Okay, girlfriends truck, 2002 GMC Sierra 4.8 V8 Auto. Stock everything with 3.73 rear end, little bit of basic tuning with HP Tuners about 6 months ago, everything has been working fine.

I went to get on the freeway from a parking lot on the feeder, had to put it to the floor, when it went to shift from 1-2 it popped. Was left with only 1st and 3rd gear, no Reverse, 2nd or 4th (OD).

I am assuming I broke the 2-4 band, but not 100% sure of course. What should I do? The rest of the trans is in good shape, never had a problem before, has 79,000 miles on it, fluid looks nice and pink and new... Should I try to get just the band (or servo if it happens to be the servo) replaced or should I get the whole thing rebuilt (what extras should I add if so) or should I just go to the local salvage yard, buy a 4L80E and swap it in? If I swap in the 4L80E what all has to be changed? Is there a link to somewhere on the net that has detailed info about the swap from 60E to 80E?


Thanks!

 

The truck has broken or stripped out sun shell. In our rebuilds we address that failure and to date I have not had it happen again. Feel free to give us a call to discuss your situation when you have time. Vince

 

A 4.8L is far from needing an 80E. Transmissions will fail, even 80E's. Just fix the sunshell like Vince is saying and you'll be fine.

 

FLT level 3 for that truck maybe a 4...

 

if the truck is going to stay stock, with the exception of a tune, i'd just toss in a junkyard 60e. if she (or you) is going to mod it then i'd look into getting a built tranny.

 

If the sunshell broke, you won't see low/reverse drum lockin with the band. Like Vince said, there's your issue. After rebuilding mine a few times b/c of a few things, save your money, and go for the L4. Money well spent. Plus, FLT (as well as Performabuilt) have specials on their built transmissions. I can tell ya from experience, those Illinois guys have top notch customer service. Not to mention a product that's proven. These guys put more into a transmission than you see listed on a web page.

 

I think we have pretty much decided on buying a level 3 trans from FLT. I don't think this truck needs the Level 4, no high horsepower future mods are planned for this truck.

 

We did agree that we may do a few BPU type mods to the engine, probably nothing internal, just external, exhaust, intake, and some more tuning with HPTuners. I didn't see much difference from the Level 3 to Level 4 trans, honestly I think the Level 3 is a badass transmission for the money. Will be nice in that GMC for sure. Vince, if you can, please shoot me a quote for the FLT Level 3 (with the 10% discount?) to my email sales@db-r.com


Thanks!

 

The price would be $1395 for a level 3 with the 10% off and the shipping will be $250 to Houston round trip. Vince

 

Sorry I haven't responded, been hella busy. Sound like a really good deal. Will get in touch with you to order before this coming Friday. You do take Mastercard right? BTW: I like the price! Will drop the pan soon on the factory trans to check for debris like you suggested, If it's bad will see what kind of deal I can get on a rebuilt converter, but being that it had so many miles on it (80,000) before it went I would guess any debris are probably small and would have gotten stopped in the filter.

Just out of curiousity, any idea why GM doesn't put better shells in these transmissions? Sounds like a common problem with a simple and cheap remedy. Do the HP 60E's (like for Camaro's or Vette's) have a crappy weak shell too? Do they even put 60E's in the camaro's and vettes anymore? I know the older models used them, no idea what is in the newer vettes etc, as I prefer manual trans...

Will the Level 3 hold up good with no torque management or should I put some of it back in? I would think it will hold just fine, but thought I'd ask. Also what torque rating would you give your level 3 trans (being on the safe side with it) because we may do a few mods to the truck later on, doubt we will do an engine swap or anything though so I don't expect a lot of torque from the 4.8.