Powerglide Band Problems

I currentley run a Coan XST Powergide(1.80 first,1.25" input/32spline output) and the trans seems to be strong as far as internals go.BUT I have smoked a couple bands and marked up a drum. Talked to Coan on it and to be honest they were not much help. They want me to send the band to them to look at on my dime but didnt really sound like they would do much.When I bought the trans they told me I would NEVER hurt it with the weight of my car and the HP The band material looks like it lost its bond to the steel for 1.5" and the rest of the band is smoked.I know its a race car trans and things break but it should take it in my opinion. I want to switch to a BAE hemi with this trans behind it buts its making me lean towards a Bruno or Lencodrive.......That I should have bought instead of this Coan unit

125" altered,2200lbs,3.90 gear,34.5 tire
Blown Alky BBC 1600-1700 hp
Band set at 72 inch/lbs then backed out 3.5 turns
Amsoil Fluid
No cooler/Coan told me I didn't need one?/ran a couple in the past but all sprung leaks

 

Sounds like you are probably smoking it when on the brake. A friend of mine has just been through all of that. First pahase with Coan parts. Drum was undersize and the clamping force wasn't what it should be band was actually touching when the piston was applied.

Went to a different gearset and it improved but he ended up smoking that one too a few weeks ago. Just couldn't launch above 4000 period or bye bye band.

If the band isn't touching (two ends touching each other) when applied, you may be able to put a longer rod on the piston if it needs a little more movement.

They tried everything and finally gave up. Think it would have been fine on a Turbo car but it just couldn't handle the torque of the 1471 blower at anything over 4000 RPM launch. They weren't impressed with the help they got from Coan. They even took some of the damaged parts and showed up at PRI to talk to Jeff. It didn't help.

Bottom line.... he bought a Lenco Drove last week.

Troy.

 

band

Join the club. I was told the parts will hold the power, but not the bands. It is a after race maintenance thing along with the usual stuff. Go to a lenco drive if you have the cash, but unless you are running a clutch, they have there problems too. No automatic in the world was made for 2000 + hp. Why do you need to leave at that high RPM's anyway? Just another thought. Good luck Don

 

You didn't say which Amsoil trans fluid you where using.

I would say your fluid is not up to the job. Redline Racing Synthetic Type F trans fluid is the best for me. My trans problems went away once I started using it. Couple races ago I tried a different fluid. Smoked the band on the third pass. Needless to say went back to my tested and true Redline.

Blessings.............Ron Clevenger.

 

Power Glide issues

Mac, as far as fluid goes, I use Amsoil "type F". Have had no issues with it. Red as blood at end of season. i have just over 1000 HP, not as much as you of course.

I have a friend who probably makes about 1500 hp. He had issues with Amsoil type "F". He now uses Amsoil Compressor Oil. I do not hAVE A # for it but could find out. This guy has a trans shop and does a lot of racing trans.
Ron mentioned Red line oil. I did not mean to knock it. I have never used it.
Could be worth a try.

 

one thing to remember....heat kills....get a good cooler

 

I've ran a cooler in the past but it didn't seem to help out. I don't really have anywhere to mount it that gets great air flow on my altered.I had 2 crack and leak also. What are you guys running? As for the fluid what about running the CAT fluid like lots of guys do in the Bruno's?

 

I have the same combo and the same problem.

My car weight is at at #2750 ready to run . Can a glide live if launched at below say, 3500 rpm?

I have my popcorn and soda and can't wait for new replies, please any input is appreciated.

 

trans

yes it can we leave at 3800 for 3 years now not 1 prob a great tras and a good in the pit cooler !

 

Are you using a launch controller so your at 3800 everytime? I'm VERY interested in buying one of your pit coolers if you would e-mail me some pictures of what I'm buying

can you send the info to tmacracin@hotmail.com

 

glide band

Mac,I had problems with wide or mega band.seem to always glaze the center or one of the outer wraps.went back to small band,no problems.you might check fluid presure?at 180 degrees you need 280lbs.also check servo spring and servo.i prefer steel dual rings and OEM red spring.look for cracks in piston.tire shake will kill your low band,and if the trans shifts during shake or tire smoke in the first 100 feet it usually gets low and high gear.no roll thru,or john force burn-outs,kills converter and high gear.I have a 2200lb dragster,BBC,1471@36LBS boost 4.11,1490 goodyears launch at 6,000rpm.Yes have broke shafts,converters,and broke planetarys.but most of the time we can go all year (60 to 80 passes) without issues.our customers use all kinds of fluids from typeF to tractor oil.I personally use synthetic with no cooler.Coan as is with most of the racing world suppliers when it comes to help tell me YOUR WARRANTY HAS ALREADY EXPIRED.Hope this helps in some small way,overthehill.

 

I am not a trans guy. That is the only thing on the car that I don't do myself. I tried to run with a glide and just got tired of pulling them out and back in the car. With no horsepower I could not get a full pass. I just got tired of hearing "Wow, I have never seen one break like this. They just don't do that."
I bought a pair of B&J converter drives and tripple sprag 3 speeds and I will never even say the word p-o-w-e-r-g-l-i-d-e again. Just so nice to not have to worry about the trans.
I know guys that run them and get away with it. I don't know how. But I cannot tell you how much I love checking my transmission every time I change gears in my toploader.

 

I don't no about the cat fluid, but if it's like the John Deere fluid it has frictional modifiers in it so check it closely.

Someone else mentioned pressure, make sure it's at least at 250 psi and again I highly recommend the Redline Racing Synthetic type F.

Blessings...........Ron.

 

I'm going to go pickup some Redline tomorrow. My pressure is 285 psi when I check it on warm up in the pits. I'm not shure what it is hot but it would be easy to run the gauge up so I could see it before I stage the car.

 

Thanks for the info I will do some checking. Ya it would be nice if Coan would have more input on there failed transmission parts.I dont mind paying for some parts because I know its a race car and it will hurt parts but i just get a kick out of them when they sa "It shouldn't have done that,that unit will take more HP than that" and that was the end of the conversation

 

Those seem to be common replies from many companies who make racing equipment that they claim can supposedly handle high horsepower...

 

Ya it pisses me off. I think I'm going to send my trans to Cameron @ Torque Converter Service in Columbia,SC. He builds glides for all most of the guys that run in that powerglide pro mod series(quick 8 outlaws). Talked to him on the phone and he seemed like he knew his stuff and didn't fill me full of bullshit. He has a buch of guys with BAE hemi's in front of powerglides and makes them live