P0101 code and damaged 4l60e tranny
These clowns tell me that the code shown caused the tranny to fail. The it was the K&N filter which I did not oil, it was air flow. Any insight? I never heard of a fault like this or the MAF causing a tranny failure let alone in 4200 miles of highway driving.
Perhaps a completely screwed up MAF could indicate much lower load/throttle than there really is and the PCM then command lower transmission line pressure than it should, but I kinda doubt it. For one thing, the TPS and MAP also show the load and when they disagree significantly with the MAF, the PCM ignores the MAF and throws the P101 code.
As we discuss in the Transmission section, many trans shops take shortcuts in rebuilding the finicky 4L60E, resulting in leaks in the 3/4 clutch circuit, resulting in a prematurely burnt clutch. I would wager that is what happened here.
As mentioned, a quality built performance 4L60E won't have those leaks and will have higher line pressure across the board to further reduce slippage.
Besides PerformaBuilt (in Pennsylvania), other sponsors are FinishLine Transmission (near Chicago) and RPM (in Indiana).
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2004 corvette and no it is not raced. I enjoy driving it but at my age going full out might be a bad idea.
Did not know about the complaints to the state about them until after the fact. They tried blaming it on the MAF hence the P0101 code but they never showed me parts they used to "rebuild or recondition" the tranny with. Their story has changed quite a few times over the course of this. We have gone to the MAF causing it, to "the car came with a 4L60e and not a 4L65e" which is what I thought they put into the car with the replacement and which is what they marked it as. We discovered they submitted a fraudulent document as well and it was easily proven. The O2 sensors had been replaced and the secondary air injector as well prior to tranny failure the second time. I had a new shop rebuild the tranny to 4L65e specs. What I found of interest about this code is that I have removed the blockage caused by the running lites to allow more air into the engine. I live at almost sea level but it I go to a mountain area the check engine light and codes disappear.





He also brought up the tranny cooler and the pressure in it. He told me that transmission repair 101 says to test the pressure before removing a transmission. That he said could have caused both failures if the pressure was to low. He also confirmed what had been posted by someone else which was the MAF readings would be overridden and the default settings used if there were a conflict.
Here are some recent threads from the Transmission section, including informative posts from sponsor PerformaBuilt:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...2-3-shift.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...built-60e.html
Unfortunately, crappy rebuilds that soon fail is very common.
If MAF under-reports the airflow g/s, then PCM is going to calculate lower engine torque which then causes PCM to command lower line pressure, which will cause slippage.
So it depends on how the MAF fails.
And measuring pressure at the line tap on the side of the case is not sufficient... if the 3/4 clutch circuit leaks internally then the 3/4 clutch will slip and destroy itself regardless of line pressure...
( but do measure line pressure, because if it's low it points to other problems )
And some external coolers may restrict fluid flow returning to transmission, this reduces lube to the rear gearset causing it to overheat (turns blue)... but generally most name-brand coolers are good and do not restrict flow; also fluid flow rate from cooler feed circuit (i.e to the cooler) should be measured, it it's too low it points to pump and/converter problems.
EDIT: see what mrvedit said, he beat me to it.
Last edited by joecar; Feb 12, 2016 at 11:31 AM.
Last document they sent was a complete fabrication claiming we had put 20000 miles on the car (4200 confirmed miles in reality), that they could tell the tranny model by looking at it and that the pressure was fine in the hoses. Either they did not rebuild/recondition it or they put used parts in it is my best guess at this point.
I also have an auto trans C5 Corvette.
It would be interesting to read the tune in the car and see if the transmission parameters have been changed from stock.
Unless you bought the car new, who knows what was messed with in the past.
When I put the performabuilt level 2 in my car, they said "don't mess with shift pressures, our shift kit takes care of that for you".
Trans has been flawless btw.
I believe the main diff between the 60 and 65 are the planetaries. 5 pinion in the 4L65.
I'm in Portland BTW.
And an old guy too. A fast old guy....
:-)
Ron
Last edited by RonSSNova; Feb 13, 2016 at 09:20 AM.
Correct?
Perhaps this is the difference?













