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full manual 4L80E/Vortec 5.7L questions.

muddysub

muddysub

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with my new job i'll have a company truck for a DD. so in theory my '99 chevy could give up its engine and trans for the suburban. id do a quick rebuild on the engine (vortec 5.7L) and have to rebuild the 4l80 and have the 4wd output shaft installed anyway, so i'm thinking about going with a reverse/manual valvebody. so i'd be able to run the engine as a stand alone unit, run the 4l80 full manual and bolt my 241 up to the trans right? any adapters needed? ECM reprograms? figured i'd ask and see if anyone has experience with this kinda set up.

yes i searched, i'm at work, don't have a lot of time.
 
I don't believe they have a reverse valve body for the 4L80E, it's not as simple as a 3 speed. You can however, wire it to shift fully manual without any internal modifications to the trans, and always have the option to run a computer later. I am shifting a 4L80E manually in my Regal right now, I have a switch to control the lockup manually as well.

You can buy the harness at the below link or you can make it yourself. It only requires two wires, one for 12V source and one to switch the converter lockup. It also requires looping a few of the wires from the PSM back into the solenoids.

http://www.jakesperformance.com/4L80E_Components.html

I made my own wiring harness out of the factory vehicle harness I took the trans out of based on the diagram in the ATSG manual. I did install Jakes transbrake though as well when I rebuilt the trans, that thing kicks @$$.

I don't know anything about the ECM program for the Vortec engine, but making the trans work standalone is pretty easy.
 
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Couldn't you run a controller that operates both the engine and transmission together? That is what I am doing on an old Willys wagon I am building. The Painless wiring harness picks up both the engine and trans.
 
I've got the truck they're both coming out of. So I could drop the whole damn thing in, engine/trans/computer/harness. But I'd like to go full manual with the trans so when I eventually swap in a cummins the trans is ready for it, no computers needed.

Maybe I'm crazy, I don't know.
 
muddysub said:
I've got the truck they're both coming out of. So I could drop the whole damn thing in, engine/trans/computer/harness. But I'd like to go full manual with the trans so when I eventually swap in a cummins the trans is ready for it, no computers needed.

Maybe I'm crazy, I don't know.
Click to expand...


You nailed it....you're crazy :haha:

You have everything you need to drop in the trans/motor with computer as is. Do that. Worry about going manual on the trans at the later date when you do some sort of cummins swap.

Planning for the 2nd motor swap, before the first even happens is a little extreme, considering the progress most of us make on big items like this....
 
dhcomp said:
You nailed it....you're crazy :haha:

You have everything you need to drop in the trans/motor with computer as is. Do that. Worry about going manual on the trans at the later date when you do some sort of cummins swap.

Planning for the 2nd motor swap, before the first even happens is a little extreme, considering the progress most of us make on big items like this....
Click to expand...

Truth spoken, plus the Cummins will need a new custom converter and it would really be nice to have that trans with an automatic shift feature considering the low rpm of the diesel, just sayin :D
 
Yeah if you have everything drop it in that way.

Full manual is only external wiring later if you want. You can change the shifting dramatically all under the pan as well. Wiring alone makes it shift full factory firmness all the time, because the force motor only reduces the pressure, it does not increase it. But obviously hydraulic mods in the valvebody can increase shift firmness much further. If you have it rebuilt at least have them dual feed the direct clutches while its apart, it's practically free.
 
Ok then, nevermind me guys. What would I do without ck5?
 
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