Hello..2009 Tahoe Z71

[BlackBearPerf]

Ive seen those. Im thinking about just sending my PCM into black bear or something and see what they can do with it.

Welcome to the forum. We would be happy to help with tuning. Give us a call 877-809-4070, or email us [email protected], when you are ready, and we can go over our tuning options.

 

[Big Mama]

Our 2009 LTX started to use oil @ the rate of 1 qt every 1000 miles. I bought the Range AFM device to shut down the AFM. The transmission doesn't down shift as much going up slight grades and the oil usage is down to 1 qt every 2500 miles. It has not affected the gas mileage enough to bother me. Down side is OnStar doesn't get the info from the vehicle to send me the monthly report. If I call OnStar for an issue they have me unplug the Range to read the info. Another idea is to get someone that can reprogram the computer to delete the AFM, that way you don't have to plug anything into the OBD port. A side note, I had an Diablo disabler, it would run the battery down if left setting several days, the Range does not.

that seems like a lot of oil to lose even at 1qt every 2500. Has it always done that?

 

[OR VietVet]

Y’all have been great! I appreciate the replies. Once this is all over I’m thinking AFM delete with a BTR or some other cam swap. Possible turbo set up. Not entirely sure on what I’m going to do yet. Thanks for the warm welcome.

When and if you do a turbo you want to be 100% sure all engine mechanicals are in tip top shape.

 

[thedog52]

When and if you do a turbo you want to be 100% sure all engine mechanicals are in tip top shape.

Absolutely. I’d prefer to swap a 6.0 in as well but finding a decent one in my area cost quite a bit more than getting a used 5.3. Either way it’ll get new gaskets everywhere, lifters, and a cam. Luckily I live close to Abel racing who tunes all kinds of cars. Their specialty though is turbo LS cars.

 

[Big Mama]

There was a video on here a while back showing a 0-60 in what seemed like only a few seconds. It was unreal.

 

[BG1988]

I firmly believe that the life of these transmissions is severely shortened by the excessively soft and sloppy factory tuning. When the company I work for bought an entire new fleet of 2012-2013 Express 2500s, more than half needed new transmissions at mileages ranging from around 75K to 150K. We never carried any weight that would require a 2500 and weren't allowed to tow trailers per our insurance policy. The vans didn't even have hitches. Almost every van that failed so soon was one that serviced major cities, so LOTS of stop and go, upshifting and downshifting all day. My unit's miles were mostly highway and when I was in the city, I manually shifted it. I went 230K on the fluid that it left the assembly line with.

126K miles is young. But if your Z71 did lots of towing or lots of city driving or anything that would require frequent shifting, that could explain the short life. To fix the sloppy, confused and soft factory TCM programming, you're gonna need a good tune. A handheld, one-size-fits-all "canned" tuner isn't gonna cut it. Black Bear is pretty much the guaranteed choice for what you need. They can clean up and fix the factory transmission, engine and throttle controls to make it much more responsive, reduce the slip between shifts (extends trans life) and just plain make it more fun to drive. Disabling AFM can be part of the tuning if you want that as well (and I'm one to highly recommend doing so).

heat is te death of your transmission if you would have put a BIGGER aftermarket cooler(you did say heavy city use which means sitting in traffic = low heat dispersion) and pulled the tstat it will run under temp with Dexron VI don't need to worry about it much..


mine runs at 140-160f in the winter 175 was the highest in the 110F Degree summer it has the Heavy Duty cooling package(according to the RPO codes)

 

[iamdub]

heat is te death of your transmission if you would have put a BIGGER aftermarket cooler(you did say heavy city use which means sitting in traffic) and pulled the tstat it will run under temp with Dexron VI don't need to worry about it much..

Sloppy, soft and confused factory trans shifting causes more heat than necessary. It was a company vehicle on which we weren't even allowed to change the oil. They don't want us changing a flat tire or even jump-starting our company vans, they want us to call the fleet management service for assistance. Adding a trans cooler was not an option nor should it have been necessary on a 2500 rated van that never carried more than it's own weight plus a few hundred pounds in the cargo hold and cruised on the highway 90% of it's life. For those techs that did heavy city use, a tune to clean up the shifting would've prolonged the life by far. Yes, a cooler might would've helped. But, if you reduced the slip and time between shifts and reduced the number of times it shifted instead of letting it hunt for gears, there shouldn't be so much extra heat to need a bigger cooler.

Regardless, a tune or any other modification was not allowed. Manual shifting is a factory function so I utilized it and my trans lived 3 times as long even with me giving it hard or full throttle countless times every day and never changing the fluid. Not even once.

 

[BG1988]

There was a video on here a while back showing a 0-60 in what seemed like only a few seconds. It was unreal.

6.0 is fun to have in ur tahoe


<-- has 6.0L.. LS2 based engine with corvette variable oil pump

Has 80HP booooost.. massive amount of torque 472ft-lb

Alt,A/C,Power steering delete

Sloppy, soft and confused factory trans shifting causes more heat than necessary. It was a company vehicle on which we weren't even allowed to change the oil. They don't want us changing a flat tire or even jump-starting our company vans, they want us to call the fleet management service for assistance. Adding a trans cooler was not an option nor should it have been necessary on a 2500 rated van that never carried more than it's own weight plus a few hundred pounds in the cargo hold and cruised on the highway 90% of it's life. For those techs that did heavy city use, a tune to clean up the shifting would've prolonged the life by far. Yes, a cooler might would've helped. But, if you reduced the slip and time between shifts and reduced the number of times it shifted instead of letting it hunt for gears, there shouldn't be so much extra heat to need a bigger cooler.

Regardless, a tune or any other modification was not allowed. Manual shifting is a factory function so I utilized it and my trans lived 3 times as long even with me giving it hard or full throttle countless times every day and never changing the fluid. Not even once.

downshifting is caused by the fuel used Rarely do i downshift on a freeway with 91oct unless passing with 87 octane it will search for gears between 3-4 AFM will loop of death and gobble up a lot of fuel... the difference between 87 and 91 is upwards of 12.6MPG..


so on 87 it will get a solid consistent 18.5MPG(city/hwy) on 91 it's 22/25mpg(constancy )

31.1MPG City and 27.6MPG Highway were my best ever(favorable weather conditions helped)

 

[Doubeleive]

heat is te death of your transmission if you would have put a BIGGER aftermarket cooler(you did say heavy city use which means sitting in traffic = low heat dispersion) and pulled the tstat it will run under temp with Dexron VI don't need to worry about it much..


mine runs at 140-160f in the winter 175 was the highest in the 110F Degree summer it has the Heavy Duty cooling package(according to the RPO codes)

the 6l80's on these 07-14 trucks do not have a transmission thermostat, they have a temperature sensor but no thermostat, my 18 silverado 6l80 does have a transmission thermostat (or did until I disabled it).

 

[BG1988]

the 6l80's on these 07-14 trucks do not have a transmission thermostat, they have a temperature sensor but no thermostat, my 18 silverado 6l80 does have a transmission thermostat (or did until I disabled it).

he should check and see if the Raid is clogged with bugs? this will prevent it from cooling correctly it gernally needs to be cleaned every 10,000 miles mine is all ready clogged with bugs it only takes a few of them to cause cooling issues