Do any of you have access to Hollander or other parts interchange data? My 4L80E transmission on my 99 Suburban K2500( 5.7L, 4WD, 226,000 miles) has let go and I want to find a good used one to replace it with.
Long story short, the trans started exhibiting the classic 2-3 late upshift problem about a year ago, but I was able to keep driving it by not pushing it real hard. About two months ago the parking pawl broke ( another long story) but it was still driveable though trans would not go park even though you could move shift lever to Park position. Then about two weeks ago I went to start truck and move it within my driveway but when I started engine it sounded like loose clock parts being ground up in a big blender. I shut the engine off and then restarted it. The grinding noise was gone but I had no forward gears or reverse. The broken-off parking pawl piece must have gotten caught up in the spinning trans parts, and I suspect my trans is now totally smoked.
So I am looking for a compatible used 4L80E that has some life left in it to bolt onto this truck. Everything I have read indicates that the only compatible trans for this truck is a 4L80E from another 1999 K2500 Suburban; no other years or models are compatible. Am I correct on that?
Also, if anyone HAS a compatible used transmission for my truck for sale, I am interested! I am in the DC-Richmond area btu I can road-trip pretty much anywhere east of the Mississippi to buy a good used unit. I am looking for a used unit that I can just bolt in because I only paid $750 for the whole truck. That is why I do not want to spend appx $3000 on trans rebuild on a $750 truck.
I know a trans swap is pretty big job, especially for a DIYer, but I put two used transmissions ( they each went for another 80k+ miles) in my old '94 Suburban that I ran to 460,000 miles. So I have some related experience.
So guys, if you have some info on compatible transmissions for my truck, or if you have a line on a good used one, I'M ALL EARS!
Thanks!
Pop
Last edit: 2 years 1 month ago by popoften. Reason: typo
Try car-part.com
It uses the Hollander interchange system to search salvage yards anywhere in the country.
It won't come right out and tell you exactly what fits, but it will give you a list of parts that fit for sale.
So for instance if every listing is out of a 99, then it's safe to assume that Hollander will tell you it's a one year fit (which, from experience, doesn't always really mean one year only. If you don't value your time, you can install multiple used transmissions and there may be some wiggle room)
Thank you, Noah! You da man. Another question if I may: I noticed the listings in car-part.com are broken out for my 5.7 by 4x2 and 4x4. Are there really different 4l80E variants depending on whether my truck is a 4x4 or 4x2? How can I tell if my truck is a 4x4 or 4x2? Thanks! ~Pop
If you have four wheel drive it's 4x4.
If you don't, it's 4x2.
The tail end of the transmission housing is physically different, so you cannot bolt the transfer case to the 4x2 version.
I do remember in my early years at the junk yard that there was some modification involving grinding of the output shaft to use a 4x4 in a 4x2 or maybe it was the other way around, but that's not something you're going to want to play around with in the drive way.
