Does the 1997 Chevy suburban have a "Lock out" in the transmission?

Question

I just bought a '97 Suburban and My first day driving it home from the dealer, i noticed once i hit about 35 mph and 60 mph, the whole truck "jumps", as if the tranny had a major slip, so i brought it back to the dealer and the guy there told me that the suburban has a lock out in the transmission. Anyone know anything about this?

Answer 1

Its not a "lock out", its a "lock-up" torque convertor. Basically the torque convertor engages a direct coupling at a set speed to be more efficient.

Answer 2

It has a torque converter lock up seloniod. my tahoe had it but it wouldn't unlock so when I would stop it would kill the motor dead. but my brothers 1998 suburban did the same as yours and it was the lock up on his to.

Answer 3

Sounds like the dealer just ripped you off and crapped all over you on top of that. I have never heard of such thing as "transmission lock out", but it could be some kind of transmission problem. It could just be a hard throw kit, which speeds up the change of speeds, but also adds the throwing effect, because it's so instant! Go down to a repair shop, if it bothers you that much. I think that there is just a s***w you can adjust on some of the transmissions, but I am not 100% sure.

luck,

Answer 4

It depends on the severity of the 'jump' Depending on axle ratio, this could be when the torque convertor is locking up. I would think that this is what your feeling if you have the 4.10 ratio.

On my truck, I have 3.73 gears, I get full torque convertor lock up at 75mph, and the ability to lock under light load at 40mph.

Watch the tach when the Burb has this issue. If you see the engine speed drop by ~300rpm you have nothing to worry about. All you can hope for is that it is this. And if you have a lower axle ratio, it will only amplify this.