I don't think I could have said it better!
Josh
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert M. Lang [mailto:lang@isis.mit.edu]
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 4:59 PM
To: Tarnow, Joshua
Subject: Re: o/d conversion
On Thu, 27 Mar 2003, Tarnow, Joshua wrote:
> My tech is telling me that getting a "J" or an "A" type o/d unit is going
to
> cause problems due to the fact that they leak like mad. Is this your
> experience? He is telling me that I should do the Celica 5 speed
conversion
> instead if I really feel the need to drop the RPM's...thoughts?
Sounds like your technician has not figured out how to get the overdrive
plate to seal properly... this is a bad thing, because the hydraulic
pressures inside the overdrive unit are high. Poor seals make for leaky
overdrives.
It also sounds like he's had one or more good experiences with the 5 speed
conversion.
The question is - how much do you drive? How much would you save by
installing an overdrive? Is it really worth tossing $1500 at your car?
None of us can answer that question for you.
As a point of information, I've got about 120k miles on my driver. I've
never had overdrive, and I drive all over the place at 70 MPH or higher.
The extra RPM's don't seem to hurt the motor at all. I have had my motor
apart on three occasions in the past, but to be honest, I still have stock
pistons (STD bore) and the crank/rod bearings were refreshed several times
on the original crank grind (e.g. STD size bearings). These cars do just
fine with the stock gearing, IMHO - there's no savings by installing an
overdrive.
What you do get with the overdrive is the ability to talk when you're at
highway speeds, this is a good thing if you are driving with a companion.
Don't get me wrong on this topic, I have an overdrive tranny sitting on
the garage floor (actually, it's been there for four years, I guess it's
time to deal with that baby!), but it most certainly is not a necessity.
The modern unit probably won't leak as much, but the stock tranny can be
made fairly leak-free when it is built up in the proper manner.
Good luck deciding!
rml
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