I’m having a problem with my 1995 2500 Chevy Extended Cab pickup. We bought it used about five years ago and the dealer had just put a new engine in it. Seems the little old couple who owned it before us were towing their trailer and blew out the engine. Since then we’ve taken it in for work because it had no power pulling away from stop signs and were told it wasn’t getting out of second gear due to a bad wiring harness. The second time the guy told us he’d trace it back to find out what the problem is but I’m not sure he was successful. It seems to be doing it again. We’re going to take it in for servicing in a couple of weeks and I need to know what to have him look for if he tells us the wiring harness is bad again. I’d rather not have to pay $200.00 every time we take it in to be serviced. We’ve only used it for light towing (a Starcraft trailer and hauling my nephew’s car in from out of state) twice and I don’t remember if the problem occurred after that or not. Could this be something that was caused when the new engine was installed and could the dealer who sold it to us be responsible? Could this be what caused the first engine to blow out when the little old couple was hauling their Airstream down the highway at 75 mph in second gear? Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Rather than a bad wire harness I would guess something like a bad connection somewhere may be causing the trouble. The trouble could also be inside the tranny. You may want to have a place that specializes in transmission repairs look at it and see what they say about the problem.
Could this be something that was caused when the new engine was installed and could the dealer who sold it to us be responsible?
Yes and no. Yes, it could be a problem resulting from the engine swap. No, they are no longer responsible. You bought it 5 years ago. Even the most generous warranty on used car sales would be expired long, long ago. It’s your truck now and you have to deal with repairs regardless of who caused them.
We’re going to take it in for servicing in a couple of weeks and I need to know what to have him look for if he tells us the wiring harness is bad again.
There’s an old saying: what’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! I’d suggest seeing someone else for this repair if this person is unable to properly diagnose the problem. Then again, they say the third time’s the charm!
Yes, if the tranny is stuck at or below 2nd gear, that could over-rev the engine and cause all sorts of issues. I can’t imagine someone blindly going down the interstate at 65 mph with the engine roaring though…
The transmission in your truck is computer controlled. If the Power Control Module cannot control the transmission adequately, it will default to second and reverse gears. This is considered ‘limp home’ mode. If the PCM is scanned, the resultant codes might point toward the problem.
Have a transmission technician scan the PCM for codes amd go from there. The problem might be wiring or it might be just a bad sensor. Also be aware that if battery power is lost to the transmission, the transmission will also default to ‘limp home’ mode so check any fuse that is labeled transmission.
Hope that helps.