Push Button Shifting?

[random667]

has anyone ever tried to catch the signals our transmission computer sends to the transmission to tell it to shift?

it would be cool if you could bypass the transmission computer and use a push button on your steering wheel to shift.!

just an idea, any thoughts?

[97TSiAWD]

Kevin K., currently with the fastest AT-DSM, has done this. I believe he ditched the TCU altogether and has his own setup that sends signals to the transmission and shifts via push buttons. It works nicely since he can hold it in a higher gear without the tranny automatically downshifting (especially useful on a dyno).

I don't know any of the details since it was his own personal project. Maybe more information will be known in the future.

Jon

[random667]

SWEET!!!
at least i know its posible.
i just found level 10 transmissions,
they have something similar but you can program it
to shift at diffrent rpms. doesnt say if they work with our trannys
or not & i havent got a reply from them yet.

[talon400tsi]

They do make the push button trans . My buddy has a 91' FWD Laser and about 3-4 years he bought a trans from Level-10 . The push buttons are mounted were the ash tray use to be . He also sent his torq converter to them and they rebuilt it to a 3000 stahl. He runs a Big 16 G and there is almost no turbo lag .

[Maxpsi]

Hey talon400, I bet your friends car is torn apart getting hk$ cams huh!!! Yes that 91 Laser is a bat out of hell! The trans is so sweet, but if he had AWD instead of front wheel, maybe he wouldn't spin all the way through 3rd with drag radials. :D I can get the name of the push button unit he pluged in with his trans. This unit I belive was a plug-n-play.

P.S. Just to let you guys know, Subaro's are a piece of $hit. I blew out 2nd gear in my friends trans yesterday, just by power shifting it! My cousin has a talon with a centerforce dual friction clutch and his trans dosen't blow. Just thought I'd let you all know auto's are sweet!!!

[giantgreenhead]

http://www.levelten.com/store/chry/items/electronics/chry_shiftronic.htm

very cool, but very expensive.

[Rogue_Ant]

Does anyone have more info on 'push-buttom' shifitng?
A 'how-to' would be great. Would be something I think my G/F would like.

Rogue

[anconover]

im quite sure setting up a tranny for button shifting is much too hard for a how-to lolz, especially just to do for fun on ur g/f's car :D

[Rogue_Ant]

Originally posted by anconover
im quite sure setting up a tranny for button shifting is much too hard for a how-to lolz, especially just to do for fun on ur g/f's car :D

Well considering someone has already done this and marketed it, it obviously isn't impossible. It would more more of just getting the info they collected and building your own 'brain-box'.

You would be suprised what I do 'for fun' on my G/Fs ride.
Besides I do have a background in electronics so diss-miss this as 'much too hard'.

Rogue

[random667]

you would probably need a pretty complex osciliscope to actualy catch and record the signal that the trans computer sends to the trans, but that should be the hardest part.
making something to send the same signals to the trans would be easy (you could probably do that with a palm pilot).

[Rogue_Ant]

Well considering the fact that someone has already logged the signals...if we could just get that info it would make things much easier.

Rogue

[Maxpsi]

My friend has the push button trans, but I do not know how it works. I Believe it just connected with his transmisson harness. I also think it was out of some road rally car. I will try and find out more.

[Rogue_Ant]

If you could find out more, I am really interesed...

Rogue

[Rogue_Ant]

Comon, I know someone has info on this.

Rogue

[igs]

Level 10's Shiftronic looks promising. Has anyone ever installed one of these before?

[bedlam32570]

well this has already been discussed on 2gnt.com. it has been discovered that the 96+ trannys (A604 chrysler tranny) is already set up for the sportronic shifter. do a little bit of wiring work and boom you have yourself a sportronic shifter just like in the new porsche's and the 00+ Gt Eclipses

[Soldier101]

yeah checkout 2gnt.com/forum.htm there's a post on there with a very very large number of replies about this for our trannies, possibly you guys can use some of it to get this setup for you.

[bedlam32570]

well after attempting this on my car, it has come to me that it just makes a really cool kill switch for the car. the kit that is for sell would be a better investment than doing it yourself if you really want it.

[Rogue_Ant]

Hmmm, this has been done with the 2nd gen A/T before...double check all your wiring.

I'm still interested in the 1st Gen A/T PBS(push-button-shifting).
Anyone have any more info?

Rogue

[bedlam32570]

if it's been done by a home brewed method then i want a write up and proof that's it's been done. my wiring was fine. the computers in a 2 Gen N/A are not programmed for a sportronic shifter. you have to get it reprogrammed and even then it might not work right. the transmission doesn't even have the correct components for it anyways. the valve body's are not the same due to it being able to switch back and forth.

[igs]

Would it be possible to swap in a sportronic transmission?

[bedlam32570]

if you do, you need to swap out your computer too cause that will have the info for the tranny plus your shifter would need to be swapped out too or you need to add some buttons to shift it.

[Blackboost]

Originally posted by igs
Would it be possible to swap in a sportronic transmission?

If you're talking about the ones that come on the 3G POS Eclipse...

Don't even bother doing it since the tranny will not work on your car.

[Matts95GSX]

This sounds like a pretty tight idea, the only problem is I went to the link that was given on one of the posts, and it costs $1100 not including installation. I would love to have the push button shifting, but is there any cheaper way to do it?

[bedlam32570]

yeah. all you gotta do is buy a used tranny from a stratus or intrepid that has it and then get the computer and the shifter and there you go.

we went talking about the shifter from the 3g.

[talon400tsi]

I just posted some pics of my friends push button trans set up he has in his Laser . They can be found a WWW. DSMTUNERS.Com , Look under member photo gallories Member name Talon400tsi.

[igs]

So that's Level 10's Shiftronic? If it was a sequential shifter I'd pay the $1,000 for it, but those push buttons suck.

[Mike Tyson]

So you have to push a button every time you have to shift?!?!?

I would pull over and pound on somebody if I had to do that!!! :mad:

[ATF 2GTalon]

I've been studying the manual pretty closely about how the TCU controls shifting and I think I want to try and build something to make push button shifting or even joystick shifting. I understand how the solenoids work. But are those 4 solenoids in the valve body the only thing I need to pay electrical attention to? Do I have to worry about the kickdown or anything? I was thinking of keeping the TCU for normal driving and then have the option of blocking the TCU signals to the solenoids and go into manual mode. But if its easier to just completely remove the TCU and do full time manual shifting I can do that. As long as those 4 solenoids are the only thing I have to worry about. I do have the resources to do something like this and I do hope to be able to provide everyone with manual shift capabilities for anyone interested. Thanks.

[Rogue_Ant]

As I've said before, I'm very much interested in this.

Rogue

[chmdrm]

I'm pretty sure those 4 solenoids are the only thing that controls the shifts.

Once done ... I'd buy one as I have no time to make my own.

[ATF 2GTalon]

I just did a quick circuit simulation on the computer and it looks good so far. Now I just gotta see if I have the guts to test it out on my car. Gulp. :rolleyes:

[Rogue_Ant]

I could send you some guts...but the FBI would prob get involved and it prob wouldn't be good....

Rogue

[ATF 2GTalon]

I just installed some pushbuttons to test with. Shifting through the gears is totally violent and hard. Feels like something is going to break. I hope I didn't do any major damage. What's the worst that could happen from hard, violent shifts? If this is the case I think I just might give up doing this pushbutton project.

[chmdrm]

I know Kevin is running a push button deal and has simalar super hard shifts. I would think that while a pain for daily driving that less slipage means less wear on the bands etc.

How do you have it wired in? i.e. can you use the set up just at the track and leave the std "D" for around town or is it all push button all the time?

Geoff

[ATF 2GTalon]

Right now just for test purposes it is pushbutton all the time. I just unplugged the solenoid connector on top of the trans and ran wires to the shift solenoids. With a relay, I can make it switch back and forth between auto and buttons. I'm going to try activating the pressure regulator solenoid between shifts and see if that helps, which it probably will.

Oh, and I'm guessing that if I leave the torque converter locked up all the time, then something real bad is going to happen when I shift right?

[Rogue_Ant]

Leaving the torque converter locked up is asking for it to grenade.
Lock-up is only ment for low-power cruising to help lower drivetrain loss (i.e. better mpg).
Notice it unlocks whenever you shift or apply some throttle.

Rogue