Jleesmith69

I have a 97 trans am formula with an lt4 pushin around 600 hp and the 4l60e tranny won't shift into 3rd or 4th. I took it to tranny shops and they said they can't get any readings from under the dash. The guy that owned this car said he spent over 10k on trannys and none of them last more than a week. It has a 3500 stall, corvette cervios, gears and clutches. I'm stumped on this ordeal...

ArkBird96

Yeah, I agree with Bro. Something is definitely wrong here other than the trans, or else that transmission builder really sucks and should be sued. My guess is it's probably something electrical.

Jleesmith69

It had 5 different trannys put in by 5 different places and the shops refuse to work on it claiming it has a wiring nightmare(quoted around 2k to be rewired) and 2 grand for the tranny rebuild

MattysTA

iTrader: (18)

when you drive it with the shifter in d does it seems like it drops into neutral when it trys to go from second to third? if so then your 3/4 clutches are shot...i just rebuilt my trans for the second time only this time i added some replacement/upgraded valves in the case and input drum to bleed off pressure faster so the 3/4 pack doesnt "drag" while the car downshifts into second upon going wot while cruising. its the most common cause why the 3/4 pack burns up...i also added a few extra clutches to the pack while still retaining full thickness steels. got about 2-300miles on it so far with some light abuse and it seems to be good so far

Jleesmith69

I found a v6 wiring harness receipt in the glovebox when I bought the car... Why the hell would it need a v6 wiring harness??? They said the engine and tranny came out of a vette. The shop charged $150 to put my plug wires on which I spent $200 on the wires! And it was in the shop since December cuz nobody wanted to put them on

Jleesmith69

When I drive in 2nd it acts fine, it will go over 100 mph in 2nd, and when I shift it in 3rd, it just revs up like it's in neutral. When it's in drive it only goes 45 mph and just keeps revvin up past that

MattysTA

iTrader: (18)

well i would count the plug wires and make sure its a v8 then if your new to this..if not then the receipt couldve been for any part of the car and just written down as a v6 as a general statement and not anything specific..

MattysTA

iTrader: (18)

yeah your 3/4 pack is def toast. same problem i had and why i re-did mine the second time

qwk93ta

iTrader: (13)

I was thinking the same thing......

MattysTA

iTrader: (18)

i would ignore the v6 receipt(unless you have a v6 and dont know it) then have a reputable builder re-do your trans the right way and you wont have to worry about it or change to a weaker 700r4 which will cost a bit more to upgrade than the 4l60e...swapping to a non-electronic trans is up to you though. i personally like to make things work first before considering taking the easier way out...

MattysTA

iTrader: (18)

well it sounds like he f-ed himself buying a car with known issues like that. hope he got it for next to nothing.

yes the hardparts are a bit weaker but why use the stock forward sprag,and sunshell? you should know better than that...if your gonna rebuild it then upgrading those two parts are a givin...
thats great cut up your harness to make the car more chopped up and rigged up instead of it being right...guess im just a stickler on making things work the way they should without cutting corners to get there.
but i would do all the work myself cause thats the way i am.. but since this kid obviously doesnt know how to work on his car then sure throw a 700r4 in there and dont forget to get the tune changed to an m6 tranny cause if it isnt then your going to see other issues caused by the missing 4l60e...
get the oldest 700r4 you can as even one from 93 has some electronics...

SILVER 2288 SS

iTrader: (1)

i had the same thign happen to my 4l60 in my 00 ss it ended up being bad shift solenoids cheap 50 dollar fix for both of them

samson_420

iTrader: (1)

You bought someone's head ache. . . I hope you got a good deal.


Go through the car, learn as you go along and find what actually works and does not.


Paying hundreds for a plug wire install is a waste of time and money.


If the motor runs good and was shoved in from god knows what car you can go to a mechanical style transmisson i.e. 700R4 or a tH400.

Also find out what's in that rear end. What gears are in it and is still a 10 bolt with 600 horse going through it?




Last but not least 600 horse? Are you running in all motor class? WTF, 600 is total BS. . . Maybe at the crank on a good day with a 100 shot.

MattysTA

iTrader: (18)

I was helping the OP before YOU started critiquing my posts which is what you seem to do to everyone in this forum...apparently you think your mr trans guy around here... all of my posts were based on my experience and opinions. like everyone else who is on the board it should be taken with a grain of salt as i do when im looking for information... thanks,drive thru...

kiztope

I'm currently having the same problem with my trans (141k on the car, I'm assuming it's the stock tranny). It will shift firmly from 1st to 2nd, shudder, then rev like it's in neutral.
How can you tell if it's a shift solinoid (sp?) or the 3-4 clutch pack?

(I'm a little familiar with engines... clueless on transmissions...)

ArkBird96

@kiztope, if it's shuddering then neutraling out, it's probably the clutch pack not grabbing. I would say it's time for a rebuild.

kiztope

Thanks for the input... thats what I was afraid of... Now I need to make the decision.... Performabuilt or FLT!

getduggiewithit

4l60 transmission shifting problems

first of all dont go to a dealer there gonna screw you to get a quick 1500 to 3k for a trans when it gonna cast them 10 bucks to fix it

shift solenoids always go bad and they know it just like no my 96 blazer wont shift past 2nd gear and of course revs in neautral wich means it shoul be tour lockup up solenoid takes like 30 minutes to do all you have to do is drop ur pan but remember there is no drain plug on the trans its a peice of cake

unless your dam parts store keeps giving you the wrong parts and it takes a day to order them

theres like 5 or 6 solenoids in the 4l60e trans there are 2 wich are 1-2 3-4 there both the same part

then theres a lockup solenoid wich conrolls the torque converter to lockup wich is what i think my problem and everybodys problem is infact thats all that it can be is a dam sensor or solenoid if you wanna disagree with me weather youre an ase mech you know im right

wesleyhollan

Just put my 700r4/4l60 back in my car after fresh rebuild drove it and it shifted good got home and left a little bit later and right back to the original problem I started having wont shift from 3rd to 4th any suggestions. Remember FRESH REBUILD my 3rd and 4th clutch pack was burnt up originally. I know I didn't have. Time to burn them up again it was about 45 minutes to an hour after putting it back in. I have a 93 z28 with the 4l60 not the "E"

Scottbennett42086

So I have been reading a few post from a few different websites. But I have a 94 trans am and wont shift into 3rd it like nurutals out I believe it's called. But before I go and drop the tranny is there anything I can do to maybe fix it. Change the filter or swap the sonylonds. Or anything along them lines. Or is it pretty much a done deal and have to rebuild it.Ans help will be nnice.


What it does is goes from 1 to 2 fine sometimes. It feels like it wont go into 2nd but. I cam do it manully it doesn't go into 3 rd I have tried doing it manually and just revs right up. Reverse works fine. Idk just kinda of lost