Micro Cleaning
Cleaning’s not technical, right? You take a little soap and water and scrub and wash, scrub and wash some more, rinse, and the part’s clean. Or maybe you use some solvent, different chemical cleaners to get the really hard stuff and get it looking like new, so clean you can eat from it.
Clutch Technology – the Real Deal
One of the most-common repairs performed by transmission and general-repair shops is clutch replacement. The clutch is a high-wear item that must engage and disengage hundreds of times a day. It is subject to a lot of driver abuse; vehicle overloading; wear and failure of linkage, hydraulics and powertrain mounts; and contamination from oil leaks in the engine or transmission.
December 2003 Issue
Issue Summary:
Beginning with the 2001 model year, all 4L60-E transmissions were produced with a new-design converter-clutch regulator-valve lineup in the valve body.
2000-model GM trucks equipped with 4L60-E transmissions and either 4.8- or 5.3-liter engines may experience a driveline vibration at speeds between 35 and 50 mph during conditions of low engine speed and the driver’s foot off the accelerator pedal.
The valve-body spacer plate for the 4L60-E transmission has changed every year since its introduction in 1993, and the plates will not interchange from year to year. The valve-body casting changed again for model year 2001.
Some 1999-2001 Chevrolet and GMC C/K trucks and/or Cadillac Escalades with 4.3-, 4.8-, 5.3- or 6.0-liter engines and 4L60-E or 4L80-E transmissions may, on initial startup during cold weather, exhibit late 2-3 and 3-4 shifts and delayed converter-clutch application.
A Case of a Leaking Capacitor
It is not uncommon to hear of a technician investigating the inside of a computer as part of a diagnostic routine, especially when dealing with odd continual electrical problems.
Sometimes when the box is opened, a distinct burnt odor confirms the technician’s hunch that it was fried “Fred” causing the problem all along. Sometimes a cracked circuit board is the cause of those pesky intermittent trouble codes. On other occasions the box is filled with water from a leaking sunroof (Honda/Acura) or a leaking heater core (Mitsubishi/Hyundai), or it just had the misfortune of being in a flood.
‘THEM’
The title of this article envisions scenes from that 1950s “B” sci-fi movie by the same name – only, in this instance, “THEM” refers to the original-equipment manufacturers. This month I have a few tidbits relating to problems you may have to deal with that were created by the vehicle manufacturers.
