Question on 4l60E transmission

[Tbruz]

My 1997 Tahoe with 165K miles has started exhibiting what may be a tranny issue.
Truck is babied and has always been over maintained. Tranny fluid and filter was changed at 90K miles, truck now has 165k.

It will shift fine 1st thru 4th gear every time during regular acceleration and will also downshift fine 4th all the way thru 1st, every time.

If I slow down to only around 45 MPH and then immediately try to accelerate from there, the tranny seems to be confused as to which gear it should be in, 3rd or 4th.
If I go slower than 45 it will up shift fine, if I punch it at 45 it will up shift fine.
This happened once or twice months ago, but seems to be happening with more frequency now.

Can a good shop pull codes of a transmission to see what is happening or are they immediately going to say Rebuild?

Googled and found some stuff about solenoid packs maybe..........
Don' really want to rebuild, but t curious if it is solenoids, can they be changed out alone or ar eyou already in so deep at that point that a rebuild is best.
Any help or ideas appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Tbruz

 

[Phone Man]

The solenoids can be changed and its not too hard. Drop the pan and you'll see them plugged into the harness that goes around. However, it would help to have someone look at it. That being said, I have never had a good experiences with tranny shops. Throw in the fact that they will definitely charge you to look at it and then tell you they cant bee 100% on the conclusion because they would have to remove it and open it up.

At your kind of mileage, its a toss up. Chances are, being that the 4L60e is a POS, its time to go the rebuild route. I would do a lot of asking around and checking on a shop that has a good reputation on rebuilding these and get it done and over-with. Not that these trannys are any more complicated than others but the way it was explained to me was that there were a lot of small internal changes to them from year to year, worn and replaced parts from other trannies end up in yours etc.

Oh and don't trust the online vendors either. I went that route and it blew its guts out into the pan after daily driving for 40k, they are no better. If anything find a reputable racing shop and ask if they can recommend a builder.

 

[99Vortec]

The 4l60e failed in my machine at about 170K or so. Fluid was badly burnt. I had it rebuilt, but I still think that it was an inferior product to begin with. the 4l80e seems like a much heavier and well built unit when compared to the 4l60e.

Oh yea, and after the rebuld I also upgraded the transmission control valve body to a newer version.

And it is still not perfect in regards to "hard" shift quality.

Gl.

 

[00Caddy]

Sort of old thread here... My 97 yukons 4l60 bit the bullet a few years ago. Me and my dad pulled it and rebuilt it with everything the best except billet input and output shafts. Wasnt hard, took our time and did it in the shop. There's a good video you can purchase for like 20$, it was super helpful! Cant remember all the stuff we threw at it, but it would shift chirp tires going into 3rd anytime you wanted too! it was sweet!

Here's a short list of what was in it (not everything) I dont have that truck anymore, it was totaled....
Raybestos clutch kit (It was one that had like twice the disks, more disks is much better, dissapates heat better)
The beast sunshell
Theirs a specific valvebody kit, that you drill certain holes for better fluid circulation and to change shift firmness. The check balls are also changed to a different material.
Also put in servos for each shift
Amsoil heavy duty fluid
I also put a bigger cooler on the truck as well, i cant remember what brand it was either hayden or tru-cool.

Ran like a champ until it was totaled and i couldnt get the rebuilt unit out of the truck....

 

[reloder28]

Tbruz,
My 98 Tahoe did the same thing. The previous owner thought it need the trans rebuilt, so he did. $3500 later he opted to sell it as it was still doing the same thing. I bought it unaware of this malady. When I told him it was acting up he told me to take it back to his transmission shop under warranty. Messed with them 2-3 times with no fix. Took it to my transmission shop that builds bullet proof stuff and just told them to rebuild it. Same thing again. In their quest to deliver an honorable product, they kept it for a month. Finally, when they hooked it up to their in/out box they determined the on board computer was defective. They called & asked my permission to pursue it, bought the new one, had the dealer flash it, installed it and that was it.

3 trans rebuilds & all it needed was the $150 computer replaced. It shifts good and hard every time now. Just be sure to check your computer worthiness.