donbrearley

Hey All,

Recently my tranny has started grinding while accelerating out of first and out of second.

If I feather the gas, she gets into gear. If I immediately take my foot off the gas when the noise begins, it stops.. then I can feather it forward. Once I'm up to speed in 3rd or OD, It's good to go. Maybe this is normal, maybe not, but being in OD or 3rd seems to make no difference from idle. I still shift through 1st and 2nd. Is this right?

I am pretty sure I have a cracked sun shell as that's a common 4L60E issue I hear. I am afraid its messed up the planetary gears, so I've ordered replacement ones just in case.

I've spent the last couple days looking around for a decent 4L60E tranny for my 97 1500,
but there are none to be found, except one.

They want $450 for a tranny, just pulled, no work done to it, w/ 240k on it... umm..
I don't think so. There *IS* one from a 96 jimmy 4x4 also a 4L60E, I just don't know if It'll bolt up OK or what. Only one... $250, w/ 140k on it. Not refurb. Could just put myself right back into this spot again.

A refurb tranny, shipped up here, is gonna run me $750-$800 I guess.

I can get all the parts I think I need for a rebuild... a deluxe rebuild kit, a new sun shell (the beast), a re-manufactured torque converter, and front/rear planetary gear w/ sun gear, all on ebay for $400. I've got most of the tools, but I may need to spend $50-$100 on more, and that's fine cause I have to swap a charger motor soon and I need the tools anyways

I've never done a tranny rebuild, but I have confidence I could do it, simply for the fact that there are several great tear-down/inspection and rebuild videos for the 4L60E, and one for my 1997 year specifically. Then I'd have a basically new tranny... and having a tranny rebuild under your belt, hey, that just sounds good, and its a story for later at the bar.

Can anyone tell me why I might NOT want to do this? Or, what I might be missing? I'm fearful that I may be forgetting something... I feel that many people hear 'transmission' and get scared off... I was too,
until that video showed me step by step every single step (Thanks to that guy!). I also have a few mechanic friends, but I'd rather not involve them until I'm really screwed...

My parts will arrive Monday-Tuesday... maybe Wed.

My plan is to drop the tranny on Friday and get it all apart and cleaned out for when the new stuff arrives. Good idea?

My experience level is... low.. I've repaired an 86' F150 300 inline 6, done brakes/suspension work on several cars, and a few carb rebuilds... all successfully. Think I can do this?

Thanks for the help!