Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

Car was stock at the time. It was just that 700r4's time to go.

skinny z

The pump is OK. So is the sun shell and the forward planetary. I haven't been deep enough into the transmission to inspect the rear planetary.
All indications are that the turbine splines in the converter let go. That would explain the no gears as there's nothing to connect to the input shaft. If I had done a pump test prior to taking it apart it would have been fine as the drive via the converter shell and was still intact. There were very few fragments found anywhere. I'm guessing that most of the crap ended up in the converter.
Even though the transmission was actually still functional, taking it apart showed just how worn it was getting. That it held out for as many miles as it did was probably a combination of a torque input that might have been no more than 400 ft/lbs most of it's life and the improved line pressure via the various boost valve upgrades.. That is arguably the limit for a stock OEM unit. Making upgrades to the valving and servos also added to the longevity. It's the hardparts that would eventually give up.
The converter itself isn't that old. I guess the new engine package was more than what was left of the splines could take. There's evidence of distortion on other splines too. I'll have to post some pictures.

IROCZ1989

iTrader: (1)

I just went through this debacle with my 700r4. They stopped making billet shafts for these. I just did a complete high performance build from Cahall performance in MD on a 4l60e. Got all the parts I needed and billet shafts. Fair price. To be honest if someone is charging you over 2800 for a 700 with no shafts your getting ripped. If you want your 700r4 rebuilt he is the guy, but at your hp level it should be adequate. His prices are very very fair. Cahall performace trans. I got prices in the 4 -5 range from other builders for what I got from him. Check his site, call him tell him Darren sent you his way. He has helped me out tremendously. Stand up builder.

skinny z

I've been searching for information and parts literally for days. I'm starting to build a significant knowledge base with regards to these transmissions. I've come across an ATSG manual that lists all of the TH700s produced by GM and each upgrade they made as the years went by. The 700R4/4L60 stops in '93 however the replacement, the 4L60E and the following 4L65E have upgrades, such as the front and rear 5 gear planetaries, that swap directly into the older 700/4L60. The manual is the best thing I've come across yet. There's so much rhetoric and BS on the internet that it makes it difficult to separate the ***** from the Shinola. But the web is like that for everything.
Sonnax, for one, has several pages of parts to improve upon the design further. They also list input and output shafts and dozens of other hard parts such as their top of the line, Smartshell (which is greatly improved over the de facto standard "Beast" sunshell).
I have no doubt that I can assemble (or get someone to do it for me) a 4L60 that'll take whatever I can throw at it. I'll qualify that statement by adding that I don't throw that much. If I'm making 450 ft/lbs, which is arguably the line that you cross when needing the next round of improvements such as specially hardened input and output shafts, then I've built a fairly decent engine given the parts involved (and 450 ft/lbs is sort of my line in the sand). The over the top billet parts notwithstanding, 600 ft/lbs of input capacity is still within the range of a moderate rebuild with just about every suspect part replaced with the latest OEM piece or an aftermarket upgrade that fills the void.

At some point I'll list what I've come across. Perhaps there's some interest there.

Where is your builder located? Keep in mind, that having a Canadian address complicates things as the exchange on the dollar plus the cost of shipping will easily double what I can source locally. I get a jobber discount at the GM parts counter and that helps a lot. Just about a 50% discount over retail price. The front and rear 5 pinion planetaries plus the associated shaft are less than 500 CDN dollars combined. Excellent.

skinny z

Here's the ATSG reference manual I mentioned in the previous post.

http://shop.ukrtrans.biz/wp-content/...gs/TH700R4.pdf

gibbles

I had a pump rotor go pop recently.
Pita.
I put a billet rotor in along with a new pump housing.

Still fighting some mess left behind, trans is coming apart again for a detailed tear down, cleaning, and probably a new converter.

Pain in the rear!
I wish i had forked out the $$ for the billet rotor in the first place.

IROCZ1989

iTrader: (1)

Didnt know you were in canada. Hes in Maryland. Hes about the cheapest/ best around. He honest. Will explain to you whats probably went wrong before you even open it up. Will tell you what you need and what you wont. 5 pinions you dont need. 4 pinion is less rotational weight. Alot of 5 pinion fakes out there that will destroy your trans in no time.

skinny z

You're right in that there's a lot of misinformation out there.
The way I'm looking at it is I take whatever improvements GM has made to the 4L60 and then onto the 4L60E and 4L65E and incorporate them into what I'm building. If GM added 5-pinion planetaries because the newer generation of engines was becoming more powerful, then that's what I'll do. I picked up all genuine GM parts over the counter yesterday. 5 items in all (front and rear planets, reaction shaft and two torrington bearings. With my discount, it's pretty cheap insurance although it does add about 30% to the cost of the build. All in, with the 5-pinion planets, Sonnax sunshell, new input drum and reinforcement kit, and the usual assortment of servos, springs and valve modifications, I should be in for around $2000 CDN. That's not too bad. I can't buy an equivalent over the counter aftermarket unit for less than $3000 USD. Plus shipping.