'00 GMC 4.8 4L60E unknown history: How to service

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dnastrau

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Greetings:

My dad just bought a great running 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 2WD 4.8 V8 with the infamous 4L60E transmission. It has 183K miles on it and no maintenance history is known. The trans shifts fine and the fluid looks fair but not burnt, but I'd like to service it and/or do things to ensure that it will last (especially with that transmission's somewhat checkered reputation.) This truck will get light utility use and probably won't see more than 5-7K max a year. It does not appear to have the factory towing package (no external cooler). For all I know it has 183K on the original trans and fluid (?!)

I have been reading about the 4L60E box here and in other places and there are so many opinions on what to do in a case like this that it makes my head spin. My thought was to start off slowly with a pan drain through the drain plug (5 quarts or so) and refill with fresh DexIII for now and run it until the spring (probably 2000 miles or so). Then, I would pull the pan, change the filter, do a cooler line flush with either Valvoline Max Life fluid or Dex VI and add an external stacked plate cooler at the same time.

I have also heard that there are general problems with control valves and servos that wear out on these that can be changed while the pan is off. I am not sure if I should touch these or not as I understand that changes were made to these units over the years and I don't know if the 2000 model year has those specific problems. I have also heard that tweaking line pressure, adding a Corvette-style servo, etc. can actually hasten the breakage of known weak parts like the sun shell, etc.

As always, thanks for any feedback.

Andrew S.
 
i would do a couple drain and fills, then drop the pan and get the filter while i was checking for debris in the pan.

i bet the fluid has been changed before. imo you don't get to 180k on a 4l60e not doing any maintenance. mike
 
are you sure it has no external cooler? all the ones i have seen have a factory stacked plate cooler? but all me experiences are with tahoes and suburbans. mike
 
pulling the pan and changing the filter is definitly a must, you can also swap out almost ALL the oil, by pulling off a cooler line, then pulling some out of their and adding more oil to the pan as you go to swap out the rest after you pull the pan change the filter and re-fill. Amsoil has a good write up of a general procedure on how to do this as well. I can tell you from my personal experience that a trans go reporgramming kit really brings these things back to life, my transmission had a worn valve body code, a hard bump between 1-2 and on the highway i would lose 4th gear, i changed the fluid out a couple times, once dropping the pan and just changing the 5 or 6 quarts and once hooking up to machine, didn't do much in terms as getting anything back or performance wise, but then talking to my dad he had some problems around 150 thousand miles on his and he put in the transgo shift kit and is around 220 thousand miles now without any problems. Anyways back to my case, chevy said my tranny was shot, i put in the transgo reprogramming kit 4l60e-hd2 and instantly i had lost the 1-2 bump, and got 4th gear back and within 20 miles the check engine light had gone away as well as the worn valve body code. I also added the corvette servos a while later and was pleased with them as well. My 1997 Silverado runs like its brand new now, and with the servos and shift kit i get way less slip than the stock set up, much firmer shifts=longer lasting transmission. I think now would be a great time to look into doing something similar before you run into any problems, however atleast changing the fluid now and again as well as filter will help improve the longevity as opposed to nothing at all. Hope that helps. If you have any questions u can pm me. I am also going to add a remote filtration kit and supercooler, can get both those for pretty cheap as well. I'm hoping mine will last forever and if it does fail eventually i'm gonna get a monster in the box rebiuld kit from monster transmission and build that bad boy up to handle most anything
smile.gif
 
That trans does well with that motor, not too torquey and thus easier on the trans.

Raising the line pressure is the best thing you can do for durability, as it clamps everything down harder and retards the slippage that kills a trans.
 
the corvette servos have more surface area thus more holding pressure and applies the band quicker. other aftermarket companies also make ones that have even more surface are and two seals on each one, but i'd imagine those would be too jerky, vette servos with seals are very affordable as well. the transgo kit is affordable as well and will make the biggest difference, and will also modify your valve body plate to flow better, increase line pressure via bigger boost valve and come with much better parts to service that valve body wonderfully. These are just my opinions and this is what has worked for me as well as others, I also believe the 700r4 and its elder brother the 4l60e are decent transmissions and can hold up, they just need some help, but if that valve body doesn't get serviced, just wait for code 1870, the 1-2 bump and then you'll lose 4 and slowly burn out your trans... the shift kit has new valves and stuff that work great in a worn out valve body, and its pretty easy to get in there, don't even have to pull the tranny...
 
Originally Posted By: caravanmike
are you sure it has no external cooler? all the ones i have seen have a factory stacked plate cooler? but all me experiences are with tahoes and suburbans. mike


I looked but did not see one. When I borrow the truck this weekend I will find out for sure.
 
Originally Posted By: akminer
pulling the pan and changing the filter is definitly a must, you can also swap out almost ALL the oil, by pulling off a cooler line, then pulling some out of their and adding more oil to the pan as you go to swap out the rest after you pull the pan change the filter and re-fill. Amsoil has a good write up of a general procedure on how to do this as well. I can tell you from my personal experience that a trans go reporgramming kit really brings these things back to life, my transmission had a worn valve body code, a hard bump between 1-2 and on the highway i would lose 4th gear, i changed the fluid out a couple times, once dropping the pan and just changing the 5 or 6 quarts and once hooking up to machine, didn't do much in terms as getting anything back or performance wise, but then talking to my dad he had some problems around 150 thousand miles on his and he put in the transgo shift kit and is around 220 thousand miles now without any problems. Anyways back to my case, chevy said my tranny was shot, i put in the transgo reprogramming kit 4l60e-hd2 and instantly i had lost the 1-2 bump, and got 4th gear back and within 20 miles the check engine light had gone away as well as the worn valve body code. I also added the corvette servos a while later and was pleased with them as well. My 1997 Silverado runs like its brand new now, and with the servos and shift kit i get way less slip than the stock set up, much firmer shifts=longer lasting transmission. I think now would be a great time to look into doing something similar before you run into any problems, however atleast changing the fluid now and again as well as filter will help improve the longevity as opposed to nothing at all. Hope that helps. If you have any questions u can pm me. I am also going to add a remote filtration kit and supercooler, can get both those for pretty cheap as well. I'm hoping mine will last forever and if it does fail eventually i'm gonna get a monster in the box rebiuld kit from monster transmission and build that bad boy up to handle most anything
smile.gif



Thanks for sharing the experiences with yours. I am seriously thinking about a TransGo shift kit after everything that I have read.
 
Hi,

Skimmed thru this thread, the vette servo turns this thing into a monster,.

Be careful I beefed up one of these for a fellow, 6 months later, tranny just fine, diff blew up,

The vette servo can be to aggressive, Also a weak point is the 2/4 sun shell, this servo applies both those gears,,

One other thing that happens to these 4L60 e trannys is the filter for the EPC solenoid plugs up, restricts flow, tranny burns up,
after market [censored] kits will have you drill 3 small holes in this filter, for the electronic pressure control, so that this doesnt happen

Now at first I was Drill holes in a filter,??? yep the idea is the small particals that will plug this filter and give low line pressure, will pass thru the solenoid no problem just keep out the big chunks,
It is required to drop the valve body to acess this filter screen,

You will likely find it sucking itself shut, very common, major cause of failure,,,
 
Originally Posted By: IH8mush
Hi,

Skimmed thru this thread, the vette servo turns this thing into a monster,.

Be careful I beefed up one of these for a fellow, 6 months later, tranny just fine, diff blew up,

The vette servo can be to aggressive, Also a weak point is the 2/4 sun shell, this servo applies both those gears,,

One other thing that happens to these 4L60 e trannys is the filter for the EPC solenoid plugs up, restricts flow, tranny burns up,
after market [censored] kits will have you drill 3 small holes in this filter, for the electronic pressure control, so that this doesnt happen

Now at first I was Drill holes in a filter,??? yep the idea is the small particals that will plug this filter and give low line pressure, will pass thru the solenoid no problem just keep out the big chunks,
It is required to drop the valve body to acess this filter screen,

You will likely find it sucking itself shut, very common, major cause of failure,,,


I have done some more reading and I don't know if I want the Corvette servo as it sounds like it makes the shifts very agressive is some cases. My main goal is to extend the life of the trans. I know early servos were plastic and could crack. Does anyone know if the stock ones in 2000 were still a problem? I think they may have been aluminum by then, but maybe they still fail? One concern that I have about using a shift kit and/or putting in different servos is increasing the likelihood that the sun shell will break. That seems to be a big weak spot and always means a complete overhaul when it lets go. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks!
 
Originally Posted By: caravanmike
i bet the fluid has been changed before. imo you don't get to 180k on a 4l60e not doing any maintenance. mike


There's no way of knowing with these transmissions. In my experience there's not even a way of knowing transmission condition by fluid color, smell, or shifting quality.

I am on my 4th 4L60E. The first one lasted 200k with no fluid or filter changes. The transmission went from operating the same as always with nice red fluid to slipping in 4th to losing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in ~300 miles. At the point where 1st was the only gear left, the fluid remained translucent and red.

This just to give you an idea of the variability in these transmissions.
 
Originally Posted By: dnastrau
Originally Posted By: IH8mush
Hi,

Skimmed thru this thread, the vette servo turns this thing into a monster,.

Be careful I beefed up one of these for a fellow, 6 months later, tranny just fine, diff blew up,

The vette servo can be to aggressive, Also a weak point is the 2/4 sun shell, this servo applies both those gears,,

One other thing that happens to these 4L60 e trannys is the filter for the EPC solenoid plugs up, restricts flow, tranny burns up,
after market [censored] kits will have you drill 3 small holes in this filter, for the electronic pressure control, so that this doesnt happen

Now at first I was Drill holes in a filter,??? yep the idea is the small particals that will plug this filter and give low line pressure, will pass thru the solenoid no problem just keep out the big chunks,
It is required to drop the valve body to acess this filter screen,

You will likely find it sucking itself shut, very common, major cause of failure,,,


I have done some more reading and I don't know if I want the Corvette servo as it sounds like it makes the shifts very agressive is some cases. My main goal is to extend the life of the trans. I know early servos were plastic and could crack. Does anyone know if the stock ones in 2000 were still a problem? I think they may have been aluminum by then, but maybe they still fail? One concern that I have about using a shift kit and/or putting in different servos is increasing the likelihood that the sun shell will break. That seems to be a big weak spot and always means a complete overhaul when it lets go. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks!



I have never seen or heard of a plastic 2-4 servo,

Heres the situation about the broken 2-4 shell, the 4L60 trans is a 700 R4 internally, all the same gear train components, it was developed in 1982,
This sun Shell never was a problem, all of a sudden in 95-96 ish we started to see them fail, giving the trans no reverse and no 2 or 4 just a 1-3 shift,

What happened? this part was never issue, What changed? It was the way they began applying the lock up clutch in the converter,
It,s call PWM pulse width modulated, as it was explained to me the clutch is applied gradually "Pulsed" on, So in 4th gear it shakes and hammers this sun shell and it breaks, either flat out breakes, or splines are tore out,,,

As I have been told this was done so the owner would not "Feel" this shift,

No give me a little bump rather than a trashed sun shell,
 
The plan in your first post sounds good. Drain and fill and then change the filter later. The drain plug makes this job about as pleasant as a trans filter change can be. When you install the cooler (and even if you don't), I would also suggest adding a Magnefine inline filter. The post above about the screen getting plugged makes me even more glad to have one.

I have been using a Hypertech programmer to firm up my shifts since the truck was new (2001), but can't say much regarding actual shift kits. I did see a kit mentioned recently on the ATP site (atp-inc), with a note that it was for longevity rather than performance. Maybe somebody else knows more about that kit.

A couple tips:

Be really careful with the drain plug. The shoulders are very short, so it's easy to round them off if you don't hold the socket on firmly. The plug also tends to be on tight from the factory.

If your pan has a short little step in it rather than a totally smooth bottom, it is the "deep" pan. The filters are different for the deep and shallow pans.

Good luck. Good maintenance and your planned use might make this trans last a long time.
 
Originally Posted By: Rhymingmechanic
The plan in your first post sounds good. Drain and fill and then change the filter later. The drain plug makes this job about as pleasant as a trans filter change can be. When you install the cooler (and even if you don't), I would also suggest adding a Magnefine inline filter. The post above about the screen getting plugged makes me even more glad to have one.

I have been using a Hypertech programmer to firm up my shifts since the truck was new (2001), but can't say much regarding actual shift kits. I did see a kit mentioned recently on the ATP site (atp-inc), with a note that it was for longevity rather than performance. Maybe somebody else knows more about that kit.

A couple tips:

Be really careful with the drain plug. The shoulders are very short, so it's easy to round them off if you don't hold the socket on firmly. The plug also tends to be on tight from the factory.

If your pan has a short little step in it rather than a totally smooth bottom, it is the "deep" pan. The filters are different for the deep and shallow pans.

Good luck. Good maintenance and your planned use might make this trans last a long time.


Yes, this one has the stepped (deep) pan. I will heat up the drain plug a bit before I try to remove it. Thanks for the advice and well wishes.
 
Originally Posted By: dnastrau
I will heat up the drain plug a bit before I try to remove it. Thanks for the advice and well wishes.


dnastrau:

Do Not heat the drain plug if you can avoid it. It has a rubber gasket that seems integral to the plug. I have drained mine several times, and the gasket stays attached.

I usually use a long-handled ratchet, and get underneath so I can push straight up against the socket with the heel of my hand. Mine broke loose easily, but I've heard about others mangling the plug the first time.
 
Originally Posted By: Rhymingmechanic
Originally Posted By: dnastrau
I will heat up the drain plug a bit before I try to remove it. Thanks for the advice and well wishes.


dnastrau:

Do Not heat the drain plug if you can avoid it. It has a rubber gasket that seems integral to the plug. I have drained mine several times, and the gasket stays attached.

I usually use a long-handled ratchet, and get underneath so I can push straight up against the socket with the heel of my hand. Mine broke loose easily, but I've heard about others mangling the plug the first time.



Thanks for the heads up. I will not heat the plug and will be careful to not round it off.
 
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