6R60 Archives - Transmission Digest
6R60/75/80 GEN 2 Shift Kit

Now available from Transtar Industries is the Transgo Shift Kit for 6R60/75/80 2014-up (#T95165A). All drop-in components for a quick, no-hassle install without reaming or tooling. Both the redesigned drop-in steel two-piece (PR) valve and (TCC) regular valve feature longer lands which reports the hydraulic integrity of the circuit by utilizing previously unused and therefore

Another Case of Brutality

Our technical help line is now experiencing a different transmission that can have a variety of severe shifts complaints. It is with Ford’s 6R60/80 transmission. We received one such call from Mr. Transmission in Louisville, Ky., with a 2007 Explorer Sport 4.6L that had 65,000 miles. It shifted fine until you went for passing gear out of 4th. The shift was so brutal that it felt like the transmission went into reverse. There were no codes present. An entirely different call was a complaint of firm shifts and during full throttle kickdowns the vehicle speed signal would drop to zero. It too did not have codes. Yet another call received, all the shifts were extremely severe and it had a variety of CAN BUS codes stored.

Ford 6R60/6R80 Component Upgrades, Part 1

Ford released the “kissin’ cousin” to the ZF6HP26 a decade ago and like the 6HP, changes have certainly occurred to the 6R60 family of transmissions during that time. Although as part of the agreement with ZF, Ford did use the actual 6HP for a short time, but the game plan from the start was to produce a home-grown unit, which Ford did in 2006.

CAN U Communicate?

By now, most of us have had to deal with a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication “U” series code at one time or another. Most of the time, diagnosing one these codes is fairly straightforward, given all of the articles and technical publications that have been written regarding these problematic codes. In most cases, it just comes down to identifying the module that isn’t communicating with the other modules on the CAN bus line for whatever reason. Generally, it’s some type of lost voltage or a poor ground in the circuit wiring to the module in question. So, what happens when all your diagnostic tests and checks take you down a dead-end road, and the actual problem ends up being a component that shouldn’t have had anything to do with a communication error code? I’m sure there may be a few engine drivability techs out there who have run into the situation that I’m about to cover, but it was a first for me.

Rebuilding the 6R60 Converter

Ford introduced the 6R60 transmission in 2005, when it was originally used for Explorers equipped with the 4.6L gas engine. In 2008 and 2009, the 6R60 transmission also was used in some 4.6L F-150 pickups. The 6R60 transmission comes with a multi-plate, captive-clutch converter with a unique design. One single-sided clutch disc rests against the cover. This clutch disc has 12 tangs that engage the turbine arranged in groups of three around the disc’s outer diameter. The clutch disc is sandwiched between the cover and a two-sided clutch disc that is attached to the cover in six positions close to its inner diameter.