*FINAL UPDATE* Stuck in Newton NJ with a blown transmission

[BurbMan]

Some of you old timers on the forum may recall that I lost reverse on the 4L80E transmission almost 3 years ago, Sept of 2013, backing the TT into a campsite. Being stuck in rural KY and with no transmission rebuilder anyone would recommend, I went with a Jasper reman unit with 36 month 100k warranty.

Fast forward to today, coming back from PA and climbing the grades in NJ on eastbound I-80 coming out of the Delaware water gap. I kicked it down into 3rd and about halfway up one grade the tach jumped up from 3k to 4500 and we started losing speed. Coasted over to the shoulder and that was where we stayed. No loud noise, no loss of fluid at all, just no forward motion.

After 40 mins on hold with Good Sam, they said they would call me back. I decided on a whim to shift into L1 and lo and behold we had movement. L2 and still moving. So I eased back into the right lane with the flashers on and was able to hold 40 mph in 2nd gear until the next exit. At the exit we see a sign for a CG and decide to go for it. Made it about 1 mi from the CG and one hill on the country road we were on wiped out what was left of the tranny.

Good Sam finally called and they came with a flatbed for the Suburban and a pickup to tow the trailer and took both to Great Divide CG in Newton, NJ.

I know a few folks said Jasper was junk when I put this unit in 3 yrs ago, and now it's toast with less than 30k miles on it. I did the required fluid/filter change at 5k miles, have been running Dex IV synthetic, and the trans never ever got hotter than 200*. Hopefully Jasper will stand behind their warranty since there are 4 months left and put a new unit in.

I need to get on this ASAP tomorrow morning, if anyone knows a good shop that's a Jasper dealer, lemme know. Fortunately DD and her fiance live over in Parsippany and they were able to come and get us. Now to get the truck fixed.

[BurbMan]

I called Jasper the other day to see if I could find out what happened to my transmission. The rep I spoke with said they do disassemble all warranty replacements to determine what went wrong. He said the failure on mine was caused by a defective forward sprag that came apart. He said this type of failure is very uncommon, but they do happen, and so the reason for the warranty.

I don't know if this is a part they replace during the rebuild or not, I really don't know as much as I should about the details of how transmissions work.

Anyway, I feel better about my replacement knowing the failure was an odd occurrence.

[time2roll]

I would not touch that transmission until it failed again.
Do pay attention to odd shifting that you noted before.

Great to hear you are back on the road 😉

[_40Fan]

One more thing, if you haven't replaced your ignition switch, do so immediately. GM only.

[BenK]

wnjj wrote:
If the cause of the last failure was the electrical connector why are you concerned about bulletproofing? Or do you suspect mechanical issues too?

Provides higher duty cycle...AKA margin...AKA safety factor

Built and rated for 1,000 ft/lbs of torque and you only have...say...500
on tap...means it is no where near its ratings

[_40Fan]

The electrical connection to the neutral safety switch is glued from the factory. To replace the switch, you would have to lightly heat up the connection to pull the plug from the switch. If the switch is fine and you are just replacing the transmission, there are only two bolts holding the switch to the transmission. Kicker here is that one is behind the connection!

Shop A: Knows you can remove the switch while still being connected if you use an open end wrench to loosen bolt behind the connector. Pulling switch away from transmission while doing so.

Shop B: I need to disconnect the wiring from the switch, but it is glued together, in order to remove the covered bolt. "Hey, Billy. How do I get this apart?" "Awe, just give it some heat!" Out comes the cut off torch when a cig lighter would do.

[minnow]

If the neutral safety switch caused your issue then it's not really a Jasper warranty issue is it ?

[wnjj]

If the cause of the last failure was the electrical connector why are you concerned about bulletproofing? Or do you suspect mechanical issues too?

[mrgrim007]

BurbMan wrote:
Then it started not engaging...hard to describe, but traffic light turns green, you accelerate, and trans doesn't engage until the revs come up a little, almost like it was in neutral. It did that for a few months and then stopped, so I never had it looked at.

Mine was doing the same thing, as well has shifting hard between 1st and 2nd. I just had the transfer case rebuilt. They guys who worked on it put the wrong fluids in (ATF and transfer case). I replaced the fluid in the transfer case and had the transmission flushed and it's been fine since...hopefully it'll stay that way.

[Grit_dog]

I can't imagine being upset over your warranty coverage and if you thought the warranty would period would reset you were dreaming. Doesn't work that way with any mfg or warranty I've ever seen. That would be more like a lifetime warranty....
Glad you got er fixed.
I don't believe the neutral safety switch caused any trans damage. It's just a go/no go switch to lock out the start function in gear. But anything is possible.

[blt2ski]

If you are going to get a better rebuilt one. It could be worth looking into if a 6l90 would fit and is computer doable. Especially if you plan to keep the burb for awhile.

Marty

[hawkeye-08]

Glad you got it fixed up.. hope you are able to find a guy to build the transmission to meet your needs.

[BurbMan]

Tried to post this yesterday, but the site wasn't working for me....so here's the update:

Well yes, as a matter of fact! Just picked up the truck today. Jasper stood by their warranty and the repair was 100% covered....well, almost. Jasper covers labor at $65/hr and the shop rate was $105/hr, so I had to pay the difference, plus the secondary tow from the CG to the shop, plus misc parts, total was $900 and change.

Shop said they never even dropped the pan...old one out, new one in, old one back to Jasper for an autopsy.

The big news was that the neutral safety switch and electrical connector had melted. Shop said that the switch is not part of the Jasper unit, and the previous shop in KY had re-used the original switch. Most of that $900 bill was not only a new switch but the harness that connects to it since the connector melted itself into the switch and was fused together as one blob of plastic. Shop stated this was not an uncommon problem, and that it probably caused the tranny to self destruct like it did. The switch sends bad data to the TCM, which ultimately results in the trans not knowing what gear it's in and causing it to self destruct.

Shop also noted that the melting of the switch was not caused by high trans temps (as noted, temp gauge has never been over 200*) but rather by high resistance in the wiring and/or connector.

Thinking back, this trans started acting quirky about a year ago. In reverse, if you started backing up and then took your foot off the gas, the trans felt like it was disengaging and coasting backwards. Then it started not engaging...hard to describe, but traffic light turns green, you accelerate, and trans doesn't engage until the revs come up a little, almost like it was in neutral. It did that for a few months and then stopped, so I never had it looked at.

The morning that it went out, we came down a steep hill from the Montage Mountain Music pavilion. I had it in L1 which should have limited my speed to 35 or so, and I got NO engine braking.

Maybe a few trans experts here can tell me if any of this is related. I can tell you the shop showed me the neutral safety switch and it was a blob of melted plastic.

Now the kicker....I asked for new warranty paperwork, and was told that the warranty just extends from the original unit. So, the 3 years doesn't reset with the new unit, the original 3 years is still in force. So when the original 3 years runs out in September, so will the warranty on the new unit. I need to call Jasper and confirm this. Given the previous unit didn't even make it 30k miles, I'm not real happy. I think I'll get through this camping season OK, but the next plan is to find a local guy that knows how to build a transmission and have it built right.

They use the 4L80E in street rods because it can be built to hold 1000HP, I need to get mine bulletproofed similar.

If anyone knows a guy in Long Island that is a 4L80E guru, please PM me.

Right now, truck runs great again, we picked up the camper from storage at Great Divide CG in western NJ and are out camping this weekend!

Don

[hawkeye-08]

Is there an update to this? Curious minds want to know.

[BenK]

What is indicated on any auto tranny sensor port is NOT the hottest,
as the hottest is in the TC at the tips and where the ATF reverses
direction. Anyone ever wonder why ATF will burn, even if the gauges
says not over temp?...of course while unlocked...

Jeremiah...here is a partial list of potentials, but most are boy racer
and warranty/longevity is my concern...especially away from my area

With a new Sub equivalent to mine costing well over $70K...am researching
rebuilding...and not even a 8,600 GVWR cuz not offered, yet...maybe
a used government K3500 when they come out, but still too much for
my budget (my guess) and better to rebuild to my liking

Most of these are in the 1000 ft/lb range. A 5 speed manual is also on the list

This is a good starting reference article, there are many more but this
one is the best, IMHO

TruckTrends...Budget Transmission Upgrades
4L80E 1000ft/lb 1000ft/lbtorque





Some potentials found and make no recommendation for them at this point
in my search

4L80E Beast 1200 HP Transmission - Animal Performance Transmissions



GM 4L85-E Performance Transmission (Up to 1000 ft lbs of Torque)


MonsterTransmission, 4L80E Rebuild Kit


Transmission 4L80E, Full Manual – Performance 4L80E Transmission – Level 4
This one pointless to me, as then why not just go to a manual


4L80E Automatic Overdrive

[jerem0621]

Thanks for keeping us updated! I'm glad to hear that this may work out fairly well for you.

I'm in the middle of a search for my next TV and the Sub 2500 is high on my list. Sounds like the transmission behind the big block is somewhat prone to breaking like the 4r100 is in the Ford Excursion.

Do you know if there are any high performance transmission builders for the GM (4l80e???) transmission like there is for the Fords. I know that Brian's Transmission Shop is a well regarded builder of the Ford transmissions for towing applications but wasn't sure abot the GM.

Thanks!

Jeremiah