1986 Buick Century 3 Speed Auto Trans

[GTU89]

Okay, my dad picked me up a transmission, haven't gotten around to putting it in.

It's out of a 86(I think) Buick Century Inline 4 Auto 3 speed. Will there be any problems putting it in and is it geared worse than a Beretta trans? The biggest problem I can think of is weather or not my axles will fit it. I'm also worried that its geared so the car will be a turd.

[Money pit Beretta]

It should have a better FDR than yours. Like 3.33.
FDR's are 2.84, 3.06 and 3.33.
You can look up the codes here:
http://www.domesticcrew.com/tony/transpage/125C.htm

[GTU89]

Where is the code located so I can check? I looked and couldn't find it.

If its a 3.33 will it be noticeably faster than stock? Like I know it won't shave a second off of the 1/4 mile or anything like that but will it be noticeably snappier and whatnot?

[GTU89]

Okay, the tag on this trans is a pinkish-red and the code just says CJ and there are some numbers below it. I remember something about it being replaced so could this be a 4 speed? I can't find any 4t60 codes on the internet to compare to.

The trans that was in my car when I got it was a 2.84 FDR one, guessing that was not stock? Aren't our cars 3.09 or something around that?

[Money pit Beretta]

3X00 is the auto trans god here and would be able to tell you where the code is. There should be a tag on a bolt, but that may have been left off if it was replaced.
I really don't think you would have a 4spd.
You would think that the 4 bangers would have the 3.33 and the V6 would have the 2.84. Really it's hard to know. GM could have ran out of 2.84's and put 3.06's in or someone could have paid to get the 3.06. Or X number gets 2.84 and another amount gets the 3.06. Also the base could have 2.84 and the GT could have 3.06.
I'm really thinking that my 90GT had 3.06, not sure on that though.

[Money pit Beretta]

Where is the code located so I can check? I looked and couldn't find it.

If its a 3.33 will it be noticeably faster than stock? Like I know it won't shave a second off of the 1/4 mile or anything like that but will it be noticeably snappier and whatnot?

Yes it would be better than stock. My stock 4T60 had 2.84 and I put a trans in with 3.33. It was a nice change, with a bit more pick up and not much of a change in RPM on the highway.

[DTMAce]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but higher FDR gives you a lower RPM point at the same speed vs a lower FDR correct?

If you want power, I would think you would want a lower FDR, to point. Obviously torque at a given RPM matters too. We know the V6's deliver more of their power at a lower RPM than say a Quad, which uses a higher RPM to deliver torque. So for a balance, you want a higher FDR for a V6, lower FDR for a Quad, correct? But I would assume there are fine points to hone in either case. Higher FDR on a powerful engine can give you more speed, but lower FDR can give you more power to the wheels.

Would a higher FDR give you a faster car? Depends on the power of the V6. Wimpy engines will actually bog down I would think, rather than go faster. Beefed up 3.1/3100s or 3400s and higher, I would expect they would benefit more from the higher FDR (as a variance in the same transmission model) than a lower torque version of the engine.

Obviously I'm not an expert, but that is how it makes sense to me. Someone can correct me if I'm way off here. lol

[GTU89]

You got the concept right, just completely backwards.

A 3.33 fdr accelerates faster than a 2.84 fdr. The 3.33 should get worse highway mileage as a result because the engine is revving higher than the 2.84 would be.

The guy who got the trans said it was out of a later model, didn't say what car so I'm assuming that its out of a later model Century. I know the tag is completely different than the 3t40's I have which have the same tag as a 125c if I'm correct. The site I was linked to that told the codes to 3t40s and th125's are all 3 letter codes and this one is 2 letter.

My LeMans has 2.56 gears so it revs like 31xx-33xx at around 120mph. I don't remember exactly but it was worked out before that with the gears in my LeMans it should theoretically go 160 or 180mph, not that it would be a good idea at all lol

I just really hope that the trans for the Beretta is a 3.33 fdr one and not a 2.84.

[GTU89]

Any idea what a red-ish-pink-ish tag that has the code CJ is?

[Money pit Beretta]

No idea. Check the case for a stamped code.

[90GTZHO]

Generally the way GM worked it with many cars and shared transmissions, the bigger the car, the lower the gear ratio. The berettas would have the 2.84 cause they were smaller and needed less power to get going, hense the gearing for better mileage. The W-bodies would have the 3.33 while the A-bodies would have the 3.06. Which is also why the smaller cars got better mileage back then. Longer FDR and smaller car. Im betting the trans you just got is a 3.06. Less it actually came from an FE3 Olds Ciera which had a 3.33 FDR behind a 3.8.

[GTU89]

So noticeable improvement over stock?

Guess anythings better than what I have now though, 2.84 fdr thats slipping in 1st and 3rd completely missing 2nd.

[Money pit Beretta]

It will be a small change. Wonder what stall the converter has. Most of your power comes in low so a higher stall may not be helpful.
Nevermind, I wouldn't use your old converter because it's probably full of metal chunks.