Pan drop - defeated tonight

[Gmg0547]

Hey guy's I know this is a common issue and discussed alot on here, but I am in need of some help. I may be in over my head. I spent the night trying to drop the transmission pan and disconnecting the shift linkage bracket to ultimately give up and call it a night.

I removed the front drive shaft to get better access to the two torx bolts but those things are not moving. Next try, bend the bracket to remove the pan bolts and we should be good to go right? I got all the bolts out. Pan started coming down on its own....then it gets stuck on the bracket and I can't bend it enough to get enough clearance to allow the pan to come down. How far do I need to bend the bracket. Half inch seems like it would work but I hit the drive shaft with the tools. I feel pretty beat down on even having to ask, but are there any tricks to get that thing to bend enough?

I spent the last year changing all of the fluids saving this change for last out of fear of messing something up and knowing how much a pita the bracket is...and it has defeated me pretty good.

 

[OR VietVet]

 

[blackelky]

I used a ratchet strap to pull down the exhaust to gain more access

 

[SnowDrifter]

Confirming it's hanging up on the shifter bracket?

I've always just reached up there with a ratchet and disconnected the thing altogether. It's 3 torx bolts iirc. Don't remember the size. It's blind, but easy to do by feel.

Shouldn't need to do much else. I've never had to fuss w/ the exhaust on mine. It's snug, but will come free at the right angle

 

[strutaeng]

This is a 4 speed transmission? Should be easy to move the pan and tilt it a bit to clear the shift bracket. The filter is what hangs the lowest on the valve body and that's what it hangs on underneath. I'm not sure if it's possible to just slide the filter down? It's just held in the neck by friction.

I had a junkyard 4L60e in my backyard once and I was trying to remove the shift cable bracket and snapped off my torx bit with a 12" ratchet! Had to buy another bit and zipped them off with a cordless impact.

 

[OR VietVet]

Confirming it's hanging up on the shifter bracket?

I've always just reached up there with a ratchet and disconnected the thing altogether. It's 3 torx bolts iirc. Don't remember the size. It's blind, but easy to do by feel.

Shouldn't need to do much else. I've never had to fuss w/ the exhaust on mine. It's snug, but will come free at the right angle

I did not know the torx size either but one of the videos mentions 40 torx.

 

[Gmg0547]

Confirming it's hanging up on the shifter bracket?

I've always just reached up there with a ratchet and disconnected the thing altogether. It's 3 torx bolts iirc. Don't remember the size. It's blind, but easy to do by feel.

Shouldn't need to do much else. I've never had to fuss w/ the exhaust on mine. It's snug, but will come free at the right angle

Correct, stuck on the shift bracket. It looked like I had space to clear the exhaust once I got it passed the bracket. I just couldn't get it out of the way.

 

[Gmg0547]

This is a 4 speed transmission? Should be easy to move the pan and tilt it a bit to clear the shift bracket. The filter is what hangs the lowest on the valve body and that's what it hangs on underneath. I'm not sure if it's possible to just slide the filter down? It's just held in the neck by friction.

I had a junkyard 4L60e in my backyard once and I was trying to remove the shift cable bracket and snapped off my torx bit with a 12" ratchet! Had to buy another bit and zipped them off with a cordless impact.

Good idea. The front of the pan was down about 3 inches, I could easily see the bottom of the filter with room underneath. I'll take a look on my next attempt.

 

[Gmg0547]

Thanks guys. I was definitely rushing to get the job done while I had time after the kids went to bed and got frustrated and tired. I'm going to take this all into account and attack it again with sufficient time. At the end of the day...I learned something new, didn't get hurt, and hopefully check something off the list soon enough.

 

[strutaeng]

Good idea. The front of the pan was down about 3 inches, I could easily see the bottom of the filter with room underneath. I'll take a look on my next attempt.

Make sure you get the "deep pan" filter. As far as I know, all of the 4L60e transmissions on the LS engine vehicles where deep pan (has a step on the bottom flat area of the fan.) But I seem to recall a few times I went to the parts store they asked if it was deep panda vs shallow pan.

Remove the metal seal that goes into the valve body by sticking it with a flathead screwdriver and hammer right on the edge. Precise, moderate blows will start collapsing it. The first time I did I was a little frustrated because I was too cautious and wasn't making any progress.

I've seye a guy on YT mention a 1/2" black iron pipe works really well to remove that metal seal, at least on th400. Thread the pipe in and just use it to lever/remove it; says it takes seconds to remove! I haven't tried this myself however.