Chevy tranny noises

RenegadeT

RenegadeT

no shirt,no shoes,no dice
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Mar 24, 2005
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Stokesdale-Greensboro
2001 Suburban 1500 2wd 5.3l, I guess the tranny is a 4L60E. 178k miles on it, I've put the last 10k with no issues over the last year. Coming to a stop light today, it made a funny noise as it was decelerating, maybe second to first. Then kind of whining/grinding until I took of with the green light. Second/third sounded fine, but fourth was the same whining. I popped it in third and drove 3-4 mile to our destination. As I pulled in the parking lot, first gear, it was clanking like a locrite. I popped the hood, confirmed fluid level and color looked alright. It was more brown than red, but nothing alarming.
Some joker heard me roll in and started telling me my u joints were clanging, then started describing how a ujoint works. He must have just watched a YouTube video. I humored him and tried to shake the driveshaft at both ends, u joints looked alright. Man that driveshaft was huge, like 6" diameter, very thin wall though. I digress...my transmission was making a racket in first and fourth, and didn't sound good idling in neutral or park. So after me and the wife and kids and dogs enjoyed a shorter walk in the park than usual, we headed home safely. Confirmed noise in first, 2-3 Ok, but 4th whines.
I don't feel like working on a transmission. Suburban blue book is 3-4K in running shape. What might I be looking at here? I'm thinking probably transmission removal plus repair/replacement, but it'd really be nice if I could drop the pan and adjust the kanuter valve, fill with synthetic blinker fluid and rock on.
 
My first thought was sunshell.
 
If I'm not mistaken when the sun shell grenades, you'll lose 3 & 4. It's a common 4l60e fail. I used to be able to get a rebuilt unit for about $900 with a 30 day warranty.. but he quit building trans's. They sell upgraded sun shells and internals for the 60. There is a possibility it is a 4l65e but that's just a 60 with extra clutch discs and aforementioned upgrades from the factory, iirc.

If it is the sun shell and you have your trans rebuilt, Don't drive it!! If it grenades, it will share it's death with the rest of your internals and increase cost of rebuild or potentially trash the trans. Once you get particles thru the trans it tears everything up, seals, bores, valve body, pump, etc. If you replace it yourself be sure to flush, replace or bypass the cooler or you issue a death sentence for your replacement. Pm me if you want to get a deal on one thru advance. 3yr/100k warranty (have to double check that, don't hold me to that, may only be 30k)
 
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Want to borrow my transmission jack?
 
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