Two or three years ago

Pat's GMC transmission was acting up so we bought a rebuild kit, had the clutches soaking in transmission fluid since day one but a lot of water passed under the bridge and the rebuild never got done.

Unbelievable the transmission still works, goes into reverse but no forward gear, put emergence brake on leave truck running in reverse for 10 minutes forward gears work.

It's getting worse so this afternoon went on a hunt, young fellow from the reservation had a yard full of GM stuff with transmission laying on the ground, came home with a $20.00 core to rebuild.

I'd post pictures and such on the rebuild but there's plenty of youtube videos on this particular rebuild.

Probably the most interesting part of this rebuild will be the home made spring compressor that will be used to depress the spring pack located in the bottom rear of the transmission case.

Mine will look similar with a different head, the bushings used to compress the spring packs will make three points of contact

https://s33.postimg.org/hlkjuzh0v/Tr...rans-_Tool.jpg

Sounds like fun for me to sit and read about the work while I enjoy another cup of coffee. 73, Mike

Once the transmission is sitting on your workbench it take less than 30 minutes to disassemble. looking at the clutch packs I think that I may heave bee short changed on the number of clutches shipped with my eBay purchase.

The 4L60E is an easy transmission to work on with no hidden tricks.

In addition to the Corvette servo upgrade and shift kit already purchased I may also get the Sonnex Smart Shell which is beefier than the OEM drive shell.

https://www.sonnax.com/parts/2454-sm...tion-shell-kit
Solves Multiple Problems in All Performance Applications

In GM 4L60, 4L60-E, 4L65-E and 4L70-E units, bulky after market shells always fall short when splines continue to strip and the shells break under stress. A chronic problem with both OE and thicker after market shells is failure of the rear planetary bearing. From daily jobs to extreme builds, the Sonnax Smart Shell heavy-duty reaction shell kit 77749-02K is the only way to prevent shell failure AND protect the bearing.


The Smart Shell avoids the weight found in traditional, heavy-duty after market shells thanks to a unique combination of improved design and manufacturing for a super strength shell that's only slightly bulkier than OE. To prevent thrust loads from overwhelming the captured planetary bearing, the Smart Shell features a larger bearing and custom roller clutch race. These parts re-route thrust loads through the carrier, completely bypassing the delicate bearing.

• Stops spline stripping
• Prevents hub breakage
• Eliminates planetary bearing failure

https://s33.postimg.org/qycgecjyn/shell.png

It's not really my strong suit but i usually check the transmission fluid first to see if it smells burnt. Next up are the cooler lines, cooler, and pump.

Drop the pan and check the filter for metal pieces.

Check the servos and verify that they're doing their job. You start to run into electrical problems after a vehicle reaches a certain age. Quite a few fuel injected engines have the transmission shift controlled by the ECM. Kinda like fly by wire. Not like the old days when it was all done mechanically.

Again ... i dunno. The transmissions are generally pretty well made and seem to hold up under normal use. Hole shots or long trips hauling heavy loads are another matter.

Maybe verify that the problem isn't somewhere else before cracking the shell for a rebuild ? It would suck to put in all the time,money, and effort only to have it not work when you got the rebuild installed. :-l

A fresh oil and filter change with seal conditioner would probably squeeze another couple of months out of this transmission but with 350K on the odometer it's past its rebuild date.

The 4L60E is know to fail around the 275K mark they're engineered to fail, internal parts made thin and of light material with no center support so everything wants to sag and bind. The turbo 400 had a center support and these transmissions would last forever even when installed in large RV's behind the big block 454's.

The old Checker cabs used the best of what the company considered the best of everything to manufacture their cabs, ugly as they were miles and durability is what they got.

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hc...s/1382345.html

An external transmission cooler installed after the rebuild would extend the transmissions life.

Snap ring located inside the transmission case on the output shaft, known as the snap ring from hell.

A slight modification needs to be made on my snap ring pliers to fit inside the 1/8" groove to remove the snap ring. I used a welding rod bent 45 degrees to determine the thickness of the groove, now to file the pliers down.

The snap rings pliers have a rounded edge that needs to be filed square to the thickness of the welding rod, rather than use the bench grinder I'll hand file the new profile. This will give me more accuracy plus keep the heat from annealing the pliers.

https://s33.postimg.org/t7inpugen/snap.png

That snap ring holding the planetary gear in place deep down inside the case will give you one nitch of a time to remove. I've modified the nose of the pliers to 0.075 to fit the groove then thinned to end to fit between the snap ring ends.

Once the snap ring has been removed I'll get a proper measurement of the snap rings thickness then post those numbers for those who would rebuild rather than purchase a reconditioned transmission.

Shop is cold so I'm only spending about 15 minutes each time I venture out, I do have an electric wall heater that I only use for full days spent in the shop. I'm into a good crime novel and a full coffee pot with ribs in the oven.

Made a call out to Norm the fellow whom I apprenticed under, the proper snap ring pliers to use are made by Snap On part number SRP1C. He said the older pliers work best but of you break them you'll get the new version.

With better lighting to see deep down into the case I managed to get that nasty snap ring out, there's another large internal ring to come out next and it's a bit tricky. Usually a wide blade flat screw driver placed between the ring and case with a slight twist brings the snap ring free from the groove, this worked on the turbo 350's but the 4L60E has tighter tolerances.

Once I gave the screw driver a twist a wire hook helps to lift the snap ring free from the groove in the case.

Another thing I need to check is the speedometer speed sensor which is some sort of Hall sensor, Pat's truck uses 16 inch tires and the transmission core more than likely had 15 inch. I don's need goofy signals being sent tot he computer.

https://s33.postimg.org/pzai1ictr/snap222.png

Speed sensors for all GM vehicles using this transmission use the same sensors regardless of tire size, size is programed into the vehicle on board computer.

About 25 or 30 years ago my buddy Nick was returning to his home near the Shuswap lake when the transmission in his ford van calved. He left the van parked in the pub parking lot took the bus home then called me asking me to fix the transmission.

I purchased a kit for the C6, hopped on my Triumph 650 tiger, twin carburetors, with a lumpy cam. Pulled the transmission right there in the parking lot, opened the back doors to the van for a work area. Couple of hours later with bike loaded inside I'm completing Nick's road trip.

Riding the Triumph back home top end speed achieved 110 mph then after filling up with Chevron supreme a whole new sounding engine with a total speed of 120 mph. Then I came into the rain with a freeway slick with oil, learned something ne that day the wheels turning at that speed act as gyros. Could not have laid that bike over even if I had tried.

The rain pelting against a bare face at that speed is another matter, feels like bee stings.

A few months later he Triumph had a disastrous ending, an oil line from the oil bucket worked itself loose starving the engine from lubrication. It seized up solid. Best bike I ever owned was a Norton Commando 850.

Someday I'm going to take a walk down memory lane to recall all of the bikes and vehicles I've owned and which were my favourites.

Time to get back out to the shop, need to build me that spring compressor to remove the rear spring holding the last piston in place. Probably just scab something together for the job.

The pile of scrap below will become my spring compressor which will enable me to remove another snap ring. The short flat piece will have the hole drilled out large enough that the threaded rod will slide freely. The thicker flat gets the hole threaded, picture of completed project later today along with how it's used.

https://s33.postimg.org/cq6ovpt1b/20171212_072808.jpg

Simple spring compressor.

I'm sure ya all can figure out how it works.

https://s33.postimg.org/pyt1lbc1b/comp.jpg

WARNING this is meant as a joke

'THAT LOOKS LIKE A SCREW U" 73, Mike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by miked

WARNING this is meant as a joke

'THAT LOOKS LIKE A SCREW U" 73, Mike

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This is a screw "U", called a u drive it's a security device for retaining serial number plates and manufacture tags.

https://s33.postimg.org/4oiwxkh1b/uscrew.jpg

In the previous photo I saw a screw going through a U so that's how I came to my conclusion. Now on the the security screw I can see how that might be a "screw you" but what I saw was a "screw U".

I've been playing with my new rig the IC-7300 and its way better than I . I have made a few CW QSO's but its more practice I need. One QSO a day will get me back to fighting shape in a couple of months and the I'll be ready for the fast guys from Europe. 73 for now Gus, Mike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by miked

In the previous photo I saw a screw going through a U so that's how I came to my conclusion. Now on the the security screw I can see how that might be a "screw you" but what I saw was a "screw U".

I've been playing with my new rig the IC-7300 and its way better than I . I have made a few CW QSO's but its more practice I need. One QSO a day will get me back to fighting shape in a couple of months and the I'll be ready for the fast guys from Europe. 73 for now Gus, Mike

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Way over my head, You must be bouncing off the moon to reach Europe.

Years ago I apprenticed at a Mr Transmission shop, the mechanic Norm now owns his own shop. The stuff I worked on was pre electronic, I'm fortunate in that Norm is willing to continue my apprenticeship by answering my questions over the phone.

He gave me the part number for the favored snap on ring pliers and also said the older version worked better than the new. The number for those pliers is SRP1C.


The SRP1C is the old number which has been replaced with the new pliers bearing part number SRP1A.


Snap On also puts out a couple of kits.


Kit number SRP400A contains the following pliers
SRP1A
SRP2
SRP3
SRP4
SRP5A


Kit number SRP400B contains the following pliers
SRP1B
SRP2A
SRP3A
SRP5B



The Snap On driver is stopping in at my place on Friday, I'm getting the SRP400B Kit, $310.19 tax in delivered to my door.


The problem with my Princess Auto pliers after grinding the tip to 1/8" the pliers do not spread far enough apart to remove the snap ring.

Sitting at the computer following up on Q, a thought came to mind that I had to check out.

The cool looking Princes Auto snap ring pliers aka Harbour Freight to you guys south of 49 have a problem they open with a slight ark.

I opened the pliers up against a piece of paper to test my theory, the jaws open in an ark that causes them to bind in the snap ring groove. The ark is slight but enough to bring you to tearing your hair out.

A 90 degree tip meant to fit into the snap ring groove than opens in an ark will bind in the groove causing the pliers to slip off the snap ring to be removed. Working deep down into the transmission case you'll never notice the defect.

Any snap ring pliers that open perfectly parallel would work, now that Norm mentioned the older Snap on SRP1C work better than the new replacement model I'll be sure to check to see just how parallel the new ones are before purchasing.

Had fun removing that last snap ring which is only 1.40 mm wide.

Here's the last spring compressor that I made yesterday at the farm, if works like a hot ****. There's two holes in the drum 180 degrees apart at different heights in case your wondering why the hooks are at different lengths.

Once hooked you snug the nuts down to place the cross bar snugly on top of the drum this helps to keep the compressor in place. The spring pack has already been removed from the inside of the drum.

https://s33.postimg.org/hph7umppr/three.png

https://s33.postimg.org/tc1bvokpr/two.png

The planetary on the right hand side had some hard use, the frictions on the left worn down to bare metal. This is usually how the clutch frictions look when the seals harden up and the transmission is slow to shift.

Also the reason I order new steels on the right hand side with my rebuild kits, you will see the hot spots on their surfaces from over heating.

https://s33.postimg.org/q84g3vnfj/20171218_194615.jpg


https://s33.postimg.org/tqgg0s3wf/broken.jpg