2005 Suburban Tranny Messed Up, Help

shibby1485 · October 10, 2008

Hey guys...

i'm writing on behalf of my father. He's really bummed out right now... both about the market and his truck.

2005 suburban... NATURALLY, the truck was bought about 2 months before GM started the 5 year powertrain warranty...

42,000 miles on it.. never an issue. driven like a baby, never towed anything.

the tranny is slipping bad. get in the car, hit the gas and u gotta play with the gas to get it to shift, it just wont engage gears, slips... it struggles to do anything. it's kind of parked in front of the house right now with no intention of driving it, it's not really driveable it seems to be so slippy... not that it will be in 3rd and slip down, but it jsut wont shift... it gets hung up in the gears too long and sometimes wont ship at all until u start all over.

any help!!?!? i'm trying to do board searches here and read as much as i can...

we have no warranty on the truck

Thank you fellas

Zembonez · October 10, 2008

This could be an electrical problem. 42K isn't enough to wear out the internals. I'd tow it to a shop and get it checked out. It isn't going to be a driveway fix but it might not be nearly as bad as you think.

EDIT: Has the fluid been changed? I assume it is full?

DofD · October 11, 2008

Check the tranny fluid level. Does the fluid look and smell normal? Are there any signs of leaks from where the truck parks? It may be that the TCM has gone bad and isn't sending the right signals to the transmission. But good luck with this!

shibby1485 · October 11, 2008

fluid is proper level and is very clean... nice clean clear red fluid still in there

no signs of drip or leak

Zembonez · October 11, 2008

fluid is proper level and is very clean... nice clean clear red fluid still in there

no signs of drip or leak

All the more reson to believe that the problem is in the electronics. I'd have it diagnosed by the dealership.

pm26 · October 11, 2008

It is possible to kill this transmission in less than 40k miles, but you have abuse it like my neighbor did - constantly towing a 9K lb trailer in town in 'Drive" with no tow mode engaged. Other than that, these are pretty good transmissions. As mentioned, take it to a dealer for diagnosis first, then decide what to do with it.

Hopefully it is something easy and inexpensive to fix. Clean fluid is a good sign.

shibby1485 · October 11, 2008

can bad gas be connected with these symptoms in anyway u think?

coincidence or not... truck was filled up with fuel, no more than 5 miles later the issue started showing it's face and got worse and worse VERY rapidly the more you drove it.

what's the chances the most recent fuel fill-up could be connected?

i'm tempted to go drive it right now and try shifting it manually with the gear selector...

gotta call chevy dealer monday morning, but i'm brainstorming between now and then anyway.

shibby1485 · October 20, 2008

just to give you guys an update...

the tranny did take a chit

we were out of warranty by 7,000 miles and 7 months.... 05 suburban with 43,xxx miles on it

apparently some spring mechanisms or something that hold the sprags and plates in place or something popped out of place or something....

the rebuild consisted of all new sprags, new plates, new gaskets, tranny flush, it was a complete overhaul....

we did not fight, we did not get aggressive... we dropped the truck off, said listen, we are out of warranty so please call us before you commence any work we dont really know how bad of a bill we're in for...

they had the car for 4 days in total from time we dropped it off, they tore the tranny down ordered parts and re-assembled and called and said it was ready

it did not cost us a red cent! the dealer put in a call the GM, and they covered the entire job even tho we have no coverage.

truck runs and shifts just like normal now.

we are STILL satisified GM customers....

georgerosen06 · October 20, 2008

wow.....thats awesome that they did that all for free...i know that rebuilds can be expensive so thinking its gonna cost a pretty penny and then ending up free must be an awesome feeling!

DofD · October 20, 2008

Sweet! That is great the dealer fixed it for nothing for you Dad!

Probably because the tranny should not have done that with that few miles.

It sounds like you've got a good dealer there that is willing to keep their customers happy.

I'm glad the truck is back running properly for your Dad.

alaska511 · October 20, 2008

just to give you guys an update...

the tranny did take a chit

we were out of warranty by 7,000 miles and 7 months.... 05 suburban with 43,xxx miles on it

apparently some spring mechanisms or something that hold the sprags and plates in place or something popped out of place or something....

the rebuild consisted of all new sprags, new plates, new gaskets, tranny flush, it was a complete overhaul....

we did not fight, we did not get aggressive... we dropped the truck off, said listen, we are out of warranty so please call us before you commence any work we dont really know how bad of a bill we're in for...

they had the car for 4 days in total from time we dropped it off, they tore the tranny down ordered parts and re-assembled and called and said it was ready

it did not cost us a red cent! the dealer put in a call the GM, and they covered the entire job even tho we have no coverage.

truck runs and shifts just like normal now.

we are STILL satisified GM customers....