A few questions from a prespective Tahoe buyer...

[gofish]

Hello All,
I'm seriously considering buying a 99 Tahoe LT 4wd w/ 132k miles. I test drove it today and was very happy w/ it overall.

I mainly have 2 questions at this point:
1) The gear shifter (automatic) was pretty stiff. It took a pretty good amount of pressure to shift from park to reverse to drive, and then back to park. I'm comparing this to my buddy's 96 Z71 Silverado which is almost effortless to shift. Did they change the mechanism in a few short years? Is this a potential problem waiting to happen?
2) The guy said it had keyless entry at one time but didn't have the remote. If this is true, how expensive/hard would it be to get a replacement?

Thanks in advance! Cool site.

 

[sandbuzzard]

1) The gear shifter (automatic) was pretty stiff. It took a pretty good amount of pressure to shift from park to reverse to drive, and then back to park. I'm comparing this to my buddy's 96 Z71 Silverado which is almost effortless to shift. Did they change the mechanism in a few short years? Is this a potential problem waiting to happen?

I have a 98 and mine was the same way, i replaced the stoplamp switch (it was wore out and wouldn't let the shifter fully release out of park, also affected the brake lights) it's located on the back of the brake pedal. $13.00 part cheap enough but kind of a bugger to get to. As far as the key phobe IDK.

 

[gofish]

Thanks for the reply sandbuzzard. That makes sense, I'll look into getting a new stoplamp switch if I end up getting it.

I actually found the answer to my other question for anyone that is interested. You can find programming instructions here for a keyless entry remote here: http://www.programyourremote.com/
I found some used/refirbed remotes on ebay for around 20 bucks.

Still open to anyone else that would like to comment or share their own experience on the tough gear shifter that I encountered.

 

[Colabella7077]

Tough gear shifting is normal. Mine is a tough shift but small delay from park to drive, it just takes a lil longer than other cars to engage a gear on a 4L60 trans. with all the driveshafts and u joints contracting and releasing. lot is going on underneath your truck and if its a firm shifting, thats damn good.

 

[gofish]

Tough gear shifting is normal. Mine is a tough shift but small delay from park to drive, it just takes a lil longer than other cars to engage a gear on a 4L60 trans. with all the driveshafts and u joints contracting and releasing. lot is going on underneath your truck and if its a firm shifting, thats damn good.

Thanks for the reply. The delay is not bad at all, it just felt like the gear shifter might snap in half when I went to put it in gear for the first time. The guy that owns it said he noticed it when he first bought it too, but he got used to it and doesn't think anything of it anymore. Maybe it is nothing to worry about.

 

[sandbuzzard]

Thanks for the reply sandbuzzard. That makes sense, I'll look into getting a new stoplamp switch if I end up getting it.

I actually found the answer to my other question for anyone that is interested. You can find programming instructions here for a keyless entry remote here: http://www.programyourremote.com/
I found some used/refirbed remotes on ebay for around 20 bucks.

Still open to anyone else that would like to comment or share their own experience on the tough gear shifter that I encountered.

Thats a cool website! Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:

 

[gofish]

Bought the rig today. $4000 cash. I'll post some pics when I get a chance. It's bone-stock, which is exactly what I wanted.

 

[NYrr496]

Check the shifter cable. They tend to get a little stiff over time and it's a cheap, easy replacement. I didn't notice, but I'm a big guy. When I picked it up from having the trans rebuilt last week, the guy pointed out to me it felt stiff. I didn't notice. Now that I installed a new one, I can see what he meant.

 

[gofish]

Check the shifter cable. They tend to get a little stiff over time and it's a cheap, easy replacement. I didn't notice, but I'm a big guy. When I picked it up from having the trans rebuilt last week, the guy pointed out to me it felt stiff. I didn't notice. Now that I installed a new one, I can see what he meant.

Thanks for the reply. It may be the cable and not the stop lamp switch. I know my brake lights work just fine. I would think they wouldn't work if it was the stop lamp switch.
How would I go about getting to the shifter cable?
I really need to buy a service manual, any suggestions on which one?