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4L30e transmission rebuild Plus Pics and Guide

77K views 30 replies 23 participants last post by  msessions588 
#1 ·
Well I completed my 4L30e rebuild on my 2001 Rodeo. Lesson learned, check one way roller bearings before installation, and there are alot of parts. It is relatively simple, no honestly it is, just time consuming. There are a few specialty tools used, but nothing I couldnt invent or make in my own garage. This is the first auto tranny I had ever seen the insides of before, but have rebuilt a couple manuals, and some motors. I also installed a shift kit and new torque converter while I was in there. Car has been running great for a week now, and has not slipped once or hesitated shifting.
Reason for rebuild: Car got stuck on a curb in reverse and wouldnt pull itself up it. Opened up the tranny, and all of my clutches and seals looked to be in great condition, but I had already purchased the rebuild kit (90.00) so I rebuilt it anyway. I am sure I would have been fine changing just the torque converter in retrospect.
Total cost of shop rebuild (2400.00 not including labor to pull tranny)
Cost of my rebuild (90.00 tranny kit, 40.00 shift kit, 28.00 fluid, 117.00 torque converter = 275.00) and about 5 days on and off of R&R tranny and dissassemble and rebuild.

Factory service manual was a gigantic help along with this transtec link, (page 3-7)
http://www.transtec.com/rebuilder_news/2nd_q95r-n.pdf
which saved my *** after doing it wrong once.

I did rebuild it and put it in the car, and had manual 1st and 2nd, but no third or 4th, it would not shift, and putting it in reverse would cause the driveshaft to stop, turn 1/2" or so and lock. The one way roller bearing assembly was to blame. Actually I was to blame, but it was the culprit. Pulled it and swapped, and reinstalled. All is well.

Tips for doing your own tranny rebuild.
Tools you will need. 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, 14mm 17mm 19mm standard sockets. 17mm deep sockets. 17mm shallow socket. Socket extensions. 12mm 14mm 17mm wrenches (preferably swiveling ratching wrenches). Tranny jack (that sucker is heavy) 5/16" 5 point. Petroleum jelly. Pointed ring pliers for inside and outside rings. Wire cutters (dikes). Various Pick tools. Big "c" clamp. 32mm socket if you wish to take the transfer case apart. 2" long staples for air stapler(made my specialty tool) Various pliers like needle nose, 90* needle nose, stubby, etc. A piston ring compressor is handy to have. Socket wrech with a swiveling handle. 6-8 cans carb cleaner, and a ton of rags. A compessor and air gun are very beneficial. Fluid transfer pump. Ziploc bags, a sharpie, and a digital camera. oh, and a torque wrench. New flywheel bolts. They are not reusable.

Also be sure and pic up a transmission filter kit. Rebuild kits do not come with these. ohh and 9.1 quarts of dexron III or IV, unless you add a cooler, then pick up 10 to 11.

Insights -
1. Torque converter is unbolted BEFORE the tranny is removed. Remove starter and dust cover and use 17mm shallow socket, 4" extension, and swiveling socket wrench. if needed place a long bar between the flywheel mounting points and ground to keep the flywheel from moving while breaking them free. There are six.
2. Get a tranny jack. Harbor frieght has a scissor lift operated by 1/2" ratchet that starts at 7.5" and goes to 22.5" for $59.99. I weight-lift daily and very much struggled to lie on my back and lift and balance the transmission and transfer case onto the car. Got the jack after i almost dropped it and snapping my arm the first time.
3. I never can get all of the fuel out of my lines on the rodeo. Be prepared to have fuel spill when you undo the lines. Then when you think its done, shake them, otherwise the first time you touch them under the car, you will take a fuel bath.
4. you must take the left (drivers) exhaust off, you do not need to take the pass off. The y pipe must come off as well.
5. there are 2 lower 14mm bolts, and six upper 17mm bolts on the bellhousing. These are most easily removed by 17mm ratcheting wrenches.
6. Dont lose your balls! the location of balls is specified in the factory service manual and the transtec bulletin posted above. Most cars have three in the valve body area, some have four. There will also be a ball that randomly falls out while dealing with the 2-3 gear assembly. It just goes back in the tip of the shaft (piston). Neither manual tells you this.
7. In disassembling the 3rd gear the staples come into play. Bend them at 90* angles, shave them down a little and voila, you have the ability to keep the snap ring compressed while removing the gear set.
8. Take everything apart and clean everything!
9. The manual does not specify which side of the oil pump gear faces the torque converter, and there are two distinct sides. the smaller inner gear has a key on either inner side, one side is a notched 90* cut, and one side is a 45* cut. the 90* cut faces the torque conveter for proper locking.
10. DOUBLE AND TRIPLE CHECK YOUR ROLLER BEARINGS. They go on both ways, but one way your truck will run, and the other way it wont. Three minute error costs two days. Dont be a chump like me. Put it on, check it. Reassemble fully and check it again.
11. Use KY or petroleum jelly to hold washers and bearings in place when assembling. keeps you from needing a 3rd mini hand.
12. Index your planetary gears. Just line up the id marks, and everything will go in much smoother.
13. A digital camera is your best friend. Take shots as you go, and then when you get confused, you can refer right back to them.
14. Ziploc baggy all of your bolts and selenoids... Name them by the names in the service manual, then you will never have a lost bolt, or an "its too long issue" Plus, it saves soooooo much time in the long run.
15. Work on a clean area. dirt and debris are your most evil enemy in a tranny.
16. A fluid transfer pump is 5.00 at harbor freight. Get one.
17. A shift kit is easy to install if you are in this deep, and only 40.00. get it install it.
18. Be careful, tranny fluid is super slick, and you will near kill yourself if not paying attention.
19. Also go buy a 50.00 tranny cooler and some lines and clamps, and put on up front. very easy to do with the tranny out, and very effective. My system utilizes all factory lines still. I removed the return line from the radiator to tranny, and sent it to my cooler. I then sent the cooler line to the return line to the tranny. Now, it is heated adaquatley on startup, but cooled enough returning and during driving.
20. just undo the front of the driveshaft, and use bailing wire to tie it up out of the way.
21. When you remove a clutch assembly or grouping, leave them stacked as the were. Replace them one by one as you reinstall. Kits come with extra clutches. They are usually not needed.
22. Clutch pack dividers (thick one way bands) only go in one way. Mark them with arrows with the sharpie so as to avoid confusion later.
23. Lastly, do not get excited and ahead of yourself. Stop, label, and do one thing at a time. Take one gearset out, and reassemble it. Set it and its components (bearings, washers, etc...) to the side. Move to the next set.
24. The "C" clamp (I used a giant quick clamp) is for compressing the main selenoid below the main valve body. Use the piston compressor to knock the selenoid and ring into the hole. The use the c-clamp to compress the selenoid into the hole. Then snap your snap ring into place. Then pull up on the center nut and thread, and slip the small u-pin into place. It should keep the threaded end in the air, it should not slip back down.
25. A pair of dikes (nope the wire cutters... the others are just trouble) are easiest used to pull out the compression fit plugs holding selenoids in place. Grab them as firm as possible and work them up.

Things to remove to drop the tranny:
Drivers exhaust, starter, o2 sensors, every tranny sensor plug, crossmember, fuel lines, tranny cooler/heater lines, both driveshafts, y pipe in exhaust, and various lower shields, all shifter linkage, and the 8 bolts (2 X 14mm 6 X 17mm)

The pictures shown are with my clutch packs already reassembled... Click for larger pics...

 
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#2 ·
very cool,where did you get the rebuild kit/part number?
also same with shift kit?
Thanks
 
#3 ·
Outstanding write up! This type of write up on the 4L30 has been badly needed. Make sure Tad knows about this and ask that he put this article on the main Planet website so it can be archived.

Also, do you have a way to edit your pics and put descriptive terms and arrows in?

Cheers,
 
#4 ·
Rebuild kit is: Sub Number
TransTec
DK
5400F-S
W4604C
1998-up 28251

Main Number:
Overhaul Kit
4L30E
1990-Up
DP2297

Shift kit is Shift Technologies - THE 4L30E Kit.

yes i can edit and add text. However You guys may want to host the pics, as I signed up for a free service, and have no idea how long that will last. [/quote]
 
#6 ·
How does it feel after installing the shift kit? Can this be installed during a filter change? Thanks.
 
#7 ·
Parts of the shift kit could be, but you need to have the trans. apart to do the whole kit. It includes 2 springs for the oil pump, 2 or 3 fot he valve bodies, a plate a orings for the main selenoid, and a orifice plug for the selnoid dump. Oh and you have to drill your Main valvebody divider and gaskets. So... essentially no. But shifts hit a bit harder (prevents slipping of the clutcehs between gears to appease everyday drivers, and line pressure is increased a bit to hold better.
 
#8 ·
Will that have any affect on fuel mileage or gear wear?
 
#9 ·
Hello rjwebber2. I'm just north of you a little way in Searcy Ar. & I'm probably going to have to do the same thing before long. I just bought a 1998 Trooper & the transmission is slipping after it warms up; it really hates to go into 4th gear. I changed the fluid using the drain plugs but couldn't get to the filter.....some genius welded the transmission crossmember to the frame :roll: ( I sure hope it wasn't Isuzu that did it; I like to believe it was a Bald Knobber :lol: )

Anyway, I'd just like to say thanks for the write up, it'll probably come in very handy.

Edit: I hope it's a solenoid, but if not at least I have your write up to refer to. I've never torn into an automatic either!
 
#11 ·
Rarely on here much any more - thanks to the above author for a private message.

The tranny rebuild has about 32,000 miles on it. Some city, some highway, and several abusive all day trips to Hot springs ORV Park here, with some 4 and 5 diamond trails. Never a slip. It will absolutely destroy my tires trying to climb anything, the tires are the only thing that slip. I guess perhaps rebuild quality is determined by the builders time/competence. I also frequently towed with the vehicle until I puchasd a dually. Girlfriend drives the rodeo now, and it is runnning strong as can be.

I do know that the tranny cooler I installed seemed to help a bit under load, and temperature would change dramatically under diffferent circumstances. Happy to see it was doing its job.
 
#13 ·
I've got about 10,000 km on my rebuilt tranny and it's still doing fine as well. Just thought I would mention that to give you extra confidence.
 
#16 ·
It is sad when the pics in a thread of this type, disappear.

The thread is much less useful, this way.

Would it ever have been put in the hall of fame, if it had been posted without the pics in the first place ???
 
#18 ·
Brenjen said:
Hello rjwebber2. I'm just north of you a little way in Searcy Ar. & I'm probably going to have to do the same thing before long. I just bought a 1998 Trooper & the transmission is slipping after it warms up; it really hates to go into 4th gear. I changed the fluid using the drain plugs but couldn't get to the filter.....some genius welded the transmission crossmember to the frame :roll: ( I sure hope it wasn't Isuzu that did it; I like to believe it was a Bald Knobber :lol: )

Anyway, I'd just like to say thanks for the write up, it'll probably come in very handy.

Edit: I hope it's a solenoid, but if not at least I have your write up to refer to. I've never torn into an automatic either!
The person who welded it probably had the same problem I had with my rodeo. The bolts were so badly frozen all 8 of them snapped off when removing them.
 
#20 ·
I am getting ready to do this (twice) on my vehicles, both slip between 2nd and 3rd so bad that I cant really push the vehicle forward at more than 40-45 mph without slipping majorly. Awesome writeup. Thank you for taking the time to include all of your findings. I hope they will save me a lot of time. Wha happened to the manual? I cant see to find it anywhere on this forum, and the ink posted appears to have has gone dead?
 
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