Really? No problems with not putting the top bolt back in?

 

I do the top bolt with a really LONG extention and a wobbly socket. It's not that bad.

 

I'm going to try to put it all back together as correctly as I can.

I have a question though. When I drained the fluid from the transfercase it was blue, not red. I was under the impression that I should be running Dex IV in the trans and transfercase.

What is the correct fluid I should be running in the NP149?

Is Dex VI okay? What is the blue fluid?

 

Back in the day, they used Dex. GM has changed their recommended fluid in the NVG149 to the Autotrak II fluid. It has some type of friction modifier in it.

 

Not at all. The main purpose of the bolts is just to keep the trans from backing of the dowels. The latter keeps everything aligned in correct position. 4 bolts is more than adequate imo plus theres extra reinforcement from the bellhousing. The first time I pulled the trans I did put all the bolts back in but after that I said forget it.

 

The first thing I did today was head to the dealership and but the correct transfercase fluid.



Next I removed the grill and disconnected my factory cooler lines. I don't have a factory transmission cooler. So I ordered the correct transmission cooler lines from GM.



Hard to see in this photo, but I managed to snake them through. I removed the factory air dam and twisted the lines all around to get them through.



Here's the underside where the cooler lines snap into place.



It's crazy how much more massive the 4L80E is compared to the 4L60E.



Alright, so I've got the physical stuff down, but haven't completely figured out the wiring.

First there's this. I'm not sure if it needs to be connected or not.



Here's the wiring loom for my factory transfercase. The original transfercase had 5 connections. My NP149 has 1.

I'm not sure what plug to connect to the NP149 transfercase. I'm guessing the last one on the loom?



Then there's this. On the side of the 80E there are 2 spots where wiring could be plugged in. The rear one is blocked off, but the front one has this connector.



If I remember correctly, it's a VSS sensor. (I'm not positive, I'll have to search around.) The way folks used to do 80E swaps was to wire in this connector and have a segment swap done. I'm planning on running the factory 60E tune with relays.

So I'm not sure what gets done with the wiring. Does the front plug in the 80E get left unplugged? What plug from the wiring loom plugs into my NP149?

I got the 80E lined up and started threading in the bellhousing bolts. I was looking over the torque converter and noticed this gap. Is this normal? Do I just pull the converter out enough to bolt it to the flywheel? It does turn freely by hand.

 

Try and find a sticky by Vince B, he goes over proper tq conv. installation in great detail. You need to measure that gap and see if it's within spec or not. Just visually it looks to wide, mine never had that big of a gap if i remember. If it is out of spec you can shim it with washers.

 

Did you spec the convertor to bolt up to a 5.3? Looks like you need the flex plate, spacer and bolts from a 6.0 that came with a 4L80.

 

That wouldn't make any difference. Either flexplate setup puts the ring gear and the converter pads in the same place.

For the OP, it looks like it needs shimmed a little bit. Didn't your converter come with instructions? The spec on that gap is on the instruction sheet.

 

Instructions!?! LOL. Those are just manufacture's recommendations. Haha.



Seriously though, I don't know why I didn't think of looking for instructions.