08 Yukon Xl Sticks in 1st

[Haliwa04]

Hey all, first post here. I had an 03 Suburban z71 that I wrecked due to an electrical issue. I never thought 8mph would bust a steel frame.

As a replacement, I picked up an 08 Yukon Xl SLT with 160k miles. Super clean, clean carfax, service records, 1 local owner here in NC. Test drive went great, checked it over thoroughly, had a mechanic check it out. Long story short, once in a blue moon, when accelerating from a stop, it won't shift out of first. I bought the truck Thursday, and it did it once on Friday, and once today. Both times it was the first time I had driven it that day, and I was pulling out of my driveway. I had to pull over, put it in park, cut it off and start over. Besides those two times, there have been no indication of a problem. Trans temp stays around 160-170, it shifts smooth, no jerking, I don't even feel it downshifting when coming to a stop like I could in my Suburban.

I plan on contacting the dealer to see if he'll help me out or if he has any suggestions. He's a small one man dealer, and I bought it as is expecting to put a little money in it sooner or later. Has anyone else had this issue, should I worry, or is it no big deal?

 

[kbuskill]

When this happens have you noticed if your speedometer is functioning or is it sitting at zero?

I had a 1993 Chevy S-10 Blazer with the same 4L60E transmission and it had an intermittent bad connection on the speed sensor plug on the transmission. Since it is an electronic shift transmission and the ECU wasn't receiving any input from the speed sensor the computer didn't realize that the truck was actually moving and so it never told the transmission to shift... I could get out and wiggle the wiring going to the speed sensor and the speedometer would start working again and it would shift out just fine.

Not saying this is for sure your problem but it is a good place to start looking. Hope it helps.

 

[Haliwa04]

When this happens have you noticed if your speedometer is functioning or is it sitting at zero?

I had a 1993 Chevy S-10 Blazer with the same 4L60E transmission and it had an intermittent bad connection on the speed sensor plug on the transmission. Since it is an electronic shift transmission and the ECU wasn't receiving any input from the speed sensor the computer didn't realize that the truck was actually moving and so it never told the transmission to shift... I could get out and wiggle the wiring going to the speed sensor and the speedometer would start working again and it would shift out just fine.

Not saying this is for sure your problem but it is a good place to start looking. Hope it helps.

Good question. I hadn't noticed as both times, my eyes immediately focused on the tach. I'll have to remember to watch it if it does it again.

 

[Haliwa04]

I finally got it to do it again. Twice in a row today, I pulled off from a stop and the speedo was dead, and the transmission wouldn't shift. Coming to a stop, shifting into park corrected the issue temporarily, but the second time I decided to place the truck in park, cut it off and start over. This resolved the issue for the next 30 minutes until I got home. I'm thinking it may be a short somewhere, but it's too intermittent to say for sure.

Another problem popped up today as well. The right rear tpms went out throwing an error on the dic. I'm going to try resetting all of the sensors when I get to an air pump before I make any assumptions. Are these common issues for these vehicles? It's got a 160k on it, and I have 4 years to pay it off. I'd like to go ahead and take care of anything that might pop up in the near future before taking a road trip. If there is a list of common issues, could someone share a link? Or if there's someone that's got a lot of knowledge of the maintenance schedules or things to look out for, I'd appreciate a little advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[kbuskill]

I would bet it has a bad connection where the wires plug into the speed sensor on the side of the transmission... next time it does it rather than turning off and on try getting out and moving the wires going to the speed sensor... they should be on the drivers side rear of the transmission.

 

[Haliwa04]

I would bet it has a bad connection where the wires plug into the speed sensor on the side of the transmission... next time it does it rather than turning off and on try getting out and moving the wires going to the speed sensor... they should be on the drivers side rear of the transmission.

I'm highly likely to set this vehicle on fire if one more issue arises. Last night, I went to fill up, and it wouldn't crank, dead battery. Had to get a tow truck to jump me, turns out the negative battery lead was loose. I got up this morning to take kids to school and the cel comes on. P0171 and p0174. No rough idle, it's running fine. And the tpms light is still on, not reading the right rear. Normally I'd have this stuff checked and fixed by now, but it's been raining non stop for 3 days and I have no shelter to work in. FML

 

[harbison]

All tpms sensors die. Their batteries last 5-7 years. My car just has a little tire light which I can ignore but the Yukon flashes all kinds of warnings that my wife couldn't ignore. More annoying than concerning. I bought some on ebay and found a tire shop to replace all four for $60.