Chevy & GMC Vans

My transmission has a slight delay in shifting since I changed the fluid - i am trying to pay closer attention to find out which gear(s) it is, or whether it is just going into or coming out of neutral. Is this likely to be an adjustment issue? or is it time to make a plan for a transplant? I read online that there was a major issue with some aspect of the tranny - a weakness in the design.

Q's

1,Did something occur which gave you cause to change the fluid?
2,Are you 100% sure when you replaced your fluid that you checked the fluid level while HOT in park, and on level ground? did you re-check the pan and bolts for leakage? is your drive-shaft properly seated on your rear tranny shaft,is there any fluid leaks?
3,did you change the tranny filter as well? and if so, did you remove the old O ring? did you make sure to re-install the new tranny filter properly seated with either the new or old o ring?
4, was there alot of metal finings on the pan magnet?

Transmissions basically do everything based on fluid pressure, new fluid is slightly corrosive and has a habit of eating away ever so slightly at areas which had been previously sealed nicely ( with gunk,lol ) this can sometimes cause a slight loss in pressure which sometimes causes shifting problems to occur.

Let it warm up and take er for a good road test, pay attention to how and when it shifts,is it hunting? clunking?.Manually shift thru all gears, what about reverse, any problems there?

Altho the 4L60e's can be built up pretty bullitt proof,they certainly don't come that way from the factory,if those 200,000 miles you have on yours are all original,then you can't rule out a potential rebuilding... your certainly due for it, let us know what you find out.

I just bought the car and changed the fluid because I did not know when it had been changed. I took it to Jiffy Lube. They do not drop the pan but instead suck the old liquid out and put new in. They do this over about 15 minutes so, according to them, they can get almost all of the old fluid out. I will make more observations. How much does it typically cost (in parts) to rebuild a tranny?

Is it hard (costly) to have a 5 speed manual transmission installed?

I really don't trust those oil change places much.Check the fluid hot to be sure it is full as Zam sugested.

Theres your problem, you took it to Jiffy Lube......

Sure you got the job done for a cheap price, but the person who did it was probably unqualified and inexperienced.

If you pay peanuts, you will get a monkey working on your van. I have seen more than a dozen engines, transmissions and rear ends destroyed by Jiffy Lube employees.

SoCalli V8 wrote:I have seen more than a dozen engines, transmissions and rear ends destroyed by Jiffy Lube employees.

Agreed!
Mr.Lube did an oil change on my mothers old truck, and forgot to refill it

What would you recommend? Taking it to a real shop? Or should I mount a full scale offense against the JL that did this?

I just found the very excellent and detailed thread on putting a T5 in the stro. Cool...it seems that the first step for me is to find a T5 setup for an Astro and go from there? so that I have the shifter, etc? Do I have to buy the whole transmission or can I just buy the shifter and bell housing (since it seems that, in order to get a high torque tranny I will need a T5 from another vehicle)?

Does anyone know someone in Portland (or nearby) that they would recommend doing this conversion? It sounds like it is a one day job - assuming the tranny has been rebuilt.

pengyou wrote:What would you recommend? Taking it to a real shop? Or should I mount a full scale offense against the JL that did this?

I just found the very excellent and detailed thread on putting a T5 in the stro. Cool...it seems that the first step for me is to find a T5 setup for an Astro and go from there? so that I have the shifter, etc? Do I have to buy the whole transmission or can I just buy the shifter and bell housing (since it seems that, in order to get a high torque tranny I will need a T5 from another vehicle)?

Does anyone know someone in Portland (or nearby) that they would recommend doing this conversion? It sounds like it is a one day job - assuming the tranny has been rebuilt.

Yeyhoo had $2500 easy invested in his build with a Astro that came with that T5 and is not a conversion.It is not recommended given your yr van a good conversion.Have you checked the tranny fluid hot yet??.Might be that simple.

Most likely what has happened is since they only flushed the tranny, they did not change the filter and they back-flushed all the old dirt and crud and pushed it all right into the tiny valve body ports. This is why the tranny is shifting weird. I would recommend you drop the pan, change the filter and refill with fresh fluid. This may get you a bunch more miles or it may not!

A T5 swap is gonna be alot of work to get it right, obtaining the correct flywheel and clutch assembly, matching the correct gearing, having a driveshaft built, welding and fabricating all the mounts, mounting the T5 and shifter..... just to begin with.

Tell us about your mechanical and fabrication skillz that you have....?

Then we can advise you further.

"Tell us about your mechanical and fabrication skillz that you have....?

Then we can advise you further."

Well...I have a screwdriver, set of wrenches, sockets....hehehehe I have a friend who is a welder with pretty good mechanical abilities. I also know a mechanic who works out of his home - but has a full set of tools, including the computers, lifts, presses, etc who works for half of what dealers charge - and is pretty good.

I have talked with some folks and read some posts in forums, most notably the one on this forum about rebuilding a T5. The impression I have is that part of the biggest hassle is chasing down the parts but that there is a list of parts that I need to make the thing work. If I find those parts there should be very little problem after that. Secondly, I was told that the only welding that needs to be done is on the mount for the tranny, then possibly some minor things to hold cables or linkages in place. Then it may be necessary to have the drive shaft shortened/lengthened because the manual tranny is likely to be a different length. I know that this is not going to be so easy. It is certainly beyond my abilities...but it also doesn't seem like it is going to be something that needs a rocket scientist to do.

Did you also read that the 96 and newer vans were never designed to have a manual transmission? The fact that you simply can not just grab an old clutch pedal/brake pedal assembly/ master cylinder and simply bolt it on will definitely require LOTS of under dash structural fabrication. This project is not totally out, just realize it won't be as easy as the thread you read on yehoo's swap. The rest of the swap should be as easy as gathering the required parts.

LiftedAWDAstro wrote:Did you also read that the 96 and newer vans were never designed to have a manual transmission? The fact that you simply can not just grab an old clutch pedal/brake pedal assembly/ master cylinder and simply bolt it on will definitely require LOTS of under dash structural fabrication. This project is not totally out, just realize it won't be as easy as the thread you read on yehoo's swap. The rest of the swap should be as easy as gathering the required parts.

Want to add to Lifted post.It will also involve work on your computer/speedo because the design for a stick shift wasn't made for your van.The work done by Yehoo was done because the T5's are not that strong as the auto's that are already in these vans.

That brings up a good point Gary. You will need to source a 4.3L/manual tranny equipped S-10 or 1/2 ton truck of the same year to swap in the proper computer. Not sure if the stock computer would run the engine right or keep from setting the SES light without the 4L60E.

pengyou wrote:What would you recommend? Taking it to a real shop? Or should I mount a full scale offense against the JL that did this?

I just found the very excellent and detailed thread on putting a T5 in the stro. Cool...it seems that the first step for me is to find a T5 setup for an Astro and go from there? so that I have the shifter, etc? Do I have to buy the whole transmission or can I just buy the shifter and bell housing (since it seems that, in order to get a high torque tranny I will need a T5 from another vehicle)?

Does anyone know someone in Portland (or nearby) that they would recommend doing this conversion? It sounds like it is a one day job - assuming the tranny has been rebuilt.

Stephensons in Sandy does good work, its right on 26 heading into sandy from portland take a right at the fred meyer and its on the left hand side in a commercial district right next to some little place that makes totillas (503) 668-6655
16630 Se 362nd Dr
Sandy, OR