1995 Tahoe does not engage any forward gears

[Ricardo Arechiga]

I have a 95 Tahoe, transfer case is in 2w...locks into park, shifts clean into reverse, drives in reverse, shifts clean into neutral, yet when I go into drive it just stays in neutral. Doesn't feel different, no sound, and when I hit the gas it just sits and revs as if I was still in neutral. I checked the shift linkage and cable, put a new filter and new fluid, changed out shift solenoids A & B, still the same. Even when I put it in 4wd (high or low) there is no change. Any ideas?

 

[Big Mama]

I’m not a driveline guy but there was a thread just like this this week. Turned out to be his rear end but his drove in 4wd

 

[Lancem]

If it locks in park your transfer case and rear end are good. I'd say the tranny is gone time for a new one.

 

[Ricardo Arechiga]

Yeah I know it's in the transmission, I'm just trying to pinpoint exactly what...I can't afford to pay a mechanic and I really don't want to have to pull the entire transmission and do a swap when I JUST put all new solenoids and a new separator plate and valve body.

 

[SnowDrifter]

Have access to a scan tool? I'd check solenoid activation and line pressure. Just because you have new solenoids doesn't mean they're not bad, binding on something, or incurring a no signal from an electrical / tcm issue

How's fluid level?

Verified filter seated all the way and the pump's not sucking air? Did you fuss with the pickup tube seal?

If you manually put the thing into 1 or 2, does it move? If everything above checks out AND it moves in 1/2, you're into teardown territory. There's a sprag that likes to shit out and causes a no forward gear condition in drive.

 

[Ricardo Arechiga]

Have access to a scan tool? I'd check solenoid activation and line pressure. Just because you have new solenoids doesn't mean they're not bad, binding on something, or incurring a no signal from an electrical / tcm issue

How's fluid level?

Verified filter seated all the way and the pump's not sucking air? Did you fuss with the pickup tube seal?

If you manually put the thing into 1 or 2, does it move? If everything above checks out AND it moves in 1/2, you're into teardown territory. There's a sprag that likes to shit out and causes a no forward gear condition in drive.

The fluid level is good, I tested what solenoids I could but honestly I don't have enough equipment here to test them all. I don't have access to a scan tool unfortunately. If I manually put it in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, it's still not even flinching...just acts like I never took it out of neutral. Can't even feel it attempt to shift at all.

 

[SnowDrifter]

I'd start checking to make sure your input/forward clutch is applying.

I'm not super familiar with the guts of these things, if it's activated on it's own solenoid or by proxy from others. Unfortunately I'm otherwise preoccupied right now, but I should be able to dig up some info either later tonight, or tomorrow afternoon if you still need info on what/how to check stuff.

A scan tool would really be your friend here. You'll need a higher end one that does 2 way communication, or one of the tech (1? 2?) tools. I'd call around and see if there's anyone that would be willing to run some checks on the trans for you. You don't strictly need it, but it's a fair bit of work to dig around and perform the tests manually that a scanner could do in a few minutes.

 

[Ricardo Arechiga]

Thanks for the help! I don't want to do much more poking around without getting her to a code reader, hopefully I'll be able to do that Monday...but any other insight you might have would be appreciated. Also, when I was shifting the 4x4 shifter from neutral to 2wheel, it was kinda stuck and I put a little force on it. Sounded like a big clunk...is it a possibility that I broke some sort of linkage on the 4wheel shifter and now the whole thing is just stuck in neutral?

I'm just spitballing here...I'm at a complete loss LoL

 

[SnowDrifter]

If it were in neutral, you wouldn't have park or reverse. If, for some reason, it was engaged enough that the lash would secure itself in reverse, then that same partial engagement would greet you with a fairly unpleasant grinding sound when placed into drive