OK in 1st

[lordachilles]

On a rainy day I spun my wheels while trying to avoid an exiting semi-trailer. I heard a clunk in my trans and now I can move in first but no 2-4th and no reverse. I know it's an internal problem because I hear something rattling when the engine is running. What could it be???

1993 Lumina Z-34 Automatic.

[Rhedalert]

You sheared the reverse reaction drum. Total rebuild is necessary to repair. I did just that a few months ago.

You can thank GM for not using hardened steel to make it, but any aftermarket one IS. So if you get it rebuilt, you'll be good for a while.

[lordachilles]

Thanks alot. BTW...how much did you pay for a rebuild??

[Chris88CL]

I did the same thing in an old buick and punched internal tranny parts through the casing. It still drove in 1st, but wouldnt shift into any other gears (yes, even with the insides on the outside!). I got concerned when I couldnt change gears so I turned around a block from home and followed my trail of transmission fluid back.

Hopefully your transmission is rebuildable. Mine certainly wasnt.

[walterdude]

FWIW: Last spring had about the same thing happen to my 93 Z34. Was taking one last trip before taking it off the road for engine/tranny replacement. Going up a long hill there was a car next to me full of OLD people, like in treir 70s and no matter if I went faster or slower they stayed next to me!! So it was a last trip,,, I punched it at about 60 and CLUNK. RPMs went WAY up and speed went WAY down!! Only had first and just barely, wouldn't go over 5-10mph. Limped it to my friends house, I live 50 miles away, luckily I knew people in that town. Rebuilders said there's sprag clutches that can do that when they go. Don't know if that applies to you,,,, sounds like a rebuild/replacement is in the future anyway. You might want to jump over to www.certifiedtransmissions.com and get a quote for a reman. My trans was like $1200. plus shipping (core return included) and core, came to $1900 and a little change total. Core was $300 and if it's totally blown they pro-rate. 1 year warrantee. Did LOTS of research and never heard BAD things about Certified. What I did hear is they are one of the few remanufacturers that really know the 4T60Es. They were very helpful, my trans didn't have an ID tag and nobody else would even LOOK for a price even tho I had all info from GM. 3CWW and 3.43 ratio should have been enough, but nobody even tried. These guys said no prob. They don't keep 4T60Es on the shelf so they couldn't ship that day. I had it within 1.5--2 weeks. Have a motor with 59,000 miles and the tranny ready to go in, right now lacking facilities to do it so, can't tell you how it works,,, soon, but not yet. Can't wait, also replaced every bushing, bearing, ball joints, struts,,,,, anything that goes up or down or spins has been replaced/rebuilt. Should be good to go!! I see members near me I'd like to look up, I'm in East Haddam, CT, on the CT River. A little town of 9,000, I LOVE it!!
Hope this gives some food for thought, sorry bout the length of the post!!!
Tom...........

[lordachilles]

Right now I can't afford to buy a remanufactured trans. As luck would have it I broke down four days before my scheduled knee surgery. Disability payments are less than my normal paycheck and I don't have a high paying job. I was fortunate to be able to coast downhill to a parking area. Once there I checked for fliud leakage and there was none. I may just purchase all the rebuild parts and take it to a shop to have it installed. Maybe I can save some money before I return to work.

[walterdude]

No leaking fluid is a good thing. Your problem sounds EXACTLY like mine, high revs, clunk then no gears except first. The PCM went into "limp" mode and wouldn't go more than 5-10 mph. No leaking fluid. When I start it it makes real nasty internal noises. I mentioned replacement because in my case that seemed WAY less expensive than bringing it to a shop. In fact, around here most shops wouldn't even consider working on a 4T60E. The ones that would were talking a minimum of $2000 if I brought the tranny to them and they wouldn't warrantee it. Had quotes of much more than I'd even think about, like twice as much. And for a reman I only found 1 place cheaper, Rhino, because they didn't charge shipping. Didn't go with them cause I couldn't get enough info from them and couldn't find any kind of feedback on their product. Most remanufacturers wanted $2000-$3000 for a reman. Tried to get one through GM, my friend is Parts Manager at a dealer and gives me wholesale prices. They're not made any more. Found 1 reman in California and when we contacted them they said they had just scrapped it.
Rebuild kits are pretty cheap tho, and if you know someone to work on it for a resonable price maybe you could do better than I did. If you are good at working on things maybe you could even do it yourself? Doesn't seem like rocket science, just a WHOLE lotta parts. And you gotta be real careful to get/keep things clean and in the right place. Get a digital cam and take lots of pics of disassembly. There was a thread started on a do-it yourself rebuild here: http://60degreev6.com/showthread.php?t=34763 with no follow ups. Maybe a PM to him would get some input?
If you do replace, make sure it's a "remanufacture" and NOT a rebuild. Remanufacture incorperates any upgrades that have been introduced since original manufacture as Rhedalert talked about. Rebuild is just replacing the worn parts like clutches and bearings, etc.
Man, I wish you luck!! On the trans and especially your knee.... At least you'll be able to return to work. I've got both knees, but on the left side there's only a few inches below that! The rest is plastic and carbon fiber and sleeps on the floor!! And that's my GOOD leg!........
Again, GOOD LUCK!!!
I'd be interested to know how you make out.....
.....Tom.....

[walterdude]

http://www.donsauto.com

Edit: you have to do the search from their site. This is the stock #: Stock# D23087
Just for giggles, this is the tranny that was on the engine I bought. 59,000 miles, they want $299. The car was rear-ended. I've got pics of the car and it looks like it spent it's life in a garage. The engine looks pretty sweet, the plastic injector cover (says Twin Dual Cam) isn't even distorted. Judging from everthing about the engine I'd say someone loved the car and seldom drove it, 59,000 on a 93 IS pretty low mileage. From what I can tell the mileage is accurate. These seem to be good people to deal with and there is a 1 year warrantee on that tranny. They're in Binghamton, NY and will ship, if need be. It was $150 to ship the engine to CT and a tranny would be about half that to ship.

Not saying this is for you, just saying a search on http://www.car-part.com just might have a surprise for you. You might be able to find something to get you on the road for a couple of hundred.
Just another thought,,,,
....Tom....

[sharkey]

If you do replace, make sure it's a "remanufacture" and NOT a rebuild. Remanufacture incorperates any upgrades that have been introduced since original manufacture as Rhedalert talked about. Rebuild is just replacing the worn parts like clutches and bearings, etc.

you have that backwards. i work in a transmission shop as a re/re tech, and i have done a bit of building myself. we rebuild transmissions. rebuilding a transmission is replacing worn or damaged parts and doing updates that are needed. there are lots of updates for all transmissions, but they are not all nessesary nor are they all effective. everything we do is custom built for the application, we do not keep many units in stock ready to install into vehicles because the demands of different vehicles and drivers are different. for example, a 4l60e thats behind a 4.3l in a 2wd s10 doesnt need the firmer shifting and strength of a 2500 4x4 pickup with a 5.7 thats used for a work truck.

there are 2 types of remanufactured transmission, dealer and aftermarket. dealer remans are transmissions that have had the damaged parts replaced and everything put back to the exact factory specs. most dealer reman transmissions are cores that have come out of vehicles that had probelms under warrenty and they are taken and put back to oem spec.

aftermarket reman transmissions are a different story. its basicly mass rebuild of a transmission. they go through and pick out the updates and changes they feel will give the most bang for the buck and will help it last through the warrenty period. instead of having one builder doing the entire transmission, they have people doing teardowns of cores, washing and picking out the good parts. they have other people that build just pumps, others that do valve bodies, ect. all their units are built to the same spec.

[lordachilles]

http://www.donsauto.com
Edit: you have to do the search from their site. This is the stock #: Stock# D23087
Just for giggles, this is the tranny that was on the engine I bought. 59,000 miles, they want $299. The car was rear-ended. I've got pics of the car and it looks like it spent it's life in a garage. The engine looks pretty sweet, the plastic injector cover (says Twin Dual Cam) isn't even distorted. Judging from everthing about the engine I'd say someone loved the car and seldom drove it, 59,000 on a 93 IS pretty low mileage. From what I can tell the mileage is accurate. These seem to be good people to deal with and there is a 1 year warrantee on that tranny. They're in Binghamton, NY and will ship, if need be. It was $150 to ship the engine to CT and a tranny would be about half that to ship.

Not saying this is for you, just saying a search on http://www.car-part.com just might have a surprise for you. You might be able to find something to get you on the road for a couple of hundred.
Just another thought,,,,
....Tom....

I checked and Don's is now out of stock. Thanks anyway! I'll just get a rebuild.