Transmission gone?
01 Chevy Tahoe
5.3L V8
4L60E transmission I believe
~298,200 miles
Started having poor acceleration for about a week (E.G. I’m at a red light I hit the gas and I hear my engine working way harder than it ever has up to about 10 mph then everything would be fine) headed to work 2 days ago and I change lanes and the engine is absolutely screaming at 30 MPH turn around and go home and I’m getting barely 20-25 MPH and it feels like I’m forcing the truck up a 90 degree incline. I check my trans fluid it’s a bit low and has lost all its red color since last checked (could also be a bit low in my opinion) call my mechanic and he says it sounds like the trans is done but asked a few questions I couldn’t verify. I stated it did shift PRND fine, it reversed fine, he asked about low 3, 2, and 1 which I hadn’t tried. It operates fine in low gears as they don’t go over 30 I guess, however when trying low gears I put it in drive a few times and did laps around the neighborhood and found that it actually will go over 30 it’s just a hard shift and then back to normal driving for the most part, still feels good and strong and ready to drive otherwise. I have drive by cable so no electronic pedal/throttle control and was about to change the TPS/ throttle body but my OBD scanner says all systems and readings are ok. I did notice some sludge on the engine and don’t know what it is or where it’s coming from around the base of the oil fill tube. I said all this to say before I go tomorrow and potentially waste $300 on a trans fluid change does this sound like a fried trans? Forgot to get pics of the trans fluid but does this throttle body look clean? And any insight on this sludge!