Transmision problem on 02 1500

akjay · November 17, 2004

Well I've had my truck since Feb of 02 and haven't had a single problem with it. I love my truck, and haven't ever had a doubt I'd be able to keep it forever. That is untill last saturday.

I was driving like normal, and when the truck shifted from 1st to second, I noticed a clunk in the rear. I was close to a stoplight so when it went red I slowd and stopped. Once it went green I started to drive again and could hear the engine/trany start to whine like it does when you drive in reverse too fast. I got real worried and pulled over as soon as I could. I then tried to shift it into 2nd 3rd, neutral and reverse, nada, it kept making the same noise and would move forward if in some sort of forward gear but like it was stuck in first. In reverse all it would do is make that horrible whining noise, same in neutral. It would park though...

So I call the dealer and talk to them and they give me the number of the tow company to call and then tell me to have it brought in and they'll look at it first thing on monday. I'm fine with that, but unfortunately (this is my luck) they have a fire in the offices upstairs not a half hour later... lol Anyway, my truck is sitting at the dealership, it's got 30,858 miles on it, and they don't know when they can work on it again. They are hoping to have the shop operating by friday.

Has anyone had a similar problem and does it sound like a warany issue, or should I prep for one heck of a bill? I'm anxious to find out what's wrong with it and they can't help me. And unfortunately they are the only chevy dealer in my town.

I can't believe how sick I was when it died... And sitting here not knowing anything sucks too.

mcreyaufmiller · November 17, 2004

If it is still under the orignal warranty, it should be covered. I have not heard of this, but it sounds like the pump may be stuck.

Mike

100R1 · November 17, 2004

factory warranty 36,000 miles / 36 months from in date service no mater if you are the original owner OR bought used.

I had a similar problem in my '01 yukon with a bout same number of miles. Yukon was in service for 32 months. I was the second owner.

100% covered including free towing, free rental vehicle.

Problem I had was the Sun gear Shell failure (weak point on the 4L60E)

even if you are a few months out of the time warranty the dealer should work with for a least a reduced cost for good customer service.

My only complaint with the repair is that they did a half As# job of reinstalling (left the started hanging by a few threads on the bolts & bolts on the tranny bellhousing to engine were loose and they left the 2 inspections plates off.

recomend you crawl under your truck after picking it up and checking all of the connections etc.

Good Luck!

IDGBZ71 · November 17, 2004

I just had my tranny rebuilt, truck had 40,000 on it, thank god I bought extended warrenty. I hit the gas and heard a ping then truck dropped into 1st gear was able to shift into 2nd an 3rd at about 3,500rpm, lost OD and reverse. All was covered under warrenty and had my truck back in two days, it shifts better now then when I bought it new. Still waiting on the stearing shaft thats on back order, rear window leaking again and passenger side rear inside brake pad is wearing way faster then the rest, waiting to drop it off once to get the rest fixed. Like 100R1 said crawl under the truck an look at everything real good when you get it back, they fogot to put that little metal plug/tab back in was able to see converter, don't want dirt in there...

akjay · November 17, 2004

factory warranty 36,000 miles / 36 months from in date service no mater if you are the original owner OR bought used.

I had a similar problem in my '01 yukon with a bout same number of miles. Yukon was in service for 32 months. I was the second owner.

100% covered including free towing, free rental vehicle.

Problem I had was the Sun gear Shell failure (weak point on the 4L60E)

even if you are a few months out of the time warranty the dealer should work with for a least a reduced cost for good customer service.

My only complaint with the repair is that they did a half As# job of reinstalling (left the started hanging by a few threads on the bolts & bolts on the tranny bellhousing to engine were loose and they left the 2 inspections plates off.

recomend you crawl under your truck after picking it up and checking all of the connections etc.

Good Luck!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I actually did some searches on the forums and saw your thread. Which included some nice pics. I'm kinda sitting in the dark right now on whether or not they have even got a chance to look at it. What freaked me out was the noise. Man does it sound weird. Even the tow truck guy said he'd never heard anything like that.

36/36 is the waranty? I thought it was 3 years 30k miles. That's cool!

I at least feel better. I didn't get a free rental car, but then again I didn't press it since I have a backup. Thanks guys, and I'll update as I get more info.

Tfin · November 18, 2004

Same thing happened to my 02 Silverado. Except I was passing another vehical, and as soon as I pulled back into my lane, I lost OD...just the horrible whirring sound. I dropped it into 3rd and made it home. No Rev, and no OD, just 3rd, 2nd, and 1st.

This happended at about 20,000 miles, so everything was covered under the factory warrenty, including the loaner. It was the sun shield and planetary gears....also a couple of bands. They fixed it and its run perfectly ever since. I've now got over 41,000 miles on it.

I know how you feel though, when that first happened my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. If your dealer is worth their salt, you should be all set.

Good luck.

seadoons · November 18, 2004

Sorry to hear about your misfortune - just feel good that it happened this month and not in February...it would have been out of warranty then because it would be over 3 years old. I have 68K on my '02 with no problems...knock on wood. I had the tranny flushed twice - once at 30K and again at 60K. I, too plan on driving this truck for a very long time. I have an extended warranty that goes through February 2006 or 100K miles, whichever comes first. I am not driving as much as I used to so I think I will reach the February 2006 date before I hit the 100K. The next vehicle I buy will probably have an extended warranty again (even though I have yet to use this one) but I will make sure it covers the entire time I have it financed. Mine isn't paid off until Feb. '07 so I have 1 year that it is not covered that I will be making payments on it.

akjay · November 19, 2004

Ok well follow up time. Apparently the whole transimission is a wash. I have spent the last week waiting to hear. When I didn't hear anything yesterday, I called the dealership and asked about the status of the truck. He said, 'oh we just go to that, I don't know what to tell you until I talk to the service tech, I'll call you first thing in the morning.'

Well I waited until noon, no call. So I called them... He picked up the phone and I went through my "Hi I'm the one with the tranny problem, dropped it off on monday." He was like... "who are you again? What's the name? What kind of vehicle is it again?" Ok I live in a 30k population area, it's not like they get that many trucks in with trany problems. lol

So after putting me on hold for like 4 or 5 minutes, he came back on to tell me that the spider gear on the transmission is gone, and the whole tranny is gone. He said he was waiting on GM to decide whether or not they wanted to ship a transmission to Alaska or have them rebuild it. I was ok, so when will you hear that? He's like, oh sometime next week. So I say, well I'm ok right now sharing a truck with my wife, but I could really use a loaner for the weekend. To which he says. "Well the waranty covers 3 days worth of rental, tell me what 3 days you want it and I'll get you one."

I could not believe it. I told him I was trying to be understanding and patient and didn't want to be a jerk, but I've been without my 30k dollar vehicle for nearly a week now, and they have no idea when it will be fixed and all I get is 3 days?

"Yeah sorry that's the way the waranty works."

So I hung up telling him I'll get back to him.

I then figure I'll call GM and see why they have such a bad rental/loaner policy. After getting bumped around a bit, I got ahold of a very nice customer service rep. She put me on hold and called the dealership, at which point she confirmed most of what I said. However the service manager said "No I didn't tell him it would be like a week before I heard from GM I told him I'd probably hear something today." A lie... So I talke to her for a while, at which she told me that GM actually will pay for a rental through the period of the time it takes to fix my vehicle. However I have to use Enterprise car rental, it's has to be a GM vehicle, I have to pay out of pocket, when my truck is fixed I get to send them...

1: Invoice for the repair.

2: Proof of ownership (copy of the title)

3: Copies of all receipts.

I get to mail (no fax or email option) that to detroit care of GM and hope I get a check back before the apocolypse...

I feel like crap. I can't believe I'm paying like 500 a month for the privilige of owning a GM truck, it goes tits up and now I get to pay several hundred dollars of my own money to rent a car. You know, I work 2 freaking jobs to have that truck and provide for my wife and family. Who says I have 200 extra dollars hanging around at the holiday time that I can spare to do that.

I tried to be extremely calm the whole time and work with the lady on the phone. I must say this is the most disheartening experience I've ever had the joy to deal with. 25 minutes on the phone with the dealer. 20 bouncing around GM's phone system to get shiften to customer service, then 45 minutes on the phone today with Angela.

I lodged a complain with her, and asked for her assistance in following up with the dealership since they seem to have issues calling their customers back.

I'm kinda unsure where to go, since I dont' think I should have to spend a dime of my own money with it still in base waranty. Like I said, the service guys said this was very very rare. Why should I be punished for being lucky/unlucky depending on how you look at it...

Is ford customer service this bad?

akjay · November 19, 2004

Oh great to add insult to injury we don't have an enterprise car rental in this town. lol I guess I get to call back.

100R1 · November 20, 2004

Call GM back and tell them there is not a Enterprise in your location.

under these circumstances they better have alternatives.

If you don't get satification tell them you want to talk to their supervisior.

Time to start keeping a list of dates & times and names (name, rank & Serial #) and what they say. (put it in writting for your self & to share with higher powers)

Also while you are at it, tell them you want to know the phone number to the DISTRICT SERVICE MANAGER. Get the DSM name, phone number & E-mail address.

Being in Alaska is a little harder than in the lower 48, but GM has coverage.

At the dealership ask to speak to the Service manager (not the service advisor) and tell them you have issues with the situation. Ask the service manager for the District service manager information, If he refuses and you already have it from the phone call to GM, then just use the DSM name in a statement like "thats OK I know JOE BLOW is the DSM and I have his phone # etc to contact him and will be sending a report on my experience here.

If you are really pissed, then go to the GSM (general sales manager) at the dealership and tell him who you are and that you bought your truck from the dealership and the unkind treatment you are recieving and that you are having a hard time considering the dealership for future purchases.

Dealerships do not like for District service managers OR district sales managers to get involved with customer service issues as this is a negative mark on the dealersahips record for future considerations.

I use to work at a dealership and nothing caused a manager to shake in his boots more than a call or visit from a District service / sales manager. They usually demand a nice appoligitic letter be sent to you with copies to them.

service & customer treatment is only good as the people & policies that are put in place at the dealerships. Some are good and some are bad most are just middle of the road. Most upper management at a dealership are not fully aware of bad apples in their ranks until a customer raises it ugly head.

I have gotten more than 1 bad apple at a dealership where I have worked fired because they were causing me and my fellow employees money from lost sales.

akjay · November 20, 2004

Well they thought I was crazy about not havig an Enterprise car rental anywhere even close. (There's only one in all of alaska.) So they said I could rent from anyone as long as it was a GM car.

When I walked into the dealership on Monday, the guy behind he counter had me initially talk to the Service Manager because of the fire. He wasn't sure when they would be working on vehicles again. That is the guy I've been dealing with. On monday he had a real crappy attitude, like I was bothering him. I passed it off on the fact that he must just have just been stressed cuz of the smoke damage to the upstairs offices. After talking with him on the phone I think that's just the kind of person he is.

I'm going to take your advice about the Reginal manager, I tried to talk to the Business Manager yesterday but all the dealership would do is take messages and no one ever calls back. I've been polite the whole time and just want to get a loaner until they fix my truck. I don't think that is too much to ask. I payed good money for a truck, and I'm just getting the run around from them. I still don't understand why after buying a 30k dollar vehicle I should have to pay anything out of pocket to get a loaner while they decide what to do with my truck. Hell I'll take a used ford ranger as a loaner if I have to! I just don't htink I should have to pay for anything...

Am I just asking for too much? It seems like others don't even have to ask, they are just given a rental until it is fixed.