Well, the tranny is finally kicking the bucket... I've got solid shifts and everything feels pretty good... except I'm finally loosing my TCC for good. Forget mild shudders going uphill - once the tranny is warm, it'll barely hold TCC *at all*. It shimmies the car bad enough that the first time it happened, I checked the road to see if I had accidentally driven over some large rumble strips :(

Anyway, quick question. I'm going to replace the valve body this weekend, which should correct my TCC issues... but should I take apart the rest and do a full rebuild at the same time? Or should I just fix one problem now, and wait for it to die again before doing a rebuild of the rest?

This is my daily driver, and I'm a bit pinched for time and money right now... I'm on July shutdown for the rest of this week and next, so I've got a little time set aside... but I'm not convinced that I should pull the rest apart right now.

p.*. I'll pretty well ignore people who vote / post option #3

The FWD is not for most people.. However if you are comfortable and feel you are up to it, I wish you the best and would like to see you succeed.

Pinched on time and money... do the valve body and go back when conditions are optimal for the rest..

That way you can see how this part goes and possibly get many more years of service before needing to go back in.

eh, the tranny doesn't really scare me. I've done RWD, and while the FWD is a different beast, I think I can handle it. I'm also thinking just the VB right now though, because when I do the full job, I want to take my time... and right now I'm scrambling to find parts so I can do this over the weekend...

I vote valve body for purely selfish reasons. I have the same "won't lockup when hot" issue with my '95, and I hope that you will be able to take some pix and offer some advice for the rest of us who want to try the same cheapo fix.

well, cheapo is a relative term... GM didn't have any in stock in Michigan (the closest was in TN), so I had to buy through a dealer. Retail price through a dealer is about 400 (397, actually), and there'* a $50 core charge.

I've got mine here at home now, and will make sure to have lots of pics along with a writeup on the procedure - even if I fail

I've got an excellent transmission guy here in Flint if you're interested. Does great work, at a fair price. You drive by his shop and you see the 3800s lined up waiting for new trannies. LOL....

heh, I'm more interested in showing people that it'* not black magic

<side note>
out of curiosity, why did this get moved to other h bodies? I know that I'm working on a lesabre, but the mechanical information and pics that I'm going to take is identical to anything 92-99, and I think it would get a lot more exposure in that forum... lots of people don't even bother looking in this forum... and I'd like as many as possible to gain something from what I'm trying to do here...
</ side note>

It'* because Buick and Oldsmobile owners are second class citizens on BC. We get rammed onto the other board.

How many miles do you have on it?

If your crunched on time, I guess you could just replace the valve body. I voted whole trans, though, because that'* the best thing to do. If your torque convertor was slipping as bad as you stated, it'* probably toast by now, and would need to be replaced too. Now you might as well get new clutches, then new solenoids, etc.

I say just get er' done, once and for all. But, again, if you don't have time, just do the valve body.

Have you considered the Sonnax kit?

http://www.thesurecure.com/parts/parts/SC-4T60-E.htm

Just a quick comment. We don't think of you guys as second class. Many times things are moved for what seems the appropriate reasons. I notice since the mention of the procedure etc being identical we are now back in the 92-99 forum and stickied.

If you see something moved and you are technically "other H body" please pm a mod and ask/ explain. I'm sure they would be happy to listen and discuss to get the post in the best forum for the most exposure.

Sorry about the off topic.