No reverse, hard shifting forward gears, no overdrive

BUDDLEVICK

MEMBER
1997 CHEVROLET TAHOE
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
126,000 MILES

Towed a friend of mine. Headed home and started shifting hard. First, second, and third hard shift. No slipping, but would not go into overdrive. Tried reverse and nothing.
Any suggestions? Would it be safe to drive it about twenty miles for a possible repair?

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 AT 10:29 AM

5 Replies

MIKE H R

MECHANIC
3,094 POSTS

Before you drive the twenty miles check the transmission fluid level. When you do smell the dipstick and see if it smell something burnt. Make sure the fluid is full.

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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 AT 11:02 AM

BUDDLEVICK

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Fluid level was good. No burnt smell.
Any idea what is wrong?

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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 AT 11:16 AM

MIKE H R

MECHANIC
3,094 POSTS

Did you get stuck at all, wondering if when you towed him if part of your shift control under your SUV got hung up and bent or disconnected. Check the connections under the SUV. How far did you tow your friend was it just out of someplace he was stuck or any distance?

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Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 AT 11:16 AM

CHASE PRICE

MEMBER
1 POST

If fluid is as dark as burnt motor oil I am guessing clutches have been burnt out? And a tip nobody told me at Napa or required to keep warranty good is there is a seal in the transfer case of my 1997 Tahoe that holds the fluid in the transmission? When my transmission was under pressure it pushed fluid in transfer case out over flow and caused me to burn up the original, and two brand new transmissions in less than 3,000 miles all three times before I found issue. Hope this saves someone else a lot of long nights pulling and putting in two to four transmissions like I had to.

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Saturday, September 22nd, 2018 AT 2:35 AM