I myself am a Ford guy, but I was hoping to get some help from you guys for my uncle's sake. He will be tomorrow getting ahold of a 96 Chevy Tahoe with a Vortec 350 and a 4L60E. The reason we are getting the 96 is because we had (have..for a day longer) an 89 Chevy Suburban that has spit out 3 transmissions in less then 6 months. Anyways...I'd like to help my uncle along on the path of this transmission not being as much of a pain in the butt!

Is the transmission in the 96 much more reliable with minor modifications that would have been made throughout the years. Also, is the electronic control also going to aid in the transmission not failing?

I plan on making him get at least an auxiliary tube&plate style transmission cooler for up front if not a second heatsink for inline cooling as well. Will that extra cooling as well as maybe quality Redline lubricants enough to give this transmission a fighting chance? It's got 80,000 miles on the transmission already with good servicing previously. The transmission still feels great, makes firm shifts and everything. No clunking or anything - it really does feel nice and tight. Would there be anything else that I could have my uncle do to keep the Chevy from dropping this transmission out as well?

Thanks for reading this...I know its a Chevy, but you guys know what you're talking about and have given me some insight and help before. Thanks ^_^

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What Tranny did the 89 have? 700R4, TH400, TH350?. the 4L60E is just an updated 700R4. it is a great tranny. ive got one in my Camaro and it has 115,000 miles on the original tranny. Are you doing any type of heavy towing with it?

 

The Suburban had the same tranny you have - 700R4 (4L60 - nonelectronic). I can't believe I forgot to put that in there..

 

what exactly was it that went wrong with the previous trannies?

 

The first time the transmission went out it lost OD going 65 on a trip, and by the time they got it into a town it had also burned out the 3rd gear as well and could only run 2nd gear. Next transmission to go I'm not sure what happened. Third transmission the torque converter (replaced after the original transmission went) burned up and then destroyed the rest of the transmission. This third time was free. The fourth time (also free) they haven't gotten into the transmission yet besides pulling the pan, and it had all kinds of debris so it obviously grenaded as well. I didn't get to do the questioning of the transmission shop any when they've gone in on the tranny...and my uncle probably didn't much care.

Either way the Suburban is leaving our hands tomorrow, unless the bank for some weird reason decides to be funny and not give us the 9k for loan. Which...I can't see why they wouldn't. I'm just hoping to help my uncle in making this latest investment a LASTING one. The Suburban was like a rock in the transmission shop - couldn't keep it from rolling right back in on them.

I REALLY wish that there had been an Expedition running around for me to convince my uncle to get.

 

To me, frequent oil changes, cooling and proper axle gearing for the tires will help it last longer. That and not romping on it from every stop.

 

It will likely become my uncle's primary traveler, which means it'll only see 3000+ RPM's when somebody tries to pull out in front of him =P. I'll make him take care of the cooling side and proper fluids for the transmission, and he'll likely end up just putting same size Cooper Discoverer tires on just like on the Suburban and on my truck.

So with kindly care aside - your thought is that just with cooling and maintenance the transmission SHOULD be ok? I didn't know if it was a mechanical problem inside of the tranny. I've read about the valvebodies being bad, or some other stuff like that. I wish I knew somebody who was an expert that I could talk to about all this.

 

Sorry I can't help you more. I am not really an auto guy, but I do know that anything just takes proper care. As far as the valvebodies and any other crap in there, don't know. Maybe you could find a chevy forum? I would think someone here has to know, but maybe not. Ted

 

you should have no problems with it. like ive said my Camaro has pretty much the same tranny. although i have been quite ruff on it. with me there really is only two speeds, accelerating and de-ccelerating. so im quite hard on my vehicles. but it has withstood the last 15k miles with me.

 

Your camaro weighs half as much as the Suburban ^_^

 

i know. im just saying that i havent had any problems with mine and its got 115k miles on it. with regular oil and filter changes it should last unless he is going to be pulling a 10k lbs trailer quite often. still not a bad idea with the tranny cooler will extend the life of the tranny no doubt. from what has happend with the previous trannys in the 89 it sounds like it had a TCC problem.and seeing as teh tranny was rebuilt or replaced it wasnt on the tranny end. something in the wiring or vacume was messed up.

 

Up until last August when #2 son totalled it, I had a 95 ASTRO with the 4L60E. Between towing the 20ft. boat 150 miles to lake Anna 3 times a year, full load jaunts (people) from baltimore to either New London Ct. or Norfolk 6-7 times a year and pulling a 4x8 trailer packed with gear, or pulling the 18 ft. travel trailer 5-6 times a year to the hills, never had a problem with the tranny. Religiously pulled the pan every 20,000 miles and new gasket and fluid. Also had a cooler the size of Rhode Island and the temps never went above 200.

Man I do miss that van!!!

 

I have a friend that has a tahoe 95 or 96, can't remember... anyways he has the 4L60E with 40,000 some miles and his transmission was already going out. He took it to the chevy dealer and they knew right off what was wrong said it was a very common problem (never said "factory defect")and that the only way around it was to buy a new transmission because the replacement ones they make now have been fixed. He didn't get it fixed right away he kept calling gm up to see if theres anything they would do because of this defect and they did knock some of the cost off, wasn't much though. So anyways the moral of this story is to check and see if it has the bad transmission, been replaced, anything... Oh and he doesn't tow or haul anything with it, just drives it on long trips on the weekends.

 

I believe that the valvebody is the reason for alot of the failures. Which a transmission cooler would greatly help. Varnish and depositing in the valvebody gumming everything up. That's what I've gathered from Chevy forums and other sources on the internet. If it goes out? I'll just say "I told you so" and "I tried to warn ya".

The transmission in it currently feels completely solid. He told me he would get a new auxilliary transmission cooler thrown on it.