I wuz driving around doing some errands in town (roughly 20 miles worth if that helps this post) when I came to a fairly big hill near my house. I started up it and I went to give it gas to keep my speed and I had nearly zero power and it wuz shifting funny. I kept pressing on the gas peddle until I got power but I had it floored in no time and I wasn't making any headway. I left it sit cause I was already late for work and it didn't get driven for about a week (i wuz nervous as **** just to start it). I took it out today and the same thing happened only not as bad so I checked the trans fluid and I wuz about a quart low so I got it back up to proper level and that took care of the shifting but I still don't have a lot of power. 3rd and 4th seem to be the worst. I noticed the trans fluid smelled really burn and has barely any red tint to it any more. My trans has 155,000 miles on it. I want to take it in and get a filter/fluid change but I get people on both sides telling me "that's a good idea" and "don't even touch what's in there, there's too many miles". What do I do???

 

a fluid and filter change would not hurt, other than money wise. If this problem continues it most likely be time for a rebuild or replacement of the trans.When the new filter is put in look at the bottom inside of the pan and see if you have little metal filings or other debris that might indicate the guts of your tranny are giving up the ghost. Keep us informed so we can help you figure out whats going on.

 

Service the transmission and then start saving your money for a new tranny...

 

Should I stick with the fluid/filter exchange or chance a whole tranny flush???

 

the fluid is burnt, ok, it cant hurt to change it, if theres damage then its already happened, it just goingto get worsebut, no pwer at higher gears/speeds....tp sensor? shift solenoid? clogged valve body? detent cable? 4l60e or 700r4?

 

It's a 4L60E. I took it over to a local lube shop and they did a full tranny flush which seems to have helped quite a bit. It's shifting really smoothly and at lower rpm's but it still seems like it lagging at higher speeds (55+). I drove it about 3 miles to get the new fluid pumped through the system but had to park it for work. Where would I find the TP sensor??? I'm open to any fix since i'm probably gonna drive this bad boy into the ground. Thanx for the advice so far guyz

 

depends on the year and the 8th digit of the vin....tp= throttle position sensor, the forums also told me to check/clean all thepcm grounds, i found the main pcm ground on the top of theframe, near the lower raditator hose on my 96 blazer vin w,,,
after all the checking and cleaning and testing, i still have to replace my trans,,,,

 

Your tranny is toast!
Changing the fluid may get you some performance back, however the new fluid will remove the debris in the seals/gaskets. Once that debris is goneso is the tranny. Your fix is a rebuild. you may buy yourself a couple weeks, maybe even a month. However the lack of power at higher speeds indicates your losing your 3/4 clutch pack, hence the dark burnt fluid. No way to put material back on clutch packs, not even with a fluid change. Only way to fix the rpoblem is a rebuild.

For future information, changing tranny fluid will generally not fix a tranny problem, and YES it could actually make the problem worse and lead to the demise of your tranny.

Let me elaborate so you understand.
Heat is the number one reason a tranny fails. Teh heat causes the gaskets/seals to harden. When they are hard they dont seal as well, thus causeing the tranny to slip more than it was designed to slip. this slippage adds more heat, and it also wears off some of the clutch pack. What was worn off finds its way into the gasket/seal leaks and actually helps them to seal a little better. Thus hidding the problem. This goes on until one day your driving up a hill and notice you dont have any power. You attempt a fix by replacing the tranny fluid. Problem with that istranny fluid is full of detergents. Those detergents will remove the debirs that is stuck in teh gasket/seals.Sure it may seen like the flush helped initially, however generally within 3 months you will have no option but a rebuild.

When a tranny has high miles its a gamle if you shouldchange it or not. Teh best adviceis to add one quart ofLucas tranny treatment. Evenif your already full. The tranny will puke out the excess fluid when hot via the vent tube on top of the tranny. It may end up on your exhaust pipe and smoke like hell so don't be alarmed. Having too much fluid is not a problem,not having enough fluid is amajor problem.

As for proper tranny maintenance. Drain the pan once per year and top off with 4-5 quarts of new fluid. Do the change more often if youdrive in extreme conditions frequently (towing, live in hilly/mountainous terrain, stop andgotraffic, 4wheel, or drive mostly on dirt roads). The easiest way to drain the pan is to install a drain plug, have it done during the rebuild.

If your rmechanically inclined,and want to save some coin. You can remove/reinstall the tranny yourself. Look for my thread in the Do-it-Yourself section, page 2 or 3 I belive.

you have several options to replace the tranny.
1) Salvage yard- hlaf the price of rebuild. Get a 30 warrenty. GM put our trannies in all rear wheel dirve light duty trucks and cars.There are some restrictions based on year of vehicle.

2) New tranny- GM has agreat warrenty, and around here the warrenty is good even if you in stall the tranny. Costs a little more than a rebuild.

3) Rebuild- In my opinion the best option. A good shop can build that tranny to be practically indistructable, even for 4wheeling behind a high horsepowerV8. Teh aftermarket has been beefing up this tranny foralmost 30 years now. Your options are only limited by your pocket pbook.

Check out this site and you will see what I mean.
http://www.transmissioncenter.net/4l60e.htm
You can buy everything to go from mild to wild.

 

hanr3 nailed it right on the head, and my thought is rebuilding yours will be the most bang for your bucks

 

Awwww. Well, I guess i'll start savin my coinage... Thanx for all the info Hanr3, I don't know squat about trannys so this all might as well be Japanese and you explained it really well.