I know, data stream. Long time lurk

[Glizzabeth_K1500]

Scroll to bottom for the questions and to skip the foreplay/self publication

1996 k1500 5.7 4l60e
CAI, dual in dual out exhaust, fresh ignition system (msd wires, Ac Delco 41-993 Spark plugs, all new billet msd distributer and gear. And accel<- ignition coil...which was maybe a mistake) all a month old


I've been a lurk here for many years. Since I was 16 and got my first k1500, a short box step side standard trans glory. You guys have helped me learn and fix so much I'd like to first say thank you eternally. Just reading this wealth of knowledge and time has sent ripples of benefit to people in ways we cane imagine. So to start off I'd like to cheers all yall as I do in my life, here to you unsung heroes of passion and repair.
Now I've got a problem, and I know where to shoot first and I know what steps to take. Minus a couple variable/anomalies. I've put a ton of money into this truck. Because as my life has shown. Repairing trucks keeps me outta trouble, and my mind ok when I am not. I began this truck after a bad break up (shut up) and then, my best and really only friend got shot by the girl he was seeing ex. It's been A hard road.

Last night after repairing the ball joints and waiting on fresh forged control arms using a guys shop after hours. On my way home it seemed to not shift into 4th. Designated D on the column with an O around it. It also felt like it started in second gear before this. I manually downshifted into 3rd to make a turn and there was nothing. Acted like neutral. 2nd was the same. And first. Revs and nothing. No drag, driveline bind. Engine running fine. Just pure neutral feeling. There was no bang crack grind or screech or smell. It slowly coasted and ironically into the driveway of a dude on my hockey team in highschool i hadnt seen since. Crazy odds for where i was.
It was dark and 10 below zero and I was unprepared and cold. I pulled the battery post. Waited. It started still the same. I checked the fuses, all of them. I have a scan gauge 3. It provides live data but no log. It threw at first shift solenoid b low circuit. And after the battery pop, threw that and
P1864
P1860
The shift indicator lights also were intermittent on and off. Which the reverse indicator light sometimes didn't work all along. I dont know if thats a clue. I also noticed the lights for interior dome and the ignition acted funny one other time months ago, key wouldn't go in. My shift lever is also sloppy. So I didn't think much of it except the plate. It's a transplanted 5.7 from another 96. Same tranny. The tranny oil now is way high up the stick at idle. None on the ground. Before I go out in the cold today to try and scab this. I need a lil confidence. The questions I have are.
1. If the cable to the tranny snapped or was about to would I lose OD. And all gears like that.
2. Is that ******* accel coil messing this up. I regret that immediately.
3. with no fuse. I have no limp mode it behaves the same. Does a pump failure do this.
4. Is there any tricks I can do, to reset, or by any means eliminate the obvious. That my trans is gone
5. Has anyone ever experience this.

The engine check light has never worked. The 4wd takes engage and disengage to work its a floor shifter. The side markers don't blink unless headlights are off. I have some electrical issues somewhere but this??? I checked the grounds I could find and cleaned. Today I'll check pin E for 12v. And the cable. unfortunately I can't find the service manual for this hazie it's the only year missing my guy but thank you for all you've done. Prior to thjs I had shudders in low rpm in overdrive I eliminated with misfire solving. But Mayne. Oh, also I have one upstream o2 sensor broken off. So only have 1 going. It's in open loop but runs fine. Maybe that was dumb I was waiting for a new bung to weld up.
Any help would be appreciated. And if you wanna roast my ignorance. I fully deserve it and am ready lemme have it shtuckey. Hahah I drove around on this ball joint for 3 months. Taking bets on how long its got left. Who's in
Thanks everyone. Truly

Coy

 

[AuroraGirl]

sounds like a shift cable failure. Put it in "neutral"n column and then chock wheel, then climb down and pop the cable off the trans lever , then push the lever and count the detents. if you hit a stop. count back to where you were and then go the other direction. how many detents. Then go back. if you didnt feel 2 and 4 that means a few things
1) your trans wasnt in neutral when you put it in neutral
2) your cable is either broke or out of adjustment big time
3) you bound up in gear because you werent in gear
albeit thats a complicated way to do it, i said that becuase it should determine all 3 without any other looking into it
you can also peel your carpet up to look at your cable it may be damaged.

If it wasnt a shift cable failure, it sounds like a problem

 

[Glizzabeth_K1500]

sounds like a shift cable failure. Put it in "neutral"n column and then chock wheel, then climb down and pop the cable off the trans lever , then push the lever and count the detents. if you hit a stop. count back to where you were and then go the other direction. how many detents. Then go back. if you didnt feel 2 and 4 that means a few things
1) your trans wasnt in neutral when you put it in neutral
2) your cable is either broke or out of adjustment big time
3) you bound up in gear because you werent in gear
albeit thats a complicated way to do it, i said that becuase it should determine all 3 without any other looking into it
you can also peel your carpet up to look at your cable it may be damaged.

If it wasnt a shift cable failure, it sounds like a problem

I'm going to investigate the cable string theory first. But. I know thats wishful optimism with a dash of lack of symptoms. Usually trannies go out doing something. They have symptoms. But suddenly as I'm fiddling with the lever. There's hope. I've read a few threads on adjustment. And i felt the cable from the cruise control box its sloppy. I hope you are right and my hopeful hunch is valid.
Because as you said. If it wasn't the cable. I got a problem. And a 4l80e is probably a solution. I will update.
I appreciate the response. Thank you. Northern lights girl

 

[AuroraGirl]

I'm going to investigate the cable string theory first. But. I know thats wishful optimism with a dash of lack of symptoms. Usually trannies go out doing something. They have symptoms. But suddenly as I'm fiddling with the lever. There's hope. I've read a few threads on adjustment. And i felt the cable from the cruise control box its sloppy. I hope you are right and my hopeful hunch is valid.
Because as you said. If it wasn't the cable. I got a problem. And a 4l80e is probably a solution. I will update.
I appreciate the response. Thank you. Northern lights girl

i definitely wouldnt jump to doomsday thoughts since my c1500 shift cable was laying under the carpet and just daily use by my dad made the shifter get wonky and eventually he broke the BTSI trying to throw it in gear. Loosey goosy. The sheath gets worn, then the strands get rubbed away, and then as soon as it can "kink" where the wear is when using it(usually near a loop) or the cable braids shave away, then the cable starts pulling itself apart lengthwise.

its a fairly common need to replace in these trucks, I suspect the sharp loops the cable has to take + the normal use of a truck are why but thats just theory. ESPECIALLY since it occured during a manual downshift. " In between gears" become possible because of the linkage not being in sync with the column detents.

If you hold the shifter lever AWAY from you when using it, you can actually find the exact detents since it will "climb" almost like a ladder (youd understand if you ever do it lol, hard to describe)

 

[Glizzabeth_K1500]

i definitely wouldnt jump to doomsday thoughts since my c1500 shift cable was laying under the carpet and just daily use by my dad made the shifter get wonky and eventually he broke the BTSI trying to throw it in gear. Loosey goosy. The sheath gets worn, then the strands get rubbed away, and then as soon as it can "kink" where the wear is when using it(usually near a loop) or the cable braids shave away, then the cable starts pulling itself apart lengthwise.

its a fairly common need to replace in these trucks, I suspect the sharp loops the cable has to take + the normal use of a truck are why but thats just theory. ESPECIALLY since it occured during a manual downshift. " In between gears" become possible because of the linkage not being in sync with the column detents.

If you hold the shifter lever AWAY from you when using it, you can actually find the exact detents since it will "climb" almost like a ladder (youd understand if you ever do it lol, hard to describe)

Yea my lever is dog water. It sloshes around so sloppy. I was looking into re doing all that once I saw the clips above the fuel rail busted from the throttle to the intake holding it to the pillar. As well as the 20 dollar dumpster **** **** lever. I'm about to head over and do a little digging and see what I can see. But, with my 700r4 and then the 4l60e and now thjs one. It's hard not to go into doomsday mode. Even after how much I've learned about these trans. And the electronic sensitivity and finicky nature of them. I go full WebMD like weeelllp. It's dead. Super dead, at any hiccup of a gm tranny. Which carpet did you pull up. I'm assuming back from the firewall driver side

 

[Komet]

It sounds like your truck has multiple issues, but stay focused on the transmission and everything directly attached to it right now, as that seems to be at the heart of the problem. For now, dismiss the coil and cruise control sloppyness, they are unlikely to be related.

I would start with a visual inspection of the trans and see if you've got any obvious problems, melted broken goopy chewed wires, loose shift cable, etc. Make sure those inputs and outputs are inputting and outputting kinda thing.

Electrically, these trucks are more alike than they are different. Since you got a Vortec unit, I'd go to ye holy online service manuals link:

88-98 Service Manuals

Over the years I have collected a bunch of GM service literature. Links to PDF Scans of service and STG manuals and a links to the Parts manuals. You'll need the FREE Adobe Acrobat reader to open these files. Get it directly from Adobe here {http://get.adobe.com/reader/} If you're not...

www.gmt400.com

and download the four 1998 service manual parts. Yes it's the wrong year but it's probably going to work or get you in the ballpark diagnostically.

 

[Glizzabeth_K1500]

It sounds like your truck has multiple issues, but stay focused on the transmission and everything directly attached to it right now, as that seems to be at the heart of the problem. For now, dismiss the coil and cruise control sloppyness, they are unlikely to be related.

I would start with a visual inspection of the trans and see if you've got any obvious problems, melted broken goopy chewed wires, loose shift cable, etc. Make sure those inputs and outputs are inputting and outputting kinda thing.

Electrically, these trucks are more alike than they are different. Since you got a Vortec unit, I'd go to ye holy online service manuals link:

88-98 Service Manuals

Over the years I have collected a bunch of GM service literature. Links to PDF Scans of service and STG manuals and a links to the Parts manuals. You'll need the FREE Adobe Acrobat reader to open these files. Get it directly from Adobe here {http://get.adobe.com/reader/} If you're not...

www.gmt400.com

and download the four 1998 service manual parts. Yes it's the wrong year but it's probably going to work or get you in the ballpark diagnostically.

Yessir I've downloaded the 98 as it's most close, and it'll get me near the target. Plus obviously 1995 is in the corner eating crayons. I'm going to give a good look through now it's daylight and not brutal cold and I got gear. I gotta at least get it to my garage so I can put time and not deal with brittle cold wires and cause more damage. The oil pan is leaking pretty good and the connections have oil on them I'm going to clean them and look em over for splits or cracks. We had a cold spell the last week and I wouldn't be surprised if finally insulation split. The old exhaust ran really hot from packed cats and a lot of the wires were brittle. I was hoping to get through to summer. More of a challenge than a need. My shop is heated but pretty small. Summer is the split cases season. I work rotation drilling so I have weeks off and don't need to drive daily to work. Hence the challenge. I've sold off all my bank owned rigs and only operate off owning. I dont like debt. Stress and me don't Don't merry up. Butni gotta do what I gotta do. I told this truck I'd see it through. And knew what I was getting into. As hard as I've worked in the cold for oil companies, I'm doing for myself. It definitely has multiple issues. Inonly mentioned the coil wondering if it could be a clue. Ignition has a part in the tranny. Just not sure if it's the switch itself or the system. So I've been up since 5 am studying diagrams. And I'm about to head to the truck to lift up her skirt. I love that truck. When it's all said and done. I'll give a full tour I've done some pretty creative interior work haha

 

[Intragration]

It's hard not to go into doomsday mode. Even after how much I've learned about these trans. And the electronic sensitivity and finicky nature of them. I go full WebMD like weeelllp. It's dead. Super dead, at any hiccup of a gm tranny.

LOL I'm the same way. Immediately go to worst-case scenarios.

In an effort to add value to the thread, I would double check grounds. I don't know to what extent your problems could be electrical, some of them definitely sound mechanical, but there are also electrical problems, which could possibly lead to things like this. You could pull the cooler line to confirm the pump is working. What does the fluid look/smell like? When you say "way high on the dipstick", how high? TOO high? And silly thing, you probably already looked, but my shift lever always comes loose from the collar on the column. It always felt to me like the linkage was sloppy, but it was the lever being loose.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Yea my lever is dog water. It sloshes around so sloppy. I was looking into re doing all that once I saw the clips above the fuel rail busted from the throttle to the intake holding it to the pillar. As well as the 20 dollar dumpster **** **** lever. I'm about to head over and do a little digging and see what I can see. But, with my 700r4 and then the 4l60e and now thjs one. It's hard not to go into doomsday mode. Even after how much I've learned about these trans. And the electronic sensitivity and finicky nature of them. I go full WebMD like weeelllp. It's dead. Super dead, at any hiccup of a gm tranny. Which carpet did you pull up. I'm assuming back from the firewall driver side

floor, driver

 

[Glizzabeth_K1500]

LOL I'm the same way. Immediately go to worst-case scenarios.

In an effort to add value to the thread, I would double check grounds. I don't know to what extent your problems could be electrical, some of them definitely sound mechanical, but there are also electrical problems, which could possibly lead to things like this. You could pull the cooler line to confirm the pump is working. What does the fluid look/smell like? When you say "way high on the dipstick", how high? TOO high? And silly thing, you probably already looked, but my shift lever always comes loose from the collar on the column. It always felt to me like the linkage was sloppy, but it was the lever being loose.

I've gone through which grounds I've found. The big 3 are all there and shined up. But, I'm certain I need to go nose to tail inspecting. If the cable is good I will then pop the cooler line and make a mess in an old teammates driveway hopefully...or...no not hopefully cause that's easier than the whole tranny being roached. I hope it's the pump or cable. Too high on the dipstick, I meant, and sorry for not specifying. Yesterday morning at warm it was just below the notch for good, second hole. It was good. When I checked at idle after the issue last night after maybe 45 mins of driving. 20 of idle. It was 3 or four inches above the entire measuring area. The fluid was still red, clear and no burned smell or antifreeze contam