What fails on ALL early 2000's Chevy SUV's!? CAR WIZARD shares what he's seen from the last 20 years

I’m a former GM Partsman. This video brings back some memories. One thing I’ll offer is this: If you ever go to a dealership to get a part and the parts person just walks to the shelf and puts it on the counter before you finish describing what you want THAT is a high failure item. GM had plenty.

I love the 99-06 full size GM products for their simplicity. They're inexpensive, easy to work on, and have great parts availability.

My dad has 2010 Tahoe he bought with 4k miles on it in 2011, and it’s currently at 340k miles. It is the most reliable truck I’ve ever seen. We live in The rust belt and have abused this truck every year sense we got it. I’ve pulled trees down with this thing and everything still works, even the fuel management! Really goes to show what proper maintenance and annual rust proofing can do RE: I just started driving this truck as my daily for college and work, and have put about a couple thousand on it. It sat for a bit so not much has changed but she still runs minty fresh. Burns a little oil but with this kinda mileage you expect the rings to be less than factory fresh. Have new quarter panels and rockers on the way to make it look brand new.

I have a 2001 Chevy Tahoe and I love it! They aren’t overly complicated to work on yet I still dread doing the heater core replacement when the time comes. I bought it for $700 in 2020 with a blown transmission and thanks to YouTube videos just like yours was able to rebuild it. Not perfectly I suspect and might live a shorter life span than a done professionally one but so far it drives. 😅

Only 30 views and already 20 likes , that’s how you know there’s a lot of love for the wizard in the YouTube car Community .

1:40 Oil Pressure Sensor (Transducer) 2:45 Corroded connections on the Main Fuse (No Start) (07+ models) 3:39 Active Fuel Management (AFM) Failure (Lifter Failure) (07+ models) 5:14 A/C Belt Tensioner Failure 6:19 Coils, plugs, and wires 8:15 Broken Exhaust Manifold Bolts 9:50 Knock Sensor Failure/Corrosion (00-06 models) 10:46 Instrument Cluster Stepper Motor Failure (mostly affects 03-06 models) 11:43 HVAC Blend/Recirculate Door Actuators 13:20 Transmission cooler line leaks 14:05 Oil Cooler Blockoff plate leaks 14:55 Oil pan gasket, rear main seal 15:05 Oil Pickup tube o-ring (low/no oil pressure) 15:46 Front differential Axle Seals 16:12 ABS module bad solder joints (00-06 more common) 17:12 4l60e go PNNNNNN Matt's Honorable mentions: - can't fill up with fuel -- clogged/failed evap cannister (fills evap system with charcoal). Replace the charcoal cannister, rear vent solenoid, and front purge solenoid. Also, clear all evap lines of charcoal pellets (shop vac works). When you fill up with gas, the air in your tank needs to be displaced. The evap system is supposed to manage this, but when clogged with charcoal pellets, the air tries to go back out through the filler hose, triggering the fuel filler to think your tank is full and turn off. - stuttering idle -- leaking intake manifold gaskets, leaking valve cover to intake manifold hoses. If the hose feels loose on the intake manifold tube, its likely leaking. This leak will cause a poor idle. - Clunking when braking/accelerating -- motor mounts. the stuttering idle above can exacerbate this problem by causing excessive wear on the motor mounts. This can cause clunking under acceleration as your engine/transmission shifts around - excessive body rolls -- front sway bar link is broken/missing. - low speed vibration -- ujoints on the driveshaft are bad - slow cool leak/drip from front of motor -- water pump is going out. weep hole is leaking to indicate as such probably missing some other good ones, but those are off the top of my head. I've owned a 2000 & 2008 Tahoe, as well as a 2006 suburban 2500. gmt800 is by far the best platform. the gmt900's have some improvements, but the addition of things like AFM and cheaper interior plastic really hurt that platform. Thanks for the video Wizard!

My Mom has my Grandparents old 2007 Tahoe LTZ. It’s got 430,000 (267,000 miles) kilometres on it and still going strong. Original engine and transmission. Only broke down once because it needed a new battery.

One of the most common things you didn't mention is intake gaskets causing lean codes. When it happens I change the intake gaskets, valve cover gaskets, knock sensors and harness. Usually around 100k and the tune up is easy to do at the same time. Also at 100k I will recommend water pump (they all will be leaking by then), serpentine belt(s), and both tensioners. Good under the hood for another 100k!

I hope this is the start of a series, covering this same topic on a variety of cars. This is super valuable information that everyone can use. Thank you so much

I've had 2 Suburbans, and the passengers always break the knobs off on the rear seat AC/Heater controls. If you're cold or hot, turn the knob till it stops and then keep on going. Everyone knows twisting the knob off makes the heater or AC go into turbo mode.

I have a 07 and almost everything you covered I've had to fix +5 broken headbolts, grrr now she has 260k miles. I got it 5yrs ago with 220k on her, I gave her all the love and now she is a joy to drive and road trip in.

But then the exhaust leak has its own set of consequences, which I’m surprised you didn’t mention, Wizard. Besides the O2 sensor reading diluted and cooler air than it should, which is crucial for the fuel mapping, the hot air coming out right there generally damages or destroys parts around it, and depending on the make and model of vehicle, can ruin the alternator connectors, power steering hoses, of course ignition parts, brake booster vacuum line, vacuum lines in general, engine harness wiring, ABS pump connectors and brake lines can prematurely rust, as oxygen plus heat make for rapid oxidation, but then there’s the most dreaded yet subtle consequence of all. Our own psychological phenomena. When our cars start to break down, the issues tend to start piling up, and by then, our resolve tends to wane, while the repair bill tends to grow, the oil changes stretch out, air filters are forgotten altogether, you stop washing it, dirt and mud never get rinsed from the nether regions where rust takes it’s cancerous toll, and the noises which at one point grabbed our attention and got fixed, now are just part of a cacophonous non-symphony, yet quickly become ignored by our ears, and that rust bubble is just a bit of dirt, and that rattle in the back is just a rusty muffler, but it’s leaking scalding hot air right onto the fuel pump and it’s wiring, and that mud has called up the EVAP parts, rust has rotten most of the fasteners such that ANY repair turns into an evil game of attrition versus determination, and, maybe it’s time for this car to go to the junkyard, even though you just spent $1,000 to get that AC blowing cold, and $600 on new tires, and $800 on shocks and some bushings and control arms, not to mention you did two window motors yourself at $50 a pop, and you just spent $100 on nice new “custom fit” seat covers to bandage over the cracked leather. Your car is paid for, yet you are prepared to start all over again paying $400/month whether you like it or not, when you couldn’t bring yourself to pay half that much on upkeep of the vehicle you once fell in love with and cherished? Oh, how logic and emotion clash to bring uncertainty to both. Make it happen. Car Wizard gets it. I get it. Get it.

I have a 2002 Suburban that I purchased new. It turned 20 yrs old this last month.I have over 265K on it. While i have had some of these issues, I still drive it every day. Runs great!

As a long time GMC / Chevy owner this was absolutely spot on. These are still great vehicles and I have had dozens in my fleet hit 350,000 miles. I have a 2008 Avalanche in the shop right now for a AFM delete. My shop loves and hates me.

Watching this guy is educational. I took notes so I can inspect my 2004 Burb and get items replaced if needed.

I have a 2001 Tahoe 5.3 with 280k The OP sending unit hasn't failed in the 8 years I've had it. The mega fuse hasn't been a problem, DID have to replace the a/c tensioner, coils still good, JUST NOW (280k) getting a 20 second exhaust tick at startup, actuators still good, REAR actuator was replaced, no cluster issues. Transmission lines haven't failed, no oil gasket or ring issues. Transfer case doesn't leak. ABS module..... royal PITA! It constantly runs. I just pulled the fuse and live with the light. All-in-all this has been a good truck and it's easy to work on. 8/10.... would buy again.

I bought a 04 Suburban Z71 a little over a year ago and it's been great. There are a handful of issues but it's mostly little things. I honestly enjoy having the small projects. I get to learn of to fix it as I go along and so far I've had a 100% success rate. I feel that this year GM trucks were the last generation that was built to last. As long as you can keep them from rusting and treat them good they'll be good to you and your family. I love the body style also. The newer ones (07+) just don't have the handsome looks of the older generations. Long live the GMT-800!

'07 GMC Sierra in the family since new w/ 296,000 miles now. Most of the failures were covered in this video; Oil pickup o-ring, oil pressure sensor, cam cover gaskets, oil cooler lines, and new front axles/wheel bearings. Other than that it's been an incredible truck and never left us stranded. I love that it's still simple enough that I can do all the repairs myself.

For the broken manifold bolts there is a company that makes a bracket you can bolt to the head and then clamps the manifold against the head. Not an ideal fix but if you’re on a budget it’s worth it

One thing worth mentioning when budgeting with these trucks are the typical idler, pitman arm deaths that in turn stress inner tie rods that then EAT front tires up. Just about every early 2k model that comes in has OVER a degree of play in their front steering linkage that leads to tire replacement every 6 months if not corrected. One of the most overlooked expenses we've had at our shop. Typically customers will ho through 2 sets of tires before realizing we arent trying to rip them off.