[Shotimes] Rod Bearing Change @190K miles

[Dave Garber]

Well, with my 99 and my 97 and dad's 96, the V8SHO ATX was FAR from 
consistent! There were times when all of them worked perfectly and never 
'lugged'. But there are many times when they did. As I mentioned in my last 
post, I was able to demonstrate this to Megan in the 99 last night..

The point is, it IS possible to lug these damn things. No, not consistently 
(at least for me), but often enough for it to contribute to engine wear 
IMO..


Dave Garber
Pittsburgh, PA
99 White, 94k


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donald Mallinson" <dmall@mwonline.net>
To: <shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] Rod Bearing Change @190K miles


> Just for fun, while out running errands today, I did some experimentation 
> with the 96 V8.
>
> The Torque converter will not lock up below 25 mph at all, I suspect this 
> is built into the computer.  At 24 mph the engine was turning appox 1500 
> rpm and as soon as you gave it any gas at all it was near 2000 rpm and 
> smooth as glass.
>
> At 25 mph, the torque converter would lock up in high gear and the engine 
> would turn 1300 rpm.  To accomplish this you had to have a feather foot on 
> the gas and just barely touch it or the torque converter would not lock 
> up.  At this point I could give it maybe 10% throttle or less before the 
> converter unlocked and rpm's rose above 1500.  At very slight throttle 
> openings, the engine stayed near 1300-1400 rpm till speed rose, and the 
> engine was again....smooth as glass.  No sign of distress or any noise, 
> growling, bucking that are sure signs of lugging.
>
> As soon as you gave it any more gas pedal, the torque converter unlocked 
> and we were into 1500+ rpm and a very happy engine.
>
> So there is just one limited time where rpm's will be below 1500 and it 
> takes a lot of concentration to force the car to 25 to 27 or so mph and a 
> very light foot to keep it below 1500 rpm.  And again, no sign at all of 
> engine distress.  It would take a very concentrated effort and specific 
> goal to keep the V8 SHO below 1500 rpm for more than a very few seconds 
> and if you have ANY traffic, forget it, you will be all over the rpm scale 
> but not anywhere below 1500.
>
> Don Mallinson
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