4L60 slipping when engine is warmed up

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letitsnow

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I predict I kill the 60 before I even add boost...
 

alpinecrick

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I wouldn't go that far.

Case in point. 96 G1500 5.0/4L60E. Bought it with 140K, trans went out at 155K. I like my transmission rebuilder, he puts the good parts in and leaves out the boy racer parts--it tends to make the trans last longer.

The everyday payload of that van is maxed out, plus I have 2-3 ft of ladders stacked on top--they act like a big sail. The TQ spends more time unlocked than locked. The van does NOT have the external cooler, only the heat exchanger in the radiator. I have 95k on the rebuild now.

How has that 4L60E performed such a miracle? I keep the fluid bright red in all 5 of my 4L60E's. To that end the best thing a guy can do for ANY auto trans is put a drain plug in it--and use it often and frequently. My light G2500 Savana has 50K on it's rebuilt 4L60E.

Pull the drain plug 3-4 or even 5 times a year and refill. Both my K1500's have the CRF deep pans on them--when I pull the drain plug 6 1/2 qts come out. The 96 has 80K on the rebuilt trans and the 97 has 164K on the original trans.

The hard part isn't keeping 4l60E's running, the hard part is convincing the idjits to change the fluid often and frequently...........
 

df2x4

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The hard part isn't keeping 4l60E's running, the hard part is convincing the idjits to change the fluid often and frequently...........

I did and my V6 truck still killed two of them. :lol:

To be fair I was not gentle with them and I changed a bunch of stuff in the tune so it was probably mostly my fault. Still not exactly confidence inspiring. The stock original 4L60E in my Suburban is doing just fine with 160K miles on it (knock on wood) but I definitely am a little more gentle with it than I used to be after my experiences with the red truck.
 

alpinecrick

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df,
What did you do/how did you drive the truck that was hard on the trans?

The most fragile transmission I ever owned was the NV3500 in my 91 light K2500. When I sold the truck the third trans was making the familiar noise and about to die.
The rest of the truck was dead nuts reliable.
 

df2x4

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df,
What did you do/how did you drive the truck that was hard on the trans?

Frequent WOT upshifts, donuts, occasional standing burnouts... Pretty much everything you can do except towing and blatant stupidity like neutral drops. The red truck doesn't have a hitch so it has never towed anything heavy but I have hauled some heavy cargo in the bed on occasion.

EDIT - Also the red truck never had an AUX transmission cooler from the factory, I added one after the 80E swap. That probably didn't help the 60Es any.
 

alpinecrick

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That's a heck'uva V-6!

My trucks see redline often enough when traveling from one side of the state to the other when passing Front Range Flatlanders and Terrified Tourists while climbing various passes on two-lane mountain highways, but no standing burnouts..........
 

df2x4

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That's a heck'uva V-6!

My trucks see redline often enough when traveling from one side of the state to the other when passing Front Range Flatlanders and Terrified Tourists while climbing various passes on two-lane mountain highways, but no standing burnouts..........

The 4L80E swap put a stop to that behavior for the most part, at least temporarily. It doesn't like to break the tires loose on dry pavement at all anymore. Stock 3.42 rear gears aren't helping. :lol:

It is a heck'uva V6 though. With a good exhaust and tune the Vortec 4.3s run very strong. I keep up on maintenance and it keeps taking abuse.
 

PlayingWithTBI

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Pretty much everything you can do except towing and blatant stupidity like neutral drops.
Hell I blew a Torque Flight 727 pulling reverse drops in a Coronet 440 but, that was when I was 17, ha ha. Now I just do power stands with my 700R4.
 

df2x4

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Hell I blew a Torque Flight 727 pulling reverse drops in a Coronet 440 but, that was when I was 17, ha ha. Now I just do power stands with my 700R4.

I wish I got to drive something that cool when I was 17. I had to settle for reverse donuts in a wrong wheel drive Nissan Maxima. :lol:
 
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