. I have the tranny cooler. The valvebody then in fact doesn't contibute to the longevity of the transmission? What parts of the stillen kit are prone to failure if I may ask?

Bump:

Guys, sorry. Anyone throw me a bone?

Some good reading: http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...370z-info.html

On the note of Stillen failure, I would not say the "parts" fail but people have had more issues with Stillen. I have seen many Stillen SC kits installed without problems, just have a good reliable installer and a good tune (do not use the Stillen tune). The main thing with the 7AT is the TQ, stay out of the upper gears when in boost, with doing that, a good cooler and transmission adjustments via the tune it can be ok.

The valve body will increase the life of the trans. The shifts get shorter so the clutches are slipped less, and the line pressure can be better applied to the clutch packs. Reduced slippage wears the discs less and the pressure mods make the most of the holding power of the discs. I believe tunning for the new valvebody is done at the same time, so that will help out more yet. Coolers are always good ideas though. I have seen where the fluid will go through an air cooler first, then the radiator cooler, and then back to the trans so that it loses all its heat in the air cooler then gets warmed to a stable temp by the water cooler, so you arent over cooling the trans. Thats from commercial truck trannies though the concept should still apply.

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VB Upgrade was in my top 5 best mods for my 350Z. I went with it cuz I run spray. It almost behaves like a manual and at WOT it slams down into gear almost feels like damaging something but you are not. off spray it would chirp the tires 1-2, 2-3..so worth the $550 (250parts/300labor). Heat is the killer of ATs. Go with a B&M Hi-Tech tranny cooler with the integrated SPAL fan. I placed mine on the under hatch-trunk heatshield between the HKS dual canisters. I avg 180d fluid on hot days, but using tiptronic will increase fluid temps closer to 195-200 from what I have experienced. The hotter the constant running fluid temp the less life you get out of the juice requiring more frequent changes. Generally these coolers daisy chain onto your radiator requiring good airflow against it, and I would not bypass your radiator unless the cooler has an independent T-stat switch and cooling fan.

I would think this mod is a MUST for any FI application.

I had a Stillen kit installed on my Z with a 7at 3 weeks ago and it ran like crap with the Stillen tune. We ran it on the dyno yesterday as a base and had horrible results. We only got 262 WHP with the Stillen tune and it was incredibly rich. Within an hour and a half the tuner had the car at 406 WHP and 302 TQ. I didn't take the advise here about the Stillen tune and I wish I had.

Guys, thanks a load for the advice. A few things I don't understand. "out of the juice" What is the juice? "daisy chain" no clue what that means. "and I would not bypass your radiator unless the cooler has an independent T-stat switch and cooling fan."
Do you mean to say the tranny cooler should be connected to the main cooler? Thanks. I am pretty ignorant to the cool jargon.

the transmission fluid passes through the radiator, and he's saying don't bypass that when you put in the tranny cooler.

Sorry...

Juice = 7AT S-matic fluid
Daisychain = see attached pic
T-stat = Thermostat

B&M HiTEK
B&M® - Hi-Tek Cooling System

cool. so it should be set-up as in picture. thanks

Which AT line is supply vs return
 

On the radiator - which line is the supply (fluid coming from the tranny) and which is the return (fluid going back to the tranny)?

If memory serves me right...

passenger inlet receives hot supply fluid from tranny, fluid runs thru rad and is air cooled then out driver's side outlet port back to tranny. That is how it is on the 350z, so I assume the same with 370z.

Thanks for the reply - but on a 370 - both inlet and outlet are on driver side - one at top and other at bottom.

Seems like anything I've been able to find says outlet is the bottom one - but would like to confirm.

Shop manual does not distinguish - which makes sense - it wouldn't matter since the AT fluid is only flowing through the rad.