Grinding Noise & ABS Light

[YukonAlex]

So my rear planetary gears decided to chew themselves up as you can see in the pics below. I was expecting the sun gear shell to be the culprit, but it wasn't and actually was in pretty good shape, i'll still be replacing it, but probably with a acdelco oem hardened shell. i'm contemplating upgrading the planetary gears to 5-pinion, but seeing as how this is my first transmission build ever, i may just stick with the stock 4-pinion. I'm not sure if i need to upgrade other gears if i upgrade to 5-pinion planetaries. The clutches all appeared to be in good condition. The transmission appears to have been previously rebuild as i noticed removal marks on many of the nuts/bolts so i need to get information from my brother in law. Is it possible to rebuild the tranny without replacing the steels, only the frictions? Any thoughts or inputs as to what caused the rear planetary failure? Also, there was significant metal debris in the pan and other areas, i'm concerned If i should replace some items that may be hard to clean or remove metal debris (i.e. cooler lines, torque converter) any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

good lord
since you got it all apart out of the vehicle id replace it all with all that metal debris floating around theres no telling what kinda damage that did

 

[livingez_123]

Put it to you this way...do you want to do it again? replace the seals, steels, frictions, band, sun shell, 5 pinion sun gear, have your converter either flushed or replaced, they are cheap...just replace it. flush entire trans cooling system and fully disassemble the trans and have it jet washed.

 

[YukonAlex]

So I finally finished the rebuild of my 4l60e, it only took 4 weekends from start to finish, lol. Its back in the Yukon and holding up to mild driving, haven't tested on a long trip yet. What a learning experience, frustrating at times, as I would have to stop work if i screwed something up until i could get to the transmission shop, which was only opened until 5pm. Replacing the bushings proved to be hard to do correctly the first round, ended up ruining two bushings and having to stop work until I replaced them, the teflon seals as well, ended up over stretching them using a funnel and they would not compress back.

I did not buy the atsg guide, I used the following videos instead along with various sources by searching through google, the first one is by far the most comprehensive is the closest to a '4l60e Rebuild for Dummies' as you can get.

Step By Step Video i used for Reference:

http://www.transmissionbench.com/videos.html

And also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQgQIyIhI0o

There are loads of other videos and information you can find as well for the 4l60e.

All in all, if you're an average to good DIYer, and have Lots of Patience and determination, it can be done. Now if it will hold up? i'll report back. I wasn't able to determine the 'smoking gun' as to why my gears broke apart, but suspected it was due to a fluid flow problem in the valve body which is why i installed the shift kit and replaced the solenoids, it was small insurance for piece of mind. the Transgo separator plate feels a lot stronger than oem, which had deformations from repetitive seating of the check balls in the VB and is only $20.

My approximate costs to date for the rebuild are listed below:

4l60e Master Rebuild Kit w/Borg Warner clutches - $160
Upgraded 5-pinion planetary gears (used on ebay) - $150
Hardened Shell - $25
Forward & Reverse Sprags - $43
Shift, EPC, PWM solenoids and Pressure switch - $85
Transgo Shift Kit - $35 (I highly recommend)
Transgo HD separator plate $20 (recommend also)
Corvette Serveo -$16
Bearing Kit - $27
Bushing Kit - $28
Rebuilt torque converter - $115

Two specialty spring removal tools - $52
Transmission Jack - $75
Various Tools - $40
Supplies (8 cans brake cleaner, trans lube, paper towels, etc) - $45
Trans Fluid - $28

Total - $945 (Approximately); probably closer to $1,000

Rental Tools from Autozone
Bushing Driver Set - $50 deposit
Bearing Driver Set - $60 deposit

 

[blackhawk17]

Ok, same exact problem as the original poster, but I have a reman trans from Certified Transmission that has less than 10k miles on it. Is on the back of a tow truck as I speak. And of course I'm out of state, and only have one car with me, and it's after 5. I hope it's the tranny like yours so the warranty covers it.

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