My Junk Chevy Truck

[Smoke'm]

dont know what to tell you guys..most guys that rebuild these trans will tell ya to drive around town with it locked out...My trans guy is a very sharp old grumpy dude and tells it like it is..now some Tech at the dealer has to keep his mouth shut or fear getting fired..if he tells you the truth the first thing you will do is go to the manager and then on up the ladder..if you read about this issue you will find that climbing in and out of O/D is not a good thing....a three speed is plenty till you get on the freeway??? most arterials are 45mph tops... our traffic in the Seattle area is about as bad as any LA traffic...its hard on all componets.... now pass me a beer.



Bud.

[Radio Joe]

Intermittent power to the passenger door(speaker, mirror and window)

Did you check the harness inside the door jamb?? I dont know how old you truck is, but it is common for the wires to break in the door jamb because they are constantly flexing. Open the door wide as it will go and then pop the rubber boot loose that protects the wires in the door jamb... inspect the wires for broken insulation and completely broken wires. just an idea...

[442olds]

The 4l60e is the transmission put in most all 1500's, blazers, s-10's...when you get into the 2500 and 3500's you upgrade to the 4l80e which is pretty much bullet proof. So what's wrong with the 4l60e. Several things. Its a direct decendent of the 700r4, has an aluminum direct drum and an aluminum valve body. They also changed from a direct lock up converter to a pulsed lock up converter in the 4l60e's. THis is where the problems all stem from. The valve that pulses the converter to make it slip until a certian speed is reached can wear out its hole in that aluminum vlave body. Extra heat is also gernerated by this pulseing lock up converter. The fix is easy, but you have to be able to get the Transgo Shift Kit (the one in the orange box only sold to trans shops). It will convert the valve so that when it engages the lock up it engages the lock up, no slipping. Also if the vlave hole is worn they tranny shop will need to drill out the hole and insert a steel sleeve.

Once this valve wears out and you start experienceing slippage, it won't be to long before your trans will slip into a limp mode where it won't even shift out of second. Once it gets to this point you had better stop driving it or you going to puke the transmission fluid out onto the road and require a complete rebuild.

I put the trans go kit in my blazer and didn't have a lick of trouble. The dealer will deny that there is a problemwith the pulseing lock up, but if you look hard enough and deep enough in tech service bulittens you should find tsb's dealling with the slippage and its relation to the lock up converter.

[Nine Ball]

Its not the truck, its the piece of crap 4L60e tranny. I absolutely hate those trannys, its hard to believe they put it in a fullsize truck, when guys in nearly stock Camaros can tear them up.

The 4L60e on my '02 GMC went out at 60K miles. Of course, I towed with it and also had a heavy foot. It was only a matter of time I suppose. Many, many guys on the truck forums at LS1TECH have had to rebuild their 4L60e.

[Kenova]

I have a full size '89 GMC van with the 4L60. It has over 120,000 miles on it and it's still going. I attribute that to an oil and filter change every 25,000 miles and a lot of good luck. I also have an '04 Silverado, but it's not even broke in yet.
I've been waiting for the van's tranny to let go for years. When I first bought the van, I made up my mind that if the tranny let go, I'd be taking the tranny to a shop that speciallizes in performance trannies. They can build these trannies to take more of a beating and it would probably cost less than what the stealerships charge. In the case of the Silverado, I'll probably consider a swap to the 4L80E. That way I can get rid of the "torque management". That should increase the grin factor.
Ken

[gchandler]

Would it be legal in california if I was to simply swap in a th 400 in place of the 4l60e? I did that in my chevelle and have never been happier with a single change.

[Drewhelm]

I have an 01 GMC Ext Cab 4x4 and have had absolutely no trans problems. I have towed my boat many times, flatbeds loaded with firewood and have towed my 69 Bird several times. The truck has the heavy duty towing package, but I keep it in OD and only turn on the tow/haul switch when pulling the boat or car.

Only problem I've had was with the electric 4WD switch. At about 50K the Service 4WD light came on. I was out of warranty and the dealer still replaced it for free. Other than that it's been 86K miles with no troubles.

I did have a 90 Silverado that had a trans problem at about 20K miles the dealer rebuilt it and I had to have it redone at about 55K. I had it redone locally and it was still working great when I got rid of it at 145K miles.