How many miles did you get out of your original Transmission?

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Just Fishing

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I do have a 4l60e in my 03 s10.
It's still kicking with about 220 or 240k, it has been a while since i looked at the odometer.

Main issues i had with it were the shift solenoids in the valve body, and the separator plate having a short life and getting the snot beat out of it.

Last time i had the valve body off i saw the heavy duty plate was nearly toast, but i think it has well over 100k with the steel check balls.

Currently it has had issues with converter lockup, jumping in and out.
And the shifts have been softening up.

I have it patched with hp tuners by bumping up shift pressures, and i disabled converter lockup to give it a little more life.

I was going to build it into a trail rig, but i recently bought something else for that task.

So the plan now is to rebuild the transmission and go though the engine, then sell it in hopes to help fund the new project.

That s10 (zr2) blazer had a hard life with me, towing boats up the canyon, and general off road hijinks.

Those earlier transmissions were somewhat known to have some pump bushing failures, leading to the current issues it has.

They were also known to have issues with the pressure switches in the balve body.

For mine, i did the pressure switches recently, and installed a transgo shift/correction kit in hopes it would fix it, but nope!

So I'll call it a good 220k, and time for a rebuild on that 4l60.
 

swathdiver

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transmission was replaced when i bought the truck, because it failed the day after i brought it home. they had to know. Truck had 125 on it. they replaced with a used one from LKQ w 91000 on it. i'm at 179k now. the fluid was replaced when it was installed. still looks clean. very common
Fluid is wore out by 45K miles, keep it refreshed.

When did Dexron6 become the factory fill? This alone may have improved 4L60E longevity.
Dexron VI was introduced for the 2006 model year.

I have a 2008 6l80 in my sierra...

I'm not much of a tranny guy like you so I bought a 09 yukon with 75k miles and need to figure out what to do with the 08 Sierra - probs sell for parts - idk...
Is the 2008 a Sierra Denali? If it is not a 6.2 engine, it would have a 4L60 or 4L70. Of course the '09 Yukon will be 6L80.


As for our house, the 2009 Yukon is still on it's original transmission at 184K. The lifted 2012 Sierra's transmission was replaced at about 130K when the torque converter died.
 

Bill Barnes

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2009 suburban- went out at 125k. I purchases with 122k, fluid looked good, but no way of knowing maintenance history. Just curious what those of you got out of the original tranny, especially if you are an original owner. My in laws sold their 1 owner with 230k and original tranny.

Just wondering if the Chevy 100k miles stigma is real....
I bought my 2005 Yukon XL new in January 2005. It's a 5.3L 4L60E. At 82K I had the transmission serviced by the dealer. The Service Writer took me back to the shop, where the tech showed me that there was a fair amount of microscopic metal in the pan. I purchased a GM Remanufactured transmission with a 3 year warranty, with a Service-for-Life provision if I took it back to them if I had problems. Sure enough the 3-4 sector failed at 130K. I took it back to them and reminded them of the SFL promise, which was on my invoice from the replacement. They repaired it and all I paid for was a new filter and fluid. I now have 233K on the Yukon and have had no more problems with the transmission. If I do have problems in the future I will have the transmission rebuilt with an upgrade to performance specs for a 4L65E.
 

Geotrash

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Interesting results, the gmt800 4l60e seems to be a good one
Hit and miss, I would say. The 4L60 in my '02 Suburban only made it 130K miles but the PO used it for towing a boat up to the mountains a lot. Carfax showed regular fluid changes though. He had it replaced with a GM reman and a friend owns it now with 295K on the clock.
 

Marky Dissod

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Interesting results, the GMT800 4L60E seems to be a good one
Hit and miss, I would say.
The 4L60E in my '02 Suburban only made it 130K miles but the PO used it for towing a boat up to the mountains a lot.
Carfax showed regular fluid changes though.
He had it replaced with a GM reman and a friend owns it now with 295K on the clock.
When the previous owner was towing that boat, did that Suburban have 4.10?

Way too many people who used 4L60Es to tow stuff (even relatively lightweight stuff with little drag):
had axle gearing UNDER 3.73
towed in OD
both

4L60Es with 3.73 or inferior gearing exist due to the pressure to impress CAFE MpG test scores.
Those tests inflict us with axle gears that sacrifice drivetrain durability.

I don't even tow anything with my '02 Tahoe Z71.
If I could afford upgrading from 3.73 to 4.10, any resulting MpG sacrifice would be worth it in terms of smiles per gallon, as well as effectively being an investment in the 4L60E's longevity.
 

Geotrash

Dave
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When the previous owner was towing that boat, did that Suburban have 4.10?

Way too many people who used 4L60Es to tow stuff (even relatively lightweight stuff with little drag):
had axle gearing UNDER 3.73
towed in OD
both

4L60Es with 3.73 or inferior gearing exist due to the pressure to impress CAFE MpG test scores.
Those tests inflict us with axle gears that sacrifice drivetrain durability.

I don't even tow anything with my '02 Tahoe Z71.
If I could afford upgrading from 3.73 to 4.10, any resulting MpG sacrifice would be worth it in terms of smiles per gallon, as well as effectively being an investment in the 4L60E's longevity.
No. 3.73.
 

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