Decent amount of "slop" in my '09's tranny.... Anyone else?

[KMeloney]

Hey all,

I've noticed in my '09 Tahoe that there's a decent amount of "play" or "slop" in the tranny, especially when it comes to parking on and/or pulling out from any kind of nose-down incline.

I park on an incline at work. When I come to a complete stop in my spot, put it in park, and kill the engine, I have to SLOWLY take my foot off the brake, as the truck wants to roll forward half a foot or so (I have a railing that I pull up to, and I have to really watch that I don't roll into it). I have also found that if I am parked this way and take it out of park and head backward out of the spot, the truck can roll WAY forward before "engaging" (between registering that it's in R and registering that it's getting throttle, the truck can roll forward a scary amount).

I don't know if it's an electronics thing, or a auto tranny/flywheel thing or what, but it's BAD. It's very disconcerting, and I'm concerned that I'm going to roll into something or someone one day.

My '02 did NOT have this kind of play in it. In fact, the behavior of this tranny is the only thing I don't love about this truck.

Thoughts? Thanks!

/< / /2 /<

[rogersinsel]

No problems what so ever as you have described here. The 6 speed in mine is the reason I bought it.

[ILikePie]

two words...parking brake

[Modded]

Yeah your tranny should ne good, could just be the gears rolling then engaging. For the most part its nomral but I would look into the parking brake and change the parts out on them.

[KMeloney]

two words...parking brake

Really? Should I just give it gas and smoke the parking brake until I get back to level ground? Sounds awesome.

For those of you who understood that the problem I'm having has nothing to do with how I ought to park my truck, any thoughts?

Roger -- Sound to you like I have a tranny issue? I don't get any slamming, or any appreciable delay in normal acceleration, but this nose-down scenario (which can certainly occur in a parallel parking situation on a hill) is not good. The truck can start rolling, and despite feathering the gas, it wants to keep rolling until I step on the brake. I shouldn't have to be standing on the brake with my left foot while I feather in the gas with my right -- but that what I have to do.

It feels as though the truck is in neutral for a period, despite being in reverse. I have a couple of stick vehicles where I expect the car to want to roll until you give it enough gas to overcome gravity. I just don't expect it from this vehicle.

Thanks!

[Nfamous60]

why would you park on a incline and put the full weight of the trucc on the gear? to me i think that should hurt the tranny longevity. whenever i park on a uneven surface i engage my parking brake b4 i shift into park that way when i come bac to it i dont have to break my damn wrist shifting out of park.. Just my .02 sumtimes i even engage on level streets forve of habit.

[snowjay]

Do the pumps in these transmissions engage while in P?

That could be the cause of the roll forward if they haven't been engaged long enough to bring up the pressure. In my old Dodge the pumps only work in forward, reverse or neutral. When in P they are inactive.

[KMeloney]

why would you park on a incline and put the full weight of the trucc on the gear? to me i think that should hurt the tranny longevity. whenever i park on a uneven surface i engage my parking brake b4 i shift into park that way when i come bac to it i dont have to break my damn wrist shifting out of park.. Just my .02 sumtimes i even engage on level streets forve of habit.

Gents -- Forget the actual parking aspect. When I go to BACK OUT OF THE SPOT, which I think would be very difficult to do with the parking brake engaged, the car will roll forward upwards of 3' before heading backward. There is a noticeable delay in reverse "engaging," and during that delay, the truck rolls forward.

My concerns have nothing to do with the car sitting parked. It's when I go to back out that I have this problem.

So, I park the truck. I put the E brake on. I go in to work. I come out from work. I put my foot on the brake. I take the E brake off. I shift into reverse. I put my foot on the accelerator to give it gas -- and in that time the truck starts rolling forward. I have to take my foot off the gas and jam on the brake to stop the truck. I then have to quickly get on the gas, and firmly, to get the truck moving backward.

See what I'm talking about yet?

This isn't normal, as far as I know.

SnowJay -- I don't know the answer to your question. How would I check this? Can I hear them? I can't say that that's NOT the case, since it feels like something isn't engaging -- and if the pumps are responsible for this, then they could be the culprit.

Thanks!

PS -- Incidentally, without the E brake on, but on level ground, parked, I can push my truck forward a good 6" just by leaning into the back bumper. Last night I leaned into the back of my truck to grab my hockey equipment which had shifted forward in the truck, and I could feel the truck roll forward under me. This can't be "normal."

[snowjay]

SnowJay -- I don't know the answer to your question. How would I check this? Can I hear them? I can't say that that's NOT the case, since it feels like something isn't engaging -- and if the pumps are responsible for this, then they could be the culprit.


I would say shift it into reverse and wait a few more seconds before moving your foot off the brake onto the gas. If that makes things better then the pumps might not engage when in P, which may be by design and not a fault. I'm not familiar enough with these transmissions yet to know if they should or shouldn't.

And you can always two foot it. Put left foot on brake and give it gas until you feel it starting to move then let off the brake and you shouldn't roll forward at all.

How steep of an incline are we talking about anyway?

[rogersinsel]

why would you park on a incline and put the full weight of the trucc on the gear? to me i think that should hurt the tranny longevity. whenever i park on a uneven surface i engage my parking brake b4 i shift into park that way when i come bac to it i dont have to break my damn wrist shifting out of park.. Just my .02 sumtimes i even engage on level streets forve of habit.

I am not sure what you are saying here. However, you should always use you emergency brake while parked. Admittedly I have never used mine. But, if I were to park on a hill I would and I would turn my wheels into the curb just like I was taught as a kid. This is off topic since he is speaking about transmission slack, not the e-brake. He uses the e-brake because he has too!

I vote to take it in for service! I know mine does not roll six inches or more.

[KMeloney]

I would say shift it into reverse and wait a few more seconds before moving your foot off the brake onto the gas. If that makes things better then the pumps might not engage when in P, which may be by design and not a fault. I'm not familiar enough with these transmissions yet to know if they should or shouldn't.

And you can always two foot it. Put left foot on brake and give it gas until you feel it starting to move then let off the brake and you shouldn't roll forward at all.

How steep of an incline are we talking about anyway?


Not steep, Jay. Not steep. Not sure of the exact angle, but it's not that steep.

And yeah, that's good advice about simply waiting first. That's what I need to do. But, I don't think I should "have" to wait. That's a work-around to what I believe is a problem.

I appreciate the input on this.

Roger -- Yep, I'm going to see if I can get this looked at. It just doesn't feel right to me. The whole tranny has never felt right to me since day one, but I just chalked it up to the new body style's different characteristics. I think there might be a little more to it, though...

[snowjay]

Not steep, Jay. Not steep. Not sure of the exact angle, but it's not that steep.

And yeah, that's good advice about simply waiting first. That's what I need to do. But, I don't think I should "have" to wait. That's a work-around to what I believe is a problem.

I appreciate the input on this.

Roger -- Yep, I'm going to see if I can get this looked at. It just doesn't feel right to me. The whole tranny has never felt right to me since day one, but I just chalked it up to the new body style's different characteristics. I think there might be a little more to it, though...

There very well could be an issue especially if it's not a steep incline.

Also you could try this. When you get to work in the morning pull into your spot and then put it in reverse. Same issue? Or does it work as expected.

[KMeloney]

Snow -- You mean to see if it's something that happens only right after sitting for a while? That's a good idea. I'll give that a whirl. Thanks!

[snowjay]

Yes, exactly.

[snowjay]

I was able to test this today in my Tahoe. I was parked on a slight incline facing down. Not very steep but enough so it rolled forward a bit when I put it in P. I shut the truck off, went into the store and came out about 15 minutes later.

I got in, started the truck, put my glasses on, seatbelt, stepped on the brake, put it in R, let off the brake and the truck didn't move, in fact the 5.3 rolled it back slightly and held on the little incline. I stepped on the gas and back I went on my merry way.

Now maybe if I was in the store longer and it had time to cool down and completely drain it would of been different but that's a point of reference for you.

[KMeloney]

I was able to test this today in my Tahoe. I was parked on a slight incline facing down. Not very steep but enough so it rolled forward a bit when I put it in P. I shut the truck off, went into the store and came out about 15 minutes later.

I got in, started the truck, put my glasses on, seatbelt, stepped on the brake, put it in R, let off the brake and the truck didn't move, in fact the 5.3 rolled it back slightly and held on the little incline. I stepped on the gas and back I went on my merry way.

Now maybe if I was in the store longer and it had time to cool down and completely drain it would of been different but that's a point of reference for you.

Hmmm... Thanks for testing yours out. I'm going to keep an eye on mine, and see exactly how often it happens, and under what circumstances.

Thanks again.

[snowjay]

No problem. I knew it wouldn't do it when I've been driving around and shift from D to R and go backwards. I do that every day backing into my parking spot in front of my condo (street is on an incline) but I was out today shopping and one of the places had a slight incline with a fence in front of it so I thought of you and figured I'd give it a shot. Too bad I wasn't in the store longer for a better test.

I haven't checked to see how my much give there is in the driveline when its in P yet. My old car there was about 1" in either direction (I actually put a tape measure onteh ground and watched how far the edge of the bumper moved as I pushed it) but it would always return to "center." Although without the ruler for reference it seemed further.