every transmission has its place. if the original engineers give up on a certain design or function its a good idea to follow them and change as well !
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- Thread starter SoFloG
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hands down the 4L60E is way better than the 700r4 just because of the way it regulates pump pressure. the down fall of the 700r4 is its TVcable design. its a great little transmission but has its place.
In cars maybe they were fine, although my BIL's 95 Z28 died well under 200,000 km. Even with all the upgrades like the 5 pinion planet gear set, they still failed a lot in trucks, I saw a lot of GM Reman stickers, only a few year out. GM had a TSB for years, they still have, last I checked. GM has a pretty affordable replacement because of it. I got lucky when my 94 Z71 GM reman trans got the weak reverse. To be fair it towed my Inlaws cattle trailer with no auxiliary cooler and probably had quite a few miles. The fluid was not great when I changed it. The replacement was a $500 wrecker replacement that was rebuilt shortly before the truck was wrote off. It shifted great till the truck burnt to the ground. I also cooked the 3/4 clutch pack towing a light trailer with the 5.3 work truck. I think like the 2004R, I would trust a 700R4/4L60E to only specific builders who have a good reputation for building them. Our local trans shop did one behind a stock 6L truck, made it just over the year warranty, as an example. I have 2004R in the 70S, probably won't live a long life, the usual. I haven't had great luck with the TH350 either, weak reverse and total death behind 165HP of raw Olds 350 power. I threw a Transgo shift kit in one that was behind an Olds 403. Fair bit of clutch material in the pan and some on the magnet. It was shifting pretty lazy, see how long it lives with the shift kit, if I have to use it.
i don't want to hijack this persons thread but if you want to start a new one picking up on this i would be more than happy to join in.
So far it's been a fairly good experience with 700R and its electronics 4L60E sibling. My 93 S10 TBI 4.3 V6 4L60, developed bad front seal and had to keep adding quarts but it kept going and yet at about 24 mpg highway before replacement. Found out later front pump seal leak is very common.
My 91 G20 Van 350 TBI with GM Goodwrench 700R, I put 30,000 miles towing with full size car trailer midsize and full size cars and no issues. I just drove it off the tachometer kept it 2200 to no more than 2500 RPM and just stayed in the far right lane.
Got any where from 20 to 25 MPG, but did have some unusual trips with higher mileage. I never had any issues, obvious previous owner did as it had a GM replacement.
Put a 700R in 64 Ford F100 for a customer, no issues. Put a 2004R for another customer, 87 Caprice with a 4 Bolt 350, no issues. Several other builds with no issues.
I had a 2004R on display at friends shop in Tucson, when a customer called me one day with bad trans on their show car when I was out of town. I told him go to the shop and install the one on display. Yeah, he called me about a week later telling me that the trans was no good. And yeah, the installer didn't hook up the "Kick down cable". Yep, trans was junk now. Folks, it's not a kick down cable.... But pulled it built another one for him and no issues.
Most your trans guys today are good at building stock and this day and age few know how to improve what's there. This is true for Chrysler 518/618, Ford C4/C6 or AOD, or GM 200, 350, 400, 2004R, 700R, etc...
700R4 minimum any build is 13 vane pump, .500 boost valve, Teflon Rings, Sonnex Sun Shell, wide band, and Corvette Servo.
You can further improve by changing bushings to bearings, make sure end play is correct, cut pistons down to add another clutch, add extra cooling, and hardened or billet parts.
My 91 G20 Van 350 TBI with GM Goodwrench 700R, I put 30,000 miles towing with full size car trailer midsize and full size cars and no issues. I just drove it off the tachometer kept it 2200 to no more than 2500 RPM and just stayed in the far right lane.
Got any where from 20 to 25 MPG, but did have some unusual trips with higher mileage. I never had any issues, obvious previous owner did as it had a GM replacement.
Put a 700R in 64 Ford F100 for a customer, no issues. Put a 2004R for another customer, 87 Caprice with a 4 Bolt 350, no issues. Several other builds with no issues.
I had a 2004R on display at friends shop in Tucson, when a customer called me one day with bad trans on their show car when I was out of town. I told him go to the shop and install the one on display. Yeah, he called me about a week later telling me that the trans was no good. And yeah, the installer didn't hook up the "Kick down cable". Yep, trans was junk now. Folks, it's not a kick down cable.... But pulled it built another one for him and no issues.
Most your trans guys today are good at building stock and this day and age few know how to improve what's there. This is true for Chrysler 518/618, Ford C4/C6 or AOD, or GM 200, 350, 400, 2004R, 700R, etc...
700R4 minimum any build is 13 vane pump, .500 boost valve, Teflon Rings, Sonnex Sun Shell, wide band, and Corvette Servo.
You can further improve by changing bushings to bearings, make sure end play is correct, cut pistons down to add another clutch, add extra cooling, and hardened or billet parts.
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