For those running the older 4L60 trans on their LS swap

[Mickeymotormount]

So far, my 4L60E from a 99 Escalade has been holding up well behind my '99 6 Liter. I don't abuse it either. Occasional 3500-4000 lb. loads of scrap to the scrap yard and still holding fine. I have 6500+ miles since the swap and don't really know how many miles on the trans since the Escalade donor had the dash ripped out of it.

As for the PCM flash, I would have to think your 5.3 PCM should be able to run the older 4L60E provided you change your internal harness. Not sure but it sounds reasonable. My PCM was reflashed to remove VATS and to program it to run the 4L60E since the 6 liter originally had the 4L80E behind it. Was also programmed for tire size, gear ratio, tachometer, etc.. To date, no issues. Knock on wood.....LOL.

[droopyzda1]

Hey guys. Got her running finally and drove it around the block. But the trans does not shift out of 1st gear. I can manually put it on "2" and its on 2nd gear. I checked the trans fluid and its at a normal level even with the larger trans oil pan. I changed the internal harness to the one with the extra pin on it. And also installed the pwm solenoid to the opening on the valve body where it should go and installed a new oem filter. The pcm was reflashed but I did not tell him to touch anything that has to do with the trans. I connected the old vss by soldering it and heat shrinking. And hooked up the tcc switch. Am I missing something?

[kewljay223]

What was behind the 5.3 before? was it a 60e? if not and you didnt get the trans portions flashed into the pcm... then maybe you need to? make sure you didnt reverse wires for vss.... im not sure. need more info

[droopyzda1]

Your guess is as good as mine on what was behind the 5.3 ! This is a Frankenstein swap ! I have pieced everything together from Craigslist and ebay. I thought I did all the research and could use my pre `95 4L60 on the 5.3. I would just have to change the internal harness to that of a `96 and later. All the trans controls are from factory on the pcm I would assume. I just told Brendan from lt1swap.com to remove vats and give me some better fuel mileage. Will check the wires on the vss but I soldered them to each corresponding wire and from the harness by color.

[droopyzda1]

Don't know if its the problem, but i have not connected the speedo wire yet to my cluster.

[bobbylog]

Don't know if its the problem, but i have not connected the speedo wire yet to my cluster.

You don't need to wire the speedo only the VSS signal to PCM and a tune for 4l60e.

[kewljay223]

You don't need to wire the speedo only the VSS signal to PCM and a tune for 4l60e.

yeah. like he said. thats all i had to do to get my trans running first time around. just make those two things are good and you should be on your way... BUT... not trying to scare you but this happened to me when i did the 80e swap.... i too bought mine off craigslist and the guy told me that it worked just fine... well when i finally got everything hooked up, it too wouldnt shift out of first. in fact it was in first not matter what...even in reverse it would go forward!! took it to the trans shop to fix and the planets/clutches were shot and was "welded" in first gear cuz it got to hot or something... needed a full rebuild. hope that you didnt get royaly screwed from craig like i did, but just wanted to point out that might be a possibilty.... good luck man