Blew the sun shell. 4L60e

[PitchBlackC3]

Well I was out in the C3 today. Did a fairly quick little take off and on the shift to 2nd BANG!. Now I have no 2nd, no 4th and no reverse. Looks like I blew the sun shell, so I get to do a little rebuilding. Not good timing, if a damaged trans ever is.

Questions:
I have read you can just replace the sun gear with the hardened unit in most cases and be fine. Where are the teeth that sheared off gonna be? Will the rest of the trans be contaminated?
Bearing in mind that this is behind a LQ4, what other parts should I replace while I am in there?

Discuss.

[truckinL33]

Buy a used 4l80e, might be cheaper. I don't know all that much about transmissions though...

[PitchBlackC3]

Not doing the 4L80e swap in this one. I would have to convert my transfer case over, get driveshafts shortened and lengthened, convert the harness etc. etc.
This truck doesn't need the 80 yet. Tons of people making a lot more power than I do running 60s.

Reading some more it looks like the sun shell usually separates leaving both pieces intact. Doesn't look like too bad of a job to get to it.
I have a trans I just pulled from a 2wd, I will probably experiment by taking it apart. If it looks too complicated I will let someone else do this job.

[WARLOCK]

Its pretty easy to just replace the sunshell. I have done several where I have just replaced the sunshell and put them back together and had no problems.

[txarkitekt]

Its pretty easy to just replace the sunshell. I have done several where I have just replaced the sunshell and put them back together and had no problems.

Ehhhhhh, you haver gotten lucky then. There should be all kinds of trash floating around in there. If the sun shell goes, I personally would go ahead and do a rebuild. Here is one of my favorite kits. I would also get a Beast Sun Shell.

[GasGuzzler]

Its pretty easy to just replace the sunshell. I have done several where I have just replaced the sunshell and put them back together and had no problems.

+1

Depends on how the shell died. If the weld is broken then it's really a no-brainer to replace only the shell....even using the GM part. If the splines are stripped it's a judgment call but I would still lean towards shell only.Think about how many hundreds of thousands have broken and how many were replaced by themselves. Sunshells have been a non-issue at the dealer level for almost EIGHT years after so many years of trouble.

[WARLOCK]

I usually go back in with the Beast on the ones I have done.

[PitchBlackC3]

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and order a Beast sun shell, tear into and see how it looks and determine from there. If everything looks kosher I'll put the new shell in and reinstall.

Should I go ahead and have a 2-4 band ready? Is it common for them to be worn? They don't cost very much, I don't mind spending a little while I am already in there.

I have a converter and corvette servo I bought but haven't installed yet. Any upgrades I should do in the valve body while I'm at it?

Luckily I have another truck to daily while I take a little time with this. I will probably still have it done quicker than a shop would get to it anyway.

[txarkitekt]

Should I go ahead and have a 2-4 band ready? Is it common for them to be worn? They don't cost very much, I don't mind spending a little while I am already in there.

If you are tearing into it, you might was well. Hence my reasoning for replacing/upgrading the other components while in there.

I have a converter and corvette servo I bought but haven't installed yet. Any upgrades I should do in the valve body while I'm at it?

Nice. Perfect time for a converter install! Fresh fluid, new components, etc.

Valvebody upgrades consist of installing a shift kit. Trans-Go HD2 is preferred.

[PitchBlackC3]

I guess the filter in the 2001 trans is the deep one?
As odd as it sounds, I am actually looking forward to doing this job. Something a little different, never done any work inside the trans other than a shift kit.