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Old 09-08-2013, 10:33 PM
 
Location: Phoenix Arizona
725 posts, read 1,889,346 times
Reputation: 1653

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I have a 96 Suburban 1500 LE with 4x4. Drives great and doesn't have any issues at all except for one small concern that I have which may not really be a concern at all which is why I'm here seeking information from you folks.

The engine has 217K miles on it. Previous owner took very good care of it and when you look under the hood it shows. No leaks of any kind. Engine always starts up fine and runs great. The only small issue I noticed is that when I'm driving there is a noticeable shift change between 2nd and 3rd gear. All other gears shift flawlessly and you never notice them shifting but with the radio off and no other sounds you can feel when it changed from 2nd to 3rd gear. No loud thunking sound or anything. The transmission fluid is red like normal. No burned smell. I can shift it from Park to any gear and it does so without any loud thuds or anything like that.

I had a 97 Tahoe last year that I drove all over the place and it had the same situation only that gear shift seemed to be a bit more noticeable than the Suburban (with less miles too). Never gave me any issues at all.
I've read on Chevy Forums and spoken to other owners of similar age Chevy trucks and I've heard it's a common occurrence on that generation of Chevy.

I took it to a local transmission shop and as expected they recommended a tranny rebuild which I knew they would since that's how they stay in business. I've heard from the other Chevy owners that had similar situations and had the tranny rebuilt but the sound came back which is something I don't want to do. I've been seriously screwed before by transmission shops telling me I needed a rebuild and 2500 dollars later the issue continued (different vehicle, different story) so I am very leery of trusting a tranny shop to be honest with me.

Any Chevy owners with late 90's trucks experience this?

Oh and please no comments telling me to junk it and buy something newer. That's not an option. If I had the option to drive something newer with less miles I would.
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Old 09-08-2013, 10:41 PM
 
18,793 posts, read 27,223,935 times
Reputation: 20156
Well, you could have gotten same miles and better made, but that's not an option too, I presume.
Just keep driving. My Silverado was a "shifter" also, esp at low speeds. I bought it with that, put 100 000 miles on it, and sold with that.
Just keep changing ATF. That you did do, right? Friendly advice. Should have drain plug. Plug self welds to the pan. Drain plug head is very shallow and soft, easy to strip. When you decide to break it loose, take a very good fitting socket to it and cheat bar. Taking pan off that transmission is a nightmare!!
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Old 09-08-2013, 11:06 PM
 
2,341 posts, read 11,975,000 times
Reputation: 2040
Keep your fluid up, and drive it till it drops. At that age, and with those miles, that could be another 100 miles, or 100,000 miles. You can add several ounces of Lucas Transmission Stop Slip. It's not going to hurt anything, and it might smooth it up a bit - and will probably make you feel a little better.
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