Hi-Po 4T65E Raptor transmission
panzer dragoon
11-13-2004, 01:35 PM
why buy a OEM transmission when you know it's going to fail down the road anyway. Hi-Performance only.
They have the hardened sun gear for $17. This is the part that has been falling apart and ruining the 4T65E.
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/alto_2.htm
for some reason the link doesn't work now
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/highperflist.htm
12/11/04 The link still doesn't work, and it's too bad because they had alot of good info on 4T65 rebuilds.
They Hi-Performance 4T65 was quite pricey at $3K. but they had the rebuilt (with the improvements) ones for about 1/3 of that.
They have the hardened sun gear for $17. This is the part that has been falling apart and ruining the 4T65E.
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/alto_2.htm
for some reason the link doesn't work now
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/highperflist.htm
12/11/04 The link still doesn't work, and it's too bad because they had alot of good info on 4T65 rebuilds.
They Hi-Performance 4T65 was quite pricey at $3K. but they had the rebuilt (with the improvements) ones for about 1/3 of that.
noslouch
11-25-2004, 11:46 AM
Has anyone done this yet? It makes sense to me.
paulkramer
11-29-2004, 09:17 AM
Does this require removing the tranny?
panzer dragoon
12-11-2004, 05:08 PM
yeah you got to get the tranny taken out to replace the sun gear. With the 4T65 I feel it's typical GM quality hit and miss, you either get luck and get a good one or you don't. Some people get real unlucky and go through 3 transmissions which sucks.
We all need to look into what is the best deal with the 4T65. Is a taxi/police 4T65 better than the stock one. Seems like the dealers won't give you the correct answer, so you need to go to the tranny rebuilders and get a straight answer.
Give the rebuilders another year and the problems will be rectified. I would probably replace more than just the sun gear. Alot of people report of poor performance from the Intrigue tranny. I just replaced my OEM 225/60/16 75k mile tires with 225/60/16 BFG Control Plus 50-65K mile tires and the tires are much larger than stock.
I always like to shift my automatics anyway. Usually I just shifted from 3 to 4th on the Intrigue. Now with the new tires, 2nd is much higher and I'm starting to use it more, but the automatic shift from 1 to 2nd is more abrupt when placed in second. With the new tires I run about 8mph faster or the Engine speed is reduced 200-300 RPM in 4th from my old tires. It's definately geared much higher. The speedometer says about 75mph at 2000rpm in 4th
If I keep the tranny in Drive=OD=4th, at 40mph it still wants to shift into overdrive, but with the new tires there isn't enough torque at 40mph so the tranny will now downshift, rev, then try 4th again. I need to go at least 45mph to engage Overdrive (4th). The sun gear that breaks apart is part of the overdrive system so keeping the car in 3rd around the city may be a good idea.
I really like the BFG control plus tires. I have not been able to spin the tires in the wet like the old ones yet. Very good grip while the rubber isn't that soft, so I should get at least 50k miles out of them. This may be a good solution for someone that does alot of highway driving in the winter/rain. Not sure of their ice performance yet. A lot less road noise so my car feels like a full-sized Buick or Caddy now.
We all need to look into what is the best deal with the 4T65. Is a taxi/police 4T65 better than the stock one. Seems like the dealers won't give you the correct answer, so you need to go to the tranny rebuilders and get a straight answer.
Give the rebuilders another year and the problems will be rectified. I would probably replace more than just the sun gear. Alot of people report of poor performance from the Intrigue tranny. I just replaced my OEM 225/60/16 75k mile tires with 225/60/16 BFG Control Plus 50-65K mile tires and the tires are much larger than stock.
I always like to shift my automatics anyway. Usually I just shifted from 3 to 4th on the Intrigue. Now with the new tires, 2nd is much higher and I'm starting to use it more, but the automatic shift from 1 to 2nd is more abrupt when placed in second. With the new tires I run about 8mph faster or the Engine speed is reduced 200-300 RPM in 4th from my old tires. It's definately geared much higher. The speedometer says about 75mph at 2000rpm in 4th
If I keep the tranny in Drive=OD=4th, at 40mph it still wants to shift into overdrive, but with the new tires there isn't enough torque at 40mph so the tranny will now downshift, rev, then try 4th again. I need to go at least 45mph to engage Overdrive (4th). The sun gear that breaks apart is part of the overdrive system so keeping the car in 3rd around the city may be a good idea.
I really like the BFG control plus tires. I have not been able to spin the tires in the wet like the old ones yet. Very good grip while the rubber isn't that soft, so I should get at least 50k miles out of them. This may be a good solution for someone that does alot of highway driving in the winter/rain. Not sure of their ice performance yet. A lot less road noise so my car feels like a full-sized Buick or Caddy now.
panzer dragoon
12-11-2004, 05:45 PM
2000 Intrigue, 75,000 miles, so far I've had a few minor problems, but nothing expensive.
I got 1 year left on payments so I hope the car stays together until then. Well at least until the WI winter is over (April-May 2005). I don't know if I will make improvements on the car and stick with it or go with something older or a full-size truck.
If the tranny gets bad/funny now, I may try to trade it in before the problems get real bad and hopefully get something like $4-5K on a trade-in.
The problem with a car like this is that the longer you have it the more problems pop up. But if I can get Intrigue cars/parts for cheap I may stick with it. For example I may just buy a whole car for $1500-3K, part it out and keep the parts I need and even stock up on a few of them. I think I should have stuck with the 3.8L GM cars.
I like the older pre-1975 cars much better. Seems like with the new cars the parts are 3-5x more.
The Intrigue is the first non-V8 car I have ever owned. All have been USA made cars. 32yrs old.
75 Olds 350Rocket/TH350
58 Buick 364Fireball-Nailhead/2 speed Auto
78 Dodge PowerWagon P/U FullTime 4WD 360/727 Auto/NP203 transfer case
66 Dodge Charger 440/727 Auto
My Trucks tranny clutch plates were not engaging anymore in January 2001 and the whole tranny/transfer case would need to be pulled and the tranny would need to be rebuilt. I estimated it would cost $2500 dollars to get it fixed, plus the truck needed some new BFG Mud-Terrain 35"x12.5" tires and had a rust problem that would eventually ruin the truck in 2 yrs anyway. I was going to school and needed a car with a warranty, so I floated a 5yr loan on the Intrigue which was a 6month old Florida rental car with 17,500 miles for $15,000. ----and now I'm here.
I got 1 year left on payments so I hope the car stays together until then. Well at least until the WI winter is over (April-May 2005). I don't know if I will make improvements on the car and stick with it or go with something older or a full-size truck.
If the tranny gets bad/funny now, I may try to trade it in before the problems get real bad and hopefully get something like $4-5K on a trade-in.
The problem with a car like this is that the longer you have it the more problems pop up. But if I can get Intrigue cars/parts for cheap I may stick with it. For example I may just buy a whole car for $1500-3K, part it out and keep the parts I need and even stock up on a few of them. I think I should have stuck with the 3.8L GM cars.
I like the older pre-1975 cars much better. Seems like with the new cars the parts are 3-5x more.
The Intrigue is the first non-V8 car I have ever owned. All have been USA made cars. 32yrs old.
75 Olds 350Rocket/TH350
58 Buick 364Fireball-Nailhead/2 speed Auto
78 Dodge PowerWagon P/U FullTime 4WD 360/727 Auto/NP203 transfer case
66 Dodge Charger 440/727 Auto
My Trucks tranny clutch plates were not engaging anymore in January 2001 and the whole tranny/transfer case would need to be pulled and the tranny would need to be rebuilt. I estimated it would cost $2500 dollars to get it fixed, plus the truck needed some new BFG Mud-Terrain 35"x12.5" tires and had a rust problem that would eventually ruin the truck in 2 yrs anyway. I was going to school and needed a car with a warranty, so I floated a 5yr loan on the Intrigue which was a 6month old Florida rental car with 17,500 miles for $15,000. ----and now I'm here.
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