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.

Try this...when looking at the Jatco 7AT itself there should be (2) banjo fitted ports. Again using the 350Z (as that is what I have), the port closest to the vehicle front I believe was hot-side and the port towards the rear is cold-side. Trace your lines from those ports. I am going to guess the front port goes to the upper rad inlet and the bottom inlet runs back to the rear facing port - I am guessing here since I have not seen it on the 370.

Let's bump this.

I have a spare VB, anyone know why it can't be modded then swapped in? I've been told that the VB is mated... But why?

You should be able to, unless Nissan made a change.
once you put it in the they have to mate the transmission with the ECU.
They did that with mine when i installed the GTM tranney.
I talked to Level 10 last week
great people and you should have them do your VB.
Give them a call
Z

Becuase everyone says the VB is mated to the trans. That's why Level 10 even says it takes 1 day because you MUST send yours...

Is the Jatco trans on the FX50 or QX56 or whatever bigger in physical dimension? Maybe it's best for us all to just buy those trans...?

Bump

Bump

Pat at level 10 can answer that for you I'm sure. He's a little hard to get in touch with but a super nice guy.

Thanks!

Tell him I recommended him, I sent him pictures from Sebring the other day and he was very excited. He emailed me right back and asked if he could post them on Facebook. If you email him now he will answer you about 5am.

I would love to know this aswell!

Not sure if the valve body is needed or not if keeping the stillen charger at a safe level (stock pulley). Seems the kit has problems once people start trying to get it to do more than what it is designed for since it isn't really the highest hp/torque build but I think if kept tame it should be ok. I would probably look into a speed density ecutek tune since I believe the maf readings get messed up with the stillen charger. Also would be nice if there was a way to but an iat sensor into the intake manifold for true after charger temp. I would just stress that your after safe and reliable and not big numbers (and of course Seb is always great).

I ran the stock Stillen set up on a 7AT for a couple years and it held but every time we changed the fluid it was full of clutch material. You can do it but it's only going to last so long if you drive the car hard.


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Guess I am definatly going to need to do some trans upgrades then, since I am planning on a AAM TT build and want to reach atleast 450-500whp.

If you are going to drive it hard you will! I also tracked my Z a lot so if you only punch it occasionally between stoplights you might be okay for a while.


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First of all
Gamma has nobody to build the tranny
or the Valve body
You will need the GTM uprev program to make it work
I have a fully built stage 4 GTM
a word on the torque converter all they do is change the clutch pads in it
they do not increase the stall its stays at 1600 (stock setting).
The VB modification took a long time till Sam got it right.
Now that Sam is gone, they have nobody to work on it.
an update on my Stroker 4.5
they told me that they would take care of it and they did nothing.
Sam shipped the motor to the machine shop before he died and its now being built.
by the man who designed the engine at his shop
its a darton being sleeved now.

Z

Hey guys just to let you know, IPT performance transmissions can also do all the upgrade work on the RE7R01A transmission just like Level 10 and their prices are almost identical.

They do, VB upgrades, TQ converter upgrades, and performance transmission rebuild kits.

Just throwing it out there, that there is atleast 2 shops that can do it in the states, and still 0 in Australia
:(
Lol

I am following this closely....I am in the market for 7AT VB upgrade and performance converter.

IPT...don't see anything on the 7AT on their page, only 4 and 5 speed stuff. Doesnt mean they dont do 7 speed Jatco stuff, I just didnt see it.

Gamma...concerning that they may not be able to supply the VB/trans upgrade.

Is there anyone else that has purchased VB upgrades from other vendors?

IPT does do it, they sent me an e-mail recently. They just havent listed it.

Same with Level10, they offered me the Jatco 7AT rebuild kit months ago even though it wasn't listed on their site until recently.

Thanks Shadow, i will call both these guys and find out what the scoop is.

Think I will be calling LVL10 soon, might send my VB from Australia to them for the upgrade.

SG4247 Did you end up calling?

So a different VB can't be mated to our Z, Is that correct? Or can Nissan mate any VB to your Z.

Reason I ask I am thinking of buying a 2nd hand VB from the states and sending it to Lvl10 then shipped to me in Australia. Rather than removing mine here and shipping it to the states and back to Australia.