Transmission trouble

anfking6908 · March 7, 2007

i have a 2000 GMC Sierra automatic. i was driving down the hiway and a red light said"idel engine...transmission hot" so i pulled over and killed my truck for 20 min wen i went to drive off if shifted out of first at 4000 RPM and wouldnt shift out of 2nd . the trans mission fluid smelt burnt... round about how much will it cost to have it fixed? do i need a new transmission?

ken1mod · March 7, 2007

yup. How many miles and what kind of maintenance.

Ken

Bish · March 7, 2007

What mileage are you at? Have you done regular fluid changes? Could be a stick solenoid (2-3 solenoid) which would be a relatively cheap fix. It could also be much worse with burnt frictions. If you've got 70K or more on it I would just have it rebuilt as it will likely need it soon anyhow. Shifting at 4K indicates it is in LIMP mode which raises line pressure to try to "limp" home. Tough to guess without taking it apart. I thought limp mode would set a code you should be able to pull.

Ken beat me to the post

lulu · March 7, 2007

i have a 2000 GMC Sierra automatic. i was driving down the hiway and a red light said"idel engine...transmission hot" so i pulled over and killed my truck for 20 min wen i went to drive off if shifted out of first at 4000 RPM and wouldnt shift out of 2nd . the trans mission fluid smelt burnt... round about how much will it cost to have it fixed? do i need a new transmission?

I would check the fluid 1st, and look for any metal in it. Unless you have access to a trans. shop, that's about all you can do because of the complexity of the work that may have to be done.

ken1mod · March 7, 2007

hey Bish,

you are tough to beat. I do think the 4l60e is a tough box. mine has 120000 on it and it is perfect. It is not a 4l80e but is entirely adequate for the job.

Ken

lulu · March 7, 2007

What mileage are you at? Have you done regular fluid changes? Could be a stick solenoid (2-3 solenoid) which would be a relatively cheap fix. It could also be much worse with burnt frictions. If you've got 70K or more on it I would just have it rebuilt as it will likely need it soon anyhow. Shifting at 4K indicates it is in LIMP mode which raises line pressure to try to "limp" home. Tough to guess without taking it apart. I thought limp mode would set a code you should be able to pull.

Ken beat me to the post

I bet it may be a stuck solenoid. It may be something worse now if he continued to drive it!

anfking6908 · March 9, 2007

well the truck has 133,256 miles and as far as i know it had regular maintenence... how would i tell if it was a stuck solinoid?

Bish · March 9, 2007

hey Bish,

you are tough to beat. I do think the 4l60e is a tough box. mine has 120000 on it and it is perfect. It is not a 4l80e but is entirely adequate for the job.

Ken

I have to agree with you Ken. My stock 4L60E lasted until about 144K of pretty hard driving. Just the frictions were wearing at that point and I could have gone longer if I didn't mine the 2-3 slip at WOT. I think as long as you change fluid regularly and don't throw big horsepower at it it can last a long time. I do believe in a 6,000lb truck it is about at it's capacity though.

\]

Back to SierraSS.....at that mileage, I think you are out of luck on a quick fix. Likely due for a rebuild at this point if you are getting slip.

Nice rig · March 9, 2007

I'm thinking since the fluid is burnt and it made 4k before shifting it's possibly toast and not a solenoid. If you bought the truck used you have no idea what kind of abuse it was subject to, and if you've had it since new and it burnt up with regular maintenance...well s**t happens. Take it to a tranny shop and have them check it out to be sure before jumping into a rebuild.