interceptor help

[technocoy]

has anyone installed the interceptor from tones site? sorry to keep bugging you guys, but i just got my baby and i'm not in "the know" with alot of things VX, all help is appreciated... also, is it normal for the VX to sometime have a pretty heavy shift into gear? sometime it seems to shift pretty hard. (i've only ever owned five speeds) thanks again guys. I was just wondering if the interceptor makes a big improvement in the transmission shifts...

technocoy:confused:

[Moncha]

Can you better define "Shifts Hard"? Up or down shifts? Which gears? How many miles?

The Interceptor helps smooth out the shifts depending on your settings. One will allow you to increase line pressure making your tranny shift more quickly and with less clutch slippage. To me, it makes the shift feel smoother and less noticable.
The other adjustment allows you to increase the time delay before the torque converter locks up. Albeit, it's not a very long delay increase but it does just the same.

I love mine only for the fact that a appreciate the crisper shifting that it allows.

There'll be more to come as the others chime in...

[technocoy]

it has 32,000 mi on it, it seems to be more on the downshifts than anything, but it does do it on occasion on the upshift... i've been told that it just a really beefy tranny, but i just wanted to get the opinions of fellow VX drivers, since this vehicle is so unique and only a fellow owner can know about these things!

i like the idea of quicker and more seamless shifts.

thanks guys,
technocoy

[AlaskaVX]

Spazz what did you set yours at? just curious since I set mine to around 20-25% and I am getting hard shifts if driving slow/in traffic.

[Hotsauce]

I am also at 20-25%. On initial installation I was at 45-50%, which is what I had read that others were using. On my tranny this was way too hard. I eventualy tweaked it down to this level. Occationally it does clunk a little on the 1-2 shift, especially downshifting at slow speeds. I think everyone has agreed that delay is best at max.

John C.

[technocoy]

i guess my inititial post was a bit misleading... i have not installed the interceptor yet. i was mostly wondering if you guys were really enjoying the difference in your VX, and if it seemed to smooth out some of the shifts.

thanks,
technocoy:D

[paultvx]

Originally posted by Moncha
Can you better define "Shifts Hard"? Up or down shifts? Which gears? How many miles?

The Interceptor helps smooth out the shifts depending on your settings. One will allow you to increase line pressure making your tranny shift more quickly and with less clutch slippage. To me, it makes the shift feel smoother and less noticable.
The other adjustment allows you to increase the time delay before the torque converter locks up. Albeit, it's not a very long delay increase but it does just the same.

I love mine only for the fact that a appreciate the crisper shifting that it allows.

There'll be more to come as the others chime in...

I don't know about it "smoothing" the shifts. I've got mine in for about a month now... while shifts are smoother at highway and normal speeds... low speed shifts are extremely harsh. Almost to the point of being annoying. For example, making a left hand turn at 15 mph and then heading up a steep hill after the turn... if I am not careful to apply gas very slowly the tranny will shift with a loud clunk and then pick up speed up the hill. It's almost as if the delay is too long and the tranny is carrying too much force as it shifts into the next gear. On steep inclines, the truck is still a pig... unless I apply more gas to force a downshift... which is almost always harsh and then it ends up accelerating too fast but as soon as I let off the gas slightly, it goes back up a gear and lugs along. I can't say I'm 100% satisfied. Might end up ripping it out. Settings are set as recommended. Full delay and 25% pressure increase. Might be better off manually shifting the auto.

The only thing the Interceptor has made more apparent is that the VX should have come with an SC or with at least 40 HP more. As is, it's grossly underpowered for hilly terrain. I'm hoping the Interceptor will behave with the additon of a SC... assuming the power increase will keep the tranny from hunting gears at low speeds since there's more power to keep the vehicle's speed constant.

[Moncha]

Paul, maybe you still need to back off the adjustment on the Interceptor a little. You shouldn't get any slamming of gears on shifts..
On the shifting on hilly terrain, are you talking paved or off road?
I notice no problems on either. I also don't have the hunting for gears problem.. Actually, just yesterday I was up in the mountains scoping "Jeep Trails" and never had it looking for a gear it would downshift to a good gear then stay put unless I gave it more input with out bogging. I never once had to put it into 4-low as TOD handled everything very well.

[paultvx]

Paved. Which adjustment should I work on? Line pressure or delay?

[Moncha]

Line pressure.. When the last time you had the tranny serviced and how many miles??
I have mine set about 40-50% according to the dashpot and mine doesn't do any of the things you mention and does not shift hard at all. Just firm which I like.

[paultvx]

The tranny has never been serviced. Only 13k miles on the odometer. Right now the interceptor is set at full delay, 25% line pressure. According to Tone 20% to 30% is what the 2001 VXs can take for line pressure because stock pressure is higher than the '00 and '99. The harsh shifts are only occur at low speeds on steep hills where there is a lot of load on the drivetrain... or transition from level to steep at low speeds and with slightly more accelerator input... like heading up hill, add gas, kabam, shift and off we go.

[AlaskaVX]

Hey paultvx, I'm in the same boat as you. I know excactly what you are talking about and I think the both of us need to back the line preasure down to maybe 15% It just gets more and more annoying, I have had mine on for about a month and a half now. I just haven't had it cool enough to adjust when I think of it.

Sorry Technocoy, I really don't know if it would help or not, maybe have someone that has the interceptor installed, drive your car to see if it would help in your case.

[paultvx]

Sigh... I guess. What a pain. I'll be lucky if I can even fit a couple fingers in there. Gotta fix the power windows too before the motors burn. Ugh!

[Dallas4u]

OTT (Off This Topic): Paul, I thought you had a '99 Silver VX?

[paultvx]

Nope. '01 Dragon Green.

[paultvx]

I think I've got what's going on nailed down more... I think part of the problem is the way auto tranny and the Interceptor thinks.

Accelerating from dead stop or from moderate speeds the Interceptor does a pretty good job and smooths the shifts since the delay allows the tranny to carry more momentum in to the next gear and the line pressure increase creates more positive shifts.

However, lets say the VX is heading into a left (or right) turn where it would be heading uphill immediately after the turn, if you decelerate going into the corner and accelerate (or have to add gas in order to keep your speed heading up the hill) like you're suppose to... the tranny would downshift because of the extra accelerator input. The tranny thinks you want to accelerate so it downshifts. The problem here is the delay forces the tranny to shift late. The VX has lost speed and momentum in the duration and when it finally does downshift it does it harshly and since pedal input hasn't changed, once the shift has been made the VX jolts forward... kind of uneasy feeling when you're on a narrow winding backcountry road. It has the potential of upseting the truck's handling. The best way to describe is probably how it feels when you down shift a manual tranny without matching the RPM.

So... I'm wondering if the culprit is really not the line pressure setting but the amount to delay (too much)? Thoughts?

[Moncha]

Originally posted by paultvx
So... I'm wondering if the culprit is really not the line pressure setting but the amount to dealy (too much)? Thoughts?

Sounds good but I have to diagree.. don't get any of what you are talking about.. I drive the winding mountain roads of Colorado all the time and have never had the tranny shift unless I want it to and when it does, it does so smoothly. Even an abrubt downshift, like flooring it coming out of a curve never causes what you are describing.

[paultvx]

Well, the only reason I situated my Interceptor high up and out of the way of any heat sources and moving parts is because it has been so hyped up so much that I figured the recommended settings (full delay & 20%-30% line pressure) would've been just fine.

I am and have been active in several automotive forums. One thing I've noticed is that it's very difficult to obtain fair and impartial product reviews. It's hard to know for sure if a product is being supported because people spent their $ on it... or if it is because the product itself really is deserving of praise. Unbiased and analytical reviews are hard to come by... when they show up they're usually met with fierce resistance. I don't see what the big deal is in expressing dismay or less than full satisfaction for a product. If anything, that's one of the benefits of sharing information with an online forum such as this one.

Anyway... I'll turn down the line pressure even more... it's at 25% now, being at such a low setting already... I don't see how any setting between that and 0% would make any difference. Ultimately, it would be nice to have a "smart" Interceptor that doesn't treat upshifts and downshifts in the same manner. Better yet... it would be nice to alter/reprogram the control unit's values and do away with the piggyback Interceptor.

How many Interceptor owners here have 2001 VXs? What settings do you have on your Interceptor?

Spazz:

Putting too much thought into it? How else would one expect to solve problems without understanding exactly what the problem is? Beating something to death or abusing it until it breaks does not constitute problem solving! I'll stop thinking about it if you'll agree, in writing, to buy me a new tranny when mine breaks after heeding your advice of not "putting too much thought" into it. We'll just call it the USMC/Isuzu warranty. "Don't think. Just Do. We fix it when it's broke."

Seriously... You said you started from the middle (50%)... If I recall correctly, the line pressure pot goes from seven'o'clock to eleven'o'clock and there are a total of 8 hatch marks. In a seperate post (fairly recent) Tone said to not exceed 30% on 2001 models because the factory line pressure setting is higher for those made in that year than '00 and '99. Do you remember where you ended up?

[paultvx]

Originally posted by SPAZZ
Yes, I started from the middle with both settings...ended up turning line pressure setting down and shift delay up

So where did you end up on pressure? Like I said there's 8 notches on the pot.


Originally posted by SPAZZ you just like your VX I guess is just exceptionally........"UNIQUE".....

And that's not a personal attack/snipe?? If it bothers you so much why do it onto others??


Originally posted by SPAZZ Why would you even state that I put anything in writing for your choice of installing an Interceptor and your inability to figure out something so simple????

And that isn't a personal attack either? Hypocrite.

I'm not looking for instructions to install the POS. Just trying to fine tune it to get the bugs ironed out. The Interceptor is already installed. It's been installed for over a month. Is that so hard to understand?? Read my post a few more times. You either misread, misunderstood, or really should work on your reading comprehension skills.

I never asked you to put the installation instructions in writing. I was checking, sarcastically, to see if you'd agree to buy me a new tranny when mine fails (and put that agreement in writing) since you told me to not to think about the harsh downshift.

Since you totally missed it, I'll make things easy for you... have my posts in this thread ever been about installing the Interceptor? NO. Have my posts been about fine tuning the Interceptors adjustable values? YES. Was that too cryptic for you? Anyone else?

Like I said, it's already installed and I installed it myself... over a month ago! Read and understand... it's not that hard. What I said about the USMC/Isuzu warranty was a joke (didn't you read the "Seriously..."???) I made a joke and you jumped all over it with insinuating remarks like:


Originally posted by SPAZZ "not mechanically inclined..."
"don't hurt your brain too much on this..."
"your inability to figure out something so simple????"

Those ARE your words, not mine. Did someone say "childish"?? :rolleyes:

Why should this (discussion on Interceptor settings) be kept to email? I'm sure other people would find it useful to reference what others have set their Interceptors to. More references the better. It could save others time in dialing theirs in. Instead of providing useful info (like where you have your Interceptor set at) you wasted no time turning it into another one of your paranoid egotistical outbursts. Which aren't useful at all to anyone. You responded to my post (second to last post). So, in response, I asked you where exactly do you have yours set at... a question you never answered. If you don't know the answer, then fine... just say, "I don't remember." Just 3 words. Easy enough and there's no shame in that.

Two simple paragraphs and one simple question got you all twisted up. Man, some people are just too damn paranoid. Did they put you on some sort of experimental psych-agent program? you sure? are you really really sure? *chuckle*

FYI for all you 2001 owners, I received an email for someone who didn't have any luck getting the Interceptor to work in his. It appears that some '01s take well to this mod... while others don't. I wish that little tidbit had been disclosed as a side note when I was given the sales pitch. And, yes Spazz (now I know why you call yourself that), he did adjust it up and down untill the cows came home. Good grief...

[Moncha]

Would this be considered controversy (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?postid=11754#post11754) ? ;Dy;

[paultvx]

Spazz... after all that gibberish you spewed you still haven't answered the one simple question (which is on- topic). Did someone say waste of space? :rolleyes:

With notches or not... you should at least be able to tell if it's at 20%, 40%, 50% between minimum and maximum. If you don't know then you don't know.

You said you undertand that it's already installed, yet you continue to speak of installation procedures and you continute to say things like "I don't understand why it's so hard to install something so simple." No one ever said it's hard to install. No one ever said it can't be installed. What's your major malfunction? Not understanding it's not about installation, still?


Originally posted by SPAZZ I am far from a "hypocrite" as you spelled it.

FYI, "hypocrite" is spelled correctly. See http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hypocrite. See below for an illustration of the word's definition.


Originally posted by SPAZZ "I can be childish and shallow and I can attack you and your inabilities, but I choose not to."


Originally posted by SPAZZ "not mechanically inclined..."
"don't hurt your brain too much on this..."
"your inability to figure out something so simple????"

[AlaskaVX]

Spazz, in an earlier post you said that you needed to adjust the interceptor when your VX is running? is that true? Why? I just adjusted it threw it on and called it good.

[Tone]

Wow, another post gone bad! But is it good enough to film for release on Video?

Interceptor should not be this difficult to set! Install is by far the hardest part. 2 sets of instructions are included with it and there are arrows on the device itself for increasing or decreasing line pressure and delay, although they are opposite one another since they are the same pot on different ends of the circuit board.

Hard, abrupt shifting will ONLY be caused by too much line pressure, especially if it did not do it BEFORE the Interceptor was installed. ‘00/01s are more sensitive to line pressure increase as they appear to run a higher pressure from the factory so start out with a slight turn of the pressure pot to slightly increase it. If you had a hard shift (up or down) BEFORE you installed the Interceptor, this device will NOT fix that and will probably make it more noticeable. IF that is the case, you ought to have the tranny looked at by a professional and that probably means NOT the dealer.

Delay setting will NOT cause a hard shift and should be set at 100% delay for optimum use. It is very difficult to actually feel the delay but acceleration times will be improved. DELAY does NOT affect downshift ability or timing, only the lockup of the torque converter AFTER a shift has occurred.

[AlaskaVX]

Spazz, Tone, could either of you at least answer my question?

[paultvx]

Originally posted by Tone
Interceptor should not be this difficult to set! Install is by far the hardest part. 2 sets of instructions are included with it and there are arrows on the device itself for increasing or decreasing line pressure and delay, although they are opposite one another since they are the same pot on different ends of the circuit board.

I didn't say it was hard to set. The only difficulty in its installation or setup is access. I only wanted to see where others have theirs set to... amazingly, that wasn't understood. Tranny was fine before the Interceptor. With it, normal acceleration is fine. I did state that clearly.

BTW, there was no red wire with silver stripe as described in your instructions in my 2001.

I see no reason to keep the VX running while adjustments are made. It should work either way and shouldn't make any difference.

[AlaskaVX]

Originally posted by paultvx
I only wanted to see where others have theirs set to... amazingly, that wasn't understood.

No doubt, at least I understood you. ;)

[technocoy]

and the entertainment! lol! as soon as i have the cash i'll be giving you a call, tone. do you offer two day delivery?

thanks again for all the help guys!;Db;

[SGT.BATGUANO]

;wtf;
paultvx
:smack:
interceptor


paultvx:argue: spazz

me;puke:

[paultvx]

:rolleyes: Kids.

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Hope you get it figured out. Dropping the line pressure sounds reasonable.

How much? Trial and error time.

[Tone]

Interceptor does NOT have to be adjusted with the engine on.

Red wire does exist in the black connector (it is the only red wire BTW) but appears to be a light, silvery blue stripe with silver dots - a VOM would allow you to select any wire with 12V on it, preferrably switched.

Rush delivery on any item is always available and most all items ship the same day ordered.

[paultvx]

Any switched wire would work. Easy to find with test light or voltmeter.

[Tone]

If you are having a problem with an Interceptor (or anything you get from me), let ME know directly as I don’t read all the posts all the time. If you want to return something for a refund in a timely fashion, that is fine too - I’m here to help out and these VX mods are more a labor of love than a business really - the freight, paypal fees and time are barely covered. But if you have a problem that doesn’t get resolved, I really need to know directly in addition to the posting of it.

I have many, many happy 00/01 owners using the Interceptors and the only issue I am aware of is that you can not increase the line pressure as much on the 00/01. But even with just a slight turn of the pot, the shifts will be crisper and the benefit of the delay circuit is advantageous as well.

Some owners are unable to detect small, yet beneficial changes to their vehicle‘s performance but that does not mean it is not happening or functioning properly.

[VX Monster]

Originally posted by Tone
I have many, many happy 00/01 owners using the Interceptors and the only issue I am aware of is that you can not increase the line pressure as much on the 00/01. But even with just a slight turn of the pot, the shifts will be crisper and the benefit of the delay circuit is advantageous as well.

Some owners are unable to detect small, yet beneficial changes to their vehicle‘s performance but that does not mean it is not happening or functioning properly.


Disclaimer: I, of course, would never install anything on my VX that might possibly void my warranty. The following comes from... a friend with a VX just like mine.

FWIW,

I have an '01, 10k miles. I just took my interceptor off to take the beast in for some warrany work (headlights, windows). While I didn't necessarily notice the difference when I installed it (it was better, but didn't seem like a whole world of difference), taking it off makes me realize how much I miss it. It feels soft and mushy now.

Can't wait to reinstall it...

[valenki]

how do I get this interceptor and what does it do for my VX?

[Moncha]

Read this thread all the way through. That will help explain what it does. You can get one through Tone Monday & Associates (http://www.tonemonday.com/accessories.htm), go down to the performance section.

[Hotsauce]

I've had my interceptor in about 2 years now(2001, 20-25%,full delay)

I've noticedthat different brands of transmission fluid seem to effect how hard the transmission shifts too. 95% of the time the interceptor shifts perfectly. maybe 4% of the time on full throttle I find myself wishing for harder upshifts, and maybe 1% of the time slowly coasting down in traffic I wish for softer downshifts.

I have come up with an idea to solve this. Haven't had tome to implement it, but I see no reason it won't work.

Install a micro switch on the throttle body that will cut power to the interceptor when the throttle is closed. This should allow you to turn the line pressure up a bit.

I had considered wiring the line pressure trim pot up to relocate it in the dash with a knob on it too.

Someone who has time on their hands could arrange a trim pot on the throttle linkage to increase line pressure proportionatly with throttle position.

John C.

[Tone]

Power to the Interceptor is provided in the harness itself, NOT the red wire which only controls converter delay lockup on UPSHIFTS. Downshifts have no delay or adjustability and are controlled by throttle input. Line pressure is variable depending on throttle position and gear so it would be difficult to take over control from the ECU. Hook a pressure gauge up to your tranny and watch it as you drive for more info on what is going on.

[valenki]

where can i find the "interceptor" for my vx?

[AlaskaVX]

Originally posted by valenki
where can i find the "interceptor" for my vx?
www.tonemonday.com