Burned out my 4l60e... again

[Christian ojeda]

My 93 ld2500 crapped out my 4l60e again and this time I decided to rebuild it myself. I'm in the middle of the teardown to find out that out of 8 check balls in the valve body I had 7, removed the top half of the valve body and found number 8 where it should be (que sigh of relief) only one problem, found a number 9 just hanging out in there free floating. A little advice would be wonderful as I did some digging and found out 9 and 10 are supposed to be encapsulated and require special tools to remove and install. Is this valvebody shot? Should I buy a new trans. I've never rebuilt one before and now I'm quite concerned

 

[Christian ojeda]

After some more digging I found out that the free floating check ball is the reverse/low check ball that is supposed to be secured, I found that some people pull that one out as it was found to get stuck and burn the low and reverse clutches. Is this true?

 

[tayto]

you can discard it. your unit most likely has multiple problems..valve body leaks is a huge issue on these units.. you will need a vacuum tester at minimum to see what valves are worn. after that special tooling may be required to repair ($$$). this is not a "meh it seems fine, send it" transmission. you can clearly see this is why you have multiple failed units.

4L60E rebuild. What did I get myself into...? :P

It looks like I'm in for an adventure. Having to fork over 3.5k for a shop to replace the transmission was just a bit too expensive as this is not a showroom piece, its a bush beater and occasionally daily driver. The other option is to buy a used one for $500-700 of questionable history and...

www.gmt400.com

 

[Schurkey]

Verify the holes in the separator plate.

The check-balls bang against the separator plate, which over time enlarges the holes. At some point, the holes get so worn the check ball can pass through.

Take a look in the 4L60/'60E sections of the Sonnax catalog. If that doesn't scare you, nothing will. There's more specialty repair parts and "hot-rod" parts than you can shake a stick at--hardened, reinforced EVERYTHING; and kits to repair worn-out EVERYTHING.

 

[DeCaff2007]

Well, I believe I can offer some sound advice here. Take it with a grain of salt if you wish.

I've rebuilt a total of 2 transmissions in my life. One was a TH350 and one was an ST-10. I then *attempted* to repair a 4L60E one time. My advice on rebuilding: Dont. Especially not the automatic. If you can afford it, get a clean used 4L60E, bolt it up, and be done with it.

You'll be glad you did.

EDIT: Just re-read your post. If you have a 3/4 ton truck, why don't you have a 4L80E?

 

[Christian ojeda]

Well, I believe I can offer some sound advice here. Take it with a grain of salt if you wish.

I've rebuilt a total of 2 transmissions in my life. One was a TH350 and one was an ST-10. I then *attempted* to repair a 4L60E one time. My advice on rebuilding: Dont. Especially not the automatic. If you can afford it, get a clean used 4L60E, bolt it up, and be done with it.

You'll be glad you did.

EDIT: Just re-read your post. If you have a 3/4 ton truck, why don't you have a 4L80E?

It's a light duty 2500, it's a 3/4 ton with six lug axles. And half ton drivetrain, I had a guy who built transmissions for my dad and he did all of dad's racing transmissions, tough as nails! However he isn't doing it anymore as he is in his 80s now. So I figured I would give it a shot, I haven't bought a rebuild kit yet as I wanted to make sure this one was doable

 

[Drunkcanuk]

Doable, yes. Is it worth the hassle, that's the question only you can answer. If the truck is your daily driver, probably not. I would do as mentioned above, find a used one and toss it in until it gives up, repeat process.

 

[Supercharged111]

Sounds like it's time to rip the band-aid off and do a 4L80 swap. There's TONS of info on this site from those of us who've done it and loved our lives ever since.

 

[Caman96]

I would love the piece of mind of a 4L80.

 

[Christian ojeda]

Sounds like it's time to rip the band-aid off and do a 4L80 swap. There's TONS of info on this site from those of us who've done it and loved our lives ever since.

I have access to a very low miles ls3 for a good price (my engine is also in really rough shape after teenage me beat the living snot out of it) with a trans and absolutely all the wiring for it only problem is I have a 4x4 so I assume I'd need a different output shaft and adapter for the t-case. This is the only reason I'm hesitant on continuing the teardown of my 60e