Thinking about purchasing a 00-06 Tahoe.

[mattt]

You have only had the Truck for six years what proof do you have it's the Original Never Rebuilt Trans.. Mine was purchased Brand New by my GF with every Service Repair Record which is about 1/2''thick stack of Dealer receipts. I find it hard to believe myself that her (mine for the last ten years) trans made it 19 years and just shy of 295k. A person is lucky if these Light Duty 4L60's go 150k let alone over 200k let alone over 300k.

I bought it from someone I knew(original owner) and have all the service records. He even kept the window sticker with the records. He babied it and took excellent care of it. Most of the time his wife and daughter drove it. I do think the regular interval trans service I've done since buying it 6 years ago has extended the life to where I'm at now. The trans service I've done is just drain and refill from the trans pan drain plug every 50k or so, with one service around 200k of dropping the pan and replacing the filter. YMMV

 

[rgosart]

You have only had the Truck for six years what proof do you have it's the Original Never Rebuilt Trans.. Mine was purchased Brand New by my GF with every Service Repair Record which is about 1/2''thick stack of Dealer receipts. I find it hard to believe myself that her (mine for the last ten years) trans made it 19 years and just shy of 295k. A person is lucky if these Light Duty 4L60's go 150k let alone over 200k let alone over 300k.

I know of an 04 Yukon XL with over 275k on the original trans. One of my friend's families bought it brand new. It is not unheard of!

 

[JonnyTahoe]

That's what the seller counts on, especially if the buyer is a female. I always take my shop coveralls with me when I am looking and will crawl under the rig to give it all a look see. If I drive the rig I will put it through it's paces as well. I drive it like I stole it. I also prefer to look at it in the day time and at night. I want to see the brightness of all the lights, inside and out.

If I were ever going to let someone 'test drive' my truck (highly un-likely) if they even started to 'Drive it like they stole it' Trust me, they would be walking back.

 

[JonnyTahoe]

I bought it from someone I knew(original owner) and have all the service records. He even kept the window sticker with the records. He babied it and took excellent care of it. Most of the time his wife and daughter drove it. I do think the regular interval trans service I've done since buying it 6 years ago has extended the life to where I'm at now. The trans service I've done is just drain and refill from the trans pan drain plug every 50k or so, with one service around 200k of dropping the pan and replacing the filter. YMMV

You have most certainly extended the life of your trans. You are lucky your Drain Plug even came off mine did not. The Plugs on these Pans are sealed from the factory to prevent leakage.

 

[OR VietVet]

If I can't put a vehicle, that I am thinking about buying, through it's paces, then I would walk away too. I always ask before I do it. I never assume.

 

[mattt]

You have most certainly extended the life of your trans. You are lucky your Drain Plug even came off mine did not. The Plugs on these Pans are sealed from the factory to prevent leakage.

Ahhh yes.....you just reminded me about how fun that was. Yeah the first time coming out, that plug was a "female dog" and fought me tooth and nail. It rounded off like a mofo but I wasn't going to let it beat me. Mistakenly I started with a 12 point 15mm socket first which started the rounding off, then switched to a 6 point 15mm socket which helped, but it still wouldn't come out. With how chowdered up the head was at that point, I switched to a Craftsman Bolt Out Remover Set that has saved my ass on numerous occasions and it finally gave up the fight and came out. Prior to pulling it out though, I made sure to have a replacement bolt on hand. I had to scour numerous vehicles at the junkyard to find a non-rounded off drain bolt that was willing to come out. At least 60% of the ones there were either rounded off already or stuck in place. Couldn't find a dealer with one or able to order from what I remember.

When I remove it now, I only use a 6 point socket and I haven't had another problem. It does seem to get tighter the longer it's in there and I've had to be careful when removing it so it doesn't slip or round off. I think the constant heat cycling of the pan and drain bolt with the captured O-ring leads to the snug tight seal over time. I would definitely do your best to get that drain bolt out if you have one, the later years omitted the trans pan drain unfortunately. Fresh fluid in an old trans seems to work minor miracles.

 

[JonnyTahoe]

If I can't put a vehicle, that I am thinking about buying, through it's paces, then I would walk away too. I always ask before I do it. I never assume.

Totally get that. When I "Test Drove" my '00 Yukon last Sept the 'Kid' I bought it from had just brought it up from Texas where it was a life long Texas truck. Radio didn't work, paint on hood all faded, needed tires, interior all dirty, hood latch broken. It was even stolen when it was 5 yrs old (CARFAX). Bottom line I always wanted a RWD (have a 4X4 Tahoe)It was a RWD Southern Truck absolutely Rust free. The fact that it is the best running 5.3 I have ever had and it shifts really nice are just a bonus.

 

[JonnyTahoe]

Ahhh yes.....you just reminded me about how fun that was. Yeah the first time coming out, that plug was a "female dog" and fought me tooth and nail. It rounded off like a mofo but I wasn't going to let it beat me. Mistakenly I started with a 12 point 15mm socket first which started the rounding off, then switched to a 6 point 15mm socket which helped, but it still wouldn't come out. With how chowdered up the head was at that point, I switched to a Craftsman Bolt Out Remover Set that has saved my ass on numerous occasions and it finally gave up the fight and came out. Prior to pulling it out though, I made sure to have a replacement bolt on hand. I had to scour numerous vehicles at the junkyard to find a non-rounded off drain bolt that was willing to come out. At least 60% of the ones there were either rounded off already or stuck in place. Couldn't find a dealer with one or able to order from what I remember.

When I remove it now, I only use a 6 point socket and I haven't had another problem. It does seem to get tighter the longer it's in there and I've had to be careful when removing it so it doesn't slip or round off. I think the constant heat cycling of the pan and drain bolt with the captured O-ring leads to the snug tight seal over time. I would definitely do your best to get that drain bolt out if you have one, the later years omitted the trans pan drain unfortunately. Fresh fluid in an old trans seems to work minor miracles.

Thanks for your removal tip. I was able to buy a Plug from my Local Dealer. P/N-2423-3099

 

[JonnyTahoe]

Ahhh yes.....you just reminded me about how fun that was. Yeah the first time coming out, that plug was a "female dog" and fought me tooth and nail. It rounded off like a mofo but I wasn't going to let it beat me. Mistakenly I started with a 12 point 15mm socket first which started the rounding off, then switched to a 6 point 15mm socket which helped, but it still wouldn't come out. With how chowdered up the head was at that point, I switched to a Craftsman Bolt Out Remover Set that has saved my ass on numerous occasions and it finally gave up the fight and came out. Prior to pulling it out though, I made sure to have a replacement bolt on hand. I had to scour numerous vehicles at the junkyard to find a non-rounded off drain bolt that was willing to come out. At least 60% of the ones there were either rounded off already or stuck in place. Couldn't find a dealer with one or able to order from what I remember.

When I remove it now, I only use a 6 point socket and I haven't had another problem. It does seem to get tighter the longer it's in there and I've had to be careful when removing it so it doesn't slip or round off. I think the constant heat cycling of the pan and drain bolt with the captured O-ring leads to the snug tight seal over time. I would definitely do your best to get that drain bolt out if you have one, the later years omitted the trans pan drain unfortunately. Fresh fluid in an old trans seems to work minor miracles.

I was able to remove a few quarts of fluid with a fluid pump and a long clear hose down the dip stick tube then un-bolted the pan. Shift linkage was a pain so I did what every professional mechanic does and bent the steel bracket out of the way.

 

[mattt]

If you're able to get the plug out, it's about 3.5 quarts of fluid swap.