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Please post if you have had Tranny problems [Information on transmission issues]

lordvader

Charter Member
SM 2003
Full Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2002
Messages
1,673
Location
Forked River, New Jersey
I have some questions to ask all the members in CAFCNA regarding the transmission.

How many people have had a transmission problem?

What was the problem and at what mileage did it occur?

What was the route cause of the problem (mods, etc...)?

How was it resolved (by the dealer, etc...)?

Was the problem covered under warranty?

Did you have to pay out of pocket for the repair?

These are just some questions I have and please feel free to explain in detail any other information that would be helpful in this thread.

:0:Please refrain from answering this thread if you have not had any tranny problems.

Thank you
Todd
 
Just starting to have minor? porblems. Having the problem where I am giving it gas and the truck lurches then the tranny catches and moves(like doind a brake torque when I was younger), also am having the instances of the tranny not deciding which gear, 2nd or 3rd, that it wants to be in.

I have seen other posts with similar problems. Had it to the dealer 2 weeks ago, reset the pcm and did something with a valve body??(have to check my receipt), seemed ok but the brake torque problem is starting again.

All under warranty so far.
2003 Z71 3:43 rear end
Started happening @ 6000 or 7000 miles, now have 16,000
Not upset, yet, will give the dealer chances to fix it.

I will be watching with interest - thanks for the topic.
 
Had a 2002 1500 Avalanche ( purchased 5-31-2001 ) and at about 3800 miles, the transmission was jumping about 300 RPM while driving in Overdrive at 55 mph down the highway. Took it to Chevrolet Service Dept. They tore it down and found no problems. They talked to GM Service Dept and they wanted it back. They perfer to see one that no one has took apart. After about a week and the day before 9/11, they got the new one in. Had it about 2 more months and traded for a 2002 2500 Avalanche and no problems with it or the current 2003 2500 Avalanche.
 
Ya know... I noticed a couple of times recently that it seems kinda difficult (sporadically) to shift out of park. Its not a regular thing thats for sure... but its happened more than once... should I be concerned?
 
2004 Z-66 - purchased 1/7/04 - approximately 800 miles - I'm getting a bit of a "clunking" when it shifts down to first gear when deccelerating. Will be advising dealer when I take it in for first oil change at 1K - will aslo be complaining about whine between 45 and 55..........
 
I have recently had a total transmission rebuild. I had 50074 miles and fortunately had the extended GMPP warranty so the entire repair was covered. I had my Av towed and repaired by AAMCO because the one and only dealer around me could not even look at it for 2 wks.

Glad I had the warranty because the total repair cost was $2393.84! :8: If I was paying for the repair, I probably would have shopped around for a better price. The prices that AAMCO charged for some of the parts were outlandish!
I don't have the invoice here but a couple of the parts that I remember - filter $30, 11qts trans fluid $45, less than 2qts of transfer case fluid $38, you get my point. After I got the truck back I brought in the invoice and start looking up the parts online and could find almost all of them for 1/3 or more of what AAMCO charged :8:. I am quite sure that GMPP will not pay those prices.

The initial failure that caused the whole thing was the sun gear shell broke. The gear on the front snapped completely. The tech a AAMCO that has been rebuilding transmissions for over 20 yrs said he had only seen a probably less then 20 instances of this happening. The stock sun gear shell is aluminum and they replaced it with a hardened stainless one.
 
I owned a 02 1500, and currently have a 03 2500.
My 02 had a problem with the rear seal in the tailshaft, it leaked fluid when I towed my 16 foot flat bed trailer with my dune buggy on it.
Had it fixed at the dealership I work at and didn't have any more problems after.
I found out that the 2500 had a trans that was rated for what I was intending to use my AV for so I decided to upgrade to the 2500.

I didn't notice anything abnormal with either one, and I beat the snot out of both of them. >:D

Terry
 
ygmn said:
No problems....bought in Sept 2001.............


I have sent ygmn a pm about this post. I told him to remove it.

Please refrain from posting if you have never had a problem. I am doing research for tranny problems, so this thread can be used by myself and any other person that needs help regarding transmission problems.

Thank you
 
lordvader said:
I have sent ygmn a pm about this post. I told him to remove it.

Please refrain from posting if you have never had a problem. I am doing research for tranny problems, so this thread can be used by myself and any other person that needs help regarding transmission problems.

Thank you
I have fixed your title to be clear that those without problems should refrain from posting.....I do suggest looking at all the existing posts on tranny issues...as some of the olds ones have posts from members who may not post anymore.....and there are quite a few....Good luck
 
I am currently having tranny problems myself. The first time my tranny went out was at 12,000 miles. I had no 2nd and 3rd gears. I brought it to my service center and they warrentied it without any problems.
The 2nd time is now. I have 29982 miles on my Av. I started noticing it on 1/13/04 that it was shifting at high RPM's and and would then bypass 2nd gear. I brought it in to my service center, they took it for a drive, said I was covered, and told me to bring it in on 1/28/04.
Well, my Av didn't make it till the 28th and I was forced to tow from PA to NY. The dealership pulled my tranny off of my Av and started to do the work. I then got a call from the service Manager saying that I was not covered because I have aftermarket Headers and Exhaust. I am currently in a battle with GM.
12/28/03 I had my Av towed in the dealer for and Ignition switch/tranny service. They did not cover it because they said my Remote Start caused my ignition switch to fail. I had to pay $485 plus the re-installation of my alarm. Another $165.
 
Posted by Powersurge on alternate site:
I lost the reverse gear on my Tranny at about 22,000 miles. I sent the truck in and it was covered under the warrantee. I was also told the first gear was going as well.

I?m pretty sure they rebuilt the Tranny instead of giving me a new one. They said that they had to order a lot of parts including a Torque converter.

I heard from somewhere that the Splines in the Avalanche, which are the same ones in the Suburban, are bad. GM knows this and are putting after market (Non OEM) splines in on all the trucks that have this problem.

It seems that if you want to find a problem with the Avalanche that you can say they have bad trannies. I think this is a problem that a lot of people have been experiencing.

I have had no problems since the repair. I am now at 38,000 miles. The only thing that bothers me is how it shifts from 1st to 2nd. It?s a hard shift, almost feeling like a shift kit was installed. Its not too bad but its not as smooth as it was when I bought the truck.
 
My Z-66 had shifting problems and service engine light on & off at appox. 20 K miles.The problem was the ing. switch that was sending bad info to tranny(all gears trying to shift at once).My H2 just had the same problem and the mech said the problem had got to be so bad that they have move the problem module to an area easy to switch out
 
It may be a problem developing,I'm not sure. Has anyone else experienced this?

Today I had just pulled out of parking lot,and a few minutes later
I lost all fwd drive power. I looked down on DIC and it indicated I was still in "D" I pulled over and checked all positions in gear shifter. Pulled out again and all seemed to be fine. I notice that there isnt much of a detent between neutral and drive, I guess it slipped into neutral? Wierd ,I hope it doesnt get worse. Pete
 
2002 Z66, 29k
I noticed mine when leaving work couple times......would enter the road and seemed the tranny would not "want to shift " from 2nd to 3rd. Almost felt like it was "winding" out too much.
This would be when initially just warming up!

This sound farmiliar?
 
Lordvader, I went through an entire lemon law procedure with GM on trans and differential incidents. Check out my posts and you should be able to write a book.
My 02, 2500, was a perfect vehicle until it hit 12,000 miles. I now own a 04 Z-71 and I say a prayer everytime I fire the thing up! So far so good.
Hope this helps.
 
02 Z-71, 3.73:1 Lmtd Slip. Truck was 8 months old had 11k on the clock when I noticed that while on the highway it seemed to be turning 2-300more Rs on the tach. Shortly the "service engine soon/check engine" light came on. I put it in the shop and sure enough the scanner spit out transmission slip codes. The torque convertor had to be replaced. The heaviest thing I tow is my bassboat which weighs under 3k total. Factory warranty still in so I could'nt tell you the total.

Have'nt had anymore tranny issues in 36k but other problems are starting now,
RA

ps
Before the tranny "fix" I could would average 17mpg (all around tank average). Afterwards I get 14-14.5 mpg avg. If GM would pick up the bill each time the trany totally let go, I would just as soon have back the slippin tranny and get my 3mpg back!!!
 
After reading through the posts it seems as though there may be a real problem with these trans after reaching 12000 :8:

My experience this past Friday:

Driving in the passing lane ( 3 lane highway ) at about 50mph and the transmission just died :E: No power whatsoever. Switched into another gear hoping for some power . . . NOPE :7:

Thankfully able to get over and off the road into a parking lot. Tranny is completely dead. No gear except park!!!! Of course it was raining and about 7pm on Friday :8: Had it towed to the Local Dealer at 8:30pm and called for a Taxi for my wife and I. No taxi after 50 minutes waiting in the dead AV at the dealer. Yes the dealer was closed. Called the Taxi company and they said I'm on the list :E: Called a friend at his job who was close and he took us home. Stopped by on Saturday and they said they won't even be able to look at it until Tuesday. Thankfully they just gave me a rental without me having to say anything ( it would have been to easy to set me off at this point ). My '87 S-10 Blazer which is our backup car is went down about 2 weeks ago ( I think it's a belt ) so, I have to drive this rental until it's fixed :6: It's a tiny Chevy Cavalier. Well, at least it's in the family ;)

Oh yeah, my AV has about 12100 miles. This does seem a little strange after reading the other posts.

I'll update later on in the week :cautious:

Peace

IM
 
IM - You may want to check with your dealer on the rental. When I had my Av in, the service guy told me GM just started a new program(mid January '04) with rentals, that you are entitled to a car from the same class of vehicle that you own. I was given a Trailblazer while they had my car.

My Av is under warranty, and I am not sure if it is a regional thing or not, but I thought better than geting stuck in a Neon from Enterprise.

The only concession, if the dealer does not find anything wrong, you are on the hook for the rental.
 
i bought mine off a factory buy back and the reason was for hard shifting. haven't had any problems yet (5000 miles). the thing is with a factory buy back they give another 12000 warrenty on top of everything so even if there is a problem its all under warrenty.
 
I had tranny problems with my 03 1500 Z-71 Silverado. From a dead stop I would take off and the trans. would act as if it never down shifted to 1st. gear. When I would give it gas it felt like I was pulling a house, it would quickly shift back to first gear and act normally after. I happened twice in that truck and I traded it in for Z-71 Avalanche. It has only happened once in that vehicle.

The only reason I didn't do anything about this one is that it only happened onces and it is bar-none the best vehicle I have ever owned. I let my wife drive it once and I had to pry her fingers off of the steering wheel while she pitched a streaming fit. (O.K. it wasn't that bad but I won't let her drive it again.)
 
I have had a problem pop up maybe 3 or 4 times. It typically occurs when I'm driving at maybe 20-35 mph, and cruising (not accelarating or decelerating much). If I needed to get on the gas the truck would act like it wasn't in gear and didn't know which one to get into. I would feel it catch, and then roughly shift. Don't know what causes it, and it hasn't happened in the last 4k mi, so I'm kinda forgetting about it. This started pretty soon after I got the truck, maybe 2k miles, and I only have 11k on it now. It's an 03 Z66 1500.

I have friends who had a Suburban and had a multitude of probs with it and its tranny/ignition.... I PRAY this isn't how my Chevy experience is gonna be cause I LOVE my truck.
 
"I have had a problem pop up maybe 3 or 4 times. It typically occurs when I'm driving at maybe 20-35 mph, and cruising (not accelarating or decelerating much). If I needed to get on the gas the truck would act like it wasn't in gear and didn't know which one to get into. I would feel it catch, and then roughly shift. Don't know what causes it, and it hasn't happened in the last 4k mi, so I'm kinda forgetting about it. "

Hey Vdub,
betcha its the vehicle speed sensor. Im kind of an expert on them, only went through 4!
Good luck man!
 
I have a one-year-old '03 Z66 1500, now with 10K miles. Since new, it has had a clunking noise when shifting 2-3, and very noticeably if cold, also on downshift 3-2. (My '00 Suburban had a similar but not quite so bad noise, and I could never get either of two dealers to acknowledge that the noise was anything but "normal.") Now I also have the 1-2 shift shudder about which there is a TSB that calls for adding a sensing wire to the alternator. I also have the rear-end whine when coasting from about 50 down to 40 -- no whine on acceleration or steady speed. I plan to take it in for service soon, but I expect to get the runaround on at least the 2-3, 3-2 shifting condition.
 
BenC said:
I have a one-year-old '03 Z66 1500, now with 10K miles. Since new, it has had a clunking noise when shifting 2-3, and very noticeably if cold, also on downshift 3-2. (My '00 Suburban had a similar but not quite so bad noise, and I could never get either of two dealers to acknowledge that the noise was anything but "normal.") Now I also have the 1-2 shift shudder about which there is a TSB that calls for adding a sensing wire to the alternator. I also have the rear-end whine when coasting from about 50 down to 40 -- no whine on acceleration or steady speed. I plan to take it in for service soon, but I expect to get the runaround on at least the 2-3, 3-2 shifting condition.

You shouldn't. I've heard about this before - you would need to do a search but what your describing sounds like a valve assembly in the tranny.
 
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