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Emergency Transmission Problems

Big T

Big T

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Son is on a camping trip with the wife, dogs and the '95 Burb. He pulled into a parking lot in the Sequoias, stopped and tried to put it into reverse...nothing. Tried 4H and 4Lo, light came on showing it went in to 4H and 4Lo, but no reverse. Worse yet, it went into limp mode not getting out of second gear. He did not bring his laptop with GMTDScan; bringing his wife's instead (mistake). No idiot lights have come on. Tranny is topped off with fluid. He made it back to their campground at Lake Isabella and called me (I was in the middle of taping drywall up at our place in Big Bear Lake).

Any ideas? I have had shift solenoids go out before and do the same. That was like 50K miles ago. I told him to disconnect the negative leads on the batteries for like 10 minutes to clear the codes and have a beer. Now I'm looking to the pros here to get him home.:confused:
 
check all fuses. Sounds like no power to trans so no shift.
 
You can check till your blue in the face and may never find the problem.
95 is OBD1 jump the connector and see what codes you have first.
At least then you will have a starting point.

BTW you don't need a computer for reverse.
Doesn't sound like a quick fix.
 
Yeah no reverse does not sound good. The not shifting could be a VSS but that would not cause no reverse. Tell him to pull the tranny stick and give it a sniff. If the fliud is brown and smells burnt,well...
 
I suspect the reverse band went out, happened my burb 2yrs ago, trans builder said this was the only weakness of the 4L80E, sucky part entire trans has to come out to be reapired, might as well spring for a full o/h if it is that. It didn't go out fully it got to the point where it would think of going into reverse,

My ford Bronco II years ago went out fully, until I could get it fixed I would park it so it did not require me to put it in reverse but that was an old hunting truck I kept at the camp.
 
He had the GMTDScantech cable with him so he downloaded the software and plugged it in. No codes.

He checked all fuses as advised, and they're fine.

Checked the trans fluid and it was fine, not burnt.

He's about 4 hours from home at normal highway speed. Should he try to make it home, or try to find a transmission shop in Bakersfield?

Wife has a senate committee hearing on legislation she's working on and needs to be in Sacramento this week, so she will drop off my '99 and he will take the '95 in to a transmission shop in Bakersfield. Anyone have suggestions for a good transmission shop in Bakersfield?

I'm in Chicago all week. Will be through early August.
 
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Just wanted to say thanks for all your suggestions. I was able to limp the 95 to bakersfield (40 miles) and dropped it off at the dealership. They told me that if they had to install a new tranny it would come with a 100,000 mile 3 year warrenty. Not bad for a dealership.
 
colbythekid said:
Just wanted to say thanks for all your suggestions. I was able to limp the 95 to bakersfield (40 miles) and dropped it off at the dealership. They told me that if they had to install a new tranny it would come with a 100,000 mile 3 year warrenty. Not bad for a dealership.
Click to expand...

Son, if they go with the reman, don't forget to have them install your pan as it has the temp sender fitting welded into it!
 
Update: reverse band shot. Remanufactured transmission on order from GM arrives next week.
 
Sorry to hear about that guys. Though $3000 from the stealer isn't such a stealing price(actually kinda normal) Not quite what you wanted for some vacation time I'd imagine.

If you don't mind me asking, did the trans give you any warnings before the reverse band went out? Or did it just flat out drop?
 
BigBlueChevy said:
Sorry to hear about that guys. Though $3000 from the stealer isn't such a stealing price(actually kinda normal) Not quite what you wanted for some vacation time I'd imagine.

If you don't mind me asking, did the trans give you any warnings before the reverse band went out? Or did it just flat out drop?
Click to expand...

Although I hadn't driven the truck much of late (I gave it to Colby with an option on using it), it gave no signs of going out. I'd say that this trans has seen 80% tow duty and lots of offroading, so it's seen as severe duty as it comes. Always changed fluid and filter every 15K miles. Did lose the shift solenoids at about 115K miles. Other than that, it's been a great tranny and can't complain. Based on what I know of the Ford trannies, we have nothing to complain about.
 
There are a few flaws in the 4L80E that deal with line pressure spikes and reverse band anchor failures and dircet clutch piston cracks. And unfortunately GM never addressed the problem with any of there remans that I know of. A TRANSGO HD2 shift kit comes with upgrades to correct this, and the SONNAX kit may as well. This isn't a major problem, but is known to happen. Also is the $3K installed? IIRC you can buy a brand new 4L85E from GM PERFORMANCE for about $2400 with converter.
 
4L85E is an upgraded 4L80E. It is rated for a whopping 10 foot pounds more torque input, and had heavier duty planetaries in it along with a heavier input shaft. It's the trans that came behind the DMAX in the van's, and most MOTORHOMES with the 4 speed.
 
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