Unwanted Transfer Case Shift to Neutral Recall

Silverado-Hareek · July 17, 2014

Hey guys. Quick question? My truck is due for this transfer case recall. From what I understand they have to flash the transmission and it has to re-learn everything. I have an appt. tomorrow to get it done. My question is I'm on vacation next week and going on a 9hr road trip north, do you think I should wait till I get back before doing the update?, will the transmission relearn ok? Or will I have to do the whole "break in" thing again where you have to keep it under a certain speed for a while then ramp it up? The truck runs perfectly now and I don't want to mess it up so I thought I'd ask your opinion..

Appreciate any replies, thank you..

If it is working good now, I would wait. I'm not even going on a trip, and I am waiting! I've only driven my truck 3 times in the last 3 weeks. Been driving my commuter car with 227,000 miles, and no recalls. Runs like a top!

They are likely going to do the flash on the transfer case, and might just do/try the "peek in" while it is there. Why take a chance on it ruining your vacation?

+1. Let em work the bugs out of the update and not ruin your vacation. I'm going to Tennessee this coming week and that's why I've held out as well. I'll get it done when I need to take it in for its next service.

The transmission oil cooler recall was issued after a Tahoe exploded on a test drive shortly after leaving a dealer lot.

A user on this forum posted about his truck shifting into neutral with only 195 miles on the truck.

My point is the problems that lead to these recalls are showing up rather quickly it seems. In my opinion, if you have any decent amount of miles on your truck (like more than 1,000) and have not experienced this neutral shifting problem, I doubt it's just going to start doing it. GM is being cautious because of all of the scrutiny they're under from the ignition switch recall so they're updating every truck to be safe. But I have 5,900 miles on my truck and not a single shifting issue. I'm not in a hurry to get to the dealer on this one. I plan to let them work the kinks out of both this recall and the odometer mileage/gauge recall and get it done in a few months at my next oil change.

Mike1220 · July 17, 2014

Hey guys. Quick question? My truck is due for this transfer case recall. From what I understand they have to flash the transmission and it has to re-learn everything. I have an appt. tomorrow to get it done. My question is I'm on vacation next week and going on a 9hr road trip north, do you think I should wait till I get back before doing the update?, will the transmission relearn ok? Or will I have to do the whole "break in" thing again where you have to keep it under a certain speed for a while then ramp it up? The truck runs perfectly now and I don't want to mess it up so I thought I'd ask your opinion..

Appreciate any replies, thank you..

Shouldn't have to worry about keeping it under a certain speed. Especially if you have a couple thousand miles already. All the parts are broken in. Only thing that happens with the flash is basically a software update. No parts changed from what I understand. So if it does have to "relearn" how you drive, then a 9hr trip should be fine. It will relearn your driving during the trip. And it's software, not anything written in stone. If the software does truly adapt to how we drive, then it will likely learn how we drive over the course of 1 month (or longer) and then each time we get in the truck and start going it will likely try to sense a pattern in how you start driving and what type of driving mood you will likely be in, ie. if you feel like gunning it every chance you get or if you are taking it easy and enjoying some MPGs during the driving session

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tbarn · July 17, 2014

We've done more than 30 transfer case reflashes. None have been a problem. There is nothing to relearn by driving. when it leaves the dealership, it is done.

grizzlyrafting · July 18, 2014

Thank you guys for the quick and very helpful info, I feel better about it now and off for the recall in the morning and then home and start packing up the truck to go up north.

lovemytruck · July 19, 2014

Took my 14' in for it's third oil change/tire rotation (19,000miles). Told CSR to do the two software recalls. She stated that they couldn't do the recalls because I needed to schedule an appointment because they needed my truck all day. I said WHAT! Why all day? She stated that's how long it takes. I said, are you going to give me a loaner truck, CSR stated, we'll give you courtsey transportation to your place of work. I stated, my truck is my place of work! I called another dealership near my vacation home, the CSR told me GM allows 30 minutes for one recall and 45 minutes for the other. Guess where I'm taking my truck.

tbarn · July 19, 2014

Took my 14' in for it's third oil change/tire rotation (19,000miles). Told CSR to do the two software recalls. She stated that they couldn't do the recalls because I needed to schedule an appointment because they needed my truck all day. I said WHAT! Why all day? She stated that's how long it takes. I said, are you going to give me a loaner truck, CSR stated, we'll give you courtsey transportation to your place of work. I stated, my truck is my place of work! I called another dealership near my vacation home, the CSR told me GM allows 30 minutes for one recall and 45 minutes for the other. Guess where I'm taking my truck.

They were probably just being cautious by saying it takes all day. The transfer case one takes about 20 minutes. The "peek in" takes about an hour if all goes well. If not, it can take hours. Please keep in mind that these times are after the tech gets it, not from when you walk in the door. Depending on how busy the write up area is and whether a tech is available it could take substantially longer. I think the worst is behind us on this one though. Did 4 this week and had no problems. They reworded the procedure to clarify the process. Having said this, it can still go bad in a hurry. Any programming can. As far as the loaner, GM policy is, if it can be done in a day they will supply a ride. I know this won't help you, but the dealer should if, you bought it there. Hell, ours will give a loaner (by appt.) for an oil change if you bought it from us.

chevy2tuff2006 · July 20, 2014

They were probably just being cautious by saying it takes all day. The transfer case one takes about 20 minutes. The "peek in" takes about an hour if all goes well. If not, it can take hours. Please keep in mind that these times are after the tech gets it, not from when you walk in the door. Depending on how busy the write up area is and whether a tech is available it could take substantially longer. I think the worst is behind us on this one though. Did 4 this week and had no problems. They reworded the procedure to clarify the process. Having said this, it can still go bad in a hurry. Any programming can. As far as the loaner, GM policy is, if it can be done in a day they will supply a ride. I know this won't help you, but the dealer should if, you bought it there. Hell, ours will give a loaner (by appt.) for an oil change if you bought it from us.

Do you work at symdons?

tbarn · July 20, 2014

Do you work at symdons?

No

Aznative · July 20, 2014

Interesting I had my 2014 crew cab as I made a left turn suddenly have the RPM's going up and the truck slowing down? caught me by surprise thankfully I was turning on a left green arrow, startled me so bad I started to pull the shifter down into manual and all of a sudden it was fine, (I am not sure) but have never done it before or since that I didn't bump the shifter into neutral while reaching for the radio. It only happened that one time and I have driven all over turning left/right etc. trying to see if it does it again. When truck goes in will see if my Vin matches recall.

Really don't want to have that happened when I am backed up to a launch ramp launching the boat with the truck in park!!!! I use the emergency brake always when launching but it might not hold with heavy load like a boat trailer behind the truck?

jcchevy · July 20, 2014

I taking my truck for this recall this Saturday. The service manager told me is just a software update. Also, they going to do the other recall on the odometer and gauges.

"just a software update" is funny, considering software controls every single aspect of our vehicles.

Being a computer engineer myself, I am totally fine with updates as that is the cycle of life for anything controlled by software(thats everything right) and is normal since humans are doing the programming.