Will not shift out of second gear

1995 GMC Yukon

My 1998 Yukon 4×4 slt 5.7l will not shift out of second gear. If I drive it hard n hot rod it then it seems to shift Tru the gears like it’s supposed to. The fluid looks dark as well I’m not shur what the problem may be. Cud u please help



First thing to do would be to check to see if there are any codes stored in the computer that might aim us in the correct direction. Post any codes found and we can dig further into that.

Stuck in 2nd gear

Some have suggested that a faulty VSS – Vehicle Speed Sensor may cause this issue. Others have run into valve body issues. Still yet there have been claims of faulty shift solenoids causing the same issue. And another has claimed faulty ignition switch caused the vehicle to not shift out of 2nd gear. Others claim a faulty fuse issue. (see video).


The transmission on this vehicle will intermittently default
to second gear. I’ve had other GM trucks do this with ign.
switch problems i.e. low voltage to term. 20 in fuse panel.
However, when this problem occurs the voltage is normal. It
also doesn’t exhibit the speedometer/tachometer problems
normally associated with ign.switch problems on these
vehicles. I did note that when the problem occurs the security
light comes on with no starting problems and I lose scan tool
data stream. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

____________________________ FIX ___________________________

The problem turned out to be the ignition switch, even though
the symptoms were a little different than the ones I’d had in
the past. Voltage drop to 10v on fuse #20 when the fault was
present. Thanks for the help!

Source: Chevy Mechanic: Mike