My friends car feels like it pops into neutral suddenly in third gear (@ about 3000 rpm) and it doesn't go into fourth. It suddenly started doing this, there was no slipping before as far as I know. First and second gear seems fine it pulls hard right up until it revs freely at about 3000 rpms in third. Could it be anything other than a tranny that needs to be rebuilt?

It's a 97 Z28 4L60E with about 120,xxx miles.

 

1st, 2nd, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ......

... 4L60E =

Short answer, it's coming apart ..... sorry .

 

This is a common sign that the 3-4 clutches are wasted. Time for a rebuild.

Frank
CPT

 

does it generally happen suddenly? I was under the impression that it started slipping before it completely just let go lke this.

 

It can happen suddenly. I've also seen a few cases where the snap ring blows out of the 3-4 clutches.

A 1-2-neutral is a definite sign of internal failure. Any control component will just cause it to stay stuck in 2nd, and never attempt a 2-3 upshift.

Frank
CPT