4L60E sunshell replacement?

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: maketracks
IIRC, my POS Safari has a 4L60E. It also says that anything 1992 and later was a 4L60E as opposed to a 4L60, and that the E was dropped when everything went electrical anyways.



Actually 4L60 is the early models that were NON electronic. In 1994, 4L60E came along and was electronically controlled by the PCM. Then you also had 4L65E which was a great transmission..basically a factory corrected and beefed up 4L60E.

 

[Thermo1223]

Where is OilChange to ruin this party lol.

 

[wirelessF]

Originally Posted By: maketracks
Oh, and http://helpwrench.com/forums/showthread....Pics-and-Tricks This is a guide as to the 4L60E. I Googled it to be helpful.


I was reading through that and was thinking if I could attempt that. Looks like remove bellhousing, TCC solenoid, front pump, center input shaft, band clutch, snap ring to get access to the sunshell.

 

[RH+G]

4L60 is the 700r4

4L60E is the electronic version

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Actually 4L60 is the early models that were NON electronic. In 1994, 4L60E came along and was electronically controlled by the PCM. Then you also had 4L65E which was a great transmission..basically a factory corrected and beefed up 4L60E.


Yes! We have a Silverado with a 4L65E and it has about 110k miles of HARD wifey driving in home health care. Very tough, and shifts so fast...

 

[Falcon_LS]

Wow. Should I be worried about the 4L60E in my '05?

Only got 58,750 miles on it, but the first pan drop was when I got the car at 56,000 miles.

 

[dishdude]

I am not so sure how big this issue is. The last company I worked for had a fleet of S-10s and Sonomas, didn't do any maintenance on the transmissions and didn't have one fail in the 9 years I worked there. Now they were behind 2.2s - so although they were driven hard and overloaded most of the time there wasn't a lot of torque going into them.

My current company has a fleet of Expresses - mostly with 4.3s but a couple 5.0s. No failures, they get "flushes" at Jiffy Lube with universal ATF and an additive/converter. Again, driven hard and overloaded.

So there might be an issue or it might just be related to the millions of these transmissions in service.

 

[sdowney717]

My 94 Roadmaster Wagon 4L60e, I rebuilt the trans had a bad solenoid. When apart the reaction shell was cracked at the spline about 180 degrees, about to fail and you would never know it till it did. I put in the beast and other improvements. This was after only 150,000 miles.

 

[cchase]

There were definitely some weaknesses in the earlier versions of this transmission.

That said, as SteveSRT8 always points out, you don't hear from the millions who have no issues.

I don't think they are patently flawed transmissions - if you take care of them and don't abuse them I doubt anyone would have a problem.

 

[Smokescreen]

^^ Yep...Mine runs fine and I have a few miles on it, tow with it regularly in the summer too. I have a stock engine setup, I don't abuse it. I give it yearly 1/2 sump oil drains and I have an in-line spin on oil filter that sits right below the fan so it sees constant cooling....I also have a trans cooler.

 

[caravanmike]

when people say millions in service they are not kidding. if you look at the sales #'s almost a million were put in service each year. so the # is tens of millions in service. mike

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^Precisely. With that many almost anyone would expect a lot of failures!

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
expect a lot of failures!
A well designed part should handle all sorts of abuse. People are idiots remember and everyone drives like one at times. If that many fail, it is a problem/design flaw. Just like the intake manifold gaskets on 3000 series V6's, or do you want to defend those too. GM just doesn't get "it" and things that should obviously be recalls get stuck on the customer to come up with $$$ for an expensive repair bill...

 

[crazyoildude]

we pay $1200.00 includes installation and 12 month warranty
we drop the car off they take it out and rebuild it and then put it back in.
that is wholesale for my shop.. We add $300-$400 to that..

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
expect a lot of failures!
A well designed part should handle all sorts of abuse. People are idiots remember and everyone drives like one at times. If that many fail, it is a problem/design flaw. Just like the intake manifold gaskets on 3000 series V6's, or do you want to defend those too. GM just doesn't get "it" and things that should obviously be recalls get stuck on the customer to come up with $$$ for an expensive repair bill...


The facts are simple... the overwhelming majority of the MILLIONS of 4L60's on the road are running fine. We run tons of GM's here and had ONE unit break at 80k miles and it was at the drag strip! I certainly didn't blame GM.

Every single mfgr makes lemons, but very few make as many cars as GM did. Look at production volumes and you'll quickly see that GM is not nearly as bad as your baked in prejudice is.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Every single mfgr makes lemons, but very few make as many cars as GM did. Look at production volumes and you'll quickly see that GM is not nearly as bad as your baked in prejudice is.
when I could guess why the CEL was on on nearly every customer car while working as a service writer, that means the reapirs/part failures were common enough to be recalls. NorthStar crank seals, crank sensors, intermediate shaft steering clunk on numerous models, intake manifold gasket fiasco, catalytic convertors on full size GMC's, encoder motor failures on AWD Bravada's and Envoy's, AWD system detonation on Rendezvous', need I go on???

 

[wirelessF]

Is a 1.5 to 2 second delay from Park/Drive to Reverse normal? My neighbors been "reverse-gunning" their Tahoe by gassing it up and the AT delays slams in reverse. Since it's related to the sunshell and losing reverse.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
Is a 1.5 to 2 second delay from Park/Drive to Reverse normal? My neighbors been "reverse-gunning" their Tahoe by gassing it up and the AT delays slams in reverse. Since it's related to the sunshell and losing reverse.
normal enough that there is a 1hr reprogram done via Tech2 that tries to save it before it grenades...

 

[Jim Spahr]

I have a 1994 Impala SS with the 4L60E and it has over 278k miles on it. It has been a great trans, but I don't drag race and I don't tow heavy trailers. Like Trav said: maintenace is key. I will add to that: If the owner's manual says to change ATF fluid and filter every 30k, do it every 12 to 15 k. If your car or truck didn't come with a trans cooler add a good one--even if you don't tow. Also add a GM 'deep pan' from the Silverado with the drain plug. This does two great things: gives you addition ATF capacity of approx. one quart and allows you to drain the fluid like you do your oil change! What a great feature. This is a no leak steel pan and not one of the aftermarket aluminum pans that are finned and leak like crazy.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Every single mfgr makes lemons, but very few make as many cars as GM did. Look at production volumes and you'll quickly see that GM is not nearly as bad as your baked in prejudice is.
when I could guess why the CEL was on on nearly every customer car while working as a service writer, that means the reapirs/part failures were common enough to be recalls. NorthStar crank seals, crank sensors, intermediate shaft steering clunk on numerous models, intake manifold gasket fiasco, catalytic convertors on full size GMC's, encoder motor failures on AWD Bravada's and Envoy's, AWD system detonation on Rendezvous', need I go on???


No you don't need to.

But in attending NIASE cert courses I met dealership techs from all over who could recite their brands tendencies.

There's not a single service manager at ANY dealer who cannot give a similar list. The brand is irrelevant.

Quality control is not just a GM problem.