Hi guys,

Since purchasing my 2000 SS, I noticed there was a whining noise from the transmission that would only show up whenever I would put it in gear and would change pitch as I accelerate and go away when coasting. It does slip between 2-3 and into overdrive, and the fluid has turned into a pale red than the bright red. Is my transmission far gone that a master rebuild kit can’t fix, or is it cheaper to grab one off a wrecker at my local junkyard? It also has a tendency to overheat when going over 70 and I’ve replaced almost every component of the cooling system besides the head gaskets.

I will upload a video of the noise when I get home from work.

Thanks in advance!

 

I wouldnt mess with a junkyard trans. These 4t65s are pretty crumby transmissions so its every bit as much of a dice roll that the new one will have issues too (or will develop them soon). The hard part is some of the common issues can start as early as 40-50k miles, so its not like you'll find one these days with low enough mileage to be a safe bet. Doesnt help that most non-car people never service their transmissions either.

The other bad thing is how hard it is to R&R. I get most JY have a short warranty, but what a giant pain to burn a day putting it in, then a day diagnosing and taking it back out to return it, only to spend another day finding and installing another.

If you plan to keep it long term, I'd rebuild what you've got.

 

Thanks for the reply Bumpin'! Yeah, and my Monte is high mileage and been abused by the last 2 owners before I got it. I do plan on keeping it long-term and fixing all its issues so I can have it as my Sunday/Car Meet driver. Looks like I'm gonna start tearing into it and get that trans out as fast as I can. Since I also have to replace a lot of the front suspension, it makes sense. By then, I should have an almost 100% mechanically sound Monte.

 

The overheating you having replaced almost everything for the cooling system, there are a couple cheap things that may be overlooked. You are down in the waaay hot Az heat area, mine kept getting hot and it ended up being the Air dam under the front nose. Guy who turboed my car neglected to put it back on. Then right as you open the hood there should be a plastic piece that sandwiches the latch etc "a baffle" that needs to be there, it prevents the incoming cool air diverted via the air dam from blowing right past the radiator and into the engine bay. Could be that simple, a quick check would let you know the answer. Also I ended up because of my build installed the HD radiator off the Impala Police Interceptor, helped out. Then they have the synthetic coolants which have higher boiling point. Also have seen bad radiator caps be the issue, even new ones, take it back get another and it worked. You ever hearing a gurgling sound from cooling system after motor is shut off?

 

I took a look underneath and the deflector looks to be ripped out as the other cowl is still on when I open the hood. As for gurgling noises, I didn’t hear any nor heard anything when the engine is at operating temp. No loss of coolant either. Previous owner put only water in it instead of coolant. When I replaced the water pump and the radiator, I refilled it with the green coolant since Dex-cool loves to eat 3800 gaskets. Would that lower deflector be the cause of my overheating over 70 and in some cases stop and go traffic?

 

Be certain you are overheating. How are you checking. I went thru hell with an overheating issue and it turned out to be a bad stepper motor in the gauge. Yea I felt stupid.

 

Doesn't the '04-'05 have an upgraded transmission? Can you actually replace the '00 transmission with the other kind, if need be?

 

I think the upgrade is with the supercharged engines which are the 05 and 04 SS.
There are differences in the electronics (plugs) for different years which is why youd have to match years.

Someone correct me if im wrong here.

 

I checked the gauges as I just replaced all the bulbs in it and they seem to operate just fine. I have an OBDII to Bluetooth adapter from Bosch and checked the temp on the gauge vs the temp sensor at the thermostat. Needle and the sensor were reading correctly. As for the trans, yeah, I don’t think anything newer than my model year will adapt to it unless I make changes to the wiring and PCM reprogramming. I’ll just take the time now that I have it parked to drop it and put in a rebuild kit. If anyone has suggestions as to how to go about getting new parts that are beefier than the stock originals, I’m all ears.

 

Thats not a good path IMO:
-The car would be slower. The HD trans has a lower overall gear ratio (2.93), a lower stalling converter, and a larger / heavier converter (slightly).
-That would be fine if it were actually stronger in the ways the OP needed, but thr failures he experienced (and most 4t65s experience) is not addressed in the HD version.
-The HD version doesn't really have any notable power handling upgrades. The diff is the biggest part change, and thats very rare to break outside of people doing 1 wheel burnout abuse.
-The swap also involves some complexity (beyond the year issue - although you can get a HD from a similar year GTP that would work) - pcm tuning for the gear ratio change and a new passenger axle. Neither is a big deal, but you hate to spend even a minute of extra work on something that doesn't really help.