1997 Chevrolet Tahoe transmission problems

Filed Aug 14, 2007 · Transmission · 126,000 miles · TX

Have a 1997 tahoe two door 4x4 with 126,000 miles... Transmission housing cracked yesterday. Upon investigation I see that chevrolet has known about this problem for over ten years and have yet to correct the problem. I am very disappointed with chevy. And their quality of workmanship. I hope something will be done about this for the american consumer. Should have bought a toyota like my friends said ha ha. Seriously, quality should come before profit!!!!.

Filed Jan 28, 2007 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · CA

Automatic transmission failure. Extremely common to my 97 chevy tahoe. Required complete rebuild and lots of money. I called probably a dozen transmission repair facilities and almost all said I was lucky I made it to so many miles before this happened as it is very common in this transmission. All say it comes from a structurally flawed in design piece in the trans that breaks and of course completely contaminates the trans with metal and destroys the majority of the remaining parts.

Filed May 19, 2005 · Transmission · 97,254 miles · CO

Normal driving conditions: light traffic, non-towing, non-four-wheel drive

Filed Dec 1, 2004 · Transmission · 228,000 miles · MI

Noticed a humming vibration under acceleration. Had transmission serviced but problem persisted. Then while traveling at highway speed (70) with cruise control engaged the vehicle suddenly lost power and rpms jumped way up. Vehicle was then towed to a local transmission shop where it was found that the transmission cases was cracked. The crack occured due to the u-joint breaking. The u-joint could have been repaired for under $100 but now to fix the truck will cost $1700. Bad design in my opinion.

Filed Sep 27, 2004 · Transmission · 95,000 miles · NC

My 1997 chevrolet tahoe transmission just failed. Have no 2nd, 4th or reverse gears, always worked perfect until now. After a web search found out this problem is happening very much. Sun gear shell breaking on 4l60e transmissions. There is a big defect and gm has done nothing to fix the problems to all the gm owners. Seems they cut back a little much on quality control this time and don't seem to care about it from what I have seen. You probably heard about it before. Please help us get this problem recalled. I have not had any repairs done yet. Keep hearing $2000 to $2500 t0 fix this $40 part. Dealers want to replace transmission with new one just of this porblem. Does it seem right to you?

Filed Jul 28, 2004 · Brakes, Transmission · 51,000 miles · OH

Abs system comes on at low speeds without brake pressed-vehicle then is hard to stop and pulls to the right. I have replaced all pads and calipers.machine bled system and replaced left frt speed sensor. Took to dealer and was told that the front hubs are exposed and most of the time tear apart and cleaning solves. Am upset the dealer charged a diagnostic fee for something he could have told me on the phone!

Filed Jun 7, 2004 · Transmission · 95,000 miles · KY

At about 95,000 miles the service engine light comes on intermiittenly after the truck has been driven 20 to 30 miles, after coming to a stop, the auto transmission shifts from 1st to second so hard, it feels like it is going to come out of the truck. Once the truck is put in park and turned off, it is good again until it has been running for 20 to 30 miles. Upon doing some online reseach, calling a dealer and local mechanic, I have fount that it can be one of three things: 1) a sticking shift valve 2) accumulator piston or 3) a servo. No one can tell what it is without tearing the transmission apart. I have also found this is all too commom a problem for this transmission. Should be a recall, wiilll keep me from ever buying another gm product.

Filed Apr 29, 2004 · Transmission · 50,000 miles · NY

The failures initiated back in june (27th) 2001. An hour on the nys thruway from buffalo going towards penn stateline. The transmission blew, throwing fluids everywhere. Towed to continental transmission. Paid for the transmission to be replaced. Within the end of the 1 year warranty, the transission began slipping and bumping after 2nd gear before going into 3rd. This would occur after the truck was warmed up and following thruway driving. Once you exited the thruway, came to a stop; it started immediatelyand consistently. Seeing as I drove the thruway everyday, the problem occurred everyday. Took tahoe back to continental transmission. They initally didn't see anything wrong and asked that we advise in the future if it got worse. We took it back and forth, losing use of the vehical for weeks at a time. Finally, in jan 2004, the tranny just stopped altogether and we had to tow to continental. The truck supposedly had another tranny replacememt, as well as replacement of the computer. Once again, we were without the truck for 4+ weeks. We picked it up and the the next day, fluid all over the garage floor (of a newly built home!). Took it back, another week went by. Picked it up, within another month, tranny was not kicking into 3rd...again. Took the tahoe back to continental, supposedly all new parts were put into the tahoe. Yesterday, same problem, tranny not kicking into 3rd, when it tries, the RPM skyrocket to 6000 and you don't accelerate. Brought it back to continental this morning. They called to tell me that they don't know what to do. They can't get us a new tranny, maybe a remanufactured tranny, but they will let me know after they contact the dealer. Am I the only owner of a 1997 chevy tahoe that has experienced these extensive defects with a gm automatic transmission? This is a travesty! Please followup with continental transmission, their number is 716‑828‑1121, ask for pat, the owner. He is just as frustrated over this as I am!

Filed Mar 3, 2004 · Transmission · CO

Proud owners of 1997 tahoe. In the past year we have: replaced rear axle seals twice, replaced the fuel pump and filter, replaced the 4x4 motor, repaired the radiator,replaced 4x4 actuator, replaced fuel injector (third time), replaced the upper intake gasket, had the transfer case rebuilt, replaced the alternator twice, replaced the manifold gasket and a fuel nozzle. Car has had recurring problem of coolant disappearing from reserve tank while no leaks could be found. When this happens and level gets low the vehicle will shift very hard from first to second almost jumping when you hit ten MPH. When you stop and add coolant this stops. The last time it happened the engine light came on. The leak has finally been located in a very small hose but now I'm being told that the transmission is going out quickly and must be replaced. Great vehicle!

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Transmission · 65,900 miles · NM

Transmission: I believe the part is called the reverse drum in the transmission. The car would not reverse and had a difficult time shifting from 1rst to 2nd. The first transmission went out at 32,700 miles and replaced by gm (under warranty) with rebuilt transmission from factory per gm, for same problem, shifting and reverse. Since car manufactured in 1997 this is it's third transmission and it has less than 66k miles on it and is used 99% of the time for open road trips only. When I had this problem again I was driving on an open highway (road trip). Per repair shop mechanic: reverse drum was defective, cheaply built and constructed to fail. Also, my vehicle transmission was the mechanic's 16th chevrolet transmission repair for the same problem on chevrolet vehicles in the last couple of years. He knew what the problem was when I explained what had happened re: noises, and how it drove, reverse etc... And he verified same by the transmission check and work performed. He saved the part for me, which I have in my possession. Gm would not participate in any of the cost of repairs since I decided not to let them tear the transmission down @ $300.00 cost to me to determine the problem, and , if I decided I wanted someone else to do the work, they would have to come pick the broken down transmission and haul it away to work on it. In the event I would have the dealer do the work, then it would have cost me approx. $3,000.00 worst case scenario, and maybe gm would assist but not sure if they would help or not or at what level. Since they repaired the first transmission and it went out at approx. 32k miles after that, I did not have a comfort level that they would do a good job or that it would be repaired. I was stuck on a road in the early evening with my elderly mother and my sister in the vehicle with me upon our return from a day and evening trip to ruidoso nm, located approx. 2.5 hours from my residence when the transmission went out.