how much HP can stock A/T hold?

[douglaslovin]

I would have posted this under the correct forum but I still have the newbie account settings.

My question is this.. How much HP can a stock automatic transmission hold?

 

[kongo]

I was upto 218 an had to change it 2 months in.

 

[douglaslovin]

thats pretty much the answer I was looking for thank you. I will do the AT -> MT swap for sure then

 

[Spartan coll]

Is there anything you can do to the A/T transmission without spending a arm and leg to handle more HP?

 

[pbwu1f]

A stock A/T should be able to handle a lot more than that. I think there good for 400hp. There are upgrades like shift kit, better clutches, and if you wan to drop the money for it a IPT high stall converter.

 

[beachbum2185]

A stock A/T should be able to handle a lot more than that. I think there good for 400hp. There are upgrades like shift kit, better clutches, and if you wan to drop the money for it a IPT high stall converter.

yeah around 400 is a more accurate number.

they make end clutch kits for them and beefed up torque converters, but i've never done one.

 

[Spartan coll]

How much is a the converter kit

 

[Spartan coll]

oh forgot to mention i spoke to a pretty reputable mechicanic in Maryland, named Pat he owns pro imports in rockville. He told me it wasnt worth it to spend 4000 to 5000 on a turbo bulid due to the tranny not being able to hold up to the whp numbers i wanted, which was 350whp at most and 300whp at the least and i want it to be my dd..

 

[bullettdsm]

oh forgot to mention i spoke to a pretty reputable mechicanic in Maryland, named Pat he owns pro imports in rockville. He told me it wasnt worth it to spend 4000 to 5000 on a turbo bulid due to the tranny not being able to hold up to the whp numbers i wanted, which was 350whp at most and 300whp at the least and i want it to be my dd..

Well, I guess Pat should know.

570whp on a stock tranny here. DSMZERO is 737whp on a stock tranny. Many have put 350 to 400whp through the stocker (now this doesn't include work on the diff - which we both have Quaife's in).

As pointed out, the weak point in the auto is the torque converter.

Now I didn't even touch on the Neon guys (who have more experience on the auto). As a matter of fact, why don't you google up Steve Lockett and see what he thinks.

Or you can go with Pat.

MB

 

[Spartan coll]

ok i can agree with you so my 350whp bulid is plausable hellz yea! You dont know how much it upset me when he said its not worth your money, so who does a tranny bulid with the torque converter included for a reasonable price and the diff is it something that has to be worked seperatley from the transmission or what?

 

[douglaslovin]

So one guy is saying ~220 and his broke in 2 months... Got a mechanic saying 300 is pushing it.. and other people saying 400HP.

Are we all talking about an Automatic Tranny?

 

[psycho]

The two guys saying 400hp are 4g63 guys who should double check which section they're posting in.

The N/T automatic is a slush box.

My automatic v6 avenger (which use the same internals as an I4 automatic) was putting down 175+ whp/ 180+ wtq and crapped out. And it was mildly upgraded. Which a shift kit, and new clutch packs. And a 8 pass cooler.

 

[bullettdsm]

oh forgot to mention i spoke to a pretty reputable mechicanic in Maryland, named Pat he owns pro imports in rockville. He told me it wasnt worth it to spend 4000 to 5000 on a turbo bulid due to the tranny not being able to hold up to the whp numbers i wanted, which was 350whp at most and 300whp at the least and i want it to be my dd..

Let me back off my knee-jerk reaction a bit. I get a bit defensive when I hear people say how crappy our tranny's are when the tranny's are actually strong units. Spartan I read what you posted and it got stuck in my head that we were talking about the 5 sp (even though this is a thread about about auto's, ). Then I got defensive

BUT that doesn't change the fact that our auto tranny's can take some power if modded properly. Again I refer to Steve Locket (or Tim Kish) who have both done a little work with the auto.

Here's a thread from neons.org that may help you understand the mods needed (pay particular attention to Racersteve's post (that's Lockett);
www.neons.org • View topic - Any how-to on building auto 3 spd? How to do modifications..

One of the biggest problems with working with our auto tranny's is that nobody really does it. So information out there is very limited.

MB

 

[Bluefire16]

You guys he is N/T. Our trannys from our TURBO model cars are much different and are ment to hold much more power.

 

[LD25Delta9]

One of the biggest problems with working with our auto tranny's is that nobody really does it. So information out there is very limited.

MB

I do! I rebuilt 2 of them for my auto tranny class. They are lovingly referred to as the "Snapring-O-Matic."

The main problem with the A604 is that the center pin in the diff. loves to grenade out the side. Which then puts a hole in your case. Constant hard shifts will hasten this reaction.

OP: Honestly, for your HP goals, I would do the MT swap. The A604 will cost you more in parts, upgrades and maintenance than what it would to build the NV T-350. There's no oil cooler to maintain, less plumbing, better HP handling ability, and best of all: No-Lift-shifting

 

[Colt4G63 also]

I do! I rebuilt 2 of them for my auto tranny class. They are lovingly referred to as the "Snapring-O-Matic."

The main problem with the A604 is that the center pin in the diff. loves to grenade out the side. Which then puts a hole in your case. Constant hard shifts will hasten this reaction.

OP: Honestly, for your HP goals, I would do the MT swap. The A604 will cost you more in parts, upgrades and maintenance than what it would to build the NV T-350. There's no oil cooler to maintain, less plumbing, better HP handling ability, and best of all: No-Lift-shifting

So does that mean it's almost the same transmisson as the Caravan? Because I've seen a few of those with the differential pin lodged into the side of the torque converter. Apparently they made a retrofit to fix that.

 

[LD25Delta9]

So does that mean it's almost the same transmission as the Caravan? Because I've seen a few of those with the differential pin lodged into the side of the torque converter. Apparently they made a retrofit to fix that.

Yeah they had 2 different model numbers, the A604 and the 41TE, but they are essentially the same transmissions with 2 redesigns. The 95 and earlier parts are not interchangeable with the 96 and later. The average lifespan of these transmissions is about 100k but that number has changed along with them changing the type of fluid they recommended over the years.

They are a strong little trans, but they can be a headache to rebuild but with the advent of quick weld rods, fixing the case is pretty simple. You really have to work in an organized workspace and keep the rings in order, though. I think we counted 10 snap-rings in 7 different sizes for the clutch packs.

 

[Spartan coll]

ok maybe a tranny swap then but i'm not that great at it and dnt wanna mess up a brand new clucth but i will do more research thanks guys..

 

[Spartan coll]

Ok so i looked on the forum and im now more confused than ever so which neon transmission is interchangble with ours? and is a manual swap as hard as the a/t trans?

 

[oldmanfrost]

Are you asking which auto is interchangeable if you are.... It will be the A670 it is a 3spd auto and have more aftermarket parts then the a604... Just look at howell website

 

[Spartan coll]

yes i was asking that, but if our trans is a 4 speed auto isnt that a downgrade? and do you think a manual swap would be better?

 

[oldmanfrost]

It depends on what you want... The swap is not hard at all... A670 is no way a downgrade to the a604,, Unless you like OD

 

[Spartan coll]

i guess but im so confused on it i wanna transmission that will hold up to 400whp but wouldnt mind a 4speed but a 3 speed? wouldnt the power over the 3 gears be more alot faster than a 4 speed? and do you know the pro's and con's to a 3 and 4 speed transmission?

 

[oldmanfrost]

Only thing that comes to mind 3 speed has taller gears... But if you plan on boosting that should not be a problem...