[MP81]

So, for roughly a month or so (according to my wife), the car's transmission has been "laggy", as she put it. Now, at first, I just chalked this up to the typical CTD lag we experience off the line. I have driven the car numerous times in the past month and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

Well, going to meet some friends of ours, with her driving, I got to see exactly what she's been talking about. On a small incline, when my wife went to start moving, the car rolled back an alarming amount - and then absolutely SLAMMED into gear when it decided we should actually go forward. This happened multiple times. On flat sections, obviously no rolling behavior was present, but it still about gave us whiplash. From her description, she was giving it more and more throttle because it wasn't going anywhere, which makes sense why it was such a violent event. I asked her to be very light on the throttle and it still made a huge jerk, albeit not as large of an impulse as before when she gave it more throttle.

Then the last half of the drive it was fine. It was fine when I drove it home later that evening. It was fine when we took it to the store and back yesterday evening.

We're running AMSOIL Synthetic Trans Fluid, and I installed new cooler lines back in March, as the old ones were leaking (because of course they do). I've yet to check underneath the car, but I would really hope they hadn't started leaking after only a few thousand miles.

No codes or anything related, but something is definitely amiss.

 

[Snipesy]

Beyond making sure it has enoguh fluid, try resetting it. (Unplugging the battery for awhile). This TCM is a whiny little...

 

[Tomko]

Odometer reading?

Miles since the last fluid change?

 

[MP81]

Unless it's leaking again, fluid should be good. Then again, it's not an easy one to check, given the weird-as-**** refill procedure that ends with you counting the number of drips per second, then adding a set amount of fluid past that. I should be able to see a leak fairly easy on the aeroshield, though. If that's the case, I'm going to be rather upset - those lines are absolutely terrible to do.

Unplugging the battery isn't a bad idea. I need a reason to install your old CAI anyway, so this would give me the battery disconnect you suggested for that, as well.

This Aisin trans has got to be one of my least favorite transmissions I've ever encountered.

 

[jblackburn]

Seems like a couple people have had their CTD transmissions replaced for exactly the same behavior.

 

[IndyDiesel]

Sounds like a transmission replacement is in order. My first reaction is do you have the correct fluid amount in the transmission? It’s almost impossible to really know.

 

[MP81]

Odometer reading?

Miles since the last fluid change?

81,827 miles when I put 2.5 gallons of DEF in yesterday. 73,759 is when the trans lines went in, 3/27/18,.

Seems like a couple people have had their CTD transmissions replaced for exactly the same behavior.

Yeah...it did sound quite familiar...

Sounds like a transmission replacement is in order. My first reaction is do you have the correct fluid amount in the transmission? It’s almost impossible to really know.

Assuming it hasn't leaked any out - it should yes. I followed the funky Aisin AF40-6 refill procedure after I did the trans cooler lines. Wait for drips to be ~1 per second, reinstall check plug (which, oddly enough, is on the bottom of the engine - inside of the larger drain plug), turn engine off. Add X amount of trans fluid. Reinstall fill plug.

Trans had been great - almost like it was new - up until a month or so ago when my wife started complaining about it, but I hadn't had the "good fortune" of experiencing the problem until yesterday.

The issue is that it doesn't always happen. Our luck would be we drop the car off, dealer finds nothing wrong, then we get it back, and it acts up. Repeat.

 

[IndyDiesel]

Assuming it hasn't leaked any out - it should yes. I followed the funky Aisin AF40-6 refill procedure after I did the trans cooler lines back in March. Wait for drips to be ~1 per second, reinstall check plug (which, oddly enough, is on the bottom of the engine - inside of the larger drain plug), turn engine off. Add X amount of trans fluid. Reinstall fill plug.

Trans had been great - almost like it was new - up until a month or so ago when my wife started complaining about it, but I hadn't had the "good fortune" of experiencing the problem until yesterday.

I have had good luck with mine, makes me a bit anxious to go out of warranty and have a $5000 plus transmission replacement. You didn’t really have a warning until now. If this was a gen 2 Diesel you would be out of warranty.

 

[MP81]

I guess it hasn't been terrible - a lot of the issues prior were due to the leaking trans lines I wasn't aware of until I did the initial fluid change to Amsoil in January. It's always been a bit clunky for my tastes, on occasion.

But yes, I'd like this all taken care of before the PT warranty is up...

 

[Taxman]

But yes, I'd like this all taken care of before the PT warranty is up...

Then take it in this week.
Don't try to fix it yourself.
Chances are high the diagnosis will be 'transmission fault, replace'.

 

[MP81]

Oh, I'm not fixing this at all by myself. This car is still under warranty, unlike half the other bullshit we've had to fix, they can fix this, for free.

And that's the thing...if it decides to act up. If it's not, it's perfectly normal, so they wouldn't be able to experience it.

 

[Snipesy]

Yeah I wouldn't install your CAI until it's settled with.

No it doesn't void anything. Not even a 'delete tune' voids anything. But techs are stubborn and most people don't want to have to sue every time something breaks in their car.

 

[Taxman]

Does it tend to happen for the first xx miles of the day, or is that just how it went this weekend?

 

[MP81]

Does it tend to happen for the first xx miles of the day, or is that just how it went this weekend?

Seems like it kind of just happens whenever it feels like - sometimes it'll do it a lot more, sometimes not at all. She said it doesn't do it on the freeway...but given you don't spend much time stopped, I would expect it wouldn't even have the chance to show up. It did not seem to do it the first 15-20 min or so of our drive on Saturday, then all of a sudden the car was rolling backwards instead of moving forwards, and then the big jolt. That's when my wife said "this is what I was talking about".

 

[IndyDiesel]

Seems like it kind of just happens whenever it feels like - sometimes it'll do it a lot more, sometimes not at all. She said it doesn't do it on the freeway...but given you don't spend much time stopped, I would expect it wouldn't even have the chance to show up. It did not seem to do it the first 15-20 min or so of our drive on Saturday, then all of a sudden the car was rolling backwards instead of moving forwards, and then the big jolt. That's when my wife said "this is what I was talking about".

Maybe it would be better to get it doing it on an incline and floor it and fix the transmission for good? :shoot::shoot:

 

[MP81]

Hahaha, kill it with fire! Either fix it, or make it permanently exhibit a problem requiring a replacement, haha!

I'd need a HANS device, if I did that. Just what I'm guessing was a medium amount of throttle that my wife applied, it was nearly painful.

 

[revjpeterson]

I'm in exactly the same scenario right now, but closer to my warranty cutoff. I'm at 95,000 and my warranty expires on Sept. 27. Same AMSOil fluid, replaced the lines about a year ago, behavior is intermittent, rollback, slams into gear from neutral taking off from a stop, etc. I also get some wicked 5-4 and 4-3 downshifts when slowing down or getting off/on throttle on hilly terrain, but that is intermittent too.

I need to get it dealt with in the next 6 weeks, but the behavior hasn't been consistent enough for me to risk the $105 diagnostic fee if I take it in and they can't duplicate. I'm hoping it really goes south in the next 6 weeks, or that GM will offer some kind of remedy when I contact them directly that doesn't involve me risking paying an hour's labor for nothing.

 

[Jondaytona]

I've been running AmsOil in near everything I've owned for the last almost 20yrs. The more I hear about how picky manufacturers are with their fluids in their new cars has started to make me think twice about AmsOil lately. This thread don't help, makes me suspicious of how the fluid is treating the Aisin trans. I've got to do my first oil change on my Cruze and not even sure which brand of engine oil to go with anymore. Although, when I called the Chevy dealer, to buy the oil they use seems to be cheaper than if I were to go to the local parts store(with my discount). I'm thinking factory fluids is best anymore...I dunno.

 

[IndyDiesel]

I've been running AmsOil in near everything I've owned for the last almost 20yrs. The more I hear about how picky manufacturers are with their fluids in their new cars has started to make me think twice about AmsOil lately. This thread don't help, makes me suspicious of how the fluid is treating the Aisin trans. I've got to do my first oil change on my Cruze and not even sure which brand of engine oil to go with anymore. Although, when I called the Chevy dealer, to buy the oil they use seems to be cheaper than if I were to go to the local parts store(with my discount). I'm thinking factory fluids is best anymore...I dunno.

I used AmsOil in transmission and no issues. My better guess is the stupid method of trying to put the proper amount of transmission fluid in it since it doesn’t have a dipstick. When just doing a change you just put back in what you took out, if you have a transmission line leak, it’s a guessing game in my book. I seriously doubt I keep my CTD past the warranty.

 

[MP81]

I used AmsOil in transmission and no issues. My better guess is the stupid method of trying to put the proper amount of transmission fluid in it since it doesn’t have a dipstick. When just doing a change you just put back in what you took out, if you have a transmission line leak, it’s a guessing game in my book. I seriously doubt I keep my CTD past the warranty.

That's why I went with the "real" fill procedure, since the lines leaked out who knows how much, and then who knows how much more during removal. The only real guessing game there is how much fluid to add before you check the fluid level.