The 4L60E Guide

An automatic transmission is a type of transmission used by motor vehicles that can automatically change gears while the vehicle is moving allowing the driver to focus on the other elements of driving instead of changing the gears manually. There are many different types of automatic transmissions. One of the most popular ones, especially in North America is the 4L60e transmission which was created by General Motors. It was specially designed for vehicles with longitudinal engine configurations and this series of automatic transmissions include 4 forward gears. This transmission was based on Turbo-Hydramatic 700R4 series first released in 1982. 4L60e transmission was first used in 1992. Today they are built at Toledo Transmission in Toledo, Ohio while in the past they were built at Ramos Arizpe, Mexico and Romulus Transmission in Romulus, Michigan. It is good to mention that there is another verison of this transmission called 4L65e, but this model has five forward gears and they are intended for heavy-duty tasks.

As we have mentioned before the THM700 was the inspiration for 4L60e. In fact the THM700 was renamed 4L60 and once the electronic version was available it finally became 4L60e. This version of automatic transmission was available for vans, truck and SUVs in 1993 and for rear wheel drive passenger cars in 1994. This didn’t stop the evolution in this automatic transmission. In 1996 General Motors included a bolt-on bell housing for trucks and in 1998 they have included a torque convertor which provides higher-capacity internal, better input shaft and style pump.

Today, the 4L60e series of automatic transmissions use 2 shift solenoids (once known as Shift Solenoid A & Shift Solenoid B and later changed to 1-2 Shift Solenoid and 2-3 Shift Solenoid in order to meet OBD II (On Board Diagnostics revision 2) standards and regulations. Thanks to the activation and deactivation of these two solenoids with the help of the PCM and the pattern it provides, four different gear ratios can be achieved.

There are many cars in which 4L60e transmission is used. There are also some models that are not produced any more, but used this transmission. The following is a list of all these vehicle models.

Corvette

• C6 Corvette 2005

Cadillac

• Cadillac Escalade
• Cadillac Escalade EXT

Chevrolet

• Chevrolet Silverado SS

GMC

• GMC Sierra Denali
• GMC Yukon Denali

Hummer

• Hummer H2

Holden

• Holden Crewman (only for the 2004 version)
• Holden One Tonner (only for the 2004 version)

Pontiac

• Pontiac GTO 2005-2006 (M32, 3.46:1 final drive)

Isuzu

• Isuzu Axiom 2001

The non electronic version of 4L60 was used in many more vehicles.

Buick Rainier

Buick Roadmaster 1994–1996

Cadillac Escalade

Cadillac Brougham 1991-1992

Cadillac Fleetwood 1994–1996

Chevrolet Astro

Chevrolet Avalanche 2002-2008

Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

Chevrolet Camaro 1994–2002

Chevrolet Caprice 1994-96

Chevrolet Colorado

Chevrolet Corvette 1994–2004

Chevrolet Express

Chevrolet Impala SS 1994–1996

Chevrolet S-10

Chevrolet Silverado 1500-2500 (2500 with 6 bolt axle pattern)

Chevrolet SSR

Chevrolet Suburban

Chevrolet Tahoe

Chevrolet TrailBlazer

GMC Canyon

GMC Envoy

GMC Jimmy 1993-?

GMC Safari

GMC Savana

GMC Sierra 1500-2500 (2500 with 6 bolt axle pattern)

GMC Sonoma

GMC Yukon

GMC Yukon XL Denali

GMC vandura 1993-up

Holden Commodore (VR, VS, VT, VX, VY, VZ, VE) 1993–present

Holden Caprice (VR, VS, WH, WK and WL) 1994–2006

Hummer H3

Oldsmobile Bravada

Pontiac Firebird 1994–2002

Pontiac GTO 2004-2006

Saab 9-7X 2005-2009