What 700R4/4L60E Rebuild Kit is Right for Me?
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If you are asking yourself that question, then you are in the right place! There are many types of 700R4 and 4L60E rebuild kits on the market today, so it's hard sometimes for a rebuilder to find the correct kit to accomplish what they want out of their rebuild. This guide is a good starting point for a rebuilder wondering what type of rebuild kit they need for their situation.
The first step in deciding what one of our 4L60E rebuild kits is right for you and your situation is you need to first figure out what's the main goal of your rebuild.
Why Are You Rebuilding Your Transmission?
- Are you a guy rebuilding your 4L60E because you want to save time and money by just doing a basic repair that will get your truck back on the road?
- Do you want to do a more in-depth overhaul and eliminate any of the known OEM weaknesses common in GM 4L60E transmissions?
- Is your transmission operating fine now, but you are looking to drop it anyway and do a high-performance 700R4/4L60E rebuild to handle heavy-load situations or really make those tires chirp?
- Or, are you one of those people who are looking to do all of the above?
Whatever the reason for your rebuild the information in this guide will help direct you towards the best 700R4/4L60E rebuild kit for your situation.
Basic Things to Consider Before Starting
- What year is the vehicle that needs the 4L60E rebuild? (Year Range Chart)
- Is the transmission you have a 700R4, 4L60E or a 4L65E? (Transmission Model Chart)
- How damaged is the transmission? What hard parts should I plan on getting before I even start to rebuild? (Refer to Symptom Diagnosis Chart below)
- Does your transmission have a deep or shallow oil pan? (How to tell?)
- Are the pistons in the transmission molded rubber pistons or do they use piston lip seals? (Year Range Chart)
- Does the transmission use a bonded valve body plate? Does its pump use a wedge style or o-ring style seal? (Year Range Chart)
Symptom Rough Diagnosis & Potential Hard Parts to Replace
| Symptom | Possible Cause |
Potential Hard Parts Needed |
| ATF very dark and/or burnt smelling |
Burnt clutches/band (likely the 3/4 pack) |
Steels (at least for the burnt pack), bushings |
| Fine metal shavings in the pan (sand grain size) | Metal on the metal grinding | Rings Gears, Bearings, Bushings, Steels, Drums, Pump, Valve Body |
| Large metal chunks in the pan (1/8'' or bigger) | Gear train failure | Planetary Gears, Sprags, Center Support |
| Sudden loss of all movement, whining noise | Pump failure | Pump |
| Slipping in or loss of overdrive or 3rd gear | Piston wear, clutch wear | Steels, Input Drum, Pistons |
| Complete loss of reverse/grinding in reverse | Sun Shell | HD Sun Shell |
| Grinding Noise | Planet Failure, sun shell failure, pump failure | Planets, HD Sun Shell, Pump |
| Water/antifreeze in the ATF | Radiator failure (cross-leaked into transmission) | Potentially anything that can rust (lots of parts) |
| Loss of 2nd gear | Servo, band, or reverse input drum failure | Corvette servo, Band, Reverse Input Drum |
Rebuild Recommendations
- It is recommended that you replace all friction materials (clutches/band) and filter when doing a transmission rebuild.
- OEM 700R4 and 4L60E transmissions had inherent weak points in the sun shell and 3/4 clutch packs. Always use an aftermakret sun shell even if the OEM sun shell appears to be okay. Yes, we'd like to sell you one of our upgraded sun shells, that have been reengineered to correct the OEM defects, but even if you don't buy one from us you should really get one. For under $50 you correct a known issue. Since you have the transmission apart anyway, just go ahead and replace it.
- Always replace the rear case, pump body and front stator tube bushings. If the others look worn or scrathed replace them too.
- If you had a P1870 code either install a Sonnax TCC Isolator Valve and Sleeve Kit or buy a valve body from us with one preinstalled.
- If you inted to tow heavy loads or push lots of hrose power then you should install a 5-pinion planet assembly that became standard in all GM 4L65E transmissions.
- Always, Always, always use a new or remanufactured torque converter after any transmission rebuild!
- Use a can of Kooler Clean transmission flush to clean out your cooler of all the gunk and shavings.
- Always rebuild or install a remanufactured valve body on all rebuilt transmissions.
Transmission Rebuild Kit Options Chart
This chart is only meant as a general guideline. It is nearly impossible to 100% diagnose a transmission without tearing it completely down and inspecting every part.
When grouping kit components together there are multiple things to consider, year range being most important. The Year Range Chart contains a kit code for each year that should be referenced as a starting point in the search for your transmission kit.
If your transmission has some of the symptoms mentioned in the Symptom Diagnosis Chart I would recommend having the corresponding hard parts on hand prior to starting the rebuild.
This chart shows you the three basic levels of rebuild kit options, and the minimum recommended OEM weak point upgrades we suggest to complete.
| Kit Code | Overhaul Kit | Banner Kit | Master Kit | Minimum Upgrade |
| A1 | 82-93 700R4 | 82-84 700R4 | 82-84 700R4 | |
| A2 | 82-93 700R4 | 85-87E 700R4 | 85-87E 700R4 | |
| A3 | 82-93 700R4 | 87L-93 700R4 | 87L-93 700R4 | |
| B1 | 93-03 4L60E | 93-03 4L60E | ||
| B2 | 04-13 4L60E/65E | 04-13 4L60E/65E | 04-13 4L60E/65E | |
| B3 | 07-11 4L60E/65E | 07-11 4L60E/65E |
An Overhaul Rebuild Kit contains allt he seals, gaskets, o-rings and other soft parts needed to rebuild a transmission.
A Banner Rebuild Kit is made up of an overhaul kit and complete friction module.
Our Master Rebuild Kits contain an overhaul kit, friction module, steel module, 2-4 band, master bushing kit and oil filter.