Hello everyone. First i would like to thank you for excepting me in the site.. Ok so i have a 2000 Buick lesabre custom non turbo. It has the 3.8 litre with the fq3 pab transmission. I bought a trans from a scrap yard with 90,000. Miles on it. It was supposed to be the pab option but after inspecting it i noticed they sent me the ppb trans. I called the place and the guy told me that a tranny tech said the ppb trans will work the difference is the pressure on the plate. My question is, is this guy full of it or is he correct he said i won't notice any difference in the way the car shifts. Is he correct can i use the ppb trans in place of the pab one that is in my car now. And will i need to have the pcm reprogrammed to the ppb trans. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I do all my own work and not new to wrenching I'm just not sure on this and don't want to do all that work if it isn't going to work.. Thank you all for all your help..

I'd call another scrap yard or two and see what they say. They all have interchange books but sometimes the scrapper will not take the time to read the notes as to being direct fit or just compatible, meaning things need to be swapped from one to the other or programming and such.

Probably the only difference is the FD. It could be lower or higher than your current setup.

ATSG.com has excellent books on the 4T60-E. Well worth the $ to download one in PDF format.

I really don't need all that info i basically just need to know if i can use the ppb tranny in place of the pab tranny and if so will i need to have the pcm reprogrammed for the ppb tranny to work properly. I'm on a limited income and can't really afford more expenses on top of the cost of the tranny i already bought and i don't want to go thru all that work if its not going to work properly. Thank you for that site info though.. Appreciated

PAB = 2.86 FD
PPB = doesn't appear to exist
PBB = 3.05 FD

Did you mean PBB?

Ummm . . . the separator plate or the flex plate or the dinner plate or . . . ?

I'm leaning toward option A

He also said he'd get you the right transmission

I've never tried it, but it might work, but it won't be the same final drive ratio. That being said, he got this wrong, how do we even know if it is the 90,000-mile unit that he claims? When yards claim one thing then supply another, we have often seen here where three transmissions later the poor original poster is getting frustrated with all the transmission installations they are doing.

If a PPB exists, which I can't find, then maybe. If it is a PBB then yes.

The programming of the PCM is most likely the only thing you need to worry about in application if it means final drive ratios or toothed wheels are different. i believe there may be more than one speed sensor depending on trans ratio but i could be wrong, and the design of the sensor changed in 99 i believe so you may want to verify right sensor. basically as long as the ratios match the program you will be fine but if you have a difference the pcm will freak out

This is the tranny in my car now.

This is the tranny the recycling yard sent me..

The specs in purple are for the pab trans and the ones in the white are for the ppb trans i do believe.. So now to my original question does anyone know If i can use the ppb trans and if so do i need to do anything special for it to work properly. IE... Pcm reprogram ?