4L80E Transmission controller upgrade. What’s this?

[MCQaz]

Hello guys,
I have purchased a us shift Quick 2 Transmission controller along with the wiring harness to connect everything from Black Dog Customs.
I am installing on a M1097A2.
In the process of connecting the harness I realized that I would have to remove a bunch of crap to remove the oem wiring harness.
Since my wiring harness is in good condition, I am thinking it would be easier to connect the controller to the existing wire harness.
I have the TCU enclosure with the connectors inside but will need to replace the internal connectors inside the box so it will plug into my new controller. This looks like it should be a pretty simple solution. This brings me to my first question. Is there any reason why I should use the Black Dog Customs wire harness that I am overlooking? I ask because it seems that this should be a much simpler solution to connecting the controller than what they provided. Make me think I am missing something.
Next, Getting ready to make the connections in the TCU enclosure I had a ball of electrical tape connected to a yellow wire which is feed from pin “j” on cannon connector. Opened it up to see what was hidden in there and found what looks like a capacitor and a heavy wire coil. Looks like some sort of filter.
Do any of you have any idea what this is or why it is needed?
According to the schematic wire “j”is “ignition feed”.
I have included a picture below. Please let me know if you recognize this.
Thanks

 

[Mogman]

It is an EMI filter, clearly on the schematics, yes I would leave it in place

 

[MCQaz]

It is an EMI filter, clearly on the schematics, yes I would leave it in place

Ah, Yes it is clearly on YOUR schematics. It is not on mine. I was pretty sure it was a filter just wanted to know if it was supposed to be there or if it was something someone added on for some unknown reason.
Thanks for the info.
If you don't mind, can you share the drawing or TM number you pulled that out of?

 

[Mogman]

Ah, Yes it is clearly on YOUR schematics. It is not on mine. I was pretty sure it was a filter just wanted to know if it was supposed to be there or if it was something someone added on for some unknown reason.
Thanks for the info.
If you don't mind, can you share the drawing or TM number you pulled that out of?

 

[MCQaz]

Perfect! Thanks

 

[hahnmgh63]

I guess I have to ask. Since you already have an A2, why not use one of the OEM TCU? The wiring is already set up for it. I'm using the Quickshift 4 on my M998 4L80e conversion, I just used their plastic wiring conduit and taped it up as I went. With my M1097A2 I'm leaving the OEM TCU as is.

 

[MCQaz]

I guess I have to ask. Since you already have an A2, why not use one of the OEM TCU? The wiring is already set up for it. I'm using the Quickshift 4 on my M998 4L80e conversion, I just used their plastic wiring conduit and taped it up as I went. With my M1097A2 I'm leaving the OEM TCU as is.

Short answer is I do not have one. It was missing when my truck delivered.
I searched for replacements but was unable to find one for a reasonable price and all seemed to be missing the eprom.

 

[Mogman]

Short answer is I do not have one. It was missing when my truck delivered.
I searched for replacements but was unable to find one for a reasonable price and all seemed to be missing the eprom.

The eproms are cheap and easy to get, you should be able to get the entire TCM with eprom for about 250 or so much cheaper than the alternative not to mention the work involved.

 

[Mogman]

For the price difference I would use the $17.00 one and fudge the TPS setting to fine tune the shift points.

Eastern Surplus

 

[hahnmgh63]

My 2011 with the seized engine didn't come with one either but due to recommendations on the forum here I ended up getting both the Turbo and Normally aspirated chips from Eastern Surplus. They were part #'s HM-817 for $17.00 & HM-818 for $49.00, at that price I bought both.
For the module, as mine had the Aluminum case but the module itself was missing I bought a TCM from Advanced auto parts, it was $101 with a core charge of $70. Part was

BSE Original Transmission Control Module​ Part No. TCM609M​

 

[Mogman]

My 2011 with the seized engine didn't come with one either but due to recommendations on the forum here I ended up getting both the Turbo and Normally aspirated chips from Eastern Surplus. They were part #'s HM-817 for $17.00 & HM-818 for $49.00, at that price I bought both.
For the module, as mine had the Aluminum case but the module itself was missing I bought a TCM from Advanced auto parts, it was $101 with a core charge of $70. Part was

​ BSE Original Transmission Control Module​ Part No. TCM609M​

Yea, not sure why the NA chip got so expensive, same damn part with a little different programming.
I can reprogram the chips from the original TCM, the Eastern chips are read only, no way to erase them to reprogram, I have the NA and Turbo files.
The chips are easy enough to get but they are soldered into the blue carriers so swapping just the chips themselves is tough to do and I have not ever tried to take a heat gun and unsolder them.
Maybe with the price difference I should try....

 

[MCQaz]

The eproms are cheap and easy to get, you should be able to get the entire TCM with eprom for about 250 or so much cheaper than the alternative not to mention the work involved.

At the time, I could not find a new TCM for less than $450. Used oem was more. Both minus the eprom.
only way to search at parts store was by using civilian H1 and i wasn’t certain it would work for my application because of our 24v system. Should have researched that some more.
Also heard that original tcm was crap and often burnt up.
So my options were $450 for something that may not even work in my application, spend close to the same amount for the original TCU which would most likely be a used one could be a gamble on functionality, same gamble on used EPROMs. or spend a few bucks more for what is billed as a superior controller that can be tuned to my liking.
it was a no brainer for me. Yeah it cost more and would require some extra labor to install but. But that labor is not labor if you enjoy the work Like I do.
I would have been better buying a restored HMMWV from Black Dog or Plan B if I didn’t want to get my hands dirty.

 

[hahnmgh63]

I would just hate to see you cut up an OEM 4L80e harness as they are expensive. I think I would at least leave all of the original harness and just run one for the Quick 2 in parallel. When I contacted US Shift a couple years ago they recommended the Quick 4 which is what I put on my M998. They had a HMMWV software file already. I haven't driven my M998 enough to bother with modifying the shiftpoints. Have you decided where you're going to mount it? I do like the idea of the OEM TCU in the waterproof housing. On my M1097A2's I have removed the cover, to find the module missing in the one but for both I cleaned up the mounting face, checked the condition of the O-ring and lubricated it with Dow Silicone grease for a good seal and it helps condion the O-ring rubber.

 

[MCQaz]

I would just hate to see you cut up an OEM 4L80e harness as they are expensive. I think I would at least leave all of the original harness and just run one for the Quick 2 in parallel. When I contacted US Shift a couple years ago they recommended the Quick 4 which is what I put on my M998. They had a HMMWV software file already. I haven't driven my M998 enough to bother with modifying the shiftpoints. Have you decided where you're going to mount it? I do like the idea of the OEM TCU in the waterproof housing. On my M1097A2's I have removed the cover, to find the module missing in the one but for both I cleaned up the mounting face, checked the condition of the O-ring and lubricated it with Dow Silicone grease for a good seal and it helps condion the O-ring rubber.

I agree with you 100% amount not cutting up the oem Harness which is what prompted my original post.
When I purchased the US shift TCU W/ harness I thought I was going to be able to simply remove the harness between the TCU and transmission and replace with the Black dog harness. Turns out that I would need to remove a lot of other stuff along the way or cut away the unused portion of oem harness which is exactly what I did not want to do. As I stated in previous post my harness is in great shape. Did not want to butcher it up if at all avoidable.
So I simply disconnected what I needed to and ran harness provided by Black Dog to test the unit and transmission. Up to that point I did not know if my transmission was any good. Turns out it is ok for now.
So my current plan is to reconnect the original wiring harness, remove the Black Dog Harness and simply remove the short section of wire between the inside of the weather proof enclosure and the OEM TCU (which is missing)
and solder a new set of wires to the cannon connector (Inside the box) and reconfigure so that they connect to the US Shift TCU using matching molex connectors.
The weather proof box will remain under the rear passengers seat and appear to be an original TCU setup. (Unless you open the box)
I have purchased all the necessary connectors, decoded the changes needed for conversion and created a pin out list for the transplant.
I have not made the connections yet because I still have a life, but plan to complete it in the next couple of weeks. I”ll update you with the progress when Ido.

 

[hahnmgh63]

Sounds like a good plan. My M998 conversion with the Shift 4 was a TH400 that I converted to a 4L80e so there was no harness or wiring for the TCU. I bought the Shift 4 harness from US Shift when I bought the Shift 4. The harness came with some good plastic conduit and pretty much all of the connections needed. Had to install a TPS which was a little bit of a PAI as it's tight in there on the right side of the Injector pump. Being able to tap into the harness inside the TCU box will be a lifesaver for those connections.