Hi, all! I just got a 2005 Z71 Suburban 4x2. It's been really fun, because it harkens back to the Suburban we had growing up. The Expedition I traded in didn't have the same effect. There's just something special about the Suburban. I'm hoping this is going to be a good rig, but I had some questions I was hoping to run by the 'Burban vets, if I could.

1) The powersteering unit on this thing winds out something aweful. There's no leak, and when I took it in for some warranty work, they said there was nothing wrong there. But it's really very obvious when driving along, and not even turning. Has anyone had any experience with that? They were kind of under the gun to get the work done, so I'm planning on taking it back and asking them to take another look at it. I knew Ford had some loud PS units back in the day, but I would expect that a 2005 Chevy would be much better than that.

2) Does the 2005 have an "Instant Economy" setting on the computer? I had assumed the only thing mine would have would be the "Average Economy" setting, and the instant was added later. But, I got into a friend's 2003 Z71 Tahoe, and it was there. Is that something I need looked at, too? Seems like an odd thing to disappear.

3) What, exactly, does the tow/haul button do? I used to think it just kept you out of O/D, but after pulling a trailer into a 40 mph head wind (let me tell you how much fun THAT was), it really seems like it's doing a lot more than that. I just can't figure out what it is.

Thanks!

 

You shouldn't hear the PS pump at all. There is definatley some sort of problem there.[/align][/align]Not sure about the instant economy, it seems to have been on some vehicles, but not on others.[/align][/align]The tow/haul adjusts your shift points, keeps you from going back and forth into overdrive and also adjusts the engine control settings.[/align]

 

Make sure you read the manual on the tow/haul. We have a 35 foot travel trailer on the back of our 05 Suburban and you have to make sure the tow vehicle weight is a certain percentage/amount to use tow/haul. You don't need it whenever you are towing. We didn't need it for our pop-up.

 

the power steering pump was most likely run out of fluid before you got it. my dad has a f150 and once you run them out of fluid the pumps make a noise that cannot be fixed by adding fluid to it. you may want to try and find a rebuilt pump. the towhaul does one thing. it shifts the transmission at higher rpms so that it will accelerate faster under hard towing conditions