2005 Chevy 1500 4l60e Failure.

Itsme7 · May 8, 2011

Had the trans in my 2005 Silverado 1500 with 80.5k miles let go. I was driving along, heard a whoosh sound, next thing i know its like im in neutral. Coast to the red light, go to accelerate and nothing, nothing in any gears. Had to push the truck off the road. Luckly i have a good friend that works at a trans shop, gave me a tow to the shop for price of fuel. Also doing all the work, all i have to pay for is parts, i owe him a big one for this. So today we pull the trans/transfer case, took all of 45 mins. Started to pull it apart, and was pretty amazed. Pulled the pan off, full of metal. Start digging futher, and the forward planet set is completely messed up, the center splined piece sheared off of the planet set itself. Mind you, i bought this truck used with 74k miles, no idea what the previous owner has done to it, but ive babied the thing, never beat on it. Heaviest thing ive towed was my quad in the bed which weighs no more than 900 lbs. Here are a few pics i took along with the disassembly. Friend said hes never really seen this happened was was pretty amazed, specially since i have a stock truck power wise.

titanium10k · May 8, 2011

Had the sunshell strip out in my 02 at about 95k. I see it in the picture but can't tell, I thought they where modified by 05.

dlewis1111 · May 8, 2011

Had the fluid and filter ever been changed?

Itsme7 · May 8, 2011

Im not sure if it ever was changed, i was meaning to do it soon, only put 6k miles on it since i got it.

KMGZ400 · May 8, 2011

its a bad thing if the trans fluid is changed.... your not supposed to touch the fluid if its been in there for over about 50k. i did a fluid flush on one of my 4L60's with 115,000 miles and completely blew at 120,000.

aside from that, the 4L60's typically last dont last too far over 100k and its not too uncommon for failures under 100k.

jerksville · May 8, 2011

My 4L60e has 301,000 miles on it and it gets used. I tow a car trailer atleast 3-4 times a month if not more and never had an issue. Granted I change driveline fluids every 15k-20k no matter what. Ive done the tranny flush and filter on many vehicles well past 50k 4L60e's included with out a single problem. I think it depends more on driving habits and conditions more than anything and proper upkeep

I would say this tranny had a very hard life early on resulting what you see here

Itsme7 · May 8, 2011

I guess its a good time to change the fluid and filter right? LOL Heres a pic just for reference how the planet set is supposed to look like and what mine looked like lol.

KMGZ400 · May 9, 2011

My 4L60e has 301,000 miles on it and it gets used. I tow a car trailer atleast 3-4 times a month if not more and never had an issue. Granted I change driveline fluids every 15k-20k no matter what. Ive done the tranny flush and filter on many vehicles well past 50k 4L60e's included with out a single problem. I think it depends more on driving habits and conditions more than anything and proper upkeep

I would say this tranny had a very hard life early on resulting what you see here

i know of a few very high mileage 4L60's and some that have grenaded as low as 75,000 miles. im not saying its a bad tranny, theres a reason i still have all 4 speeds.

clemsonblozz · May 9, 2011

The 4l60e is in everything, and I think the failure rate is less than 1%..

That fluid looked horrible, and that paste in the pan? wtf

Itsme7 · May 9, 2011

Yep looks like i drew the short straw. My friend has a 2000 silverado, 190k miles on it and he beats the living snot out of it, orginal trans fluid and everything. No problems. Either the previous owner really beat the hell out of the trans, or i just happened to get one within the failure rate, because the 6k miles ive put on it since i got it have been easy ones. That paste that is on the bottom was super fine metal particles, luckly thats all that went through the trans and not large chunks like needle bearings, would have been real ugly then.

98 Z71 SLT · May 9, 2011

Guys...a fluid flush will not save a trans if the owner is beating the hell out of it.

I'm NOT saying the OP screwed up his trans. The original owner of the truck did.

OP--flush the cooler lines out

Itsme7 · May 9, 2011

Thanks, i will definitely remember to do that.

Guys...a fluid flush will not save a trans if the owner is beating the hell out of it.

I'm NOT saying the OP screwed up his trans. The original owner of the truck did.

OP--flush the cooler lines out

jerksville · May 9, 2011

My 4L60e has 301,000 miles on it and it gets used. I tow a car trailer atleast 3-4 times a month if not more and never had an issue. Granted I change driveline fluids every 15k-20k no matter what. Ive done the tranny flush and filter on many vehicles well past 50k 4L60e's included with out a single problem. I think it depends more on driving habits and conditions more than anything and proper upkeep

I would say this tranny had a very hard life early on resulting what you see here

i know of a few very high mileage 4L60's and some that have grenaded as low as 75,000 miles. im not saying its a bad tranny, theres a reason i still have all 4 speeds.

I hear ya. No offense meant to you. I just dont get how some vehicles have such failures. Ive never lost a engine, tranny, tcase, differential in any vehicle. Just blows me away when I see stuff like this. Just what the hell did the previous owner do to the truck to cause that much damage. Id expect to see a failure like this from a truck with the miles mine has deffinately NOT a truck with 80k.

BTW think the previous owner was the type who was still rolling in reverse when they put it into drive?