Maint. blues

[janesy86]

Replaced both of my front hubs today. Thanks JD for the write-up. Was amazed at how quickly I got it done, withnot having done it before. Took two hours for both, the one step I didn't do was removing the UBJ from to UCA. Was able to get the bolts for the hub with a wobble socket easy enough.

Glad to take care of that before it gets any colder. And now the ride is much improved.

[Trail X]

Nice, Nick! I didn't consider the wobble socket. Keeping the UBJ in place would definitely make it a little easier, since you won't have to hold the knuckle with your legs while breaking the bolts.

[dirty anton]

other day while driving my shifting from 1st to 2ng gear was really hard. thinking it had somthing to do with speedo calibrator i un hooked it and it shifted fine(just off 9 miles an hour)then realized trans wasnt heated up enough and it did it again then got the 741 code for torque converter clutch solenoid. removed it and it was stuck closed. so i replaced it and now have the 1870 code for trans slipping. gm has a write up on how this is a very common thing. their remedy is an upgraded valve body. there are a few kits to ream the valve body but you can also find rebuilds with this mod cheaper than buying the reamer and kit.when i dropped the pan there was no metal frags or particles at all and the fluid was still red smelled normal and not burnt so hoping there was no other damage to trans. while im at it gonna put in a trans cooler and bigger pan. the transmission is only a year and 9 months old! this is all i can do short of dropping the trans out. love these 4l60e's!

[chevycrew]

My wifes truck (97 4l60e) has the trans go stage 2 shift kit in it along with my tow rig (99 4l80e) I would just go that route.

[dirty anton]

reading my mind

[OregTrailBlazin]

My wifes truck (97 4l60e) has the trans go stage 2 shift kit in it along with my tow rig (99 4l80e) I would just go that route.

I've got the same in my 97 4l60e

I also got some real heavy friction plates with a couple extra squeezed in for my 3-4 gear. Locks up allot better

[TangoBravo]

while im at it gonna put in a trans cooler and bigger pan. the transmission is only a year and 9 months old! this is all i can do short of dropping the trans out. love these 4l60e's!

Has anyone experianced any negative side affects of adding a trans cooler? Its my understanding that the reason the trans fluid is routed through our radiator is to keep the trans fluid in the optimum temp range. I personally dont have a use for an aftermarket one, just tryin to expand the knowledge pool some. I know in my cold climate if I did use a second cooler my trans would never warm up.

[Trail X]

You CAN overcool it. That stuff just needs to be taken into account when you're installing.

I installed mine backwards, so it warms up fine, but the cooler pre-cools the trans fluid going into the radiator. I'm hoping to get some real numbers soon on actual temps from an infared thermometer.

As for negative effects - make sure you use a properly spec'd hose for trans fluid! I had a hard time finding 1/2" trans hose locally, so I ended up using high-pressure hydraulic hose from mcmcaster. Wrong call there. It weeped really bad.

[dirty anton]

other day while driving my shifting from 1st to 2ng gear was really hard. thinking it had somthing to do with speedo calibrator i un hooked it and it shifted fine(just off 9 miles an hour)then realized trans wasnt heated up enough and it did it again then got the 741 code for torque converter clutch solenoid. removed it and it was stuck closed. so i replaced it and now have the 1870 code for trans slipping. gm has a write up on how this is a very common thing. their remedy is an upgraded valve body. there are a few kits to ream the valve body but you can also find rebuilds with this mod cheaper than buying the reamer and kit.when i dropped the pan there was no metal frags or particles at all and the fluid was still red smelled normal and not burnt so hoping there was no other damage to trans. while im at it gonna put in a trans cooler and bigger pan. the transmission is only a year and 9 months old! this is all i can do short of dropping the trans out. love these 4l60e's!

an update on trans issue: may have had 2 problems. worn valve body and abbots speedo corrector giving me codes. fixed the valves so it seems with a transgo shift kit that covers all the issues of the 1870 code and while at it also installed a corvette solinoid drove for a few days and no problems...only now shifts like a race car when giving it some gas! then reinstalled the speedo corrector and within a half hour driving boom theres the code again. cleared it then drove and no code. repeated process same thing again. may try to connect the corrector right before the speedometer to bypass the pcm/computer and see how that does but it wont correct the trans shifting through the gears if its wired this way.i dont really mind shifting gears 9 to 10 miles an hour sooner. it kinda works out with the 4 88 gears in the diffs. keep reading that any alterations of vss signal before it reaches abs equipped systems will cause a slipping of trans code (even though my abs is disconnected). just some info for people trying to correct speedo after tire and gear changes in older trail blazers. may just deal with it and just use gps but i am allready used to it reading 10 miles an hour over. jet performance has a corrector made for 02 's that goes before computer so maybe they worked out all the bugs. need to check this out more. sorry for the long post.

[v7guy]

I like long posts, usually means more info

[navigator]

I finally bit the bullet and ordered new Bilstein struts for the front and Skyjacker N8030's for the rear.

[djthumper]

I finally bit the bullet and ordered new Bilstein struts for the front and Skyjacker N8030's for the rear.

I think you will like the ride with the Skyjackers.

[navigator]

Everything rides pretty good right now but I have a pretty good dip in the road near my house that we used to speed up before we hit it. I've noticed recently I start slowing down because it gets a little bouncy after we hit it.
I need an alignment and figure it is better to go ahead and do it all at once anyway.

[steveroche]

Took care of both driver and pass upper ball joints today. Renting the press from autozone made it much easier, plus i got my deposit back so it was a free tool...I was going to put in the 87 front springs and z71 rear springs I have sitting in the basement but autozone didn't have the correct style coil spring compressor for me to rent. My buddy has a wall mounted one at his dad's shop but they just moved into the new shop so he has to find all the pieces first...Hopefully i'll have the new springs in next week!

[Trail X]

an update on trans issue: may have had 2 problems. worn valve body and abbots speedo corrector giving me codes. fixed the valves so it seems with a transgo shift kit that covers all the issues of the 1870 code and while at it also installed a corvette solinoid drove for a few days and no problems...only now shifts like a race car when giving it some gas! then reinstalled the speedo corrector and within a half hour driving boom theres the code again. cleared it then drove and no code. repeated process same thing again. may try to connect the corrector right before the speedometer to bypass the pcm/computer and see how that does but it wont correct the trans shifting through the gears if its wired this way.i dont really mind shifting gears 9 to 10 miles an hour sooner. it kinda works out with the 4 88 gears in the diffs. keep reading that any alterations of vss signal before it reaches abs equipped systems will cause a slipping of trans code (even though my abs is disconnected). just some info for people trying to correct speedo after tire and gear changes in older trail blazers. may just deal with it and just use gps but i am allready used to it reading 10 miles an hour over. jet performance has a corrector made for 02 's that goes before computer so maybe they worked out all the bugs. need to check this out more. sorry for the long post.

Mike, I would imagine the speed corrector would work with a PCM reprogram to input the proper diff ratio. I'm guessing the error is throwing because the speed sensor on the engine isn't matching up with the proper ratio (within a percentage) with the wheel speed.

Might be worth talking with your dealer about changing the gear ratio variable... but not sure if they would be willing to help.

[dirty anton]

yea james i was talking to chevycrew about this and other pcm options the other day and am going to check into this further. also a friend got the jet performance and im trying to talk him into letting me check it out first. i saw this can be used on multiple gm's.

[rgraboske]

I now have a new exhaust manifold, catalytic converter (Magnaflow), O2 sensors (AC Delco), Front Axle Disconnect (adp), and actuator, pigtail harness, and passenger side axle (WOHN). The disconnect messed up the axle shaft causing it's replacement. I also finally threw away my K&N air fllter, and put in a stock replacement.

It didn't run bad before, but it runs great now. I bought almost all of the parts through Amazon. Between the prices and the free shipping, they were much cheaper than anywhere else I looked.

[bgwolfpack]

Dead cylinder PO302 last night. Pulled #2 coil and plug, switched to #3 and PO303 popped.

I knew I shouldn't have said those nice things about German cars yesterday to Mario.

[Trail X]

You've been struggling with that for a while, haven't you Randy?

Somehow my intermittent cylinder misfire has gone away... truck has a clean bill of health right now. Knock on wood!

[bgwolfpack]

You've been struggling with that for a while, haven't you Randy?

Somehow my intermittent cylinder misfire has gone away... truck has a clean bill of health right now. Knock on wood!

Yes James, for well over a year. I will be ordering a coil for it. I'm not going to check the coil. Bad part is I changed them (the coils) a while back along with many other parts to hopefully make a change in the intermittent mis. No success, until now with a code.

I will change to another new coil and plug and then repost.

If the change doesn't help I'll start tracking wires.