1998 K1500 4L60e to 4L80e swap tuning

[JeremyNH]

Hi all, Final mod to my 1998 GMC K1500 in progress. As per the title it's upgrading to a 4L80e. I picked up a 4L80e and transfer case from a 1999 K2500 with a 5.7L which rotted out at 119k for a good price. Just in case the transmission is being rebuilt pro while I'm doing the transfer case. The shop will perform the swap including drive shafts, cooling lines, and wire but they don't do tuning. My prior mods are a marine intake and cam, coil-per-cylinder with the necessary 411pcm, 1.6 stamped rockers with beehives, and a few other minor things. End dyno pulls marginally better than a LQ4 throughout the rpm range but runs out of breath at about 4800rpm so the LQ4 beats on peak HP. Point is that for everyday driving it should perform about the same within the shift range. I have HP Tuners and pulled a stock tune for a 2000 Silverado/Lq4/4L80e 4x4 from the repository (I pulled three actually just to verify that they are all consistent and they are). All I need do is select 4L80e from the drop down and copy all the tables into my existing tune, right? I'm not a tuner (obviously) but got the program primarily to have a working tune to reflash a new pcm should mine fail given that with all the changes made getting her running again wouldn't be easy. I also had to fix the warm-up performance/OLAs given that the tuner I paid to do the conversion and dyno tune strangely left them stock LM7 so it ran poorly for the first two minutes following a cold start.

But to repeat my one question: in HP Tuners just select 4L80e and copy over all of the tables, right?

 

[df2x4]

Disclaimer: I've never even touched HPTuners personally.

If your current tune in the 0411 PCM is set up for a 60E, I believe you'll need to do what's called a "segment swap." Which from what I understand is basically transferring a portion of a tune over to your existing one, and can only be done if the OS ID's match. Like I said I've never messed with it personally so don't take this as gospel, but I think there's more to it than just selecting 4L80E and copying everything over.

 

[stutaeng]

I bought HP Tuners a few months ago and have messing around with just to become familiar with it before I actually try to make changes on my trucks.

This may be able to help you:

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Assuming everything on you modified engine works well, I think it should be pretty straightforward. Also make sure get your axle ratio and tire size to have an accurate speedometer and shift points.

 

[JeremyNH]

Thank you kindly. My base tune is from a 2002 Silverado with an LM7 so I just went to the repository and grabbed a base tune from a 2002 Silverado with a LQ4 and segment swapped the transmission and TDC sections. Strange that HP Tuners would list the transmission selection as a drop down menu when it isn't actually an active field. The two had the same type of tables but there were a few that the 4L60e had that the 4L80e didn't and vice versa but those tables were all zeroes so I wouldn't think that it would matter.

 

[stutaeng]

Nice!

Was that you asking about rebuilding you transfer case on another thread? What did you decide on that?

I think you are going to love your swapped 4L80e...what kind of rebuild are they doing to it? Was it just to freshen it up?

 

[JeremyNH]

Nice!

Was that you asking about rebuilding you transfer case on another thread? What did you decide on that?

I think you are going to love your swapped 4L80e...what kind of rebuild are they doing to it? Was it just to freshen it up?

Yes on the transfer case rebuild and yes on the transmission stock rebuild (by Dr Steve's Transmission Clinic since he's local and has a few mentions on Motor Trend as a quality shop). All the work I put into my truck was aimed at modernizing it for reliability and mild performance gains. Hopefully the motor will outlast me but if it goes the most I would do is the HT383e as a replacement and the stock 4L80e can easily handle it. My 4L60e shifts fine now (truck only has 123k miles on it) but there are many threads on 4L60e issues and very few on 4L80e's so seemed a good direction to go. Also, I really don't care for that 1-2 shift on the 4L60e. The transfer case is presently in pieces in my basement. Dr Steve's has the casing parts for a complimentary trip through their parts washer now. I pick up the pieces tomorrow and will put it back together in the evening. I need the truck over the weekend so next Monday or Tuesday I'll drop it off in Manchester for the swap. I should get it back by Thanksgiving.