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Transmission Issues, input welcome.

P

Phlip77

New member
Hello All,

I think I'm experiencing the start of some serious transmission issues. I first noticed while travelling on the highway at 120 Km/h last weekend. With the cruise on, I had noticed a slight chugging feeling. Looking at the tach it was jumping between 2000-2200 RPM.

Giving it gas, it was responsive. During the week I noticed (maybe paranoia) that the shifts weren't quite right. In the last 2 days I have heard a noise from the front. seems to go with the RPM's. The noise as far as I can tell seems to be coming from transmission. I have provided a link to a pic of fluid (slightly brown) and the noise. I apologize for the quality.

Well after taking the pic and the video I got back in the car. I had no gears, drive or reverse. Thinking to myself 'oh great', I shut the car off and restarted. Viola I had my gears back.

I'm thinking that may be related to a plugged filter but something tells me there's more going on. I'm looking for input first as I do have a warranty but I have a sick feeling they will give me the run around. Trying to gather as much info as possible, warranty company tends to refuse to cover unless things completely fail.



 


all i heard was the exhaust in your vid. is it whining like a bad power steering pump, but from the drivers side?

the fluid dont look all that dark. a pan drop and filter change may help, if its whining.

the loss of all gears then it came back is a concern tho for sure, that seems real odd.

can you see your trans temps on your dic? how high do they get? most gxp guys put a trans cooler on quick to keep the temps down, the v8 likes to kill the tranny, cooler temps help it live longer.

a shift kit cant hurt either can be done with the pan drop, very easy to put in. theres lots of how too's for it and the pan drop if your up to doing it yourself.
 
Yeah the vid wasn't the greatest, but with the electronic throttle I couldn't rev it and take the vid. It's hard to describe the noise, not so much a whine as a light grind. The picture doesn't do the fluid justice. On the stick its almost a dark orange.

The last time I checked, the temps hovered around 200 under normal use.

I have picked up a shift kit for it but have not installed. Looking for a deal on a tranny cooler. My thought process is (since it's under warranty), to get this tranny rebuilt at some point during my warranty. At that time I will have the shift kit put in. Hoping I have a tranny cooler lined up by that time too.

I've read up on the shift kit install and it does seem fairly straight forward. I know the write ups just talk about changing the springs in the accumulator but would it be ideal to do the whole kit during a rebuild?
 
If you have the warranty I would highly suggest using it, even though they are going to try and give you the run around. Document everything keep pressure on them.

Having said that, the 5.3L w/4T65E trans have been known to have a very high failure rate. I would say that your torque converter has taken a crap on you. It's the same converter that is in the HD trans in the supercharged cars but was never really intended for the V8 with DOD. While cruising and the car goes from 8cyl to 4cyl mode the TCC has to unlock and lock for this function to happen. This has been known to cause early failure and has similar symptoms to what you are describing. On top of all of that the 5.3L version has been known to have horrible cooling for the trans and never helps the situation. Edit: should also add that when the torque converter fails it throws material through the trans which can clog the filter like you're seeing. Classic symptoms where you have no gears, shut off the car and restart and then all of a sudden you have gears back.

Better converter along with valve body upgrades is going to be your best option at the moment, but that always costs $$$$. Dealership with replace everything with the same inherent weak points and send you on your way. Upgrading is the way to go if you plan on keeping the car.
 


GMR Badass said:
If you have the warranty I would highly suggest using it, even though they are going to try and give you the run around. Document everything keep pressure on them.

Better converter along with valve body upgrades is going to be your best option at the moment, but that always costs $$$$. Dealership with replace everything with the same inherent weak points and send you on your way. Upgrading is the way to go if you plan on keeping the car.
Click to expand...

I don't mind paying a little more on top of the work to get better parts in there. The ideal situation is determining the cost of repair, the cost the warranty will cover and using it towards a built transmission. I say ideal as that would never happen.

If you could point me in the direction of the recommended upgrade that would be great. I don't know too much when it comes to transmissions so any guidance or which direction to guide the transmission shop is appreciated.
 
I would highly recommend contacting Dave Norris at Triple Edge Performance. When it comes to transmission work this is about the only guy that I'll go to. I've built a few on my own but when it comes to valve body upgrades I don't have the special very expensive tooling like he does.

www.tripleedgeperformance.com
 
GMR Badass said:
I would highly recommend contacting Dave Norris at Triple Edge Performance. When it comes to transmission work this is about the only guy that I'll go to. I've built a few on my own but when it comes to valve body upgrades I don't have the special very expensive tooling like he does.

www.tripleedgeperformance.com
Click to expand...

Read good things about TEP. Unfortunately, I'm located in Canada and between shipping and downtime it's not the most feasible. Been researching to see if there's a good Canadian alternative to TEP. Worst case tho I may talk to Dave and order a rebuild kit for one of my local shops to do.
 
There's a guy at Redline transmission in Scarborough. Lee I believe.

He apparently knows his way around a 4T65e very well.
 
if you got a full warranty put your foot into it and blow it the F up. then get a new tranny out of them for free lol

problem solved lol
 


Scottydoggs said:
if you got a full warranty put your foot into it and blow it the F up. then get a new tranny out of them for free lol

problem solved lol
Click to expand...

lol. I have thought about that. It's one of those aftermarket warranties. They will only cover up to $2000, and I'm sure there is some small print that will make the whole repair/replace quite an ordeal. I def want the weak points replaced and upgraded.

And thanks Matt, I'll look into that.
 
Update:

So the tranny is shot. This morning the issue of losing gears happened each time the car was slowing down. And bad slippage. Had it diagnosed today, the pan is full of metal. So looks like complete rebuild. Quote is at approx $2500. Now waiting on the warranty underwriter to approve.
 
Just an update. Transmission has been rebuilt. While having it rebuilt I had the garage put the transgo shift kit in. Since we are starting winter I will be doing a trans cooler come early spring. Still waiting for the warranty company to reimburse their portion of the repair bill.

On a side note, my HUD and speedometer do not match. Looks like a 1-2 km/h difference. From what I read, appears to be normal tho.
 
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