Transmission Issues?

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Bowtie_Beast

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Had a crazy thing happen the other day on the way to work. Transmission didn't want to shift into 3rd gear. It felt like it came out of second and the just revved like it was in neutral. I let up on the accelerator and got on it again and it was in third. It did this three times and then fourth time it wasn't there so I dropped it into 3 and it went in.
I do bookkeeping in the morning at a repair shop so I dropped it off. A tech took it for a ride later in the day and it shifted fine. He said it was a little low on trans fluid and put in about a quart. Drove it today and it seemed fine. IDK.?
Any thoughts? It's a 2004 XL Denali with 269,000. I'm hoping it will make it till spring when I get my bonus so I can sell it and get something else.
 
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I had an 02 and left work one day, same thing happened to me but I wasn't as lucky as you, my 3-4 clutch package went and had to make it 50 miles back with 1st and second. Sounds like your issues different but you never know!
 

rockola1971

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These 4L60E trannys will NOT tolerate being low on fluid, especially a quart. The damage has been done. Pull your dipstick and is the fluid color pink or brown reddish? Smell burnt? You may have 2 problems here. Both of them feeding off each other. A clogged up filter which became even more of a problem when the fluid was low since the clogged filter was already starving your tranny pump. Obviously the leak is a problem too, the question is how bad is the leak? When was it last known to be full of fluid?
 

Rocket Man

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From Performabuilt Transmission's FB page:

So i was giving my buddy Dale a hand and we discovered this one sunday morning.... Full is not Full.... especially on the 4l60E
so check your dipsticks guys especially with aftermarket. Even the Factory sticks are low. A quart over should do it but this is dangerous for the tranny itself. It should be even or almost with the panrail. Lube= happy 60E/ any tranny.


- check them out on Facebook to see the pictures. They suggest running the 4l60e a quart over to be safe. It sure won't hurt. I have one of their level 3's and I run it a quart over full on the dipstick which should be actually full.
 

adventurenali92

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From Performabuilt Transmission's FB page:

So i was giving my buddy Dale a hand and we discovered this one sunday morning.... Full is not Full.... especially on the 4l60E
so check your dipsticks guys especially with aftermarket. Even the Factory sticks are low. A quart over should do it but this is dangerous for the tranny itself. It should be even or almost with the panrail. Lube= happy 60E/ any tranny.


- check them out on Facebook to see the pictures. They suggest running the 4l60e a quart over to be safe. It sure won't hurt. I have one of their level 3's and I run it a quart over full on the dipstick which should be actually full.
Interesting read. Do they say the same for the 65E?
 

Rocket Man

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So that’s on a factory rebuilt trans too?! Not just aftermarket?!
Yes, all 4l60/65's. They recommend running them a quart over the full line on the dipstick. It can't hurt anything either since unlike an engine if it's too full it will spill out the vent on top, but you'd have to really be overfilled for that. I looked at their pictures and they clearly show that full on the dipstick is actually low. So it makes sense that if it shows a quart low you'd be 2 quarts low and that's probably why the 60/65's have problems when the dipstick shows only a quart low. Because it's really 2 quarts low.
 

adventurenali92

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Yes, all 4l60/65's. They recommend running them a quart over the full line on the dipstick. It can't hurt anything either since unlike an engine if it's too full it will spill out the vent on top, but you'd have to really be overfilled for that. I looked at their pictures and they clearly show that full on the dipstick is actually low. So it makes sense that if it shows a quart low you'd be 2 quarts low and that's probably why the 60/65's have problems when the dipstick shows only a quart low. Because it's really 2 quarts low.
Wow! I never knew that! I watch my trans dipstick like a hawk now. It’s usually right at the full line. Looks like I’m gonna add some more in the morning then haha. Thanks for the post!
 
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