Auto-Trans Advice Requested

[Granny]

I am in dire need of some advice from the automatic transmission gurus. My son has a 2000 Blazer/4.3/auto. The transmission died suddenly. Based on what I see and hear I would guess the sun gears are the culprit. The fluid is clean with no burn whatsoever, and the car drove and shifted properly right up to the point that it gave out. He already has more invested in the vehicle than it is worth, but with as many problems that have been already been corrected it seems foolish to give up now. My question is that if we pull the tranny and verify that the problem is the sun gears, can we simply replace the bad gears and put it back together. Assuming the old gears stripped, there will obviously be some metal in the trans. Can we take it out with a magnet or possibly will the filter grab it up? Can we do a quick fix on it so he can at least drive it for a while? The vehicle is not worth another $1500-$2000 for a rebuilt transmission. All feedback appreciated... ThanX!

 

[broncosbybart]

I've only worked on C4's. They need to come all apart to check the gears. I would guess that the Blazer trans is the same. Probably no easy fix. I would have the whole trans rebuilt, as they were supposed to have inferior friction material, or so I recall hearing.

@transman731 would be able to set you straight.

 

[XJsavage]

I don't see a 4l60e costing more than $500 or so for a mild rebuild.

 

[transman731]

if it stripped, it can replaced with the sun gear as long as the 3-4 clutches are good. i don't recommend just doing that,but it can be done. i don't know where xjsalvage is buying his parts, but i put more than 500 in every 4l60e i build.
if it happened suddenly it most likely broke the neck on the sunshell which is better than stripping.

 

[XJsavage]

Sorry, out sick from work yesterday with a fever. Read it as you needed one freshened up.

 

[Granny]

Thanks to all who replied! As of now, it appears we may have got lucky. I called a local trans shop yesterday, I know the owner, and based on the symptoms he seems positive that the sun shell is probably cracked. He gave us what I believe to be a very decent price on fixing it, and that includes him taking it out and putting it back in. So for now, we just hope nothing else surfaces. Again, thanks for the replies.

 

[89wrangler]

Thanks dad!

 

[Granny]

Thanks dad!

Yer welcome son! Bet you've worn those same shoes!

 

[Granny]

Update...

Tranny fixed, but not as simple as we had hoped... something had let loose and gone through the planetary gears. It tore some stuff up pretty good. The sun shell was actually in good shape, but sun gear was iffy, and was also replaced. Rebuild required. Not cheap, but obviously necessary.

Lesson learned..... never anticipate getting off easy.

 

[benXJ]

Cheaper to go the junkyard route? Just curious.

 

[catfishblues]

Cheaper to go the junkyard route? Just curious.

Not when the first two or three transmissions you pull out of the yard are there because they failed. Or when you don't know if it's going to go in the next 100 miles or not. It's a common enough problem with the th700 that it'd be worth the peace of mind to me to let somebody go through it and not worry when it was going to happen again. Because it's just that. Not "If," but when. Sooner or later, it seems the sunshell or something related catches almost all of them.

 

[Granny]

Cheaper to go the junkyard route? Just curious.

Tried that, it's a 2k year, and 2WD. Big book the yard uses as reference says that trans is unique to 2k only. We could only find 4WD models, and no 2k.

Not when the first two or three transmissions you pull out of the yard are there because they failed. Or when you don't know if it's going to go in the next 100 miles or not. It's a common enough problem with the th700 that it'd be worth the peace of mind to me to let somebody go through it and not worry when it was going to happen again. Because it's just that. Not "If," but when. Sooner or later, it seems the sunshell or something related catches almost all of them.

I fully agree!