# 4L60E reverse gone again



## SE+C (Oct 28, 2007)

any one having any luck with this transmission this is the third time that the tranny has lost reverse. this time with less than five thousand miles on a complete rebuild.


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## William B. (Jul 22, 2004)

Unfortunately the 4L60E arnt the strongest trannys in the world. I read about alot of guys having problems with them on other truck forums. I'm not 100% positive on this but try swaping a 4L80E. It can be done but I'm not all sure whats involved in doing that.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

9 times out of 10 when a 4L60E loses reverse it's due to the failure of the reaction sun shell. They tear the center out of the shell, which will cause it to spin on the shaft and lose reverse gear. They've been a weak link in the 700R4/4L60E's for years. There's an aftermarket heavy duty sun shell available for them, and has been for some time.. and they should be included in _any _rebuild on these transmissions.... whether it's a plow truck or a daily driver... but especially on a plow truck as it's the constant forward/reverse shifts that will wipe them out in a hurry.


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## SE+C (Oct 28, 2007)

just heard from the garage the shift cable snapped and wouldn't let the tranny engage reverse fully. this heated it up and burned most of the clutch packs


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

That'll do it for sure.....


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

i smell bull sh!t on that one. park is first in line. then reverse/nutral/4321.

how was it parking if reverse was not holding. anything is possible. but i call bull on this one. you need to tell them you want the parts back and to see it when its apart. then take pics of the stuff and post them. 

it sounds like we have a few good tranny guys here and we can tell if its b/s or not. 



i had a throttle cable fray apart on me one time. it balled up inside and stuck the throttle at 1/2. then i had to shut off truck and pull it back to 0%. fired it up and set it to 1200 rpm and putted home. so the cable theroy just aint flyin with me.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

Actually it's not BS. It can and does happen on the '96-up cable controlled trucks.. not _nearly_ as common as the sun shell problem, but it does happen. The shift detents in the tranny for park and neutral are a whole lot wider than the one is for reverse. If the cable is loose or sloppy, the shifter on the column can be in reverse but the trans may not be fully in the reverse detent but rather part way between reverse and park, or part way between reverse and overdrive. Now maybe the cable problem isn't really what happened to SE+C in this case, who know's for sure, but their diagnosis could be 100% legit...

Even though SE+C mentioned a "snapped" cable, I doubt it actually was broken in two or else it would'nt have shifted at all. And he would have known it right away if it was as the shifter would have had little resistance in it..


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

yes i agree with what you just said. and anything is possible. i my self have seen some realy funky stuff. we will see on his. 

and being a 4l60-e wouldnt it have seen the diffrence in input to output speeds and kicked a check engine light for a internal slip code in the tranny? as thay have 2 speed sensors . 1 for input and 1 for output.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

sweetk30;448310 said:


> and being a 4l60-e wouldnt it have seen the diffrence in input to output speeds and kicked a check engine light for a internal slip code in the tranny? as they have 2 speed sensors . 1 for input and 1 for output.


 The 4L80E's have the twin input and output speed sensors... the 4L60E's only have a single, rear mounted one...or in the transfer case if it's a 4X4 of course..

You can literally fry a 4L60E until there's nothing left of the clutch plate material, but until it detects converter slippage, it may never set a code for slippage. 

They do have the capability to set a slippage code but it's mainly for torque converter slippage and it very generic to the problem that can actually be causing it.


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## sweetk30 (Sep 3, 2006)

ya i got my fav 4l80-e mixed up.


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## SE+C (Oct 28, 2007)

B+B what you described is the same thing that the garage told me happened to my truck hopefully will get the truck back by Tues night. This has got to be the wierdest way that i have seen a tranny go out


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

SE+C;449206 said:


> B+B what you described is the same thing that the garage told me happened to my truck. This has got to be the weirdest way that i have seen a tranny go out


 I've seen it happen several times on the '95-up trucks. And in a 4L60E all it takes is just a slight amount of play in the shift cable and lever to allow it to only be partially engaged in reverse on the shift valve, which restricts the reverse boost pressure valve...and without reverse pressure up to spec, it'll smoke the rear/reverse clutches fairly quick...


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## NBI Lawn (Oct 15, 2007)

I think its time for a new tranny guy if it only lasted 5,000 miles


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## m00nraker (Jun 30, 2007)

Well i cant add anything that will help you, but your not alone with having trouble with a 4L60E

I had one in my old 94 Chevy Caprice, lasted about 90K then it began to slip on the 1-2 shift..sold it before it got any worse.


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## SE+C (Oct 28, 2007)

got the truck back everything seems fine but we will see over the weekend if it is right


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## traviswalker007 (Oct 13, 2006)

*2003 silverado*

hey guys,
i have a 2003 silverado 3500 4x4, i was just out plowing and lost reverse??? not slipping or anything just stoped working, all other gears work fine, plus 4x4...garage wont open till monday...any ideas..cost.. the truck only has 55,000 miles, and i just had the tranny serviced like 3 weeks ago and he said all was fine?? help


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