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transgo 4l60e-hd2 install, and a couple upgrades

34K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  jrsride2002 
#1 ·
i first decided to install the transgo shift kit to fix the p1870 code, which is hard shift from 1- 2 and 2-3 after tranny reaches operating temp. mostly after highway trips. and decided to install a couple of other items since i was gonna be in there.
i found this video in the transgo website and it was very helpful i recommend you guys watch it before attempting this: http://transgoonline.com/4L60E_HD2Video.html

PARTS USED:

* transgo 4l60e-hd2 shift kit
* Sonnax 77998-03K 1-2 3-4 PINLESS ACCUMULATOR PISTON
* transgo 46-PLT-96 heavy duty valve body plate
* 4l60e 2nd gear corvette servo :
Corvette servo pistons provides firmer shifts for competition, heavy duty and pro-street use.
*sonnax 4th gear super hold servo : The "Super Hold" 4th Gear Servo features 40% more apply surface area for greater holding power. Can be used in stock applications for greater 4th gear (overdrive) holding power.
* torlon checkballs .250" they are made out of plastic to prevent valve body wear caused by the factory steel balls (the .250 are the factory size balls, if you have a badly worn out valve body you may need to get the bigger .312" balls to help)
* SONNAX: 77987-01K PINLESS FORWARD CLUTCH ACCUMULATOR Piston : In 4L60E units it is common for the plastic forward accumulator piston to wear or crack. This causes a fluid loss, resulting in a delayed engagement, slips, burned clutches and/or band. Repeated reciprocation of the accumulator piston causes the piston pin bore to wear. Fluid loss through the piston pin bore or cracks causes forward clutch to slip. The Sonnax pinless forward accumulator piston kit 77987-01K eliminates these problems
* B&M 80250 Universal Transmission Drain Plug Kit (FORGOT TO INSTALL)
six quarts of ATF, new filter(short or long) depending on the pan you got.

TOOLS REQUIRED:

3/8" speed wrench (most important tool) trust me it makes everything easy.
13mm, 10mm, 8mm sockets, ratchet and extension.
bench vise or big c clamp 5"
flat blade screwdriver (doenst matter what size)
hammer, prybar
Picks in different angles
snap ring pliers (LONG NOSE) AND REGULAR PLIERS
clothes you are never gonna wear again
lots of towels, nitrile gloves, safety goggles,a few cardboard boxes to catch all the fluid that WILL spill everywhere.

the kit itself was not difficult to install but it was one of those things that make you think, this was the first time i have ever been inside the tranny, so it took me twice as long to install everything :D here are the instructions for the kit itself:
TransgoHD-2.jpg
TransgoHD-2-1.jpg
TransgoHD-2-2.jpg
TransgoHD-2-3.jpg
TransgoHD-2-4.jpg
TransgoHD-2-5.jpg
the instructions are fairly simple and straight forward, i did run into some problems that the instructions did not fully explain such as how to open the 2nd accumulator housing to change the springs. answer there is a small hole in the back of the housing where you can fit a small screwdriver and pound the pin out with a hammer. also with the 2nd servo cover all the instructions say is remove the snap ring and add the new spring i ended up having to use my bench vise to compress the housing down since is under some strong spring tension just to remove the snap ring a "C" CLAMP will work fine too. also when installing the new springs into the housing DO NOT INSTALL ANY OF THE SPACERS described in page 1, the spacers combined with the corvette 2nd speed servo will cause some stiff shifts out of 1st gear when hammering down the gas pedal ask me how i know :lol: here are some pics in order:
accumulator housing.jpeg
2nd servo dissasembly.jpg


here are some pics of the other parts and where they need to go:
sonnax pinless accumulator piston.JPG
Sonnax-3-4 pinless piston.jpg
another problem that i ran into was during reassembly nothing major just tedious the bolts that hold one of the electronic valves sorry i dont know what is called broke on me cause they where not treading all the way into their holes and the other one was about to break too i just ended up getting a couple of washer and adding them in between to hold it in place
valve body.jpg
a little useful pics for the actual location of the checkballs:
checkballsin4l60e10.jpg
4L60EValveBodyLowerBallsLg.jpg
now lets move over to the servos.
sonnax super hold servo.jpg
first you got to remove the heat shield on the pass. side of the tranny that is held in place by two 10mm bolts, step two is to push down on the servo cover with the prybar to remove the snap ring that holds it in place. here are a couple of videos that explain the process: 1st video shows how to remove the parts and the second shows how to put everything back and how to measure the travel of the pin for different applications which i needed the most since i was adding the corvette second speed servo and the sonnax 4th servo in my first attempt at test fitting the servos i used the washer provided with the sonnax servo plus one of the golden rings from the transgo kit shown in page one, test fit the servos WITHOUT ANY O-RINGS FIRST as per the video and sonnax instructions because the o-rings will change the way the pin travels so the travel must be achieved first without them.. on my second try i removed both the washers and i got the travel needed without grinding down the tip of the pin. put everything together and after i did i noticed that i had forgotten to install the drain plug kit that i bought :banghead: :screaming: but oh well i guess ill add it in a couple of months when i change the fluid...
i have been driving it now for 1 month and it drives great except for that i added one spacer in the 2nd accumulator housing so i cant slam down on the gas when taking off otherwise it will feel like a mule kicking, i have noticed better fuel economy, better acceleration on flat streets and when going up hills it feels like it has more power now i haven't noticed much of a difference in the freeway yet concerning the sonnax servo as far as the p1870 code is completely gone and buried i have been driving it hard and mean on the freeway to see if i get any of the symptons back and is completely fixed so im happy about that, total time spent installing this with no tranny experience whatsoever 6hrs, will i ever do it again? YES i feel more confident now after i've done it, and will tear it down again in a couple of months when i change the fluid just to get that damm spacer out of there.. :evil: let me know what you guys think, open to comments or questions.. cheers :cheers:
 
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#3 ·
I used a sonnax 2nd accumulator spring (no spacer) and vette servo; you still get a very agressive shift into 2nd. I think it might be better to just leave the stock spring in if you plan on doing the vette servo. This has been mentioned before. Great job on the write up! Don't forget that drain plug next time, makes things sooooo much easier.
 
#7 ·
cowboydan said:
how much did you pay for the kit?
Cowboy,
I know I am not the OP, nor do I have his cost.
However, I can answer form me because I am getting balls deep into this project.

I just spent about ~$250-$300 for everything. I went shopping between ebay and Summit. I am always happy to shop at Summit, and the pricing was better then Ebay on the TransGo and servo stuff. Wear as the checkballs, and Sonnex stuff was cheaper at ebay. However, I did bust out the calculator to compair ebay against Transmission Parts USA... By face value, Transmission Parts was cheaper. But because they are a brick & mortar shop, I knew taxes + shipping would make it a little more costly(something like $20 more). With ebay, I found free shipping making it the cheaper winner. And was taxed only from the shop in CA, not from the shop I ordered from thats in NJ. As for the shipping times and such, we are going to have to wait it out :handgestures-fingerscrossed:
But I am in no hurry so I dont care about shipping times. Its always the honesty that is the gamble....

I am thinking I wont even be ready to do this project until the second week of February.

I will repost when back when I get completed with this.
~Junior
 
#8 ·
ok. i'm looking into wether this needs to be done to my project car, or just throw a 5speed in there. autos are tipically easier on the drive train, and a few other perks, but now that i'm not allowed to eat and drive or change my shoes, ya know, i may just get board into the 5speed. who knew a regal could have a 4l60e put into it...hehehe
 
#9 ·
OK, got all my orders in late last week(thrusday and saturday) so I am happy with ordering from both ebay sellers. Summit is a no brainer in my opinion. Desided to go further into the project and replace other stuff. May make a write up on that.

OOOOOHHHHH, do I like shinny stuff!!!! Even if I dont get to see, I like it

~Junior
 
#10 ·
Update:
Had a shop rebuild the trans, install my kit, and the corvette servo. With the Kit it, I now have the 1870. The van does NOT come out of second gear. From a dead stop, second gear. 70mph on the freeway, second gear. Only would shift into first while going up a serious hill with the pedal on the floor.... :screaming: :screaming:

~Junior
 
#13 ·
jrsride2002 said:
Update:
Had a shop rebuild the trans, install my kit, and the corvette servo. With the Kit it, I now have the 1870. The van does NOT come out of second gear. From a dead stop, second gear. 70mph on the freeway, second gear. Only would shift into first while going up a serious hill with the pedal on the floor.... :screaming: :screaming:

~Junior
OK, got the van back about 2 weeks ago. I have towing, hauling, camping, and moving since then. I have added about 1000 miles in a short time, but I LOVE this mod. The mechanic didn't know what really happened, but after calling Transgo, talking to them with that went on, it turned out that the valve body went into some sort of "Limp mode". My mechanic didn't know what to do, so he took it to some transmission specialist shop, and they fixed it up. Said some kind of manifold died because of the modification.... Dont ask me, I dont know, nor do I care at this point. I can drive it happily.

When I first got it back, it REALLY slams you back into the seat with that corvette servo. How ever, when I had towed about ~5000lbs, it was nice as sooth, with a subtle bump for a shift. In time the springs will soften and seat better, and make it easier to accept for doing light to light stop and go. But I love it as it sits. I like how rough the shifting is, makes me feel there is no lag shifts between gears.

Should be a interesting drive when I move to Texas,
~Junior
 
#14 ·
OK, now im in Texas. :rockon:

The mod still feels great! Good news is that it doesnt shift so hard. It still shifts kinda hard, but not like it did when it was first installed.
I for sure notice it stays in 4th gear when it did some inclines when I was in San Diego(normally they would drop in to third or second). So that was really cool.
Now after roughtly a month and a half, the shifting into second is not so violent. Unless you gas it, then it shows you who's boss

Just my recap. Will update in another month maybe?? :shrug:
~Junior
 
#15 ·
Very interesting that you noted that the tranny stays in OD (4th) longer on hills/inclines.

My tanny does't stay in OD even on the flats now... I was thinking it was my torque converter clutches.

Herminator
 
#16 ·
Herman Wiegman said:
Very interesting that you noted that the tranny stays in OD (4th) longer on hills/inclines.

My tanny does't stay in OD even on the flats now... I was thinking it was my torque converter clutches.

Herminator
Yea, I did TCC, clutches, and bands when I did mine. Wasnt cheap thats for sure...
~Junior
 
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