Engines are full of hoses under pressure with clamps and connections of some sort. If they are properly installed, they don't come off. I've had hoses burst (radiator, but not on the G), but I've never had any hose connector come off in lotsa years of driving. My tranny cooler has been on for about 50K miles and I've never seen a drop of leakage.

If tranny fluid was dripping, it would be easy to spot on the driveway or somewhere before much leaks out. If you have a catastrophic leak, the car will tell you by its refusal to move.

I've taked to many guys over the years who know more about trannys than I; they all say the same thing. A tranny's greatest enemy is heat. and Installing a tranny cooler is one of the best things that you can do for its future - and your wallet!

But this thread is about a 5AT valve body upgrade, not tranny oil coolers. If you want to talk about tranny coolers, please start a new thread!

 

I'm just saying aftermarket is not always as reliable is stock. If you didn't take any shortcuts or use cheap stuff that is good. A lot of people don't, and generally they sometimes pay in the end and other times think their work is more than reliable and are certainly fooled down the road when they forget about that cooler.

I knew a guy that was in a small accident where he was run off the road. No damage to his car and he was in the grass. He could have driven away, but something caught a hose in the grass and pulled it loose and puked his tranny fluid all over. If he wouldn't have saw it, he wouldn't have known.

A tranny can run (although crappy) on partial fluid. It slips, but you may not catch it right away.

Just a fair warning to those DIY'ers that think about doing this to play it safe.

 

Well...

If you install ANYTHING, you shouldn't half-a$$ it anyways. Using hose spring clamps on pos. pressure hoses isn't a good idea in any case. If you install it right, which I will say most won't, then you'll be ok.

 

Installing a set of test pipes half *** = loder exhaust

Installing CAI loosly=more whistles, slight risk of dirt getting into intake

Cheap hose clamps/hose on a tranny cooler = dead tranny

I am just trying to say from a person with experience with these that it is best...no matter how you feel about it...to check and recheck these connections. You won't install a Vortec and leave it alone without ever checking fittings...same thing. Only difference is this "mod" is a few percent the cost of an S/C and can still cause the same amount of damage....if not more...than the S/C if not done correctly.

I have a pet peeve on these things more than any other mod. Just my .02.

 

You should do some research on supraforums.com. There have been a number of negative experiences/comments on Level ten and there tranny upgrades for AT supras. In fact, if i remember correctly, Vinny Ten (who has one of the worlds fastest AT supras in the drag racing scene) has had problems with them.

They've also tried to build bulletproof AT trannies for the 98-2000 model accord V6 using an HKS turbo system and have failed.

Just an FYI, that's all. Not trying to concern you, but it's always good to know everything that's available to us.

 

Thanks for the thoughts.

The basic problem one runs into is that if you root around investigating any performance supplier or installer who's been around for a while, you will find at least a few complaints and maybe even a group of despisers. The very nature of performace car parts means you are operating near the edge, outside the conservative OEM parameters. That means that failures are likely to be out there somewhere.

Also, every option has some plusses and minuses as I've explained above regarding SGP Racing. And in the end, you've got to choose somebody! And I've found only a handful of folk who do valve body upgrades for Nissan 5ATs, so choices are limited.

I'm glad to hear that those major issues were with Supras, not Nissans. Who knows how many factors are in the mix there?

I give more credibility to one personal experience than any ten hearsay stories!!

One of the greatest problems with these forums (not only this thread) is that guys post what they THINK, not what they KNOW. Or they talk about their buddy's car or what they heard somewhere, not what they tried and the results they experienced. That is a serious detriment for people who read these forums because they want to learn.

Level 10 claims that they have done a considerable number of Nissan tranny upgrades for those wealthy oil producing countries in the Middle East. As the story goes, they developed a tranny upgrade that lasts in the desert heat climbing up and down those mountains over there where the OEM units couldn't handle it.

Is the story true? I don't know, but my guess is that it's at least partly true. I mean, who would want to spin a yarn like that and then get found out?

I'm not defending Level 10, just stating my observations and giving some reasons why I made the decision I did. At this early stage, I have no regrets. Hope they have come through for me in the long run. In the mean time, I have a rather sweet shifting tranny. And the car is one notch closer to being able to handle FI!

 

Exagorazo, it looks like you've put the time and research in to get the mod that you want. I'm glad to hear your upgrades are problem free. It's too bad some folks are doubters and are questioning your upgrade, research, & intentions even though you have obviously considered the options. Alot of the negative comments here should have been saved for a "I have an issue with the VB & tranny cooler" thread rather than posted here.