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[General] 4L60E tear down guide

seq4x4

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Currently im rebuilding a 4L60E transmission for my car. I have never down this before and im learning on the way. The only transmission i have ever rebuilt was a 3-speed trimatic for a 202. So this thread is dedicated to the tear down of the transmission. As i havnt ordered my parts yet i can show a rebuild and comparison of standard and aftermarket parts.

So start off buy draining the fluid and removing the TC. You will want a night big area to lay parts out so you dont lose them and know what order they came out.
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The first part to remove is the 2-4 servo assembly. This is done by pushing the servo in from the out side and removing the retaining clip. Once the clip is out, use some pliers or vice grips and pull it out. If it is stuck your best bet is to cut and pull the blue seal out. Then the assembly will pull out without a problem.
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Next you will want to remove the rear housing (4 bolts) and speedo sensor (1bolt).
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Now you will want to roll the transmission over and remove the pan.
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The remove the filter and filter seal from the pump.
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Then you will want to focus on removing the wiring harness and sensors out of the way. The sensors are held in with clips. Keep a close eye one these as they tend to fly when being pried out. Also to buy a new set of sensor clips, the cheapest i found in the states, were over $30 for a set. Once all the sensors (bar one, as seen in the picture) are removed, you can then remove the detent spring.
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Now you can move onto taking the valve body off. Theres a few things to take not off and be careful of. The first thing is that there are 2 lengths of 10mm headed bolts. There are also 3 8mm headed bolts. Also under the valve body there are 7 check balls.
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Next you will want to remove the accumulator cover and spacer plate support. Also note that under the spacer plate there is the accumulator spring AND check ball just above it.
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Now that everything is removed from here, time to work on the guts of the transmission. First off you will want to remove the pump. This is done by undoing the 7 bolts and using a special tool to remove it. Since i dont have the special tool it took alot to remove. This is how i did it. And if you try it and #### it, i take no responsibility. I kept twisting the pump by hand, this was hard on its own. As well as doing that i wedged and pried the back of the pump from the locations in the picture. I did this softly as the box is allot, so a softer metal. This took abit, but in the end i got there. You just have to be REAL careful.
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Then what you will want to do is pull out the 2-4 band, input clutches and input gear set. Just put gently and itll come. If it feels like its getting caught, it is. Itll be getting stuck on the band. Use a screw driver to hold the band straight. You will also notice that the band anchor, under the valve body needs to come out.
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Next you want to pull out the input sun gear.
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Then you will have to remove the retainer clip thats way down there in the middle. In the photo it is hanging on the end of the shaft. Its tricky, but do-able. DO NOT OVER EXPAND THE RETAINER.
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Next to come out is the input carrier assembly. Since the clip is out now, you can just pull it out.
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Next to come out is the sunshell. This weak little hunk of crap is a result of no reverse. It is common to break as seen in this picture.
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Now to pull out the reaction sun gear, thrust washer and low/reverse roller clutch race. Then that big retainer ring.
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Next to come out is the low/reverse clutch support. If a weird looking clip comes out, thats ok. Its ment to be in there. It looks like a clip that has fallen out during operation and got caught somewhere, but its ment to look that retarded.
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Then your going to want to remove all the clutches,thrust bearing, internal reaction gear, gear support and bearing.
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To remove the low/reverse piston (the parts left at the bottom) you WILL need the special tool. However from what i see (once again, im just a guy in a garage with an angle grinder) its not needed to come out for a rebuild. Its just a whole heap of springs under that plate. Also buy now you would have noticed i didnt say anything about removal of the output shaft, thats because you will learn very quickly itll fall out when it wants to.

Thats my way of tearing down a transmission. Soon to come is the rebuild and comparison of aftermarket parts.
 

capitalgainz

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i looked into doing this but seriously you are better off leaving it too the pros, if any clearance is out, trans wont work or will burn out in an instant, if you forget something or cut a seal without realising it
 

vx_commodore

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Nice work!

I am thinking about buying a second hand unit and start to rebuild that. That way it allow's me plenty of time to do it. Don't have to rush it.

I have seen this done a few time's But never gone at it myself.

Any speacial tool's required?
 

seq4x4

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i looked into doing this but seriously you are better off leaving it too the pros, if any clearance is out, trans wont work or will burn out in an instant, if you forget something or cut a seal without realising it

Thats why you take care and triple check before doing something. i got quotes for a rebuild. Im looking at 1200 for a standard rebuild and ONLY replace broken parts. Where as i spend $740 and build myself a box that can handle 500+hp at the wheels.

Nice work!

I am thinking about buying a second hand unit and start to rebuild that. That way it allow's me plenty of time to do it. Don't have to rush it.

I have seen this done a few time's But never gone at it myself.

Any speacial tool's required?

As im only up to the tear down im not sure if i need any special tools for assembly. You can buy the tools, but we will soon find out. Your supose to have 2 or 3 special tools to do the dis assembly, but i worked out a few ways to remove stuff. Which i mentioned.
 

Wombles

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Brilliant work on the teardown mate. Well done.
 

acarmody

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I once bought a second-hand tranny of eGay, found out it had water in it and rust on some parts, so not going near my car. So decided to pull it apart, because.....well because I can. Managed to get pretty much every part out. Then tried to put it all together again just to see if I could. Tried for a couple of hours, gave up, and gave it to a tranny shop for parts. Did get a half price service though.
 

greenacc

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Good work and good luck! I thought about doing this myself but then my trans came back to life, glad i didn't have to do it too.
 

seq4x4

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Still waiting for the Americans to get off their bloody holidays. Been waiting for a reply since the 4th. So on monday i will have ordered my parts. Overnight parts from Jap... I mean 2 week wait from america.. So i will be able to upload some more pics. Due to my crappy job ill have to do the rebuild in 2 parts. This is because im ordering the accumulator kits, boost valve kit and a better 2-4 band elsewhere and its pretty expensive (compared to the states prices). Ill go into more depth on the rebuild as when i typed this up it had been almost a week since i pulled it apart and i have a bad memory. So ill type as i go with the rebuild.

Because im not a transmission specialist i got ahold of the GM Power Train 4L60E guide. Roughly 180pages on tear down, part inspection and rebuild. You can get yourself a copy here: www.motordrenaline.com.au/gmpowertrain4l60e.pdf
 

capitalgainz

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Still waiting for the Americans to get off their bloody holidays. Been waiting for a reply since the 4th. So on monday i will have ordered my parts. Overnight parts from Jap... I mean 2 week wait from america.. So i will be able to upload some more pics. Due to my crappy job ill have to do the rebuild in 2 parts. This is because im ordering the accumulator kits, boost valve kit and a better 2-4 band elsewhere and its pretty expensive (compared to the states prices). Ill go into more depth on the rebuild as when i typed this up it had been almost a week since i pulled it apart and i have a bad memory. So ill type as i go with the rebuild.

Because im not a transmission specialist i got ahold of the GM Power Train 4L60E guide. Roughly 180pages on tear down, part inspection and rebuild. You can get yourself a copy here: www.motordrenaline.com.au/gmpowertrain4l60e.pdf


sweet, i been googling heaps of things lately found so many of these types of books online, i love google
 
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