Originally Posted By: sciphi
Originally Posted By: 10bears
Originally Posted By: boro
Oh yes, it's on my car, in fact I have a couple of videos drifting around out there that demonstrate the downshift in action, it's quite enjoyable and surprising for a Buick LeSabre to go from 2500 rpms to 5000 in an instant.
In all honesty, you can do it to a stock car with no ill effects, but the more stuff you have protecting the transmission the better. A shift kit and an aftermarket cooler would help loads. If you don't feel comfortable doing that yourself, any transmission shop should be able to help you out, and neither are difficult or involved to install so labor charges wouldn't be too bad.
It certainly is not any kinder to the transmission, but as long as you don't do it all the time it won't have any negative effects. I've had the skip shift enabled for a couple of years now and my trans is still shifting along happily. 164k miles.
I dug up those videos. Here's the one from back when my LeSabre still had the Flowmaster, it shows the 3-1 downshift very well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be1_Ec0FB6U
This one is after I went back to a stock muffler, I got tired of my LeSabre being loud very quickly! 4-2 downshift in this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgri0TN1MBY
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Boro,
Thank you very much for the video links. The speed sure jumps up there in a hurry!
Did you get the 3-1 downshift with the shift kit or did that require the PCM reprogramming?
Curious to know whose shift kit and trans cooler you used and if they seemed like good stuff to you. I figure I can probably install those without too much problem.
Just got the garage cleaned up and both cars in for the next two days rain/snow storm. The F150 looks like the runner up in a mudbog contest. There's been a lot of precip here in the past few weeks.
Larry S.
ASE Cert MM, retired
10bears, boro helped replace the LIM gaskets on my 1999 LeSabre this past fall. My LeSabre also has the computer reprogrammed to do the 3-1 downshift, and it's a blast to have the power there when I need it. Mine's been shift-kitted using $5 of parts from Lowe's. Most of the time the transmission (4T65 in my car, boro's has the 4T60) shifts so smoothly I forget it's kitted. All I notice is that it shifts faster.
For a transmission cooler I have a B&M 70268 mounted right behind the front bumper. It installed with the hardware in the kit in a couple hours.
To keep this thread sort of on topic, I use whatever 5w-30 synthetic is on sale at the moment. Next up is some Edge I got for almost free.
Hey Sciphi,
I just noticed that my trans is a 4T65 (2nd design with 8mm pan bolts). Do ya' have a DIY link for how you did your $5 Lowe's shift kit?
I don't know why I thought it was the 60; guess that transitioned in 1997..
It shifts perfectly like stock now, so there's no sense letting that go on.
Thanks,
Larry S.
10*B