4L60E Interchangability in years

[vipergtrdj]

I just picked up a 2000 4L60E for a really good deal. I was curious how hard it would be to swap into place of my old tired 4L60E? I did notice the front of the transmission housing was slightly different - the entire case were the torque converter goes is one piece under neath, where on mine there is the access plate that bolts on. And it also looks like the tail shaft may be a little different where it would bolt to the 4wd transfer case. This 4L60E came out of a 2000 Silverado 5.3 4x4. I have been searching this morning briefly to see what I could dig but up not much other then the differences inside.

Edit - sorry the bellhousing is the same. I thought it had a spot in the bottom but from searching online it appears they are the same? I do know the electronics are different, but I am assuming I can swap everything from mine to the new transmission.

 

[1997chevydriver]

Your 94 has the inspection cover thats held on with 6 bolts so you can get to the bolts for the flywheel.

Im sure with the 2000 it would take wireing things different.

 

[vipergtrdj]

Your 94 has the inspection cover thats held on with 6 bolts so you can get to the bolts for the flywheel.

Im sure with the 2000 it would take wireing things different.

Thanks - I couldnt think of the word for what that cover was, Inspection cover .

does anyone know if I can just put the electronics from my 94 into the 00 case itself? or were the cases different too? I figured since I have this 2000 4L60E in my shed I can just rebuild it so it would work in my 94. That way I still am able to drive my truck around (mode of transportation at this point in time, until summer anyways).

 

[1997chevydriver]

That I do not know but I do know like you said the bell housing is different between 94 and 2000. Thank god my truck still has the inspection cover (1997) otherwise I have no clue how to remove the others

 

[vipergtrdj]

I think I am going to swap the bell housings so then it can bolt to my 5.7 - that is as long as the internals can be swapped to work with stock transmission wiring. I like projects, and this transmission was a good deal with only 55k miles on it. Previous owner couldnt get it to lock-up so he assumed the clutches were shot. Bought a new transmission and in the process of removing the old one found the TCC wire was never connected to the solenoid. He did break the top of the bellhousing - the 12oclock bolt hole, so thats how I got it for so cheap.

 

[Chris]

This could get long, but basically you're SOL. 4L60Es had so many variations in trucks.

1993/1994 transmissions are interchangeable.
1995 is a one off year. No other year will interchange DIRECTLY (more on that later) due to the design of the valve body and PWM TCC valve.
1996-1998 will all interchange.
1999-up will not interchange with anything previous as the GenIII engines used a transmission with different length input shaft, among other things.

Now, here's where it gets fun. You have a 1994. The only two years that will DIRECTLY interchange would be 1993/1994. If you were versed in rebuilding these things, you could use anything up to 1998 with a little fuckery. Namely, keeping the case, pump and valve body (including electronics) from your original 1994 transmission, and swapping over ONLY the hard internal parts. Everything except the valve body and pump will interchange, if that makes sense. (to simplify it, all the round guts will swap just fine, including the torque converter) Want more confusion? You COULD use everything out of the 2000 transmission you bought EXCEPT the case, pump, valve body, torque converter, input shaft and input drum. Output shaft, planetaries, reactive shell, sun gear, etc all can be used on older models.

You're honestly better off though ordering a complete rebuild kit and rebuilding the one you already have in my opinion. For a couple of years recently I kept two on rotation because I broke so many parts, so I've been down the route of picking up used transmissions on Craigslist from various years and swapping parts until I stopped beating on it so much. It's confusing and you just wind up with a frankenstein.

*edit The only reason I went that route to begin with is I was able to pick up complete late model units with upgraded hard parts and miscellaneous stuff I needed for like $75, plus I'd have spare stuff for rebuilding transmissions of later years on hand. If you were to grenade a set of planetaries for example, a GenIII transmission is a great source for OEM upgraded parts on the cheap.

 

[1997chevydriver]

Yeah what he said..... I think

 

[vipergtrdj]

that is pretty confusing......

So the new transmission is longer, so no way to swap the input shafts at all? Chris - sorry to be annoying - but figured since you said you been down the route of tearing them apart, do you recall the differences in the cases? I would think you could swap the shafts around to get it to work correctly. I was going to empty the case of the 2000 transmission and start with a bare case. Then put in all better stuff then the OEM 94 transmission had.

 

[1997chevydriver]

From I'm able to understand from chris' post you need to use the 94 case and valvebody.

 

[Chris]

that is pretty confusing......

So the new transmission is longer, so no way to swap the input shafts at all? Chris - sorry to be annoying - but figured since you said you been down the route of tearing them apart, do you recall the differences in the cases? I would think you could swap the shafts around to get it to work correctly. I was going to empty the case of the 2000 transmission and start with a bare case. Then put in all better stuff then the OEM 94 transmission had.

To answer your questions in reverse, you can't do that. The valve body from your 94 will not interchange with the case of the 2000 because on 96-up transmissions, the TCC apply valve is in the valve body, and in 1993-1995 transmissions it's in the pump housing itself.

Like I said, you're going to be rebuilding it anyway. Since you have two transmissions on hand, I'd use the planetaries, sun gear and reactive shell from the 2000 in the rebuild of your original transmission as those are upgraded parts from GM. With a rebuild kit that includes all new clutches (duh), thrust washers and especially seals, you'll have a good piece on hand. The only thing really worth upgrading internally for a stock or near stock engine is the reactive shell. (aka sun shell) The OEM one is a known failure point, and the aftermarket has solved that with various upgrade pieces. I would suggestion looking up Oregon Performance Transmission for rebuild parts. They're where I get all of my stuff from and have great prices.