2003 2500hd Trans Passing Gear?

speedydog5 · January 1, 2009

I am new to the 2500 I have a 03 2500HD with 4.10 rear,4x4 extended cab, just wondering do these have any kind of passing gear, it seems when i step on gas the trans barley shifts down , is that all there is suppose to be on these, if i get on expressway and am not moving fast enough i,ll be in trouble if a semi is coming cause it doesent shift down like all i have had, anything to check??? or is this what they call tourqe mgmt

waltman · January 1, 2009

I have the same truck with the same complaint, all I do is either put the peddle to the rug to make it down shift or drop it manually into third with the gearshifter. You will also find this annoying on hills.

Kodiak450 · January 1, 2009

I am new to the 2500 I have a 03 2500HD with 4.10 rear,4x4 extended cab, just wondering do these have any kind of passing gear, it seems when i step on gas the trans barley shifts down , is that all there is suppose to be on these, if i get on expressway and am not moving fast enough i,ll be in trouble if a semi is coming cause it doesent shift down like all i have had, anything to check??? or is this what they call tourqe mgmt

You should have plenty of power for passing, I have the same truck as you, same year too! I would have your trans serviced if you are having passing issues. I know if I am merging on a highway and get on the gas, my truck moves really quick up to highway speeds.

speedydog5 · January 1, 2009

I am new to the 2500 I have a 03 2500HD with 4.10 rear,4x4 extended cab, just wondering do these have any kind of passing gear, it seems when i step on gas the trans barley shifts down , is that all there is suppose to be on these, if i get on expressway and am not moving fast enough i,ll be in trouble if a semi is coming cause it doesent shift down like all i have had, anything to check??? or is this what they call tourqe mgmt

You should have plenty of power for passing, I have the same truck as you, same year too! I would have your trans serviced if you are having passing issues. I know if I am merging on a highway and get on the gas, my truck moves really quick up to highway speeds.

what do i have to check, trans fluid is fine mine definatly does not get up to speed then??

Rudy35 · January 1, 2009

My '04 does the same thing. It has plenty of power, but when traveling in 4th, I have to step down on it hard or manually downshift to get a lower gear. Same thing hapens even when towing. Once it downshifts it revs up and moves along just fine.

Kodiak450 · January 1, 2009

I am new to the 2500 I have a 03 2500HD with 4.10 rear,4x4 extended cab, just wondering do these have any kind of passing gear, it seems when i step on gas the trans barley shifts down , is that all there is suppose to be on these, if i get on expressway and am not moving fast enough i,ll be in trouble if a semi is coming cause it doesent shift down like all i have had, anything to check??? or is this what they call tourqe mgmt

You should have plenty of power for passing, I have the same truck as you, same year too! I would have your trans serviced if you are having passing issues. I know if I am merging on a highway and get on the gas, my truck moves really quick up to highway speeds.

what do i have to check, trans fluid is fine mine definatly does not get up to speed then??

Was there ever at anytime a tune done to the trucks computer? When towing, I always have the tow asist engaged, even when I am out plowing too. I've heard of problems with the newer 2500's transmissions, but never with the 4l80's. How many miles do you have on the truck? With trans fluid, I recently checked mine and it showed pink, however, I was smelling burnt fluid when I was plowing and had the trans flushed the following day. Also changed the diff fluid in front and rear, after all that was done, I didn't smell anything burnt any longer. I'm personally going to start having my fluid changed every year tops from now on, I plow and tow a trailer weekly during Spring , Summer , Fall, and have to tow up inclines as well. So I decided to make a habit of having it flushed every year.

speedydog5 · January 1, 2009

I am new to the 2500 I have a 03 2500HD with 4.10 rear,4x4 extended cab, just wondering do these have any kind of passing gear, it seems when i step on gas the trans barley shifts down , is that all there is suppose to be on these, if i get on expressway and am not moving fast enough i,ll be in trouble if a semi is coming cause it doesent shift down like all i have had, anything to check??? or is this what they call tourqe mgmt

You should have plenty of power for passing, I have the same truck as you, same year too! I would have your trans serviced if you are having passing issues. I know if I am merging on a highway and get on the gas, my truck moves really quick up to highway speeds.

what do i have to check, trans fluid is fine mine definatly does not get up to speed then??

Was there ever at anytime a tune done to the trucks computer? When towing, I always have the tow asist engaged, even when I am out plowing too. I've heard of problems with the newer 2500's transmissions, but never with the 4l80's. How many miles do you have on the truck? With trans fluid, I recently checked mine and it showed pink, however, I was smelling burnt fluid when I was plowing and had the trans flushed the following day. Also changed the diff fluid in front and rear, after all that was done, I didn't smell anything burnt any longer. I'm personally going to start having my fluid changed every year tops from now on, I plow and tow a trailer weekly during Spring , Summer , Fall, and have to tow up inclines as well. So I decided to make a habit of having it flushed every year.

I have 81 k on it i don,t know if there ever was a tune, i am planning on getting a hypertech but i probally will get trans fluid flushed but like i said earlier it just seems to lag when i mash the pedal like no passing gear engages it seems like it barley downshifts at all it does just a very small amount

Kodiak450 · January 1, 2009

So about what speed are you going when you get on the gas and notice this? Or is this from a dead stop? I can tell you with mine, when I hard accelerate I dell pulled backed in the seat, not like the duramax effect though. Also if say I'm doing 55 or so and get on it, same thing. Sometimes when I'm towing my trailer with my mowers and give it gas while going up an incline, it will give a slight delay "depending on the incline".

Now the only mods I've donw was add a Gibson aftermarkt dual exhaust and recently added an additional leaf spring and noticed more TQ feeling at the rear wheels "mainly because the spring has lifted bed by 3". I have a rock gravel DW, and know exactly how little of gas to give so that I don't start spinning tires on DW, and recenlty after the spring was installed, the truck really spun the wheels and dig a deep rut into gravel. Come to find out, that the spring might have taken less weight off axel, thus allowing tires to spin easier. Seeing you have 81K, I would have tranny flushed, and front and rear differential oil changed. You really work the truck 'espcially when snow plowing" going into reverse alot, ect. Also towing works the tranny, especially up inclines. It cheap insurance to annually have your fluids flushed, rather then shelling out thousands for a new tranny. It has a HD tranny, so it's not easily going to fail on you, I am just more conscience about having fluids changed on regualr basis. Some recommend every 30k, others 50k. I am just gonna do it every year. I put about 12k a year or more on my truck, but like I said, I am towing weekly when it's not winter season.

speedydog5 · January 2, 2009

i plan on the flush& filter (fluid is full now and does not smell burnt), like i said i just got it ,it runs great but it definatly does not put me in the seat when i hit the gas i can be doin 30mph 45mph 60 mph and nothing it barley moves a slight downshift is all i get, like i said it runs great and shifts fine when driving and it don,t miss at all but if i mash it i should have some sort of passing gear to get me goin ,and i don,t ,i don,t want to bring to the stealership to have them test drive it for 120.00 and i don,t know if there is any thing i can ask my local mech, i am fairley mechaniclly inclined but it seems like some sort of trans issue with pressure or computer not allowing it to downshift i have a odb and no codes are showing up at all???

Kodiak450 · January 2, 2009

What grade gas are you running in it? You're not using 87 by any chance? I run 89 "Minium" or 93 octane.

BTW, the trans fluid filter is located inside the pan, and I heard you have to unbolt the pan to get to it.

speedydog5 · January 2, 2009

What grade gas are you running in it? You're not using 87 by any chance? I run 89 "Minium" or 93 octane.
BTW, the trans fluid filter is located inside the pan, and I heard you have to unbolt the pan to get to it.

I know where trans filter is, also I do run 87 but gas octane should not affect the transmission,shiftingso it looks like i may have to bring it in to get checked cause it sounds like i should have some sort of passing gear kick in and i don,t

Kodiak450 · January 2, 2009

No the gas grade wont affect the transmission, but it will affect how well engine runs. The engine has a low engine knock sensor or something however I noticed a difference on how the engine ran and power perfromance using a better octane rating. It will take a tankful or three before trucks computer adjusts to different octane before you notice the difference. I also noticed better mileage especially when towing from using 89 or higher octane. That same engine in different vehicles, has a recomended 93 octane only. GM did something so that 87 could be used in the 2500 trucks, but the question is.. Is it really wise to use 87 octane only?

markw8 · January 2, 2009

If an engine runs on 87 without pinging or other obvious issues, the only thing you gain with higher octane is more money spent and possibly more carbon build-up.

Mark.

Kodiak450 · January 2, 2009

A few years ago, we had a topic going about octane and I posted this article about gasoline, but then found out that GM uses a really good knock control sensor, thus allowing for 87 to be used without hearing any knocks.

http://forum.snoman.com/viewtopic.php?t=230

Riverjet502 · January 5, 2009

I too was very disapointed in how my '04, EC, 8ft bed, single wheels, 3500 performed on the hi-way. Then I had justin from Blackbear give it a live tune. Huge difference, in passing and overall excelleration, plus the downshift isn't as frequent. Might want to give him an e-mail.....