[radz28]

04/02/26 - Update:

It would seem I owe a bit of an update here, too.

After installing the updated separator plate, I, still, haven't put 100-miles on the car. Most of that's been the weather around here until about a month ago, but my car had to go back to the body shop to finalize some stuff. But - I have almost 70-miles on it, and have some basic impressions.

I have to preface my comments (as usual...) on the fact that I started the new round of break-in miles (after this current separator plate) that, apparently, my car needed to relearn the TB again. I didn't know it was doing that on my way from the body shop the first time (at the beginning of January), but it was not happy. The transmission had been downshifting really hard and the car was not idling great. It took until last month to really figure it out, but it was running a lot of negative timing at idle and as I started putting miles on it in the following weeks, the downshifts started to smooth-out, too. Admittedly - I've messed about in the TCM, but taking a little of that pressure back out didn't help, and I wasn't experiencing this behavior BEFORE adding the valve body (VB) mods'. AGAIN - the ECM was relearning the TB, so after performing the long learn procedure, timing is coming back up to about where it was, but even better - the downshifts are calming down.

It was hard to tell if this hard downshifting was a result of the valve body upgrades from NGD. The updated plate eliminates a couple minor valves so I wasn't sure, in the beginning, if that was related, but I'm finding if it is, it's not much. It may be a placebo, but it FEELS like the shifts might be more crisp and defined, but I already set that up in the TCM long ago, so it's hard to really comment on that. What I know is, I feel better this stuff is done, and likely my tuning will be the downfall of this thing, lol... I hope I'm kidding...

Some things I noted from the install and from some driving: the video I posted is great. Honestly - if you've put headers on your car, or changed a transmission filter or something along those lines, I really think you can do this install. There is a point I want to emphasize that I didn't see Tyle (in the video) really lean into, but it is IMPAIRATIVE that you get all of these valves cycling ABSOLUTELY FREELY UNDER GRAVITY when you're installing them. I have to admit, the first time I installed these goodies, I thought I was diligent enough. I was NOT. I couldn't get the car into REVERSE -only DRIVE and through enough gears that I got scared to spin faster on jack stands. I pulled everything apart again and was better about cycling the SHIFT SOLENOID valves and had no problems relating to that. That was, still, in November, before NGD released an updated separator plate. I forget why, but I think I pulled the VB AGAIN, but I did (this was when I smashed the fender), and installed my modified-to-match-the-OEM-separator plate. I noted there was some slipping after I got into 6th or 7th, and don't recall if it was from the tranny or the converter, but it wasn't much, and I wouldn't let it stay like that for long before shifting out of that regime. So - that brings me to January.

Briefly - I installed the updated plate and have 70-miles on it. KNOCK ON WOOD - all seems fine. No weird slip or anything like before and everything seems to be cycling as expected. I'm still going to check the fluid level again, but it's hard to get it above 160*F. Even then, doing the calculations for expansion, it doesn't really seem like I need to adjust much outside of using the stand pipe. I'm going to check again soon, after some more miles, but it seems fine. Again - downshifting seems to be coming under control as it seems like the ECM is relearning the TB. I'm going to put those values back to where they were before if they continue to stay good and/or improve a little more.

In summary, at least for the mechanicals: it feels like things are how they should be. I feel a lot better about the valve issues that are present in these, and even though there was no notable wear on any of my OEM valves (I have less than 5K-miles on the car), I have complete confidence in this upgrade, and would pay to do it again. The customer service is AWESOME through those guys, and even when we learned there are differences for this application, they made up for them a lot quicker than I thought it was going to be. It was exactly on-time, which I didn't believe, and maybe it doesn't happen like that all the time, it did, and they shipped me the updated plate IMMEDIATELY. I MEAN IMMEDIATELY - LIKE THE SAME DAY. I couldn't recommend this higher for anyone concerned about this stuff. 6-out-of-5-STARS.

I've attached pictures of 2-additional OEM magnets that I applied to the pan. I have to admit I wasn't diligent and in a HUGE hurry when I installed these months ago, and didn't even check if they were in proximity to the oil filter pick-up, but determined (with magnetic viewing film) that they are well away from the pick-up point. WHEW!!!... I didn't want to spend $160 a 5th time on jugs of tranny fluid because I was stupid. Hopefully that's helpful for anyone who thinks like me.

CHEERS!!!