95 Jimmy - 4L60-E ground upgrade/recall TSB??

Nov 27, 2008 5 Replies

Hi there, Have any of you heard of an upgrade or recall for GM's 4l60-E transmission that speaks on a ground upgrade? I was speaking with a tech who mentioned that I should have this done or risk repeated possibilities of clutch failure. Seeing as my clutches checked out after about



50k km with less than 2 years on a full rebuild, I thought I'd ask here.

Thanks, Andrew.


\Nothing I have heard of or seen says anything about a ground upgrade with regards to clutch failure. Considering that the clutches are applied hydraulically through the control solenoids that are grounded separately in the first place I can't see where it would do anything.

I would say the problem was not related to the ground but may have been a bad part or the rebuilder just had a bad day. Or they didn't check the valve body for wear.

Steve W. Near Cooperstown, New York

Thanks Steve! Apparently the valve body is fine but the 2-3/3-4 clutches and steels plus the forward sprag are gone. I think it might have been my fault for the mostpart that this box failed as a VERY stiff spring was requested by me. The builder originally told me that the shift was likely too aggressive for a DD and would cause me to get whiplash, failed mounts and likely problems down the road. I stuck it out as the comsumer knowing better and tore 2 mounts and ended up doing internal damage MAYBE due to this. I haven't mentioned this ground issue to my builder but I did hear about it from someone else who builds a large number of these transmissions. He is sending me the wiring upgrade/ground issue details shortly and then likely I will know more. The long and short of this is that I will end up getting the truck (well... Jimmy S15) back in a day or so to the tune of $1200 CDN. I will be going considerably more easy on her this round, getting the more sensible spring put into the shift kit and crossing my fingers. The next big problem I have with this truck will have me dumping it in a heartbeat and looking for another project vehicle.

Thanks again, Andrew.

I think we figured it out. I believe I am 100% to blame. I think either when I replaced a line on the oil cooler or put in a new rad, I kinked the transmission line from the return side of the cooler. It looks like the 'mild kink' got considerably worse as time went on... The tech thinks that this starved the transmission and burned up the clutches. He pulled that line and replaced it free of charge also. The truck seems to shift very nicely now (I would suspect it would after a damn near repeat full rebuild). I guess I need to be more carefull!!! I've never screwed anything up this badly before but there's a first time for everything.

Hose to replace = $15 Cost of transmission repair = $1200 CDN before taxes Cost of my ignorance = priceless...

Andrew.

Even if a brand new one was put in less than 20k km ago on a new transmission? There was no debris or anything. The clutch packs were starved for oil because of a kinked line beside the oil cooler under the hood. If hindsight really were 20/20 I would have never had this problem.

Thanks, Andrew.

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