Will my stock 4L60E be able to hold up to the power I am producing with the mods listed in my sig? If so, is it for only a little while or how long will it hold up in the end?

 

im intersted in this question also, my stage four 4L60E lost 3rd and 4th for the second time this year.

 

I ran a 125 shot for a year in a half in my car. No problems with the tranny putting down 413/428 on the juice.

Then I got my engine worked to 401/385 NA and the tranny hasn't been happy since.

Use a window switch so you don't spray through shifts and you'll increase your chances of your tranny surviving.

Just from my one experience (yours may vary).

Matt

 

Im making 570 and 477 at the wheels and I dont have the option of a window switch. Im starting to think the 4L60E just cant live at that power level?

 

no reason why it shouldnt hold up, its your rear end you should worry about

 

Don't spray through the shifts and don't hot lap it and it may last a while.

 

cant say i have ever heard of an a4 car's rearend giving up before the tranny. the rearend problem is alot more relevant for the m6 guys. i put down 300 rwhp not sure of the torque with light boltons mac midlenghts,lid,tune,LM,3400 stall,and 3.73 gears. on motor have ran 12.4 at 109 with a 1.7 60' time. and 11.6 at over 114 with a 100 shot spraying out of the hole with a 1.63 60' time. stock tranny and stock rearend except for a stud girdle and 3.73 gears. tranny and rearend have never skipped a beat and there is 66k miles on the clock. i plan on doing a built tranny and built 10 bolt in a year or so when i get back from my deployment. i will run stock til it blows seeing as i am getting a trailer shortly. every car is different, u can test the limitations of stock hardware or u can get built hardware... its up to u. as u increase power u will enevitably shorten the life of stock parts, and its only a matter of time before it goes.

 

I haven't had any problems at all. We'll see once I put the bottle to it though.

 

Mine lasted 120,000 miles, at 80,000 miles I did mti s2 heads, x1 cam, 125hp shot, all the bolt ons, ls6 intake, making 445+ on motor...started slipping at about 110,000 miles, but never really failed...just slipped, then I had to replace it.

 

Most definately get a tranny cooler, with heat being the main cause of death, lol.

 

I would say yes it can handle it.But you would have to change your automatic trans fluid every 10,000 miles.Be careful on the juice though.Hit it in 3rd.

 

Mine stocker is still doing fine with a 225 shot. I don't spray through the shifts though. The car has been sprayed for more than 4 years now.

 

3rd gear is the end of the race already, hes got maybe a 2-3 seconds left.

I agree with every one else, a window switch so that u dont spray during the shifts and keep the tranny cool, and u should be ok.

 

Well all I have right now is a WOT switch but I haven't even sprayed it yet. How hard would it be to switch over to a window switch?

 

I have a 4L60E with X1cam 4.10gears 3400TCI wet kit 175shot 11.5 1/4MILE MY 4L60E GONE BAD 3 times when I hit 12.5 in the 1/4 in one year, now lookig for 350trans.

 

If you're THAT concerned about the 4L60E holding the power, you can put in sturdier clutch packs and bands, or go with a 4L80E upgrade. I've personally never seen one catastrophically fail no matter the power, (It IS just a 700R4 with electronic shift, after all) but if it's making you nervous, just go ahead and get the heavier duty trans. I can get one apart and back together in about three hours (I was trained by a Hydromatic demi-god) so if you know your slushboxes it shouldn't be too bad of a job. However, the planetaries are rock solid, and the biggest thing I would worry about would be smoking the clutches or bands. Replace 'em with sterner stuff and have the accumulator springs removed/replaced with stiffer units so they don't have as much of a chance to slip and all should be fine. It'll kick like a mule when you shift, but such is the price of performance.

'Course, this is all just from my point of view. It can get pricey because automatic trans labor isn't cheap, but like I said, there's always the option of a 4L80E.

And Jeremiah, off the top of my head when you lose 3 and 4, but the planetary's alright, it's either a bad solenoid, the band, or the 3-4 clutch. If it IS the planet set fragging, it WOULD be time to upgrade to a stronger unit. If it's just the clutches and you're sure you're getting correct pressure, beefier friction discs would be your best bet. I can't see 4th being lost in hard driving however, as it's just engaged by the overdrive band clamping the drum.

In 3rd, the Forward Clutch, Forward Sprag, & 3-4 Clutch are engaged.

In O/D (4th) the Forward Clutch, 2-4 Band, and 3-4 Clutch are engaged.

If one component's knocking out both gears but you still have gears 1 and 2, I'm going to bet it's your 3-4 Clutch getting smoked, if it's not a hydraulic problem. If you keep replacing clutches and they smoke anyway, you may have inadequate pressure in the hydraulic system to keep them pressed against the steel plates, and they're just spinning against them and frying. Get the valve body or pump looked at.

Just my $0.02. Hope I was helpful.

 

That is impressive for a stock tranny! 10.1 @ 135!

Mine has held up for 10,000 miles so far.. No track passes though. I think the bottom line is that if you change the fluid, have a good cooler and aren't going WOT at every light it should hold up well.

 

Mine just turned over 53,000 miles when mine lost 3rd and 4th! I still have 1st and 2nd and should have the car back from the shop tomorow. It sucks but a beefier race oriented clutch and component kit is being installed. All I had was a cut-out and a lid!

 

Ah!! that is my problem.

 

You should use a Wondow Switch in conjunction with a WOT. It's pretty simple to hook one up. All it needs is power, ground, tach singnal, and then there is a ground output for the nitrous system. Dynotune has a Window Switch/WOT throttle switch all built into one unit. Instead of having a mechanical WOT switch, it works off the TPS voltage. It's a pretty neat set up.