Transmission Rebuild Kit

[Regulator]

I am looking to attempt a complete rebuild on my transmission. I am curious if anyone has any experience and advice. I have watched a handful of youtube video's on rebuilding the 4L60E and it looks to be pretty straight forward.

I have been looking at various kits, and am finding some good prices on Ebay. Is this a case of "you get what you pay for" or can I really trust these kits to work?

Here is an example of what I am looking at.

[EBAY]261294266680[/EBAY]

Is there anything else that I would need that is not listed in that kit? Anything else I should consider upgrading while I have the trans out?

 

[kawaholic]

First of all, this is NOT a job for the faint of heart... LOL I had no prior experience with automatic transmissions and I just did mine recently, it was an "interesting" journey but so far, so good. I've got about 1k miles on the rebuild and it hasn't blown up yet.

There are quite a few things missing from that kit that need to be addressed. The sun gear/ reaction shell is a known weakness in these trannys. Your accumulator pistons are most likely plastic. There are many upgrades available for the commonly known failures of these trannys. I'd say if you're looking to do a COMPLETE rebuild, that kit's falling a little short.

The kit I used cost significantly more than the one you have listed but it had EVERYTHING in it. The only other things I needed that didn't come in my kit was the reverse input drum and the large o-ring that seals the pump to the case. The o-ring I got with my kit was for an earlier style pump. The reverse input drum was no good in mine. Other than that and the 3-4 clutches being cooked, everything else looked pretty good for 150k miles.

Mine came from Dana at pro built automatics 700R4 & 4L60E Automatic transmissions specialists - ProBuilt. VERY complete kit that he puts together by hand. I went with the heavy duty kit for towing.

This is the parts list that came in my kit, along with a dvd that walks you through disassembly, parts inspection and reassembly. It also comes with very detailed instructions for installing the shift kit, new servo's, accumulators, and all the other upgraded parts.

Seal retainer
Late design seal
13-vane rotor with vanes, slide, rotor guide & pin assembly
Trans-Go steel rings & priming spring (under 5,500 rpm WOT)
New replacement stator support with extra wide bushings installed

"Clutches, Steels And Pressure Plates"
4 Borg-Warner reverse/input clutches .078
4 Reverse/input "low drag" Turbulator steels .078
1 Reverse waved steel (eliminates the belleville spring that tears up the inside of the drum)
5 Borg-Warner forward clutches .070
5 Forward steels .090
2 Borg-Warner overrun clutches .078
2 Overrun steels .091
5 Borg-Warner low/reverse clutches .087
5 Low/reverse "low drag" Turbulator steels .068

8 Borg-Warner Hi-Energy 3-4 clutches .080
3 3-4 steels .060
5 3-4 Steels .076
1 3-4 top pressure plate .128
1 3-4 bottom apply pressure plate .225
1 3-4 snap ring .062

Borg Warner dual cage 29 element sprag.
GM "heat treated" sunshell
Borg-Warner low/reverse roller assembly (late design)
Trans-Go (Hi-Rev) replacement forward springs & 3-4 springs
Transtech paper & rubber (gasket) kit
Transmission filter (OEM)
Bushing kit with 3 teflon
Thrust washer kit
Sealing ring kit
HD Bearing kit
Borg-Warner Hi-Energy 2-4 band
Corvette servo
Trans-Go Heavy Duty Shift kit, with .500 boost valve & w/accumulation for nice part throttle shifts
Vamac 3 lip rear seal
New steel molded rubber pistons for overrun, forward & 3-4
New aluminum 4th & forward accumulator pistons
New aluminum "modified" 2nd accumulator piston for smoother part throttle shifts
New oem 4th accumulator pin
New 2nd & Forward "hardened" (RC52) accumulator pins
New TransGo PWM eliminator valve

Dana told me I could use my original torque converter being that there was no metal in my pan but I couldn't bring myself to put the old one in after doing all that work. I wanted to go with one of the ones he recommends but I ended up just getting a remanufactured one locally from transtar for about $160.

When it was all said and done I was in for right at $1k for the kit, reverse input drum, pump o-ring, torque converter and 12 quarts of fluid.

HTH, Tom

 

[Regulator]

I appreciate everyone's advice.This is what I ended up purchasing.

Rebuild kit
Shift kit
Corvette Servo
Sun Shell
1-2 & 3-4 Pinless Accumulator Pistons
check balls
torque converter 2200-2500 high stall - heavy duty

The transmission is all back together again. It took a couple of really good YouTube videos to walk me through it, but ultimately it was really easy to rebuild. If you have basic mechanical skills it is possible to do with just hand tools. Having a press would be helpful to hold compression while installing snap rings in a few places, but I was able to make do without.

I did find that there was a lot of redundancy in the items I ordered. If I were to do it again I would have picked up just a clutch kit rather then the rebuild kit. The rebuild kit came with new brass sleeves and all new O rings, but there were no issues with any of those in my transmission. It also come with the case gasket and valve body gasket, but I used the set that came with the shift kit.

Here are the two videos I used to follow along on the tear down and rebuild.

[video=youtube;BQgQIyIhI0o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQgQIyIhI0o[/video]

[video=youtube;EkyPoeAcxOI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkyPoeAcxOI[/video]

The new transmission has held up for about 500 miles including some heavy off roading. It has been running hot, not sure of temps I just got my new bluetooth sensor in today, and the torque converter is not locking up. There are a few codes

P0741 - Powertrain - Torque converter clutch circuit performance
The torque converter clutch solenoid valve is activated, with the gear in D4, by the Transmission Control Module (TCM) in response to signals sent from the vehicle speed and the Engine Control Module (ECM). Lock-up piston operation will then be controlled. When the torque converter clutch solenoid valve is activated, the torque converter lockup clutch will engage creating a 1 to 1 RPM ratio between the transmission input shaft and the rotational speed of the torque converter.

Lock-up operation, however, is prohibited when A/T fluid temperature is too low.

When the accelerator pedal is depressed (less than 2/8) in lock-up condition, the engine speed should not change abruptly. If there is a big jump in engine speed, there is no lock-up.

Read more: P0741 GMC Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Performance or Stuck Off OBDII Engine Light Trouble Code | Engine-Codes.com

P0014 - Powertrain - B Camshaft position Timing over advanced
The Camshaft Position (CMP) actuator is attached to each camshaft and is hydraulically operated in order to change the angle of the camshaft relative to Crankshaft Position (CKP). The CMP actuator solenoid is controlled by the control module. The control module sends a pulse width modulated 12-volt signal to a CMP actuator solenoid. The solenoid controls the amount of engine oil flow to a CMP actuator. The CMP actuator can change the camshaft angle a maximum of 25 degrees. The control module increases the pulse width to accomplish the desired camshaft operation.

Read more: P0014 GMC Exhaust Camshaft Position System Performance OBDII Engine Light Trouble Code | Engine-Codes.com

P1345 - Powertrain - Crankshaft Position-Camshaft Position Correlation
If this DTC started after recent internal engine repairs, inspect for proper engine mechanical timing. With the camshaft cover removed and the #1 cylinder at top dead center, make sure that the darkened chain links are lined up with the alignment marks on the exhaust and intake cam sprockets.

If a P0016 or P1345 is resetting without any engine performance concerns but the above information did not isolate a cause for the DTC, replace the Cam Phaser Actuator sprocket.

Read more: P1345 GMC Crankshaft Position-Camshaft Position Correlation OBDII Engine Light Trouble Code | Engine-Codes.com

P1481 - Powertrain - All I could find on this was that it was related to a failing fan clutch


P1870 - Powertrain - Transmission Component Slipping
Transmission is in 4th gear with Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) engaged and the Engine Control Moduel (ECM) has detected excessive slippage when comparing the input shaft speed to the output shaft speed

Read more: P1870 GMC Transmission Component Slipping OBDII Engine Light Trouble Code | Engine-Codes.com

Any thoughts on where to look first?

 

[dfc739]

There are a lot of places to look. The P0741 is interesting. If you installed the isolator valve that came with the Transgo shift kit you linked to, then you shouldn't get that code. Either the valve is stuck in the bore or you have a loss of fluid pressure.

Speaking of fluid pressure, did you rebuild your pump? I could see a failing pump lead to a loss of fluid pressure and cause the excessive slippage code.

 

[Regulator]

There are a lot of places to look. The P0741 is interesting. If you installed the isolator valve that came with the Transgo shift kit you linked to, then you shouldn't get that code. Either the valve is stuck in the bore or you have a loss of fluid pressure.

Speaking of fluid pressure, did you rebuild your pump? I could see a failing pump lead to a loss of fluid pressure and cause the excessive slippage code.

I did not rebuild the pump, other then the portion that comes with the shift kit and installs on the side of the pump. I did install the new isolator valve. I need to pull it all back apart anyway to replace the input seal at the torque converter, so I will do a full tear down and rebuild the pump this time. Anything else to check or look over?

With the P0741 code I was thinking there may be an issue in the torque converter itself. Would that make sense? I talked to the builder a couple days ago and he asked for the codes, I have not talked to him yet since pulling the codes though.

 

[dfc739]

I did not rebuild the pump, other then the portion that comes with the shift kit and installs on the side of the pump. I did install the new isolator valve. I need to pull it all back apart anyway to replace the input seal at the torque converter, so I will do a full tear down and rebuild the pump this time. Anything else to check or look over?

With the P0741 code I was thinking there may be an issue in the torque converter itself. Would that make sense? I talked to the builder a couple days ago and he asked for the codes, I have not talked to him yet since pulling the codes though.

First thing I would do is check to make sure the pinless accumulator balls are still in place. I would also check to make sure all valves can move smoothly in their bores. If you're doing a full tear down I would also check the the clutches and steels. Make sure they aren't burned up/ glazed. You were getting excessive slippage and it's possible one or more of the clutch packs were cooked.

Rebuilding a pump is tricky. Be sure to read up on it.

I wouldn't think there would be anything wrong with the converter but it's possible. Usually the internal clutches are rock solid and last much longer than the clutches in the rest of the transmission.