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1.5

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
110,167 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2004 Chevrolet Suburban drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2004 Chevrolet Suburban Owner Comments

problem #6

Jan 082016

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • 190,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Instrument cluster shorts out and gear indicator goes blank. No message center information warnings are displayed. Part is defective and car makers should replace it. Not knowing what gear vehicle is in can lead to death if vehicle left in neutral and rolls away. GM needs to fix this expensive problem. Also 4L60E transmission on these vehicles fails and starts slipping because of defective sun shell and real piston seal. GM should recall all these bad transmissions. Warranty should have been for life. Why should such an expensive part to repair fail under normal use? recall ! both these parts fail when driving. All warning of vehicle conditions are sent to failed cluster. Vehicle was made in Mexico for re-importation and sale in usa and maybe parts suppliers in Mexico provided defective parts. Many people have suffered financial loss trying to fix these problems, lastly, the emission solenoid near the tank also fails. Vehicle may not pass emission.

- Tacoma, VA, USA

problem #5

Apr 202016

Suburban

  • 148,000 miles
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Suburban. While the vehicle was in the park position, the gear shifted into the neutral position unexpectedly without warning. The failure occurred once. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 148,000.

- Anker Point, AK, USA

problem #4

May 192013

Suburban 8-cyl

  • 157,000 miles
The vehicle is a 4WD Suburban 1500. With 2 wd drive selected and driving at various speeds from 5 mph to 60 mph the vehicle will go into neutral. This has happened 7 or 8 times. Each time was in traffic which required illuminating emergency flashers and pulling to side of road. Every time presented a safety issue and was fortunate it didn't cause an accident. On one occasion I had just passed a semi on the interstate and had just pulled back into trucks lane when it occurred. Dealership could not detect a problem. The gear shift selector remains in "drive", the dash selector remains illuminated in 2wd and I get no messages on instrument panel message center. To troubleshoot I selected "auto 4 wd" on dash selector and operated for a week with no problem. I then selected 2 wd and the problem reappeared within 2 hours of operation. Once I stopped, I selected 1,2,3 and R on gear selector with no effect. Selected neutral and turned ignition off and then restarted with no effect (on previous occasion I had selected park with vehicle running and noticed a gear grinding noise so didn't want to do that again with engine running). Turned ignition off with gear selector in neutral and selected auto 4 wd and then restarted engine which took care of problem.

- Winston Salem, NC, USA

problem #3

Aug 202011

Suburban 8-cyl

  • 85,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When driving it will try and engage the 4 wheel drive low. It happened a year ago and then again this week.

- Colton, WA, USA

problem #2

Jan 192011

Suburban

  • miles
Transfer case had to be replaced before 70000 miles due to bearing. Passenger air went out and only blew hot after a battery change, had to replace entire air system. Air system went out again with 2nd battery replacement, but dealer was able to "reset" it. Speedometer only works sometimes. Binding noise in steering column, has been lubed numerous times while waiting for Chevy to issue a recall according to dealer. This vehicle is driven under 15000 miles a year.

- Evans, GA, USA

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problem #1

Jun 252009

Suburban

  • 81,000 miles
Transfercase on suburuban began to leak around 80K miles when you put on lift you'll see little pin holes in the transfer case. This is caused by a faulty design where the pump rubs a hole from the inside of the T-case to the outside. Numerous companies have made a mod kit to address the issue which GM has not. You can put a temp bandage on it using jb weld but the case will need to be replaced.

- Alpha, MN, USA

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