Corvette Servo Blew Transmission case

[brad6603]

Hey guys just wanted to let everyone be aware of my problem with the corvette servo. After reading on this site about them i picked one up off oregon performance on ebay and installed it in my 2001 Tahoe 4x4. I ran the servo for three months with no problems and everything seemed fine. That was until Friday morning on my way to work. It was around 40 degrees and i was driving normally when i noticed that it wasn't shifting into overdrive. I came to a stop and then took off again and noticed it was not shifting correctly. Thats when i saw the smoke pouring from behind me. I immediately pulled over and looked under the car to see trans fluid gushing out. I turned the car off and called a wrecker that took it to my chevy dealer trans shop. On the rack we looked and the case under the servo area was busted. It was just a huge crack. I told the techinician about the corvette servo and he simply just shook his head. He said he has seen this many times. The case is weak at this spot and cannot take the increased pressure. He said that he has been running a corvette servo for 2 years in his truck with no problems but the other technician had the exact same thing happen to him. So beware folks putting the corvette servo in your daily drivers. I learned from this expensive mistake and will never do it again. I will post pics when they pull the case out of the tahoe.

 

[vatahoelt]

wow, that sucks. sorry to hear this.

this would be my luck if i put that servo in.

 

[bub]

i had one in my silverado for over a year and never had a problem. i read that if you don't have the cover on the trans seated right, which is a ***** to do and took me a while, down the road it can cause the trans case to crack. did you install it yourself?

 

[bigblue]

this kinda worries me about doing it now on my 2007 tahoe. Maybe they are different in the newer vehicles, i just dont see Justin at BBP reccomend doing it if it was a known issue to tear up transmissions.

 

[MASS-HOE'Z71]

when i had my transmission rebuilt last month, the owner suggested putting one in mine said he puts em in almost all of the 4l60e's he has coming through the door and never has any problems with em. cant imagine as many people recomending them if they are a danger to the transmission. although i have heard a few stories of people not installing them right and the seal not being seated correctly and needing a trans rebuild.

 

[KrautBurner]

kinda funny

...about the corvette servo and he simply just shook his head. He said he has seen this many times. The case is weak at this spot and cannot take the increased pressure

the tranny case is the same as in the corvette, and the corvette servo is a stock part in that tranny.

must be an issue with the instalation

---------- Post added at 08:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 AM ----------

...although i have heard a few stories of people not installing them right and the seal not being seated correctly and needing a trans rebuild.

this is why I'll have mine installed (and not do it myself)

my tranny guy has built many a 4L60E to run in the 10's on street driven vehicles (and a few running 9's)
I'll trust him for my <300hp truck

 

[ScottyBoy]

I installed my own servo over a year ago and have zero problems. Like others have said, I have heard that if you don't get everything seated back in correctly, you can damage or crack the case. I double check everything on mine when I was putting it together. I had trouble getting the cap back on, then took it back out and re checked everything then it back on and a lot smoother the second time. It pressed in enough to snap the ring back in fairly easily. I hear that if you have lots of problems getting that snap ring for the cover to pop back in then it most likely isn't seated in there right. Did you have any problems like that when you installed it? Or did the cover go on fairly easily?

 

[chistoso]

Mine blew up a couple of months ago too. It turns out the retaining ring wasn't seated properly and with the shifting pressure it was just a matter of time before it snapped.

 

[swtz71]

wow seems like install error???
guess this is a good warning to all to make damn sure it's snapped in properly or this result could happen...
Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[KrautBurner]

i read that if you don't have the cover on the trans seated right, which is a ***** to do and took me a while, down the road it can cause the trans case to crack. did you install it yourself?

although i have heard a few stories of people not installing them right and the seal not being seated correctly and needing a trans rebuild.

I have heard that if you don't get everything seated back in correctly, you can damage or crack the case. I double check everything on mine when I was putting it together. I had trouble getting the cap back on, then took it back out and re checked everything then it back on and a lot smoother the second time. It pressed in enough to snap the ring back in fairly easily. I hear that if you have lots of problems getting that snap ring for the cover to pop back in then it most likely isn't seated in there right. Did you have any problems like that when you installed it? Or did the cover go on fairly easily?

Mine blew up a couple of months ago too. It turns out the retaining ring wasn't seated properly and with the shifting pressure it was just a matter of time before it snapped.

wow seems like install error???
guess this is a good warning to all to make damn sure it's snapped in properly or this result could happen...
Thanks for the heads up!!

I think we're seeing a pattern here,
it's not a "BAD PART"
it's more than likely a bad install