Can any 4l60 work with a 5.3?

[ivorton74]

So a guy at the repair shop I work at scored a complete 5.3 and 4l60 4wd trans for free. The truck he got it from was totaled but he said it ran great before it was totaled. The trans is already spoken for but I'll be getting the motor complete with the harness and PCM for $350! So I'll be needing a trans for it so I was wondering which 4l60e trans will work with the 5.3(from a 2000 truck). Can one from a 4.3 work?
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[BR3W CITY]

Most 5.3's came with a 4l60e behind them, so YES, they fit. Look for one from the "LS years" meaning 2000+ which will have all the correct bell housing bolt holes.

You need to find a 2wd tranny as well, otherwise the tail shaft will have to be swapped out to work.

[faribran]

dont get one from a 3.8. the input shaft and front pump are smaller..

[BR3W CITY]

what came rwd with a 3.8?

[andrewt2]

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

what came rwd with a 3.8?

V6 Camaro firebird 98-02 for starters.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by andrewt2

V6 Camaro firebird 98-02 for starters.

hahah, well talk about information flying UNDER my radar lol. I thought the camaro v6 was the 3.4. Oh well, the car sucked with either.

[faribran]

Bingo, my son bought one of these off someone, bolted it behind a 6.0... made all kinda growling noises... not good... removed it, had someone replace with v8 parts and rebuild it........works good... took on the power tour.. works like a champ. shifts really firm.

[ivorton74]

Is the 4.3 trans tough enought to handle the power from a 5.3?
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[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by ivorton74

Is the 4.3 trans tough enought to handle the power from a 5.3?
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I personally feel like any iteration of the 4l60e is already at its limit with a lightly tuned 5.3, but this is my personal opinion and I'm very hard on trannies. As for the 4.3 trannies, I believe they used a different sized input shaft but don't take that as gospel.

[faribran]

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

I personally feel like any iteration of the 4l60e is already at its limit with a lightly tuned 5.3, but this is my personal opinion and I'm very hard on trannies. As for the 4.3 trannies, I believe they used a different sized input shaft but don't take that as gospel.

i agree.... i believe the 5.3 is about the limit on a 4l60e... my son drives his vehicles hard.... am curious how long it will last behind his 6.0. and yes it does have a larger cam and ls3 top side....

[smoky02]

Originally Posted by faribran

i agree.... i believe the 5.3 is about the limit on a 4l60e... my son drives his vehicles hard.... am curious how long it will last behind his 6.0. and yes it does have a larger cam and ls3 top side....

It's holding great so far. Just hit 3,000 miles lol
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[BigRed76]

The bell housing bolt pattern on an lsx is still the same traditional chevy v8 bolt pattern, so there's nothing to worry about there. And from all of the 4L60E's I've dealt with the electrical plug on the transmission is the same, but I have no knowledge of what pins on that plug are different from year to year...
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[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by BigRed76

The bell housing bolt pattern on an lsx is still the same traditional chevy v8 bolt pattern, so there's nothing to worry about there. And from all of the 4L60E's I've dealt with the electrical plug on the transmission is the same, but I have no knowledge of what pins on that plug are different from year to year...
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sorta, the top bolt won't be drilled or fit when using a sbc trans on the lsx blocks. All the rest bolt up fine, and there haven't been any failure stories resulting from not using the top bolt.

[BigRed76]

That makes sense. I figured it wasn't critical since sbc's have the top hole on the block, but the transmissions never had a hole for a bolt there.
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[ivorton74]

I heard that any 4l60 from 97 and up can work on a 5.3. Is this true?
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[BigRed76]

Wish someone new more about these since I just picked up a 2000 5.3 with no trans, so I'm on the hunt for a 4L60E, just not sure what year to find.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by BigRed76

Wish someone new more about these since I just picked up a 2000 5.3 with no trans, so I'm on the hunt for a 4L60E, just not sure what year to find.

Can't help but find some attitude in this....you wish someone new more about this? Your question (and this isn't even your thread), was answered in the first response. Look for a 4l60e from the "ls" years, or after about 2000 (98 iirc in the ls1 cars) . There were more than plenty of them put in cars and trucks, and they are correctly setup to bolt to an LS motor, and any tuner will have no problem setting up the ecm to work with it.

Did you REALLY even look anywhere else to find the answer?

If you need more detail than that...here is the difference with the 93-97s
http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread...d-interchanges
http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversion...ns-4l60es.html

[BigRed76]

There was no attitude with my response. I was just seeing if anyone had any actual info to prove what 4L60E's will work for a 2000 5.3 PCM. I did see your first response to the thread and it was quite vague. LS cars started in '98 and they were introduced in the trucks in '99, so when you say "look for 2000+" with no reasoning it's hard to accept that as an answer. I understand this isn't my thread, but it's a community forum so I believe I'm not the only one allowed to ask questions here.
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[pbr]

I believe my 1998 4L80 will work with my 2004 lq4 but I haven't gotten to putting it together. It wont have the top hole and I plan on changing the NSS to the 2004 design because my harness is 2004. The converter that came with it is a 3 bolt converter so I am going to have to get a 6 bolt converter. does anyone have any experience with this combo. The setup is going to be stock for a DD.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by BigRed76

There was no attitude with my response. I was just seeing if anyone had any actual info to prove what 4L60E's will work for a 2000 5.3 PCM. I did see your first response to the thread and it was quite vague. LS cars started in '98 and they were introduced in the trucks in '99, so when you say "look for 2000+" with no reasoning it's hard to accept that as an answer. I understand this isn't my thread, but it's a community forum so I believe I'm not the only one allowed to ask questions here.
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"wishing someone knew more" comes off as disrespectful to those who did contribute to the thread, regardless of the apparent usefulness of the contribution. And while my initial answer was somewhat general, it also proves my second point...that you did apparently no other research into these questions.

If you met a group of guys with hot rods at a car show, and got into a conversation about setups etc....would you tell them "wish you guys knew more about what you were talking about" and walk off? When they were more than happy to lend a suggestion.

I understand you may not have really said it with malice, and I said mine with no malice either, I simply felt that you can't ask for information in the same place, whilst telling people that the information they give you isn't good enough.

I'll let you get back to figuring it out yourself.

[yossarian19]

So, one thing I've noticed while trying to figure this all out is that people tend to talk about *years* with transmissions, which is only part of the equation. Years + models = definitive info. Like, in Astro vans they built the 4.3 / 4L60E combo. Will that 4L60E work with an LS motor? not without an adapter piece from GM performance products or Ebay or wherever. The piece goes between crank and flex plate, if I'm not mistaken.
That piece will let you run 97+ 4L60E from any 90* car / truck - again, "I think"
Any trans from a native LS-series engine equipped vehicle will work with any LS swap, provided the wiring is sorted out.
That means 99.5+ 1500 series trucks, somewhat later for the 2500 / 3500s. LS1 equipped F-body transmissions are game, too, as well as some full size van stuff (just not with the 4.3, unless you get the adapter)
As far as I know, all 4L60E plugs are the same. It's the Allisons & 4L80Es that are different. 6L90E, etc, you're on your own.