I recently installed a Frantz on my '95 Saturn SL2. It works fantastic and makes for a rather long but interesting story. Right before the installation I accidentally dropped the car on a jackstand
. It was a very cold midnight and I was paying more attention to old man winter than car safety.
I forgot to block the rear wheels and didn't set the parking brake
. So when I was positioning the stand underneath the right spot and jacking up, the jack tipped over and the car rolled back 3 feet! Punched a 1" diameter hole in the side cover of the transmission and about 2 quarts spilled out. When I went to replace the trans cover, the longest straw didn't align into the bushing for the 4th gear clutch and pushed it into the trans!
The trans was driveable but no 4th gear. Lucky for me, a family member is intimately knowledgeable with swapping trans's on the S-series and hooked me up.
On the trip over to his garage in 3rd gear (about 100 miles) I had the Frantz connected and working. Because of my financial situation I ended up swapping my otherwise rather decent trans with a used auto trans that had about 180k miles on it and an intermittent reverse gear. When I collected the used Mobil 1 trans fluid out of the broken trans - the fluid came out as clear as glass. The fluid that I collected before attempting to install the end cover at my place was opaque and purple in color. The fluid that I collected before the trans swap was clear and pink in color! After the used trans and Frantz filter were installed the car would shift into all gears but the shifting was a little harsh and reverse would have a 4-5 second delay shift and sometimes cut out when backing up. I'm on my second roll and 250 miles later. The first roll (with half the miles on the old transmission) I pulled out and it was dark with some metal specs. The transmission is progressively shifting easier in all gears. I bought some transmission flush but returned it! I don't have the reverse slam symptom anymore and as of yesterday the trans shifts into reverse after 1 second instead of 5 and doesn't "cut out" anymore. And most of all, it seems like the engine is working less and with the foot off the gas, the drivetrain seems to glide as if the car is on rollerblades! I have no proof yet but I truly believe my car is getting better mileage. What I do know is that the drivetrain is quieter, is easier to accelerate, and somewhat harder to decelerate.
Both BP filters are fastened onto an improved set up that bolts them to the battery tray. A special baseplate fits onto the modified battery tray. The baseplate consists of a painted plate of steel sheet metal glued to (with polyurethane glue) a 1/2" thick plate of plastic acrylic. The baseplate has 6 countersunk holes where the bolts fall into and fasten to a second acrylic plate that's part of the battery tray assembly. I only need, and am only using 3 of these bolt holes. The battery tray assembly consists of the second acrylic plate with countersunk holes drilled into it and bolted to a spare battery tray I got for free from the junkyard out of a salvaged car. The purpose of the second plate is to serve as an intermediate piece to bolt the baseplate to the battery tray and, less significantly, hold the fiberglass battery tray together (it has a couple small cracks along its side). The second acrylic plate has squares cut from two of the corners to allow easy removal of all bolts from the frame and remove the entire modded battery base assembly from the frame without removing that second acrylic plate. My two bypass filters, a Gulf Coast Junior for the engine oil and a Frantz for the auto trans, are now attached with super strong 2x1" neo magnets to the painted composite base plate. They just stick on and I have enough hose to be able to yank the filters off and set them aside for working on the trans and brake master cylinder. So far, my design works fantastic and it takes only 5 minutes to remove the base plate and battery tray assembly from the frame with the front jacked up (it would take at least 10 minutes to remove my last installation).
The pressure source of the trans oil comes from: a hose barb connected to a 1/8" NPT ball valve connected to a 1/8" NPT tee connected to a 1/8" NPT .025" restrictor orifice connected to the trans pressure test port. The restrictor orifice was a sample from O'keefe Controls - model # B-25-BR. The transmission temperature sensor is relocated and connected to the other end of the tee. I drain the filtered oil into the side of the trans pan located just below the battery tray covering the valve body of the trans. What I did was took the trans pan off, cleaned it out, tapped it and installed a 1/8" NPT hose barb. I am planning on taking digital pictures of my setup in the future.
[ February 08, 2006, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: mjo ]
Both BP filters are fastened onto an improved set up that bolts them to the battery tray. A special baseplate fits onto the modified battery tray. The baseplate consists of a painted plate of steel sheet metal glued to (with polyurethane glue) a 1/2" thick plate of plastic acrylic. The baseplate has 6 countersunk holes where the bolts fall into and fasten to a second acrylic plate that's part of the battery tray assembly. I only need, and am only using 3 of these bolt holes. The battery tray assembly consists of the second acrylic plate with countersunk holes drilled into it and bolted to a spare battery tray I got for free from the junkyard out of a salvaged car. The purpose of the second plate is to serve as an intermediate piece to bolt the baseplate to the battery tray and, less significantly, hold the fiberglass battery tray together (it has a couple small cracks along its side). The second acrylic plate has squares cut from two of the corners to allow easy removal of all bolts from the frame and remove the entire modded battery base assembly from the frame without removing that second acrylic plate. My two bypass filters, a Gulf Coast Junior for the engine oil and a Frantz for the auto trans, are now attached with super strong 2x1" neo magnets to the painted composite base plate. They just stick on and I have enough hose to be able to yank the filters off and set them aside for working on the trans and brake master cylinder. So far, my design works fantastic and it takes only 5 minutes to remove the base plate and battery tray assembly from the frame with the front jacked up (it would take at least 10 minutes to remove my last installation).
The pressure source of the trans oil comes from: a hose barb connected to a 1/8" NPT ball valve connected to a 1/8" NPT tee connected to a 1/8" NPT .025" restrictor orifice connected to the trans pressure test port. The restrictor orifice was a sample from O'keefe Controls - model # B-25-BR. The transmission temperature sensor is relocated and connected to the other end of the tee. I drain the filtered oil into the side of the trans pan located just below the battery tray covering the valve body of the trans. What I did was took the trans pan off, cleaned it out, tapped it and installed a 1/8" NPT hose barb. I am planning on taking digital pictures of my setup in the future.
[ February 08, 2006, 03:25 PM: Message edited by: mjo ]
