My 01 GMC Sierra 1500 5.3l v8 will not drive or reverse.

20

Asked by Brandon Nov 18, 2021 at 05:33 PM about the 2001 GMC Sierra 1500 SLE 4WD Extended Cab SB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Back in February i got home from work and my
truck never had any out of the ordinary noises or
clanks or anything and when i got up in the
morning for work i let the truck warm up for a
good 20-30 minutes and when i went to take off
for work the truck would not drive or reverse. Since
then my father and I have been replacing and
fixing anything we could think of. We have put 3
trannys in, a transfercase which is opperational
and working, checked and cleaned all the grounds
and connectors and replaced 1 connector that had
an exposed wire and was previously sautered,
replaced the tranny range switch, and checked the
fuses etc. My dad has been a mechanic for many
years now and we are completely stumped on
what it could be. I thought to myself maybe it
could be the pcm or tcm but im not sure. The
shifter on the consol shifts down and up and
moves the range shifter on the tranny just fine so i
know the cable isnt broken and all fluids are fine
as well. I know it also was not because of the cold
(I live in ND) because we have been working on it
all summer long and still cant get it to drive.
Please help me, i am desperate to get my truck
driving again i have been out a vehicle since then.

5 Answers

155,225

I don't see a TCM listed for your vehicle. I do see a BCM and, of course the PCM. If replaced each will have to be flashed in order for them to work. Was the check engine light or service engine soon light on when the transmission stopped working? If so the trouble codes should have been pulled so you had a starting point. Keep in mind that this is a 20 year old vehicle that you've already put more time, effort, and money into than it's worth. If you were my Son I'd tell you it's time to trade it in as is or junk it and buy something newer that wants to run. Your time and money will definitely be better spent that way! Jim

20

Yes i do agree with you but at this time im dealing with alot of medical issues that doctors can not find the issue and im not working much because of it so it is hard to get a new vehicle at the moment so that is why i am trying to fix my truck for now until i can get money for a new one. I do not want to downgrade to a car lol. But if theres anything else that might cause the truck to not drive i am open and would love opinions besides the things my father and i have done already.

1 people found this helpful.
155,225

Very sorry to hear about your medical issues!! If you can I would suggest getting a live data scan to show you what's going on or what's not going on when you try to drive the vehicle. Usually a dead transmission, that is one that won't move at all, is a pump problem. In order for the transmission to work the pump needs to be pumping transmission fluid to the rest of the components. I would also suspect the torque converter. Did you replace it or just transfer it from one transmission to the other? If you transferred the same torque converter that's a real possibility. Hope that helps! Jim

20

Thabk you for your concern! And every tranny i replaced had a different converter that came with the transmission. We originaly thought it was the transmission pump but after replacing 3 trannys we couldnt see how the pump could be bad in all 3 unless i am having misserable ammounts of bad luck lol

1 people found this helpful.
155,225

You're welcome. I agree, after 3 transmissions the problem must not be the transmission itself. Possibly an electrical problem. Jim

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