Five problems related to transmission failure have been reported for the 1999 Chevrolet Suburban. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Transmission failure in 1999 k1500 Suburban with 49600 miles while towing 18 foot lightly loaded box trailer on level ground. Towing was in accordance with instructions in owners manual to tow in overdrive. Transmission failed 150 miles after starting tow. Subsequent checking over internet and with friends has revealed many others have experienced same type failure. Chev dealer states that there is no factory service bulletin concerning transmission failures. Failure appears to be do to excessive heat build up.
Since new the vehicle has exhibited erratic shifting during acceleration. Often the vehicle accelerates briefly when brakes applied. Transmission failed while on vacation at 78,000 miles.
The transmission shifted very hard into 2nd gear. When I came to a stop and went to go the vehicle would not shift into second gear. It would prceed into third gear after the engine would rev up to a higher rpm. I contacted several transmission shops and a dealership. They all said that I lost the 2nd/4th gear intemediate shaft which also included the reverse gear also. This is on a 700r4 transmisson. They all said gm knew about the problem but would not do a recall on that model year because of the extenive use of that tranmission in all of their vehicles . They said that almost all of the transmission had the faulty intermediate shaft. This could cause a serious problem for some vehicle owners if the transmission failed at an inopportune time, especially in an emergency that they had to reverse quickly. I had the transmission replaced at a local shop at a very high expense. I thought I would submit this due to the amount of vehicles that used this transmissionin that year and for the safety of the owners.
The steering grabs when turning right, very dangerous. Transmission failed at same time. GMC has failed on this model .
Front brakes have been replaced three times, each time one of the calipers was reported to have frozen or stuck, so that only one front brake was working. The rear brakes were first reported to have a rearmain seal leak, but later found to never work. The transmission failed after only 29000 miles while the vehicle was being test driven by the mechanic checking the brakes.