Motor-Tranny

OUMike · September 23, 2003

Hey everyone,

Gotta 94' 4.3L SWB. What transmission is that? 700R4 or 400R4? Which tranny is compatible with a 350?

MCourson · September 23, 2003

I know that the 700R4 will work with a V8 because that is what was in our old vette. My '94 has a 4l60E.

OUMike · September 23, 2003

How can I find out which one I have? RPO codes?

OUMike · September 23, 2003

Just found it...

M30 Transmission: 4L60-E, 4-Speed Automatic, Electronic

Total bummer...guess I won't be makin' any V8 swaps.

robsawatsky · September 23, 2003

Why no V8. The 4L60E was/is used on 1500 pickups, suburbans, tahoes/yukons with V8's up to the 5.7.

OUMike · September 23, 2003

hmm....sounds good.

MCourson · September 23, 2003

Yep my V8 has the 4l60E. When I upgrade to more power I will also be upgrading to a beefed up 700R4 or TH400 though.

OUMike · September 24, 2003

TH400...thats what I was thinking...is there even a 400R4?

lowflyer · September 24, 2003

The V6 4L60E has a 60deg bolt pattern to the engine, and the V8 4L60E has a 90deg bolt pattern. A V6 4L60E will not bolt up to a V8. Sorry. But on the up side, when you buy a V8 4L60E, it will bolt into the truck without any problems. Good luck.

OUMike · September 24, 2003

94' Vortec motors are 90 degrees. How would it be possible for a tranny with a 60 degree bolt patern to bolt to a motor with 90 degree?

Actually now that I think about it...ALL GM truck motors are 90 degrees. I believe the only 60 degree motor are the 3800 series motors used in the Camaro/Firebird/Grand Prix/Monte Carlo.

LARSONEM · September 24, 2003

The 700R4 is transmission that GM used in all 1/2 based trucks including full sized Blazer, Jimmy & Suburban during the first 3/4's of the 1980's until the new truck came out in 1988. I don't believe it has much in terms of electronics on it. I had one in a full sized 1985 GMC Jimmy. It was a complete piece of junk. It locked up and was full of metal shavings at 7500 miles. The replacement never did shift right into OD, at least not until about 60 mph. Attempts to lower the shift point provided negative results in terms of the motor struggling to keep up, shudder, engine ping etc. Of course the 305 V-8 (5.0L) wasn't a strong motor either.

95_togo · September 24, 2003

94' Vortec motors are 90 degrees. How would it be possible for a tranny with a 60 degree bolt patern to bolt to a motor with 90 degree?

did they evevn make a vortec in 94? i bought mine in 95 and from what i remember, the vortec wasn't offered until 96 as i wasa severly disappointed with the HP output of my 95 as the 96 vortec boasted like 275 HP or something like that!!

leathal02 · September 25, 2003

1996 was the first year for the vortec, but with 255 HP and I believe it was 330 ft/lbs

MCourson · September 25, 2003

94' Vortec motors are 90 degrees. How would it be possible for a tranny with a 60 degree bolt patern to bolt to a motor with 90 degree?

did they evevn make a vortec in 94? i bought mine in 95 and from what i remember, the vortec wasn't offered until 96 as i wasa severly disappointed with the HP output of my 95 as the 96 vortec boasted like 275 HP or something like that!!

I dont remeber when it started but the V6s were Vortecs in 94.

MCourson · September 25, 2003

The 700R4 is transmission that GM used in all 1/2 based trucks including full sized Blazer, Jimmy & Suburban during the first 3/4's of the 1980's until the new truck came out in 1988. I don't believe it has much in terms of electronics on it. I had one in a full sized 1985 GMC Jimmy. It was a complete piece of junk. It locked up and was full of metal shavings at 7500 miles. The replacement never did shift right into OD, at least not until about 60 mph. Attempts to lower the shift point provided negative results in terms of the motor struggling to keep up, shudder, engine ping etc. Of course the 305 V-8 (5.0L) wasn't a strong motor either.

The first year of the 700R4 was in 1982. We happened to have a 1982 Vette not too long ago. Yes when they first came out they were not that good. My uncle rebuilt it an updated it to the later 700R4. After that it was a great transmission. Under normal driving it would shift smoothe and when you hit the gas it would bang some gears. This was also on a Cross Fire car so it wasn't the greatest performer but if you knew what you were doing with the Cross Fire Injection it wasn't the piece of crap that everyone makes it out to be. I would like to know when was the last year of the 700R4. Im pretty sure they were used in 1990 C/K trucks.