4T65E Installation Guide

Read This Entire Document Before Installing Your

Transmission

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BEFORE REMOVING THE OLD TRANSMISSION
You MUST have a scanner and scan the vehicle for any codes. All codes MUST be
fixed BEFORE installing the new transmission.

INSTALLATION SUGGESTIONS
1. The cooling system on this vehicle MUST be replaced. The plate cooler in this vehicle
cannot be properly flushed and is a non-serviceable component which must be
replaced with new.

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 Adjust the shifter cable:

Verify proper shifter cable adjustment:

• Disconnect the cable from the transmission

• Set the transmission to park and attempt to turn the wheels. If
the wheels DO NOT turn then you are in park.
• Now rotate the linkage two detents (clicks) in the opposite
direction of park (this verifies you are in neutral).

 Now have an assistant select

neutral with the shift lever

• Unclip the plastic horse shoe on the shifter cable.

• Now you can slide the cable back and forth in the bracket and line it up with the manual shaft
pin.
• Once aligned install clip on the cable.

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 This transmission
requires

Filling the 4T65: Dextron III

or Higher
Pro Tip: Clean the dip stick with brake
clean to get a more accurate reading.
 BEFORE YOU START THE VEHICLE fluid must be touching the bottom of the
cross hatch.
 Make sure the Vehicle is on level ground
 Start the vehicle and move the shift through all ranges pausing for 3 secs
in each range. Add fluid till it reaches the cold mark on the dipstick.
 Final level check should be done with
o engine idling
o transmission in park
o temperature must be 180-200*

Fluid should read at the top of the cross hatches. DO NOT OVERFILL

*If temp is too low select manual 2 and stall test for a max of 15
seconds at a time till temperature is reached.

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Road testing:
Find a road with little to no traffic. Now perform a series of accelerations from a stop with
light to medium throttle application. Refer to the Road test checklist on the back of this sheet.

Now hook up Scan Tool-

TAP CELL ADAPTS:

With the scan tool in the Transmission Data
Mode, (See image Right), the shift time for
the 1-2
shift is indicating that the shift took 0.70
seconds to complete. This shift time
exceeds the normal
time the shift should have taken. No
conventional GM automatic transmission
should exceed
0.65 seconds shift time.
The P1811 indicates that the PCM has
attempted to compensate for the
intermittent shift timing
error by raising line pressure during the 1-2
shift as seen in the shift adapt report in
Figure 2.The
numbers without minus signs indicate how
much line rise will be added to the next 1-2
shift for
that particular Tap Cell.
The Tap Cells are numbered from 4 to 16,
four being light throttle, eight being about
medium
throttle and 12 and higher being heavy
throttle. The amount of line pressure the
PCM can remove
or provide will range from -30.00 to 30.00
positive pressure. By viewing these tap cells not only
can you tell which shift is causing the harsh complaint, but also at what throttle the problem is
occurring. Within specs, the closer each Tap Cell is to one another the healthier that
transmission is and the better it will perform.

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STEADY STATE ADAPTS:
The Steady State Adapts are an extremely
useful tool because they can pin point which
component is causing the complaint, this is
especially helpful on intermittent complaints.
The
Steady State Adapts represent the “in gear”
status of a components ability to prevent
slippage.
Should a component slip, this would be seen
on the scan tools adaptive data list, (Refer to
Figure
2), and would indicate a number which shows
how much line pressure is going to be
increased to
keep that component from slipping. The worse
it’s slipping the higher that number will be,
when
there is no problem the steady state will be
zero.
As can be seen in Figure 2, there is a problem
with second gear, that steady state is elevated
while
the rest are zero. This would explain the above
complaint.
Another reason is, after repairs are
completed, the PCM still believes it must
slam that component on, in other words, it does not know the problem has been fixed.
You must reset the shift adapts for the transmission to
return to normal operating conditions.

Pro Tip: This transmission is very sensitive to MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure)
/ MAF (Mass Air Flow) signals. It is strongly recommended you verify its
functioning properly and/or replace with new during install.

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INSTALLATION CHECKLIST Road Test Check list

o Scan vehicle and fix all co des

o Does vehicle hold in park

o Replace the co oling system (Radiator) and o Engagement into reverse

replace o r clean co oling lines

o Inspect flex plate fo r cracks o r breakage.

o Acceleration in reverse
D amaged flex plates are commo n
o Does engine free spin in neutral
o Compare bolt pattern on flex plate to bolt pattern
on new torque converter
o Engagement into Over Drive
o Inspect crankshaft pilot bore for wear and apply
grease to aid with installation o Acceleration in Over Drive

o Compare replacement transmission and o 1-2 shift in Over Drive

t o r q u e converter to original before installation

o Verify all dowel pins are present, clean, and in o 2-3 shift in Over Drive
good condition – these are critical for proper
alignment o 3-4 shift in Over Drive

o Do not tighten bell housing bolts with force;

o 4-5 shift in Over Drive
may damage torque converter if shifted in transit

o Inspect wiring harness and connector for damage o 5-4 downshift in Over Drive
and /or corrosion

o Inspect entire electrical system including ground,

o 4-3 downshift in Over Drive
battery, alternator, mass air flow sensor and
throttle position sensor. o 3-2 downshift in Over Drive

o Inspect axle shaft splines and check o 2-1 downshift in Over Drive
transmission/engine mounts

o Install supplied tail shaft housing gaskets and o Engine braking in manual 1
seals
o Engine braking in manual 2
o If 4WD application, replace transfer case input shaft
seal
o Torque Converter lock up and release
o Inspect transmission mounts, carrier bearing,
driveshaft, yoke and U-joints. Excessive vibration
due to defective mounts and other faulty driveline
parts is the main cause of broken cases.

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