4L80 vs 4L80E

[esbstuff]

Whats the differance?

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Someone left the E off the 4L80. It never came as a non-electronic trans.

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by Ziegelsteinfaust

Someone left the E off the 4L80. It never came as a non-electronic trans.

Or added a 4 instead of 3 as in 3L80 for a TH400

[nekkidhillbilly]

your confusing a 4l60 and a 4l60e. the 80e is it.

[esbstuff]

I guy I know swears he has a 4l80... I always thought they were all 4L80e's...

[Jmiller022]

they were always 4L80e. there was never a vacuum modulated one like the 4l60.

[nekkidhillbilly]

well hes a dumbass. what is it out of. gm only makes about 4 hd trans the th400, 4l80e, 6l80e, allison 1000. thats it. there was a variant of the 80e that was the 85e iirc. which is basically the 80 with a different apply piston also. all are computer controlled.

[russgt]

I have heard the rumor that some supposedly non-electronic 4L80s were made in 91' but I have never seen any proof of this.

[cochino12]

Originally Posted by russgt

I have heard the rumor that some supposedly non-electronic 4L80s were made in 91' but I have never seen any proof of this.

I believe I read that here somewhere too

[Just1more]

I believe 91 was the first year for the 4L80, I have one in my 91 crew cab, and it is electronic. I have never seen or heard of one that wasn't electronic, and if they existed, I think there would be a lot of aftermarket companies building and selling them for high hp applications. There are several aftermarket controllers for the 4L80E, you'd think if a non-electronic valve body existed someone would be selling those for retrofit applications. Might exist, but I've yet to find evidence.

[BigBlocksRule]

Full manual valve bodies have been available for them for some years. They require manual shifting 100% of the time. There's now a transbrake for 'em, too.
I just parted out a '91 with 4L80E. This one has obviously been worked on, the first two years used a bolt through the middle of the big plug to hold it in place and this one doesn't have it.

[nekkidhillbilly]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Full manual valve bodies have been available for them for some years. They require manual shifting 100% of the time. There's now a transbrake for 'em, too.
I just parted out a '91 with 4L80E. This one has obviously been worked on, the first two years used a bolt through the middle of the big plug to hold it in place and this one doesn't have it.

thats the only thing though nothing from the factory.

[special-K]

When the 4L60E and 4L80E came out GM called the 700r4 the 4L60 until they were discontinued

[kevinr1970]

I thought that there was a 4l80 in '91 for the diesels, but I think I was corrected in that the diesels used a stand alone harness.
That made that tranny a good find for a retrofit?

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by kevinr1970

I thought that there was a 4l80 in '91 for the diesels, but I think I was corrected in that the diesels used a stand alone harness.
That made that tranny a good find for a retrofit?

There was, and it went well into 2005 on the P-chassis. But, even a 4L80E running on a stand-alone TCM is still an “E” transmission where the shift solenoids are actuated electronically. There were no non-electronic 4L80’s….. period.

Those units running the 6.2 and 6.5L with a TCM is not really a good retrofit piece. That TCM is programmed to that vehicles specific tire size and gear ratio as well as the torque converter lockup for a diesel application. Horrible for retrofitting if you want it to perform correctly. Like nekkidhillbilly said, a stand-alone aftermarket controller is much better. In fact, I am building a project now with a TCI EZ-TCU. I’ll know how well it works within the next couple weeks.

[kevinr1970]

It's been a couple weeks, what's the verdict?
I have a '91 Suburban 2wd I am parting out with the 4l80e, but it doesn't like to go forwards, and only sort of backwards.
I would like to rebuild this instead of a 700 for my '82 2wd K5 that might some day get a 6.0ls.
Is the harness on the Suburban of any use to me? Or do I need to go with the aftermarket controller? Is there such a thing as an "inexpensive" version, worth buying?

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

In fact, I am building a project now with a TCI EZ-TCU. I’ll know how well it works within the next couple weeks.

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by kevinr1970

It's been a couple weeks, what's the verdict?
I have a '91 Suburban 2wd I am parting out with the 4l80e, but it doesn't like to go forwards, and only sort of backwards.
I would like to rebuild this instead of a 700 for my '82 2wd K5 that might some day get a 6.0ls.
Is the harness on the Suburban of any use to me? Or do I need to go with the aftermarket controller? Is there such a thing as an "inexpensive" version, worth buying?

Hehe, well, I am running behind schedule. I like to collect all needed parts before ripping into projects and I hit a snag locating an ’88-’94 GMT400 auto/tilt steering column. Every stinking truck I found in salvage yards in Pueblo and Fremont counties were either missing steering columns or were badly damaged beyond repair. I would have never guessed a GMT400 Saginaw column would be so hard to find! It blows me away how many people do not know how to repair the common loose tilt mechanism on the Saginaw columns and just go spend a few hundred on a different column that is probably loose too.

While I was cruising our local salvage yard red light district a few weekends ago getting more and more discouraged with every yard I visited I spotted a ’93 C1500 sitting in small fenced yard. I cased the place for a while and couldn’t really tell how to get in or who owned the lot so I went back to one of the other yards to ask who it belonged to. Come to find out the yard belongs to a construction company and some guy just pulled up and opened the gate so I quickly ran over to ask him if he was interested in selling any parts off the C1500 and he said "si". Not sure what else he said as my Spanish isn't that great .

$50 later and I had me a decent GMT400 Saginaw auto/tilt column in hand along with the auto trans shift linkages and a few end connectors I snipped off various sensors. The truck I pulled it from sat for god only knows how long without a driver’s door window so I had to order up several new AC Delco pieces (turn signal switch, multifunction switch, new upper bearing and new key cylinder) so I can rebuild the top end.....and tighten the tilt mechanism bolts . The only other parts I still need to get are a few simple things like a trans filter, rear tailshaft seal, auto flexplate, flexplate bolts and figuring out the proper AN -8 fittings fit the 1997 radiator I put in this truck last year during the 4.3L to 7.4L swap. I am starting to second guess my decision to use AN fittings and hose for the trans cooler lines. AN fittings are a PITA to figure out in hopes of getting the right ones the first time around. So that was my long string of excuses as to why I don’t have it done yet Will be starting on it this week though!

Regarding your dilemma, harnesses from vehicle planned for the scrapper are always great things to remove and squirrel away even if only for the sake of harvesting hard to find end connectors ( one single AC Delco pigtail like a coolant temp sensor can cost around $30). If you are planning on a 6.0L swap anyway you would be better off doing the 4L80E and 6.0L at the same time and run both on a quality harness like a Howell Engine Development harness along with a GM P59 or E38/78 ECM (depending on the year of the 6.0L) that has the ability to operate the engine and the transmission. Nothing is cheap in this hobby....an aftermarket trans controller will cost around $700 but a nice Howell harness to run a 6.0L and a 4L80E will cost about $800 plus the ECM and tuning service above that.

The only reason I chose to use an aftermarket trans controller on this 1993 C1500 is because it would be pretty significant repining the ECM and an ECM change to operate the transmission. When this manual to auto project idea came up I originally had planned to run it on the ECM that is it now until I saw how many circuits were pinned differently and different colors in the ECM between autos and manuals.

[nekkidhillbilly]

even the later diesels had stand alone harness's they quit when the dmax started. its still easier and just as cheap to run a aftermarket for the trans from what ive heard.

[Cabnchassis]

My 91 C+C 6.2 is 4l80e and i could see stealing the harness if you were running a diesel but otherwise you pretty much gotta buy it. I also have a 92 k2500 gasser with an 80e and anything you do those tbi trucks the ECU gets pissed off about, so I'd imagine it would be just as much work to get that harness set up. I never bothered to check if that truck has its own trans controller or the ECU runs it, but that ECU is so bossy I can't imagine it's not involved.. I'd think buying the stand alone wiring harness really is the least hassle way to get where you're trying to go.