I'm at the last straw with this project. 99' Chevrolet Tahoe, 5.7l & 4L60E transmission. Prior to the rebuild, the fluid was dark (burnt) & serviced the filter & put new fluid in. Didn't move after that. I know that was just a waste of money, oh well.

I took the transmission to get it rebuilt & got it back this past weekend. After priming the torque converter with 1 1/2 quarts of fluid, the converter was put on 2 (clicks). Transmission was raised into place & bolted up. The three sensors were plugged in before the battery was connected & the fluid lines were connected. Dumped 9 quarts in & started it up in park. The engine ran for 2 minutes before shifting to Nuetral, where it idled for a moment. Shifted it into gear, nothing. Shifted from park back to 1st & on up, no movement what so ever. Took the lines off & blew some air into them, I had clean fluid coming out.

I'm out of ideas.

 

Clean fluid now, but did you at least flush the cooler before installing the new tranny? Converter bolts got reinstalled, right? Just thinking out loud.

 

What's the fill capacity on a rebuild? 11qts may not be enough.

 

The converter bolts did get reinstalled. I did not flush the cooler out. In theory, if the pump in the tranny is working, it should flush everything back into the transmission, thus screwing everything up again.

The fill capacity is 3 gallons, I would really think that after 6 quarts it would at least try to move. I'm thinking there is something internal wrong. People do make mistakes.

 

Gotta flush them things or you just wasted the $$$ for an overhaul.....

 

Most shops won't even honor their warranty if a new cooler isn't installed, that's how much they can affect it. Try changing the filter and see if it got plugged, might not be too late? !st 4-6 quarts, start and run for about 10 seconds, check that it's low, at the next 4-6 and repeat. I hope it didn't run long with just 6 qts? You weren't working doors in the weather were you? Even a teaspoon of water would kill it if it was exposed. just asking.

 

Vehicle has been on the rack inside. Should I try to blow the lines out again? Since I got the in the air? The fittings are a to get to.

 

I'd check the filter, if there's crud. You might bipass the cooler to see if the new filter saved the tranny ( don't run for extended time, just test it), if it gets results, then put a new cooler in, you can't get all the old stuff out of them once you toast a tranny. Some claim you can but I don't believe it. You don't want to contaminate a new cooler if the tranny is bad already.

 

If fill cap is 3 gallons and you only put 1 1/2 in it.......... I think you just found your problem.

 

1.5qt in the TC + 9qts in the fill tube = 10.5qts. Should be enough to get started.

 

Kinda a dumb question but is it 4x4 and if so is the T-Case in 2wd or 4wd and not N?

 

Very good thought. That was the first thing that I thought of. Unfortunately, it is a push button unit. I can hear the transfer case switching gears. & I jacked it up with the transmission in park, the drive shaft does not turn.

 

Glad you thought of it. I've seen many people freak out thinking the tranny is out but it was just the t-case in N.

 

Yep, I tried to think of the obvious & easy stuff before getting to worked up. On the bright side, the beer tastes good.

 

I just went thru this with my nephews 97 1500.
We put 8-9 quarts in it. The cooler was flushed.
Fliud checked to the full mark---several times.
We hauled it to the guy who rebuilt it.
He told us not enough fliud.
He added 4 quarts and it has been fine since.

I don't know why it checked full, it was running in neutral.
He had the same symptoms as you.