4L60 Re-Rebuild for my C20

[LTZ C20]

http://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/743865/10002/-1

Is this the tube you need?

Yea but that's the 87-up body style, doesn't fit well with the shape of the firewall. I got the 350 tube ready, it should work fine.

[LTZ C20]

Dip stick tube has a new coat of VHT Roll Bar and Chassis paint and cross member has been recoated in Duplicolor Truck Bed Coating, like it was before I took the cut off torch to it haha. I'll check on the rebuild progress tomorrow.

[LTZ C20]

Today I ordered a few things, only like 400 bucks worth of things lol. I got a Summit aluminum deep pan, reusable gasket, aluminum Bell housing cover/dust shield, whatever you wanna call it, ARP Bell housing to engine block bolts all from Summit. I also got the trans temp sensor from Dakota Digital in preparation for DD VHX gauges down the road and had the trans guy at work get the new torque converter coming and a magnetic drain plug for the pan from the parts department of work. So tomorrow I should see everything except the plug which I already got. Tomorrow or Saturday morning the trans should be done and I can take it home, get the cooler flushed and hopefully have it back driving Sunday.

[LTZ C20]

The case of the transmission has a threaded hole just above the shift shaft. I believe it's for checking line pressure. It's about 18.6 mm deep. Would this be a good place to put the temp sensor or would in the pan be better? The sensor does thread into the hole. Which would be better for an accurate temp reading?

[bd]

Locate the temp sensor in the pan or in the cooler line before the cooler.  Either location should provide accurate trans temp measurements, although inline may yield faster response to changes in temp.

[LTZ C20]

Sounds good. In the pan it is.

[LTZ C20]

So I got the transmission back in yesterday, BUT not without a slew of problems in process. So as a result, it's in, bolts up, crossmember on, holding its on weight, but not much else is on.

So I got the cooler flushed, that was no problem. I actually made a brake clean injector for the air gun. On of the spray straws implanted into the tip of an air nozzle and then the nozzle slid onto the end of an even smaller air gun nozzle.
Worked really good actually.




So then I was putting the rear mount on the trans and the threads stripped out before the bolts were tight. That resulted in a quick trip to O'Reilly for heli-coils, I would have preferred a time sert but they didn't have any, heli-coil worked fine tho.

Then during an attempt at installation, the trans slid off the jack and hit the concrete. Luckily it was a short drop, didn't hurt anyone and only chipped the paint off the bottom of the output shaft housing. I've removed and reinstalled the trans multiple times and that's first I've had it slip and fall. The second attempt was successful, got it in and bolted up. The crossmember with its cut edges for the pan bolts works perfectly.

Did I mention I painted it before install? Used Duplicolor Engine Enamel in Castle Coat Grey. Really happy with it, way better than it was before.

Before.


After.




Also, the 350 dip stick tube didn't work out, I overlooked one key detail. The hole in the 350 case for the tube is about halfway down the length of the pan. The 4l60 tube hole is just behind the right side bell housing. So it didn't fit anywhere near close, used the 4l60 tube after all, oh well, I'm over it.

Then I had to put the filter brace on one of the valve body bolts, easy and done. The filter extension into the pump however is a different story. I had too take the seal off the filter, install it in the tube, it would only go in a little, then I installed the both of them into the case and when I pushed them in, the filter snapped into place in the extension which it would not do any other time. So I guess it's really not hard, I just had to figure out the best order in which to assemble them.

GM filter.


New pan.






New cover.






So both got painted, but not just paint, much better than paint, it's BED LINER! The pan came out great! The cover, not so much. The bed liner wouldn't stick to the aluminum, I cleaned it off and tried again with self etching primer, got the exact same result. The only thing I can guess makes a difference is that it's a polished surface, it stuck to the cast pan no problem and this stuff usually sticks to EVERYTHING.







This looks like poop. My girlfriend was annoyed because she spent time taping off the cover again for the second try with primer and it still didn't work.


Primer.


Also got that new PDQ converter.




This Lube Locker gasket was really nice.




A pic of the pan installed. I did have to buy a 12 point 3/8 drive 8mm socket for the pan bolts. It worked fine but it's tight squeeze next to the pan walls, I may pick up a 1/4 drive socket when my first service rolls around. That's like 25K miles out tho.

I like look, with the black fins, 12 point bolts. I'll post a pick tomorrow when I finish the install of the other side where the sensor is.

That's all for now.

[LTZ C20]

Truck is running, transmission is working good so far as I can tell. Drove it with the tech, he's happy with it too.

Here's the last of the pics.






I just found out today that my coolant is mixing with the oil, I suspect either a blown intake or head gasket. So on Wednesday I'm going to rip it apart and try to get it fixed quick. I've done that type of job quite a few times before. Figures with this thing, soon as I get one thing fixed, something else goes wrong and something always goes wrong right after I put a fresh tank of fuel in. Sometimes I don't know about this freaking truck... oh well, gotta get it done.

[bd]

All of the transmission work looks bomb.  You did good!  Sorry to hear about the new problem.  You know, the only reason it breaks is because you have too much attention on it, and it knows it.  It's like a pet that wants attention....

[LTZ C20]

All of the transmission work looks bomb.  You did good!  Sorry to hear about the new problem.  You know, the only reason it breaks is because you have too much attention on it, and it knows it.  It's like a pet that wants attention....

Correct! And thanks! But I also have bills and I'm trying to get a new job so it needs to behave and not be a PITA. Lol

[bd]

Is the converter dust cover a TransDapt?

[LTZ C20]

No, it's a CAL Customs from Summit. It's actually for a 350 but I saw a review that said some guy put it on his early model 700. My old steel cover was from my 350 so I was pretty sure it would fit on the 4l60. The edges that face the trans pan on the bottom mounting tabs were  tad too thick so a quick, light pass on the grinders fine wheel fixed that it fits like a glove now. I actually wish it was cast looking like the pan but it adds contrast and is kinda growing on me. It does look good.

[fitz]

The tranny looks great. 
Hopefully you get the motor straightened out soon.
You mentioned in Irish alleys post about wanting a diesel.  Will this turn into a duramax swap?

[LTZ C20]

The tranny looks great. 
Hopefully you get the motor straightened out soon.
You mentioned in Irish alleys post about wanting a diesel.  Will this turn into a duramax swap?

Thanks. I should have the fluid mix fixed shortly. HA! I wish. Looking back now, the money I've put into this power train very well would have covered a D-max swap but I didn't want diesel then, I wish someone would have talked me into it? So for now, it will remain a gas truck. One day tho, when I have a good paying job and a new DD truck, this one will be stripped down and I'll spend a few years restoring it and then it WILL get a D-max. I had a chance at a 06-07 2500 HD, pretty much all stock, 4x4, 6.0L/4L80E, was a trade in at work, I could have picked it up but they over paid by 5 grand so it ended up being 5 grand more than I wanted to pay, if it was 10K, I would have picked it up as my new DD. It had a bad front cover and oil pan leak, I could have paid a tech on the side or done it myself and get it resealed, would have been a good truck, only had 88K miles on it. Oh well.

[LTZ C20]

Well I'm gonna just come out and say it, no point in beating around the bush. I'm about 99.9% sure the whole intake job I just did was a waste of time, I'm pretty curtain, I got a blown head gasket. Got the truck all back together, no issues, did 2 oil changes to clean out the coolant. Topped off the coolant with new, set my timing, oil started looking cleaner. Drove it around for about 15 min, on the last leg home, I noticed it was smoking and starting to get pretty warm. Got home, smokes like a freight train when revved, plumes smoke, smells sweet and coolant level keeps going up and down. Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap. I found ample evidence to support the intake gasket blew out and that was the cause of the mix. No smoking or any anything before, I should have spent an extra hour and just pulled the heads, so stupid. I'm more mad I didn't just go ahead and pull them than I am that I actually have blown head gaskets. I feel like a dummy. Lol