4L60e running at 200-210F at operating temp.

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L31MaxExpress

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Owning two G1500's with 3.42's, I can't disagree that a lower gear in the diff would quite likely help. But it does require buying and installing the parts, and as stutaeng noted flashing the ECU.

Both of my G1500's are cargo vans and their everyday payload is maxed out, plus a stack of ladders on top that will act like a sail. I live in Colorado where there's lots of up and down and significant elevation gain. And you're correct, they don't spend a lot of time with the TQ locked. One lost the trans at 154k, the other at 155k. I currently have 110k and 70k respectively on the rebuilts. Neither have the external cooler. With an every day heavily loaded 4L60E, 150k is probably a reasonable expectation of the trans lifespan. Here on the forum and a friend with a Suburban, it seems some folks are well north of 200k with their original 4L60E's. Somebody has to be doing something right.

As I have continued to preach, keeping the fluid bright red may be the most important part of the equation, and I'll find out if that contributes to longer life of the trans.

Did you break the 4L60E's before or after you deleted the PWM?

First 60E failed at 38K, completely factory. 4L65E had the PWM deleted. It lasted 40K. Both transmissions broke hard parts. The 60E had a smoked converter clutch and the torque converter was blued from heat. The paint on the reman S10 converter was still perfect on the 65E leading me to believe it ran much cooler.

Suburban is not putting the constant load on the trans that a van does. Van has a bigger frontal area and more weight.

His hightop and the fact it is a conversion van is probably getting him up near the GCW with 4-6 people and baggage in the van. I know with the standard low top roof, 6 adults, our bags, a couple of coolers and some camping gear my 97 was over max GCW. Empty van with a 1/2 tank of gas, my 97 scaled 5,800 lbs. GVW was 7,100.
 

L31MaxExpress

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One other thing, add the biggest pusher fan you can fit in front of the condenser. My a/c head pressure dropped 30-40 psi on a 100°F day with a 16" pusher in front of the condenser. I actually setup my PCM to run the auxiliary fan via a relay I added to the Auxiliary fan opening in the factory fuse box. I sacrificed a junkyard fuse box from a truck to get all the necessary pins and connectors to go into the fuse box. I copied the fan settings from a Police Tahoe into the Van PCM to enable control of the fan. The pusher fan also keeps the fan clutch from having to fully engage nearly as often.

When the radiator fails, get one for a 454/8.1L van. Its 34" wide and 17" tall. Factory fan shroud does not quite cover it all but gets close. Seal the ends of the fan shroud to the radiator with some 1" thick square foam insulation designed for window a/c units. The big block van radiator is ~3" wider and roughly 2x as thick at the core.
 
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Supercharged111

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One other thing, add the biggest pusher fan you can fit in front of the condenser. My a/c head pressure dropped 30-40 psi on a 100°F day with a 16" pusher in front of the condenser. I actually setup my PCM to run the auxiliary fan via a relay I added to the Auxiliary fan opening in the factory fuse box. I sacrificed a junkyard fuse box from a truck to get all the necessary pins and connectors to go into the fuse box.

When the radiator fails, get one for a 454/8.1L van. Its 34" wide and 17" tall. Factory fan shroud does not quite cover it all but gets close. Seal the ends of the fan shroud to the radiator with some 1" thick square foam insulation designed for window a/c units. The big block van radiator is ~3" wider and roughly 2x as thick at the core.

Did the vans not come with pushers?
 

alpinecrick

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One other thing, add the biggest pusher fan you can fit in front of the condenser. My a/c head pressure dropped 30-40 psi on a 100°F day with a 16" pusher in front of the condenser. I actually setup my PCM to run the auxiliary fan via a relay I added to the Auxiliary fan opening in the factory fuse box. I sacrificed a junkyard fuse box from a truck to get all the necessary pins and connectors to go into the fuse box. I copied the fan settings from a Police Tahoe into the Van PCM to enable control of the fan. The pusher fan also keeps the fan clutch from having to fully engage nearly as often.

When the radiator fails, get one for a 454/8.1L van. Its 34" wide and 17" tall. Factory fan shroud does not quite cover it all but gets close. Seal the ends of the fan shroud to the radiator with some 1" thick square foam insulation designed for window a/c units. The big block van radiator is ~3" wider and roughly 2x as thick at the core.

I like the pusher fan idea for the condenser to make for better AC.

The 454 radiator should help the trans auxiliary cooler keep up.......
 

alpinecrick

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Was never an option on them, even with the big blocks.

My 99 Tahoe LT came with a pusher from GM. Tahoe also came with the 11 bladed fan and a 34x17 dual core radiator. Couldn't get that Tahoe over 200°F with a 195°F thermostat.

The 11 blade AC Delco fan I bought from RA had a vibration. Apparently out of balance. Pizzed me off and I put the factory metal fan back on.........
 

L31MaxExpress

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I like the pusher fan idea for the condenser to make for better AC.

The 454 radiator should help the trans auxiliary cooler keep up.......

This is the radiator, shroud and fan setup I have now. Pulls a ton of air even with the motors wired in series, running at 6 volts each. The GM 3-relay setup really slashes the amp draw when less than maximum cooling is needed. Need an 0411 and an ac pressure sensor added to run them properly though.

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L31MaxExpress

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The 11 blade AC Delco fan I bought from RA had a vibration. Apparently out of balance. Pizzed me off and I put the factory metal fan back on.........
The factory 5 blade pissed me off. On a hot day it used to kick the clutch in at 80 mph for 10 miles or more then go off for a minute or two then kick back in and scream another 10 miles. A/C would only cool to 60°F at idle around town too. Engine would get to 220-240°F.
 

alpinecrick

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My only concern with e fans installed into a truck that didn't originally come with them is reliability. I've seen and heard enough I can't afford that when waaaay up in the hills.

A pusher fan in addition to a factory mechanical fan is more appealing. Wish there was a way to install one with a simple thermostat without relying on the ECU.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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My only concern with e fans installed into a truck that didn't originally come with them is reliability. I've seen and heard enough I can't afford that when waaaay up in the hills.

A pusher fan in addition to a factory mechanical fan is more appealing. Wish there was a way to install one with a simple thermostat without relying on the ECU.
Couldn't you just wire it in with a toggle switch or something, so it could be turned on when needed? Interested in maybe doing this on mine.
 
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