R154's DO SUCK!!

[Poodles]

*sigh*

Old gears with too much play... I'm betting the build wasn't done as well as you thought.

Try getting Marlin to actually do the build since he actually replaces the gears...

You also said "as soon as I hit third" which means right after the shift. While I'm trying not to be a dick about this, but if you grind or miss a shift at that power level you'll blow any tranny, period.

 

[gaboonviper85]

at 700hp you gotta expect to break things dude...and I'd hardly say they "suck", try to find a stock trans out of any 80's on up car that will hold for aslong as yours did.....I think it's a pretty damn good trans!!!

I personally would take it as a compliment!....wish I could fubar my trans with pure power...keep the broken parts and make a plaque...keep it as medal of honor "you reached the level breakin shit!"...alot of us wish we were at that level!

Ps. If breakin shit makes you this angry then maybe the horse power hobby isn't for you....

 

[supraguru05]

could you put in some straight cut gears or maybe heat treat or nitride the gears that are in there. or would straight cut gears not help the trans hold the power but only help on shifting.

 

[williamb82]

whats strange is my "mint" r154 is acting up. im hoping its just low on fluid. but it was fine the first few test drives of the car. last one it pops out of 1st and third sort of. it doesnt "click" into those gears. all others are fine. if i push to first or third and hold it there till the clutch is all the way out it stays and is fine. anyone ever experienced this. i was thinking maybe messed up shift fork but it goes to 5th just fine and 2nd, 4th and rev is perfect. its wierd.

 

[Tire Shredder]

any other broken parts in the transmission? how's the thrust washer?

have you considered cryo treating? it might help a bit.

700hp is a lot to ask of any transmission but you definitely need to figure something out that can handle it, not change your driving style or power levels. I'm all for standards if this is just a play car...but I like going around corners. shifting makes me feel like I am part of the car. But that's just a personal taste.

goodluck with your decision!

 

[bigaaron]

Listen hear toolbag. The trans is weak and cant handle shit for power period. Im sure it would do just fine powder puff shifting through the daisy fields with 230hp but for a car making serious power! It sucks. It broke while under power, NOT WHILE SHIFTING!

I almost agree with Kai. You know the limits of the transmission, which is obviously slightly under your current setup. So you push those limits and break the transmission, then come on the forum to say it's a piece of shit, obviously to brag about how your engine broke the transmission you just spent a lot of money on. You're more then triple the original engine's power output! It's not a piece of crap transmission, it's a great transmission, it just can't handle huge horsepower with drag slicks and aggressive driving. We could have told you that before you blew all that money on rebuilding it. So don't get all flustered if people get pissed at you for your post, you probably knew they would when you typed it. :biglaugh:

For whatever it's worth, I have yet to see a "rebuilt" R154 stay together for any length of time. I don't offer to have R154 rebuilds done for customers anymore, because none of them lasted any longer then one I could have pulled out of the junkyard for $50 on half price day.

I also personally have no faith in anyone who asserts them self to be a "master mechanic", because Toyota dealership mechanics don't generally do high performance builds, just repairs. Every time I have talked to someone at a dealership about a Supra or anything to do with turbocharging, I get a blank stare, and I used to have a job where I was at a different dealership every day all over southern california. I'm not talking crap about your friend, he may be great, but I have never met a dealer mechanic who I would trust to do anything more then take a factory part out of a box and bolt it on a car......

 

[OneJArpus]

It does, for your setup

 

[shaeff]

What have you done to strengthen the transmission for this power? It was designed for a car with 230hp, at over double the power...what did you expect?

LOL.

Mathematics > you.

He's over 3x the stock power. 230x3= 690

 

[bigaaron]

LOL.

Mathematics > you.

He's over 3x the stock power. 230x3= 690

:biglaugh: An R154 will EASILY handle 2x the original engine's power output, for extended periods of time, without needing a rebuild.

 

[simpsons7s]

I think his transmission commited suicide because it was embaressed to have a 2j attached to it, it wanted its 7m back. :sarcasm:


J/K I saw your setup in vegas and some things are bound to give up at your power level,that sucks but I hope you go auto and give jawsgear a run for his money. Good luck.

 

[chevyeater]

I hear ya but it broke under power so I believe it would have happened regardless of slicks or radial.

The actual moment of catastrophic failure isn't always the same as when the last nail went in the coffin. It could have cracked the gear last time you shifted into 3rd and just ripped it apart the next time you laid into it or 3 times later when the crack finally reached the center or whatever...

 

[upgradedsupra]

:biglaugh: An R154 will EASILY handle 2x the original engine's power output, for extended periods of time, without needing a rebuild.

I have drag raced many times when I had the R154 with 620 RWHP and have had a few years out of mine. (slicks) I dynoed the car over 800 ,then broke a clutch so I decided to take it out because I knew the trans would be next. (I sold it to a local) Go TH auto, you won't regret it. I should have done it a long time ago. :icon_bigg

Duane

 

[SD2JZA70]

*sigh*

Old gears with too much play... I'm betting the build wasn't done as well as you thought.

Try getting Marlin to actually do the build since he actually replaces the gears...

You also said "as soon as I hit third" which means right after the shift. While I'm trying not to be a dick about this, but if you grind or miss a shift at that power level you'll blow any tranny, period.

I love when people keep trying to blame the rebuild. I have a long list of brand new parts that were replaced including all of 3rd gear. Marlin wouldnt have built a better trans than what I had. Its funny that you will nit pick what I said to argue with me. I made it clear that it broke under power. As for Aarons comment about toyota mechanics. This wasnt any toyota mechanic at a dealership. This mechanic who happens to be a friend of mine has years upon years of experience building high performance toyotas. He has a 800+hp mk4, a twincharged MK1 MR2 ( that he custom built the set up), 11 sec 71 celica etc. My point is he isnt new to these kind of builds. Hes not some general mechanic carelessly slapping the trans together. At around 600rwhp I never had failures like this. That is the safe limit for this trans, not the 800+ that many dreamers have clamed on the internet. I will remedy the situation by going auto as this isnt the first r154 that Ive heard of breaking like this.

 

[Poodles]

Then it might have been replaced with an inferior gear. If they're new gears and wheren't worn in yet (like a diff), you're gonna break them easier as well.

Seriously, try finding out WHY it broke instead of the "R154's DO SUCK!!" mentality.

It sounds childish and far too much like the "7M's suck" mentality...

 

[boostinprine]

take it appart and find out what part broke. this will tell the whole story.

 

[Bigdough666]

Im on broken R154 #2. It shifts just fine if Im not into the throttle, but wont go into reverse unless I JAM it in there and under WOT it grinds in every gear. I guess its cool to make the power to break trannys, but not cool to pay for the rebuild. Im doing the built auto swap, the car is gonna be used for drag racing anyway.

 

[IJ.]

Enough guys.....

The OP was just venting with his choice in thread titles due to the frustration/time/effort/expense involved and is perfectly understandable.

 

[pogoism9]

whats strange is my "mint" r154 is acting up. im hoping its just low on fluid. but it was fine the first few test drives of the car. last one it pops out of 1st and third sort of. it doesnt "click" into those gears. all others are fine. if i push to first or third and hold it there till the clutch is all the way out it stays and is fine. anyone ever experienced this. i was thinking maybe messed up shift fork but it goes to 5th just fine and 2nd, 4th and rev is perfect. its wierd.

thrust washer

 

[YotaRob]

Lets not bash Toyota techs either. It hurts my feelings.:cry: Maybe the gear got dropped into concrete in its life some time. Never trust a parts department......:nono:

 

[SD2JZA70]

Enough guys.....

The OP was just venting with his choice in thread titles due to the frustration/time/effort/expense involved and is perfectly understandable.

Exactly! Nobody wanted the r154 to survive more than me. We took every precaution to make sure it would have a fighting chance but when it was all said and done it simply cant handle that level of power. It was a good trans up to that point. That was the best shifting tightest trans Ive had yet. Trust me when I say it was done right. I should have realized the title would get some panties in a twist so mabey a mod could change it to R154's are not suited to high horsepower high stress driving situations aka Racing! :biglaugh: