what could be wrong with the transmission?
 

Im interested in buying this truck. Truck has around 80k miles. Its an auto. It has a bullydog system, 5" exhaust system and some other goodies. A guy i work with says he knows the person that owns this truck. He told me that the truck runs great. But he says the torque converter will randomly unlock. He claimed his buddies truck is running around 42lbs of boost and that is why it unlocks. Im just curious if anyone on here would know why the converter unlocks. I dont know how ford dealers are but most places i know if you tune the computer they void all warranty on engine and transmission. So would i be SOL on getting anything fixed from the ford dealer under 100k miles that the truck has since its been tuned and what not? Id hate to buy the truck and then the transmission go out and the dealer says "too bad". Here are some pics of the truck.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...%20Truck/1.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...%20Truck/2.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...%20Truck/3.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...%20Truck/4.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j9...%20Truck/5.jpg

If it already has a BullyDog programmer on it, the warranty is void either way. What do you mean by the converter is unlocking? Does it do it while cruising? While accelerating?

While driving down the highway. normal

sounds like its something in the tunning. Truck looks good for sure.

Did the tuner do anything to compensate for the oversize tires? My guess is it's undergeared now and the trans is hunting for the proper gear.

Here's a lil more info on the truck.
-20"chrome wheels
-38x12.50x20 bfg all-terrains
-pro-comp soft ride 6.5" lift 8-way adjustable shocks
-Black with gray custom leather
-3 tv monitors w/touch screen main monitor
-2-10 subs
-complete custom stereo system over 6500 invested
-5" exhaust all aluminuized bullydog
-custom bully dog 125hp flash scan
-Rhino lined bed
-complete trailer tow set-up
I believe he said the speedo was corrected for the larger tires.


The thing about the warranty. My step dad just bought a new duramax truck and asked what they did on warranty if he put a banks module on. Banks said that you can take their system off and the dealer would never know it was on there. And he asked about changing the exhaust. The dealer told him that they have still fixed the trucks under warranty even if they have the chips, programmers or modules but if a big gm tech happened to show up that day it might be a problem. Wondering if ford dealers would be the same way.

yeah ford and dodge would be the same. I talked to a buddy of mine and they usually will do work on them if its nothing major. One guy brought a new cummins in and he said it was messed up. well they tore into the motor and found 3 gallon of fuel in the block. they had to call a rep and they asked if he had an exhaust, and if any of the wires were out of the loom and they were and they denied the warranty for the whole truck. not saying this could happen to you but its one of those chances you take in modding a truck.

how much does he want for the truck?? what year and what motor.

Im more concerned what actually could be wrong and what it needs to be fixed than the warranty.

What about not enough line pressure? I have seen in jegs and summit that they have different stuff just for cummins and powerstroke transmissions to up the line pressure if the truck has been modified.

My buddy that knows the guy with the truck said if the guy turns the boost down to normal, or stock, it shifts fine. Im not going to 100% believe that unless i actually see it. (he owns a mustang and mustang owners talk alot of sh!t, lol). Could the larger amount of boost cause this?

I dont know. Im just kicking around some ideas.

if the converter is holding in lock up at all... theres a good chance there is not a mechanical problem however... that bullydog tuner will not go in depth with the tune... theres a good chance this can be taken care of with a custom tune. Like said earlier if the tires arent tuned correctly there could be problems amongst other things in need of tuning.

edit** also, I know of someone throwing around 700rwhp in his twin turboed fbody and that converter wont stay locked bc of the aggressive power, so maybe that could be a possibilty