I finished my swap about a week ago and have been sorting through the bugs every since. The motor and transmission have both been sitting for about 4 years. They were a junkyard find, rear end collision with 60,000 miles. After a couple of days of rechecking things the TCC now works and I run at 2100 rpm at 60 mph. I did not find anything wired wrong it just seamed to work it's way out. Now my issue is the third gear. 1 and 2 shift great but 3rd only engages after I let off the throttle and will only hold with the lightest of throttles. Hopefully someone has a great idea for something I missed.
Yes at 45 as expected, holds good for acceleration and the TCC works as expected. I can downshift to 3rd but there seams to be a lot of slippage if I accelerate.
just rebuilt a 98 4t65e. if the solenoid is getting it into 3rd but it won't hold, the 3rd gear clutches are the "weak link". They are "friction on only 1 side and plain steel on the other. every one I tear down has the 3 gear clutches literally flaking apart. if it was a solenoid, or piston seal, it wouldn't shift into 3rd at all. (could be not enough line pressure, but the rest of the gears work.) what did the contents of the Pan look like when you drained it ?
If I am at highway speeds and downshift to 3rd, the gear engages and the coast down sounds fine. I can barely hold speed unless I am on a down hill. I would by into the clutch pack but the odd ball thing is that it never even tries to shift.
This is going to suck to pull everything back apart again.
Changing the 3rd gear clutches, you are into it so far you might as well spend another hour and just rebuild it all. you pretty much have to buy a kit and all seals/gaskets to fix it OR rebuild the whole thing. $175 for a rebuild kit, $28 for a hardened 4th gear shaft. and about 6 hours time to do the whole thing if it's already laying on the floor. a used unit, well, you just "experienced" a USED unit. even if a used unit comes with a warrantee, you still have to take it out and put it in again if it's no good, they never cover labor costs. just my opinion.
Changing the 3rd gear clutches, you are into it so far you might as well spend another hour and just rebuild it all. you pretty much have to buy a kit and all seals/gaskets to fix it OR rebuild the whole thing. $175 for a rebuild kit, $28 for a hardened 4th gear shaft. and about 6 hours time to do the whole thing if it's already laying on the floor. a used unit, well, you just "experienced" a USED unit. even if a used unit comes with a warrantee, you still have to take it out and put it in again if it's no good, they never cover labor costs. just my opinion.
Don't forget, most parts stores like NAPA will give you a discount if you are a AAA member or some other organization. Last trany rebuild kit I bought for my yard plow was $125 for a complete master rebuild kit with everything short of hard parts that normally aren't gone in a normal trany rebuild. But my yard plow is a 79 GMC 1/2 ton with the 350 trany and 400 Ci. engine so depending on your trany and if you are a member of something that parts store give a discount you could save a lot of money.
But these newer tranys have other parts that are not included even in the master rebuild kits, solenoids for example are not included because those are rarely replaced unless bad and expensive. So your prices will vary on many things in a trany rebuild of these newer ones.
But at least ask if you can get a discount for being a AAA member, AARP, union member or anything else. Hell I only joined AAA for their towing and have saved more than my annual membership is in discounts on parts than my membership cost me and that doesn't include the tows I have had done to a friends garage for free that now days cost about a hundred bucks a tow. And I get a discount at motels while on the road.
Steve
[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 01-26-2016).]
Thanks for all the help. I started disassembly today, it is chilly but I'm out of town for the next few weeks so it's now or never. I got up to disconnecting the cradle today and am calling it for the night. The transmission fluid that is only a week old is dark and smells burnt.
Should I take out the torque converter bolts now or wait till the cradle is on the ground?
or another reputable trany shop that has good reviews because lets face it, any place like that is only as good as the help at the franchise. And I bet that torque converter is all full of bad fluid as well, hell that looks like motor oil not trany fluid. You need to have that drained or replaced. because if you don't you are going to clog up the filter again with all the dirty fluid left in there. if it wasn't so bad I would say get a 5 gallon bucket and set the converter on top of it at least over night and let it drain into the pail.
Steve
Steve
[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 01-28-2016).]
The nice thing is that a good tranny shop will test the tranny on a machine... that way, you avoid putting in a tranny that wasn't fixed properly. With the complexity of this tranny, I would take it to a shop and have them properly rebuild it. Replace the torque converter (unless they recommend otherwise).
I am new to the whole swap thing, and in the early stages myself, so forgive me if this information is off base
If you decide to go with another used transmission wouldn't the 4t65eHD be a better choice? (HD standing for Heavy Duty) OR does the 3rd gear plate in the HD version suffer from the same problem?
the 4t65e and the 4t65e-HD are the same transmission. the only difference internally is the "Carrier assembly" (Final drive) what would be the pinion gear and spider gears in a rear wheel drive car. the HD trans makes you have to "Make" a special AXLE setup for the passenger side.. the HD "Carrier" was put in to put up with the "extra power engines", the rest of the trans is the same.
the 4t65e and the 4t65e-HD are the same transmission. the only difference internally is the "Carrier assembly" (Final drive) what would be the pinion gear and spider gears in a rear wheel drive car. the HD trans makes you have to "Make" a special AXLE setup for the passenger side.. the HD "Carrier" was put in to put up with the "extra power engines", the rest of the trans is the same.
Thanks for the clarification, and the fact that I now know something I did not know yesterday
You people are all scaring me! I am just getting ready to start my swap, and now I am seeing all these transmission problems....... Fun fun
Had to rebuild my 2001 4t65e in my Aztek... less than 65K on the odo.
The valve body needed to be replaced, and the hard shifts took out another component (I didn't drive it long like this... as I was careful)... complete rebuild needed.
You could take the tranny to a shop an have them test it before install. The shop that fixed mine would run it on a machine, before reinstall.
[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 02-01-2016).]
Had to rebuild my 2001 4t65e in my Aztek... less than 65K on the odo. .. complete rebuild needed.
Gee thanks, that really helps make me feel better! Wow, I had no idea there were so many transmission problems, as I had always heard the 4T65E-HD transmission was fairly bullet proof..... Till AFTER I buy the setup that is hahah
Gee thanks, that really helps make me feel better! Wow, I had no idea there were so many transmission problems, as I had always heard the 4T65E-HD transmission was fairly bullet proof..... Till AFTER I buy the setup that is hahah
I have a non-HD tranny. Talking to the shop, they have repaired a bunch of these non-hd trannies. Valve body problems lead to other issues. Well known issue in the Aztek Forum (and this drivetrain was used on many, many, many GM vehicles).
There is a place in Fort Wayne that sells rebuilt 4T65EHD trans for racing and other stuff if I remember correctly. Sinister Automotive uses them or recommends them. He goes by Darth Fiero on the forum.
[This message has been edited by solotwo (edited 02-03-2016).]
people sometimes have problems with ALL Trans, that's why there are so many shops !. Taken into consideration "How Many" 4t65e trans were "made", they are a Very Good Trans. Thing being, How many Miles ? was it Run HOT ? Fluid kept Clean? was it used by an "old lady" or someone that ran the piss out of it. All these things must be considered. Million dollar cars break down also ! LOL
