Engine revving a lot higher before shifting

[BanditGTP]

I hope someone can point me in the right direction. Over the past few days, my '03 Envoy XL (6cyl with 215k miles) has been holding the revs a lot higher than usual before shifting. The tranny hasn't been slipping but some times it won't shift until over 3k RPMs and that is with a slow start from a stand still. It isn't just 1st to 2nd gear. It seems to be happening in all of the gears. I didn't check yet today but when I check it a few weeks ago, the fluid still looked good.

I'm not sure if this is something to add to this but I noticed a while ago that while cruising along at highway speed, the RPMs wouldn't drop if I took my foot off the gas. As an example...if I were driving 70mph and the RPMs were around 2200, when I take my foot off the gas, the RPMs still stay right around 2200 and not drop significantly. Has it always been like this and I just never noticed?? I haven't hooked up my scanner to see if the RPMs actually drop but it sure sounds as if the RPMs drop.

If the tranny is shot, does anyone know how long it might take to swap it out for a new one. I don't have a lift so I would be doing it on the floor with jack stands. I swapped out the tranny on an 04 Pontiac Grand Prix and I know that wasn't fun but at least I have some confidence that I might be able to do it myself.

Thanks

 

[07TrailyLS]

Can't really say what could be wrong with it because transmissions are not my strong suit. Never had to work on one... But if something is screwed up and you want to send it to a shop, I couldn't see it being down for more that 4 or 5 days. But it yut taking your foot off the gas and the rpms are staying up, that leads me to believe it's more of an engine related issue. The pcm keeping the throttle open when you don't want it to be for instance. Just a guess

 

[mrrsm]

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[Sparky]

When it does shift is it abrupt, or a fairly normal shift aside from holding it longer?

The engine RPM doesn't immediately drop off when I take my foot off the gas on the highway so that sounds normal IMO. If the engine speed immediately dropped you'd get some fairly noticeable engine braking going on.

 

[gmcman]

When you lift your foot at a cruise, the TCC will disengage and the rpm's generally raise a little. As far as the increased engine speed when shifting..hard to say without driving it.

1. How frequent are your trans services? What mileage intervals?

2. Have you replaced the trans filter?

3. Do the rpm's jump up a little right before the shift or hold steady?

215K is alot of miles for the trans but doesn't mean it's toast. Generally the separator plate goes bad and you get pressure loss in some areas. If you're mechanically inclined, with those miles I would replace the separator plate and change the shift solenoids only because they are cheap and an easy swap.
Could need other items like accumulator pistons and again they are inexpensive, just tedious to remove the valve body but not difficult.

Without driving it, sounds like sticking valves or a worn plate that had a check ball hammered too far through. If the clutches aren't slipping under a load then it's definitely worthy of a few commonly worn parts to keep you going IMO.