AW71 accumulator mod, how to reduce harsh neutral-drive

[hessam69]

I carried out an accumulator mod where the shims I made were almost (very close to) the same height as the springs.

The shift is now perfect in all gears, but the by-product is the very hard shift from neutral to drive.

1. Is there damage to be had long term from this,
2. How can I eliminate this harshness whilst still keeping the gear shifts the same? I don't want that to change.

Thanks in advance

 

[threewagons]

Accumulator mod doesn't change how it shifts into drive, only shifts from 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4 (which is why there's only 3 springs).

Is the car idling higher than spec?

 

[gsellstr]

It absolutely does affect how it shifts into drive. When you shift from neutral, it engages 1st, same as a 2-1 shift. If you find a stiffer spring for that accumulator instead of blocking it, that would firm the shift but not the same as blocked. 2-3x the rate of the stock spring would stiffen it up but not quite as harsh as blocked. I thought about going that route last time around, didn't have the parts to research length/rate prior to doing the mod.

 

[threewagons]

It absolutely does affect how it shifts into drive. When you shift from neutral, it engages 1st, same as a 2-1 shift. If you find a stiffer spring for that accumulator instead of blocking it, that would firm the shift but not the same as blocked. 2-3x the rate of the stock spring would stiffen it up but not quite as harsh as blocked. I thought about going that route last time around, didn't have the parts to research length/rate prior to doing the mod.

If that's true, I retract my previous statement. I haven't noticed a hard shift into drive on my accumulator mods.

 

[DylanFlint]

I carried out an accumulator mod where the shims I made were almost (very close to) the same height as the springs.

The shift is now perfect in all gears, but the by-product is the very hard shift from neutral to drive.

1. Is there damage to be had long term from this,
2. How can I eliminate this harshness whilst still keeping the gear shifts the same? I don't want that to change.

Thanks in advance

Any update?

 

[hessam69]

Negative

Nobody knows apparently how to get rid of this problem

Without removing the shims.

 

[gsellstr]

So far I survived 120k on the last trans (not including the 180k it had on it when I pulled it), with the accumulators blocked, and a daily diet of 250-300whp, before I ended up loosing 2nd. Current trans is about 30k in, no issues. It's more of an annoyance.

With a little work to figure out stock spring rate and bump that up, it should be easily tuned out while still firming up the shifts, just gotta have a spare spring to measure and go from there.