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Trans not shifting into 3rd or 4th...

02 Sunset_Z71

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
2
Intro - First off...Good Afternoon all!  I'm an ol' school member from way back in '02 when the site was just growing (different SN) and I'm happy to see that the site still continues to thrive with great resources and is just as lively as when it started.  With that said...I did attempt to search this particular topic (spent a good hour going thru several pages) both within the Forum and thru Google as well.  I've seen this topic brought up a few times but the problem description and fix seemed to be different ever time. 

I came to the conclusion that I may need a tranny overhaul, until that is, I ran into a google search with a gentleman that had the exact problem discription as I am having to the T!  So, I thought I'd check in here first with the folks who know best to see if the fix was accurate.

My Problem - Just this past Thanksgiving, I was on my way home from work covering a buddy of mine when I notice the transmission acting up.  Prior to this I haven't had any issues whatsoever, but on this day, the transmission wasn't shifting into 3rd or 4th gear.  It shifts flawlessly from Park, to Neutral, to Reverse, to Drive, and will go from 1 to 2 just like normal, but will just rev up from that point on.  If I let go of the gas, the RPM's drop as if in Neutral or coasting, but as soon as I step on it while moving at around 45-55mph, it will jump into 2nd gear at a high rev point (no jerks or harshness).  It feels like it wants to shift, but just won't. 

The person I found while Googling my problem stated he had the exact problem (I say exact b/c I browsed numerous pages and others mentioned slippage where mine is not) and another person replied who stated he had similar problem and that it was due to dirt going into the TC housing and the dealer fixed his issue by replacing the Torque Converter, flushing fluids, and installing a redesigned transmission breather.  The only difference here is my truck is an '02, whereas the forum was regarding an '05.  I didn't think that mattered because both dealt with the 4L60E tranny. 

I called around and most shops are saying tranny rebuild.  Could a new TC, fluids, and breather be a valid fix.  I would like to avoid costly repairs being Holidays and all.

Anywho......I appreciate any help from anyone.  Other than that....Happy Holidays to all Avy's!!!
 
Just wanted to add some more details:

2002 Avalanche Z71
1500
4" Suspension Lift w/ 33's
No major performance mods other than Air and Exhaust

Again, wanted to note that it happened out of the blue without any degration or symptoms...
 
To me it sounds like maybe some debris in the valve body is causing the 2-3 shift solenoid to not be able to move the valve? Have you ever had it flushed at the dealership or a good transmission shop? I'd try that first, even though it can potentially cause more harm then good if it hasn't ever been flushed.

Another thought comes to mind of a fault ignition switch. However, this would manifest in issues downshifting as well, like when you are coming to a stop, and it starts out in 2nd instead of 1st.
 
I agree. Flush and fill can't hurt and may fix the problem. Otherwise, the tranny is going to have to come apart even if it's just a "crud" issue. Don't know what your mileage is, but it is an '02 and a 4L60E. The torque converter replacement is/was a red herring.
 
I'm a new member and read your post because I am having the same problem.  I searched several websites and came to the conclusion that I should replace my 1-2 and 2-3 shift solenoids, mainly 2-3 (but if I had the pan off I might as well replace the 1-2 solenoid). Anyway in my 2002 1500 series 2wd the solenoids are the exact same. I replaced them and it continues to shift no further than 2nd gear. I'm going to have it towed to a shop tomorrow and have them do a diagnostic check to see what it reveals. I think I'm going to have to have it rebuilt.
 
i notice mine was having some slippage too.and it happens on 2nd gear.but i am not sure if thats normal as i have that on my trailblazer too.im not even sure what to do?
 
ronnyrod said:
I'm a new member and read your post because I am having the same problem.  I searched several websites and came to the conclusion that I should replace my 1-2 and 2-3 shift solenoids, mainly 2-3 (but if I had the pan off I might as well replace the 1-2 solenoid). Anyway in my 2002 1500 series 2wd the solenoids are the exact same. I replaced them and it continues to shift no further than 2nd gear. I'm going to have it towed to a shop tomorrow and have them do a diagnostic check to see what it reveals. I think I'm going to have to have it rebuilt.

how much did you pay for the solenoids to be replaced? i still have the slipping..i drained and changed the transmission oil and i still have trouble shifting from 2nd to 3rd then 3rd to 4th..it feels like it shifts quietly ,i dont feel the shifting unless i pay attention to it when im revving.
 
hey i have a similar problem, except mine is from 1st to 2nd. red lines unless i let off and wont shift until its at 25 mph. its hard shifting but my friend father who is a pretty good mechanic says its not slipping and it shifts well it just doesnt know when to. mines a 2002 2500 4x4 if you figure out your problem please post its already a Female Dog having 8mpg with it reving i believe its even less :(
 
Gary Dietrich said:
hey i have a similar problem, except mine is from 1st to 2nd. red lines unless i let off and wont shift until its at 25 mph. its hard shifting but my friend father who is a pretty good mechanic says its not slipping and it shifts well it just doesnt know when to. mines a 2002 2500 4x4 if you figure out your problem please post its already a Female Dog having 8mpg with it reving i believe its even less :(

You've got a 4L80E trans where the 1500s have the 4L60E, so the fixes for one won't necessarily be the same for the other.

That said, if it doesn't know when to shift, it sounds electrically-oriented.
 
Back in September, my 2004 EXT with about 125K miles started doing the "lazy shifts" as you guys have described.

My mechanic wanted to see if changing all of the solenoids and fresh fluid and filter would help.

It did not.

So here we are a complete rebuild later and all is good.

Get ready to lighten your wallets by a couple of grand, I'm afraid.
 
EXT4ME said:
Back in September, my 2004 EXT with about 125K miles started doing the "lazy shifts" as you guys have described.

My mechanic wanted to see if changing all of the solenoids and fresh fluid and filter would help.

It did not.

So here we are a complete rebuild later and all is good.

Get ready to lighten your wallets by a couple of grand, I'm afraid.

He didn't check any of the valves?
 
enoniam said:
He didn't check any of the valves?

When I delivered the truck to my mechanic I was ready to have the transmission rebuilt.

However, my mechanic is a long time friend and he usually tries to help me save my money in spite of myself.

To his credit, he has saved me tons of money throughout the years when I was all set to have something fixed that was not the actual problem.

So I tend to let him "try" things from time to time.

I allowed him to change out the solenoids and fluid first because just because he wanted to see if that would take care of the problem before I dumped the rest of my wallet into his cash drawer.

I knew that I was going to buy new solenoids as part of the complete rebuild anyway since I wanted everything that could be replaced, replaced.

I had a previous truck that we were able to fix by rebuilding the valve section but on this truck as soon as we dropped the pan it was obvious there were bigger problems.

Brown, burnt fluid that we had already seen on the dipstick and a layer of black residue coating the bottom of the pan.

I let him replace all of the solenoids, filter and top off the fluid just to see if it made any difference, but with no improvement, as we both expected.

So I instructed him to proceed with the rebuild.

Once the transmission was opened up we found wasted bands and clutches and lord knows what else.

Now, with everything replaced, it runs like a sewing machine and my gas mileage has returned to it's previous averages.

As for the symptoms leading up to the failure, they go a little something like this:

As I look back over my gas mileage records leading up to the failure, I can now see where my mileage was beginning to drop off by a mile or two per gallon per fill up.

At the time, I think I just looked at those figures and perhaps tried to drive a little more conservatively to regain my average mileage without success.

This was most likely the first signs of the clutches beginning to slip, but it was too subtle for me to take much notice.

Then one day I had to make a right hand turn into a main street and I got into the throttle a bit to blend into traffic.

The truck pulled well through first gear but the moment it shifted into second it was like I had bumped the transmission into neutral.

The engine free wheeled until I let off of the gas and the transmission dropped slowly into second gear.

This is what they called a lazy shift, when the transmission sort of slides into the next gear instead of shifting normally.

If I would let off of the gas at the time of the shift it would go ahead and shift into second and pull and shift into third normally.

A short while later when driving in fourth gear, the torque convertor quit locking up.

That is when I was convinced that a total rebuild was in the cards.



 
This a common problem w/ the 4L60E transmissions and generally will need to be rebuilt/overhauled at 100k+ miles. It's common across most Chevy trucks (e.g., Av, Silverado, Yukon, etc.); there were 4 other close model-year trucks in the trans shop when they overhauled mine 2 months ago.
 
Yeah EXT4ME, it definitely sounded like you needed a rebuild when you found all of the material in the pan.  These things adjust pressure trims to hit pre-programmed shift times.  When they hit the max pressure in their attempt to keep the trans shifting as new, it doesn't take too long to quickly go down-hill from there.  The 3-4 clutches in my truck and my son's AV went pretty quickly once they started acting up.
 
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