2002 Chevrolet Tahoe: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Oct 11, 2014 · Brakes, Steering · 180,000 miles · NY

While traveling at highway speeds vehicle wanders left and right and ABS light appears. Codes are "erratic wheel speed" mechanic diagnosed front wheel hubs worn and must be replaced unknown if covered by possible recall due to unable to find part number. Also while turning left and right a "knocking clunking" noise is heard from front suspensions. Mechanic diagnosed worn idler arms after being replaced with oem. This can lead to loss of steering causing accident or injury. Also premature wear of rear brakes compared to front brakes. Mechanic cannot diagnose and dealer cannot diagnose.

Filed Apr 5, 2013 · Steering, Transmission · 110,123 miles · CA

Clunking noise. When you go forward or reverse. Sound is coming from steering or front end. Sometimes when you take your foot off brake and go. No one can figure what it is.

Filed Feb 9, 2009 · Brakes · 84,000 miles · MI

My anti-lock brakes on my 2002 chevrolet tahoe come on every time I try to stop while turning. It started about 2 weeks ago when I slid on the ice and continues to do it every time I brake while turning now. Was almost in an accident yesterday when it did it while trying to stop while driving straight was not turning and now it is making a very weird noise just driving sounds like popping and squealing and clunking called chevrolet regarding the recall was told my vehicle wasn't in the recall after arguing about the recall area and explaining problem in more depth was placed on hold to investigate more in depth and then alisa smith came back on the line and told me my vehicle was in the recall and was already fixed. Well apparently it wasn't fixed or it wouldn't still be doing what it was recalled for in the first place. I just bought this vehicle in october 2008 and am very upset about this problem. Thank you for your help in this issue.

Filed May 20, 2008 · Steering · 44,620 miles · CA

2002 chevy tahoe lt: intermediate drive shaft needs to be replaced; however, the dealer has yet to make a recall. It appears to be very common in this vehicle as well as my other gm vehicle(pontiac grand prix which was under recall). Clunking, looseness in steering wheel column when driving, mostly heard while driving over bumps. Just purchased, waiting to see if dealer will replace at no cost.

Filed May 1, 2007 · Transmission · NY

There is a lot of noise (clunking) coming from front driveshaft when my vehicle is engaged in 4 wheel drive especially when turning and there is some smell of burning coming ...no problem or no noise when driving in 2 wheel drive. I'm afraid that something will break one day and I will have an accident. Dealer tried to fix it twice but was unable. There are no recalls but it is highly unusual to hear this "scary noise".

Filed Aug 23, 2006 · Transmission · 93,000 miles · CA

I had a maintenance service performed on my 2002 chevy tahoe at the carl chevrolet dealership in san jose, ca. A minor transmission service was included with this service. They replaced the filter, performed a visual inspection of the transmission and replaced 4.5 quarts of transmission fluid that was removed for filter replacement. I picked-up my SUV and drove it home. There was a slight delay in shifting, but this was only noticeable intermittently. The next day, I was leaving on a family camping trip and my transmission went out approximately 1/4 of a mile from home. We were making a right turn and I heard a loud "clunk" which was followed by a spinning or high RPM winding sound. Since we were about to start down a steep hill, I tried to turn around. As I was in the process of making a y-turn, I put the car into reverse. I had lost my reverse gear, so I was unable to complete the turn. This left my car stranded in the lane of oncoming traffic. Fearing for my families safety,I put the car into neutral and pushed the car forward into a driveway to prevent blocking the lane. I had my tahoe towed back to the carl chevrolet dealership. The transmission tech stated that the sun shell gear had worn out and caused the transmission to fail. He also stated that there was no connection between the previous day's service and the transmission failure the following day. The service manager stated that this is a common problem with the 4l60e transmissions that are standard equipment in the tahoes. The transmission tech also stated that the chevrolet distributed a technical bulletin within the company advising the mechanics that the sun shell gear was faulty due to a lack of proper heat treating. Chevy has been aware of this problem since the year 2000. I asked chevy customer service for financial assistance and they offered to pay 10% of the bill. My family was put at risk due to this known part defect in the transmission.

Filed Dec 24, 2004 · Steering · 19,990 miles · MD

I recently took my 2002 chevy tahoe in to the dealer for a long over due repair. After describing my problem to the service technician (a clunk sound and feel through the steering wheel which I had first noticed at about 20k miles), he told me the problem was a "common occurrence" in the year/model and that it was "due to poor lubrication/design" with the intermediate shaft of the steering column. He shaft would cost $140 plus one hour labor.... However; it is on a long back order. Seems strange that an item, which is a "common occurrence" and the item is back ordered (must be a lot of replacing going on) would not be subject to a recall for a free replacement. I paid top dollar for this vehicle and for such a standard piece of equipment to be needed to be replace at this low of mileage seems a bit out of the normal wear and tear. After reviewing many sites on the internet, it seems this occurance is common enough that it should be a recall. Walter goodall.

Filed Apr 6, 2004 · Transmission · 3,432 miles · CA

Vehicle service record-VIN #[xxx]purchased '02 tahoe oct. 2001 & in dec. '01-problems began 12/5/1 mi. 968 vehicle to connell chev. Hard to move shift lever thru positions; very stiff. Rt. Rear of vehicle sits higher than left. Rear. 2/28/2-mi. 3,432 vehicle in for various problems. Told service writer transmission would shift into second gear while sitting at stop light. You press on throttle to accelerate, vehicle would pull away very sluggish, suddenly shift back down into 1st gear & take off in an uncontrollable manner. Would have to remove foot from accelerator to compensate. Problem when shifting from gear to gear in accelerating. Will not shift up until you take your foot off throttle. Shifts hard when shifting thru gears. P/up vehicle. Explained they could not find anything wrong with transmission. 7/17/2-mi. 6,668 same problems with transmission. Next day, said they couldn't find anything wrong w/transmission. 4/14/3-mi. 12,434 transmission is not operating properly. Will shift into 2nd gear when sitting at a stop, & will not shift up thru gears unless you remove your foot from throttle. 2/6/4-mi. 23,776 back for prior problems & new ones. Transmission will shift into 2nd gear at a stop, drops back into 1st gear upon acceleration & when reaches shift point for gears makes load squealing sound,like metal-to-metal. Vehicle has suspension noises, like something is hitting against part of suspension when braking and/or turning. 2/10/4-mi. 23,800 transmission is malfunctioning & developing new noises. Sometimes there is a clunk when put in reverse. 2/11/4-mi.-23,800 returned to p/u tahoe. Explained to us that a data recorder had been put in to monitor operation of transmission, explained operation of recorder. 3/8/4-mi. 25,031 returned to have recorder removed. Service writer said that as soon as they do a print out from recorder they will contact me & let me know outcome. Never been contacted about it. *la *js information redacted pursua

Filed Feb 3, 2004 · Steering, Tires · 26,000 miles · TX

Transmission shifting hard,only 26,000 miles. Ttook to dealership and was told second and third gear was gone. They rebuilt those gears. Pick tahoe up and within a hr it was doing the same thing. Return to dealership next day, was told it was pump sticking. Replace that. Pick back up and within a hr did the same thing. Return vehicle and they decided to replace for new transmission. A week later it has now starting to have a problem with the power sterring. There appears to be a leak in the lines. This 2002 tahoe has had problems starting within months of purchase. Sterring colum making clunking nose, required lube twice. Headlights filling with water. Nose in the front drivers side around shock area. They had different repairs such as replacing shocks, greasing. After over a year the dealership added bushings to the shocks, so far ok. Have replace firestone tires at 25,000 miles for wearing on inside of tire.