Well it finally happened... 217,000( almost 218,000 ) The trusty old 4T60E finally popped..

There she sits in all her glory.. 21 years and 217,000 abused miles..



Can anyone guess what these bits O metal are from? Seems to be a common problem for a High Mileage 4T60E..

Sad part is there was nothing for friction material in the pan and the fluid still looked good for the 70,000 or so miles that it had on it.. Gotta love that large trans cooler.. Looks like I'll be doing a rebuild, all the parts are sitting here with the exception of one tool and the Torque converter in on the way...LOL

Reverse input shell or reaction drum?
The lowest part in the pic looks like the stamped steel on those parts.

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95 SLE... a keeper. 241k miles. Low and Slow.
97 BMW 528i
98 Infiniti vq35'd i30: 13.3@104mph, 30MPG Hwy (RIP)
02 Jag X-type
03 BMW M5
05 Chevy Cobalt LS
07 Infiniti G35s 6MT (Sold)
07 Ducati Monster S2R 800 with DS1000 swap
83 Yamaha IT175K
72 Yamaha DS7: '74 RD250 swap, JL chambers

Info on dropping a 92-99: Here.

Yeah Mike its the Reverse Reaction Drum.. Its amazing how light and flimsy the factory unit is as compared to the hardened unit.. This is what I found today.. Sorry for the poor pics...lol



Amazing to me is that everything else looks really good for 217,000 miles.. I could even make out the Borg Warner and the part number..


Everything looks really good except for that Coffee Can.. No damage was done to the internals or the case with the Coffee can exploding like that.. Lucky I think.

I figured it was.. especially as you mentioned there's the aftermarket hardened part available.

You weren't kidding about the lack of friction material. Those frictions still had a good bit more life in them.

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95 SLE... a keeper. 241k miles. Low and Slow.
97 BMW 528i
98 Infiniti vq35'd i30: 13.3@104mph, 30MPG Hwy (RIP)
02 Jag X-type
03 BMW M5
05 Chevy Cobalt LS
07 Infiniti G35s 6MT (Sold)
07 Ducati Monster S2R 800 with DS1000 swap
83 Yamaha IT175K
72 Yamaha DS7: '74 RD250 swap, JL chambers

Info on dropping a 92-99: Here.

I have had a Large Trans Cooler on this car for most of its life.. Temps ran about 160F in the trans after that cooler... Its seems that keeping a 60E cooler really does it a lot of justice.. The Input/Second, Third and 4th clutches were all in good shape for the miles.. I have a couple of spots that looked like they got a bit hot but the frictions were still in amazing shape all the way around.. The 4th hub was awesome as well, almost no wear at all.. In all honesty if I had known the 4th hub was going to look that good I would have never bothered to buy a new one..

I do have some galling/pitting on the input sun gear... I have a spare in perfect shape so I will be using that one.. Other than that its in good shape..

The Bands were in overall good shape, the coast band had a little stripe where it looks like it got a tad hot but still 100% there... I am just amazed at what trans fluid changes and a trans cooler does to help a trans live a long life..

Here's to hoping my rebuild goes as well as the last one I did..

Where do you get your transmission replacement parts from?
Any particular brand that's best?
Thanks.

How long do you think the rebuild will take?

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WHITE WHINE - 1992 SSE Supercharged 236.26 ci (.040 Over) 15.090 at 90.2 MPH on old engine w/ slipping trans & melted O2 sensor - Gen 3 M62 and matching TB, Gen 2 Pully, Zillamotorsports Ported LIM, YT 1.72 Roller Rockers, SII FPR & Injectors, Hypertech Thermomaster chip w/ 160 Thermo, TransGo Shift Kit, Infinity/Pioneer Speakers & a 10" Alpine Type R Sub, all the watts, 140 amp Alternator, Ricepipe CAI w/ heatshield, Pilot Angel Eye Foglights, Clear Corners, '02 17" Chrome Bent 5's, Magnaflow F-Body Muffler and Hi-flo Cat, Ceramic Coated Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Fan Override, Monroe Reflex struts, red calipers
2009 G8 GT - Sport Red Metallic, loaded, SOLO Axlebacks, Rotofab Intake, Tuned, autodim mirror, removed intake manifold cover, HSV GTS triple gauge pod, two tone red-hot shifter and HSV SuperSport steering wheel, GXP rear sway bar and diffuser, 3.45 diff and various Camaro suspension bits, LED Taillights

Not too long.. It's just a matter of me finding the time to do it.. I want to be able to take my time..

I actually got the rebuild kit from Ebay.. I bought the same kit from the same seller years ago to rebuild my vans trans.. Borg warner clutches and Raybestos bands.. The clutches are the same as stock.. My solenoids are all AC Delco factory parts.. My 4th hub is brand new and from transparts something or other.. I'll look and gather more info on all of my parts.

Slight update... Installed the new lip seals, new bonded pistons, steels and clutches.. 4th Hub shaft was in pristine shape so it was reused.. All new Shift/TCC solenoids as well as a new PWM solenoid

Parts( Trans Guts ) waiting to be reinstalled in their Skin( Case )... I actually ordered 2 26x18 baking sheets so that I would not have trans fluid all over the place... When I was ready to assemble I cleaned the pans and assembled..



Most of the guts reinstalled in the case..



Look Ma, no spare parts..lol


Fully reassembled, Torque converter will be installed when the trans goes in... Torque converter is an 1895 Stall( stock stall for 3.06 gear ratio )... I did however go to the Carbon Woven FLHB converter as I have been using the TCC strategy for the Carbon Woven for some time.. The old converter was a Low Carbon converter clutch, it does not like the Carbon Woven strategy.. But it did function with next to nothing for issues.. However I would not be surprised if the converter lining was slightly cooked or burned up due to the strategy... But the converter has 217,000 miles on it so anything is possible..



I have rebuilt a few of these over the years... Crossing my fingers that this one will work like the others did..lol

I'd appreciate it if you'll post or PM the info when you get the chance..
I'm sure that I'll be doing a rebuild eventually .
Thanks.

Ok here goes..

For the Rebuild Kit( E-Bay)
$230 from CT Powertrain... This kit has Borg Warner clutches, all the steels, Teflon rings, Bonded pistons, thrust washers as well as all of the bands( Raybestos iirc ).. Came with the stock style bonded pan gasket as well..This was a Full kit right down to the filter and the Vacuum Modulator.. I have bought parts from this store over the years, never had an issue..


Torque Converter
$133( There is a $35 core My actual price will end up being $98 roughly, I found a code for 30% off the entire order) bought from Advance Auto Parts.. This is a Proking converter... I used a Dayco some time ago in a rebuild and the Dayco failed miserably.. I have had a Proking in my van for roughly 3 years now with no issues at all. As well, I needed to go from the Low Carbon clutch to the Carbon Woven due to the TCC apply strategy..


Trans Go Shift Kit( 4T60E-JR )
$57.00 Bought from E-bay, usa.industries


The Reverse Reaction Drum( Coffee can )
$45 I actually bought this off E-Bay years ago when I was getting into the 4T60E not sure what store on E-Bay at this point.. I had a couple left so I dug this out of my parts hoard..


Input Sun Gear
$21.00 bought on E-bay, bigskypowertrain... My sun gear was pitted and needed to be replaced.. This was a used piece but in very good shape.. Could have sworn I had one of these, but for the life of me I could not find it..


4th Hub Shaft
$54.00 I bought this from Trans Parts Online.. I purchased this as I wanted a new hub shaft for the build... However when I tore the trans down I found the 4th hub to be in pristine shape... So I went ahead and reused the hub.. I have seen them wear some in the 4T60E, but thats hit or miss.. The 4T65E loves to wear them down..


Shift Solenoids
$38.00 bought from Rock Auto.. I bought the AC Delco shift solenoids
( A-B ) and the TCC Solenoid( all 3 are the same ).. for this price..


PWM Solenoid
$24.00 bought from Amazon.. This also is an AC Delco part


Sonnax Differential Lube Tube Retainer
$11.00, Bought from E-bay, wide world of imports... On rare occasions the Diff lube tube can walk out of the accumulator housing causing the diff to lose its lubrication.. Just a little extra piece of mind..



Trans Assembly Goo
$8.00 Also bought from Amazon


Havoline Dexron VI... 12 pack
$45.00 Also Bought from Amazon


So all in all we are nearing $700 for just the items I needed to do the rebuild..

For $150 I could have gotten a used unit... But With the last H body 4T60E produced in 96-97, the transmissions are pretty much 20 years old, most have a ton of miles.. And they all had the weak Reverse Reaction Drum.. Not sure whats the right thing to do, but this did get expensive.. I spent pretty much the exact same amount when I rebuilt my Vans 4T60E in 09.. I did get a couple of years out of this trans, I beat the life out of it with burnouts, High RPM shifts very little torque management.. In the end it was the Torque converter that died and badly.. The trans was still ok, just never had the time to tear into it.. I swapped in a GM SRTA that I had laying around.. Got rid of a lot when I moved...lol.. Just never know what you'll get.. I know whats in my trans.. Just hope it functions like the others I built...LOL