4L60E Trans in my 02 Silverado

[slowrideCX]

Today I am changing the shifting solenoids and the lockup solenoid because out of the blue on Sunday my SES light came on and it stopped shifting propperly. Came up with code po753 shift solenoid 1-2 electrical A

It seems to be a problem that occurrs mainly once it is heated up. At least yesterday when I first started driving it all seem ok again till it came up to temp. Then the light came on again and it stopped shifting correctly.

Anyone have any pointer/thoughts?

Everything I have read , watched , heard from others say it should be cut and dry. Hope all is correct.

The truck was shifting fine on Sat when I drove to North Jersey and put on over 250 miles round trip. Evenr Sun morning my son and I ran to the hardware store and it was fine. Few hrs later went out to pick up lunch and on the way home bam!!! It fucked up.

[rockmeupto125]

Careful with that arm. I'm limiting myself to oil changes. I even got Jess to do the bigger jobs.

[slowrideCX]

Careful with that arm. I'm limiting myself to oil changes. I even got Jess to do the bigger jobs.

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Got her welding huh.... sweet.

I am being careful with my arm but my thought is the worst I can do is totally tare it and then the Dr has no choice but to surgically repair it.

Fuck it. They told me that if it didn't hurt I could do it so until it starts to hurt I push it. Its been a few weeks so the healing has started .

What is the Dr saying about your shoulder? How are you feeling?

[slowrideCX]

The operation was a complete success. Changed all 4 solenoids and my truck feels like new again.

[Furbird]

If you really want to scare yourself, put a trans temp gauge on your truck and watch what it does even without pulling any load. It is RIDICULOUS how hot these things run with the tranny cooler going through the radiator like they do from the factory. Instead of using outside air temp as your baseline, your baseline is now whatever temp your truck runs at. So if your coolant is 200 degrees, that's where your tranny STARTS it's temp at. Check this out:

Here is a very important fact that you should memorize. Your transmission is designed to work at a maximum temperature of around 200 degrees. For every 20 degrees you go over 200 degrees, you cut the transmission’s excepted life span by a factor of two. In other words, at 220 degrees your transmission will only last half as long as it was originally designed to. At 240 that number drops to ¼ the normal life expectancy. Get up to 260 degrees and that number drops to 1/8^th. At 280 degrees it drops all the way down to 1/16^th. Now you understand why it’s so important to keep your automatic transmission cool!

My van from the factory consistently hit 240 degrees trans fluid temp. May God have mercy on your soul if you tow with it. So what am I getting at? Change your fluid regularly (like 30,000 miles MAXIMUM) and convert to an EXTERNAL trans cooler.

[slowrideCX]

If you really want to scare yourself, put a trans temp gauge on your truck and watch what it does even without pulling any load. It is RIDICULOUS how hot these things run with the tranny cooler going through the radiator like they do from the factory. Instead of using outside air temp as your baseline, your baseline is now whatever temp your truck runs at. So if your coolant is 200 degrees, that's where your tranny STARTS it's temp at. Check this out:

Here is a very important fact that you should memorize. Your transmission is designed to work at a maximum temperature of around 200 degrees. For every 20 degrees you go over 200 degrees, you cut the transmissions excepted life span by a factor of two. In other words, at 220 degrees your transmission will only last half as long as it was originally designed to. At 240 that number drops to ¼ the normal life expectancy. Get up to 260 degrees and that number drops to 1/8^th. At 280 degrees it drops all the way down to 1/16^th. Now you understand why its so important to keep your automatic transmission cool!

My van from the factory consistently hit 240 degrees trans fluid temp. May God have mercy on your soul if you tow with it. So what am I getting at? Change your fluid regularly (like 30,000 miles MAXIMUM) and convert to an EXTERNAL trans cooler.

Wow... I never looked into that. I will be adding a trans cooler to my truck.

I don't do any heavy hauling with it just light trailers but even still.

The truck has 207, 000 miles on it so I guess I am gonna count my blessings that it still runs as good as it does.

Thanks for the info.

[superhawk996]

If you really want to scare yourself, put a trans temp gauge on your truck and watch what it does even without pulling any load. It is RIDICULOUS how hot these things run with the tranny cooler going through the radiator like they do from the factory. Instead of using outside air temp as your baseline, your baseline is now whatever temp your truck runs at. So if your coolant is 200 degrees, that's where your tranny STARTS it's temp at. Check this out:

Here is a very important fact that you should memorize. Your transmission is designed to work at a maximum temperature of around 200 degrees. For every 20 degrees you go over 200 degrees, you cut the transmission’s excepted life span by a factor of two. In other words, at 220 degrees your transmission will only last half as long as it was originally designed to. At 240 that number drops to ¼ the normal life expectancy. Get up to 260 degrees and that number drops to 1/8^th. At 280 degrees it drops all the way down to 1/16^th. Now you understand why it’s so important to keep your automatic transmission cool!

My van from the factory consistently hit 240 degrees trans fluid temp. May God have mercy on your soul if you tow with it. So what am I getting at? Change your fluid regularly (like 30,000 miles MAXIMUM) and convert to an EXTERNAL trans cooler.

This is what the cooler salesmen tell you to scare you into buying their product. Tho your coolant temp may show 200, that's the temp leaving the motor. The cooler is always at the cold end of the radiator and way below that or the engine would overheat long before you could hurt the trans. Regardless, the trans and the fluid will not be damaged at all at 220. Externals can help if you NEED one, but hurt otherwise. You want the fluid to warm up as fast as possible and if the fluid always stays cold it'll accumulate water and other stuff and be a bigger problem. You want all your oils to regularly get hot enough to shed water or it will accumulate. At 207K miles you've proven you don't need a cooler. Would the solenoid have lasted longer with one, maybe. Would the fluid have accumulated water and possibly become acidic and attacked stuff with one, maybe. I have many cars & trucks, and tow regularly. I've never lost a trans and don't have any add on coolers.

[Furbird]

This is what the cooler salesmen tell you to scare you into buying their product. Tho your coolant temp may show 200, that's the temp leaving the motor. The cooler is always at the cold end of the radiator and way below that or the engine would overheat long before you could hurt the trans. Regardless, the trans and the fluid will not be damaged at all at 220. Externals can help if you NEED one, but hurt otherwise. You want the fluid to warm up as fast as possible and if the fluid always stays cold it'll accumulate water and other stuff and be a bigger problem. You want all your oils to regularly get hot enough to shed water or it will accumulate. At 207K miles you've proven you don't need a cooler. Would the solenoid have lasted longer with one, maybe. Would the fluid have accumulated water and possibly become acidic and attacked stuff with one, maybe. I have many cars & trucks, and tow regularly. I've never lost a trans and don't have any add on coolers.

You need to do some more research. Trans fluid cooks rapidly at 220 degrees. Check with any trans shop, look online at fluid degradation reports, ask anybody who tows regularly, they will all tell you that you need an external cooler. The problem with factory stuff is that it uses the coolant to regulate the temperature of the trans fluid, but what they DON'T tell you is that all it is inside of that end cap is literally one brass tube that connects the two lines from the transmission and it is surrounded by coolant from top to bottom. You're talking 6-8 inches of straight pipe, which does very little for cooling at all. It's all about surface area when it comes to cooling, and a pipe that short is not going to bleed off the heat like an external cooler does. The trans fluid gets hot on it's own, considering it's under constant pressure even with the engine at idle. You start blanketing that already hot pipe with coolant that's at the same temperature or close to it, all you are doing is insulating that heat.

I know how hot they get personally because I have a trans temp gauge on my van, like I said before. And not a cheap magnet stuck to the pan, it's an actual sender that touches the fluid, so I KNOW how hot they run. You need a cooler. It's science, not sales pitch.

[superhawk996]

I've stripped many radiators and all have had the same style cooler in them, none have been just a simple tube.

The trans fluid gets hot on it's own, considering it's under constant pressure even with the engine at idle. You start blanketing that already hot pipe with coolant that's at the same temperature or close to it, all you are doing is insulating that heat.

Fluid pressure is not what creates the major heat in a trans. The coolant at the end of the radiator where the cooler is will never get close to the trans. fluid temp without cooking the engine. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. Decide for yourselves if you want/need a cooler, I only share the knowledge I've acquired after decades of auto & truck service and racing. I've worked on bikes to big-rigs. I've met and trained with engineers from companies specializing in stuff from u-joints to threadlocker (and yes transmissions). I would never condone adding any kind of unregulated cooler to a trans or anything else on a vehicle, engineers don't either. I think the OP's personal experience of a trans. lasting over 200K miles is pretty convincing evidence that they don't all need a cooler.

[slowrideCX]

The fluid in my truck is full synthetic so that will help with heat degradation also.

The best friend to a trans is regular service. Same as with the motor. Keep them clean and they will be happy for many years.