WWGRMD: Replace 4L60E now, or wait until it dies?

So my TrailBlazer has 203k on the clock, and I know that the transmission's days are numbered. A while back, I went to pass someone, and it slipped on the downshift. Not terrible, but enough to let me know it was there.

We're a two car family, and I'd really like to do this at my own pace, and avoid the rushed schedule of trying to get it fixed so I can get to work.

So I'm thinking about either A.) Buying a rebuilt transmission with a warranty and spending a weekend swapping it. Or option B getting a trans from a junkyard, either attempting the rebuild myself or having it done, and swapping it over a weekend. I figure I could at least let it sit and wait on the appropriate time to get it done. Transmission is around a hundred bucks at the local pull yard.

Part of me wants to do this to avoid a tow and a panicked fix, another part of me is curious how much life it has left in it. The fluid level is good, isn't burned but looks like old, dirty transmission fluid.

What say ye? When I dropped it out I would replace the converter, and probably put fresh u joints in it too.

I have nothing to contribute but I saw a Trailblazer blow up on the interstate today. Looked like the driveshaft fell out, metal parts were falling out of it and it started smoking quite a bit. Don't be that guy.

What does a reputable rebuild cost?  Can't you just get a trans from Jegs?

I'd do the warranty and a weekend. And make sure to reset the adaptives or you'll burn up the new one fast.

Find someone with a good scan tool and some smarts, and see how deep into the adaptation you are on shift pressures and so on.  If they are getting high, that tells you something. 

A spotty shift on a higher mileage automatic trans these days will often mean you have a sticky solenoid, or a valve floating around in a worn out bore in the valve body.  You buy one from the junkyard, or build yours at home, you probably don't catch that stuff and wind up with the same problem as before.  A reputable trans shop will know about the weak points, and will have repair doodads to solve said problems.

Jasper or another big builder might be a plan, if stuff does seem worn out and you don't have a good shop locally.

Welp, I'm in the same boat except my Silverado also throws a somewhat harmless code (p1860 tcc pcm solonoid). After endless research I've concluded that my best move is to do nothing besides the normal maintenance and just wait till the whole tranny goes and needs a rebuild. Otherwise I'm possibly throwing good money after bad with no guarantee that the problem will be fixed.

This is my third vehicle so YMMV if you need it to get to work.

I'm in the "replace it before it fails and leaves you stranded at the most inopportune time possible" camp.

I'd go with the rebuild/warranty, I don't see the point of swapping in another 100k+ mile transmission.

z31maniac said:

I'd go with the rebuild/warranty, I don't see the point of swapping in another 100k+ mile transmission.

All of the work.. less of the reliability..

New/Rebuilt. Shy far far far awat from a company called Movarus. They make really E36 M3ty transmissions. Aske me how I know. 

Dad just did a Jasper reman on his older Tahoe (240k miles on the original). IT wasn't cheap ($3k installed) but he has the warranty that covers nationwide. 

Not a whole lot to add, but my wife's trailblazer trans went out at 153k, and from what I've gathered, that's about par for the course.  I think you're on borrowed time at 203k on the original transmission so I'd be working to have it done asap.  

Before you do anything drastic, proper diagnosis is key.  Like streetwiseguy said, it could be one of a few thousand things.  I've seen this same issue caused by a degraded o-ring on the filter letting air get sucked in.  15 cents fixed it.

valves in the valve body sometimes gall and stick on 4L60Es.  Solenoids can have a hiccup.  Another thing to check is the internal wiring harness.  It takes abuse from hydrocarbons, heat, and current.  When they start to go it can cause a whole host of issues.  About 50% of the time, the first part of the harness to fail is the temp sensor in the wiring.

Good scan tool with datalogging would make this an easy diagnosis.  That would let you see what happened during a slip and point you in the right direction.

Having said that, what I used to tell my customers is very true (even if they thought it was a sales pitch).  There will never be a cheaper time than right now to fix it.  I don't mean throw a reman trans in it, but the proper fix will never be cheaper than ASAP.  In my first example of the o-ring on the filter... 15 cents right now is better than $3500 for a complete rebuild if you toast the clutches because you are sucking air.  $250 for a valve body is better than $4000 for a complete reman Jasper trans.

Can you handle a little downtime?  If it needs a rebuild, take it out and take it to a shop.  You should be able to find a shop that will rebuild what you have for under $1000.  Way cheaper than buying a reman trans, and the warranty is local.

Fueled by Caffeine said:

z31maniac said:

I'd go with the rebuild/warranty, I don't see the point of swapping in another 100k+ mile transmission.

All of the work.. less of the reliability..

Exactly. On a project car, where you are trying to save money, sure, throw in a used transmission and hope for the best. Something I depend on to get me where I need to go? Absolutely not.

With 203K on the transmission, you're playing with house money.  Diagnose or replace.  One thing for sure, check your trans cooler lines.  They like to rust, and get pinholes, deviously leaking fluid. My money is on rebuilt replacement.  I had a 2005 Buick Rainier, and the lines wiped out my transmission.

edit: The pinholes broke through on a long distance drive.  Didn't know until the thing started smoking.

I'd go with the in depth diagnosis, then decide. 
 

If that not an option, then since it's been an isolated issue I would put thought into ordering and installing:

-Transgo shift improver kit

- valve body repair kit (large od valve plunger)

- New  separator plate

- new filter and fluid

It's not going to address the overall wear thats present at 200k, but it's not overly expensive and should address some of the simpler known issues related to wear in the valve  body and separator plate, in addition to replacing some of the o-ring's that may be deteriorating. 

Truth ^^ about the separator plate.  There are a few check balls that like to stick in the plate after years of "peening" the hole.

Curtis said:

There will never be a cheaper time than right now to fix it. 

This. If you plan on keeping the Trailblazer for a while, putting in a rebuilt with a warranty is probably the way to go.

Plus, being able to plan a day or to without a car is a LOT less stressful than having your car die and then trying to pick up the pieces from that.

BoostedBrandon said:

So my TrailBlazer has 203k on the clock

Unless the rest of this 203k mile Failblazer was 100% perfect and flawless I would have a hard time putting anything into it but a For Sale sign. The cost of the trans is at least what the vehicle is worth, maybe more.  If it still runs and drives, run it till some expensive repair sidelines it and send it to the big car lot in the sky.

Save the aggravation and the money for another vehicle and run this till it dies.  Maybe do a scan and throw a transgo kit in it with fresh fluid and filter but that would be as far as I would be willing to go.

Just as an fyi, I recently went through this with a 4L80e, except it was the reverse strap, so no in depth diagnosis needed :)  It would have cost me ~3200 to have one delivered to my door by Jasper.  Instead I had the local shop overhaul it (new valve body, internals, better torque converter), and it was about ~3300...  Except they're the ones that pulled it, flushed all the lines, reinstalled it and gave me a 3 year warranty.

They told me they won't touch a transmission that the owner pulled, as it's likely to get taken out again by improperly cleaned cooler & lines.

So all I'm saying is to do your homework before you pull it, if you go that route.

In reply to BoostedBrandon :

My trailBlazer lasted only 135,000 miles before it died.  Transmission fluid changed at recommended intervals. The rebuild barely cleared the warrantee before the son-in- law detected slipping.  But that could be because he wanted a truck instead of an SUV. 
 

My point is, what do you want to do?   Keep it for the long term or replace the vehicle?  

93gsxturbo said:

Unless the rest of this 203k mile Failblazer was 100% perfect and flawless I would have a hard time putting anything into it but a For Sale sign. The cost of the trans is at least what the vehicle is worth, maybe more. 

A running, driving vehicle you own is generally cheaper than buying another vehicle, even if it requires a fairly hefty repair. Unless you're in a position where you car has to be newer, I don't get this line of thinking. 

Some people are long-term vehicle owners.  I'm not.  I would look at what I could get for it if I sold it, add the cost to repair the transmission, and see what I could get for that money.  I'm doing that right now with my Impala SS.  It needs some work, or I could sell it for $3.5k and add the $1000 worth of work I would want to do to it and bingo... I'm shopping in the $4.5k range.

But like has been said, while a $3500 trans rebuild is more money than I'd put into a 200k mile car, it could also be a $50 part and it will be golden.

Brett_Murphy said:

93gsxturbo said:

Unless the rest of this 203k mile Failblazer was 100% perfect and flawless I would have a hard time putting anything into it but a For Sale sign. The cost of the trans is at least what the vehicle is worth, maybe more. 

A running, driving vehicle you own is generally cheaper than buying another vehicle, even if it requires a fairly hefty repair. Unless you're in a position where you car has to be newer, I don't get this line of thinking. 

I've done some thinking about this recently and come to this incomplete conclusion:

[annualized purchase cost] + [new car insurance] < [maintenance] + [current car insurance]

If, on an annualized basis, the above becomes true, replace the car. However, that check does not account for capability, safety, downtime, stress, etc. If you don't need your car to get to work, the above works. If this is your only car, if the failure modes put you in unsafe situations, if you need more seats for your 4th child, the check changes. You also need to consider the fact that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't if you are considering buying a used car.

I do not have a complete answer. The problem is more complicated then it seems.

I can cover a lot of this and it's a topic I'm still living.

Had a 4L60E in a Sierra that would hard shift then one day lost all forward except 1st, so I had to limp it as a 25mph vehicle.  Removed trans, had it rebuilt at a reputable shop, they messed up something (even R and N were forward driving) and had to tow it to them to fix because I wasn't going to do that job twice.

Currently have a 4L80E in a 2009 Escalade.  It just started to 1-2 slip a very little bit.  Soon I am driving it to the shop to be rebuilt.  The reality is, it's not going to heal itself and it won't get better.  It will likely fail when I need it.  I'll control the outcome - be able to schedule it's downtime and drive it to the trans shop, and let them deal with everything and go back to pick up a finished vehicle.  

I'm in a similar position with a 4L60E in an unknown history Silverado.  Mine seems to be OK, but I'm trying to plan ahead just in case.  I've noticed a number of home builders offering them for around $800 rebuilt with a 12 mo/12,000 mile warranty.  Granted, it's not from a shop, but aren't the 4L60E's simple enough that their not difficult to rebuild?  Example.

It's a much less expensive option than a shop at $3k if you're willing to swap it yourself.  But, I'll admit, I don't know the transmissions that well and if it's not worth the risk.

-Rob

In reply to rob_lewis :

"Simple" for an automatic transmission is still darned near the most complicated thing in the vehicle!