1500 transmission problem

I bought a 2002 silverado 1500 4X4 4.8L new and at

30 000km the transmission needed a rebuild something about the sun ring planetary gear bla bla bla. It was under warrantee. Anyway I now have 98000km and it seems like the same thing has happened, this time there is no warrantee. I put it in reverse and a snap and then a whinning noise. It still drives in the forward gears through. Is there a flaw with these transmissions? Any idea what has broken this time, and what may have caused it. Thanks
Reply to
habbi
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Reply to
<djmcreynolds1

Mine did that, was like driving w/ a Powerglide.

Reply to
Kenner Costen

I just got it back $2000.00 later 98000km. It was the sun shell? (bolted to torque converter and contains the clutch packs) apparently the neck broke off, this is the exact same thing that happened last time under warrantee(30000km). The mechanic told me GM knew of the problem then and had designed new versions of the sun shell which were case hardened, but at the time they wanted to use up old stock and put a mild steel one in my truck. I wonder if I could take them to small claims court? I know one thing I already wrote off Chrysler and this is my first and last GM product, Japanese next time or maybe Ford.

Reply to
habbi

Make that the "sun gear shell"

Reply to
habbi

2002 silverado 1500 HD GM repaired the original tranny twice and finally replaced it with a different (rebuilt) on the 3rd go. All this within 42,000 km. This is their bullet proof 4L80E tranny. The Japanese products are starting to look better all the time. At least if there is a mayor component failure, they will replace with new and not band-aid the problem. After 40 years of buying GM products I think it's time for a change. One thing GM hasn't figured out yet is that they are losing market share one customer at a time.
Reply to
pauls

For what it's worth, I had a somewhat similar experience on my 02 Silverado

5.3L Z71. For no particular reason, the front differential failed at around 15K miles. The dealer rebuilt it under warranty. Then the transmission failed at around 40K miles. The mode of failure was very similar to yours. I shifted into reverse one day and something let go. As I recall, I lost reverse, second gear and overdrive. The cause was diagnosed to be a failed sun gear and I had to have the AT rebuilt. You'll find that dealers prefer to rebuild, rather than replace, because it is more labor intensive and they get to sock GM for more warranty reimbursement money. Since the warranty had recently expired, Chevy agreed to pay for 75% of the repair and I ate the rest (around $600 as I recall). In addressing the repair, I came to learn that this was a common mode of failure and that a revised stronger version of the failure prone part had since been introduced. I was told that the newer version of the part was used in my rebuild, so it was unlikely to reoccur. I've driven GM vehicles all my life and have never had a major power train component fail. So, when these two items failed so early in the vehicle's life, and under extremely light duty (strictly used as a passenger vehicle, no towing, hauling or plowing) it really left me with a bad taste. The fact that GM redesigned the part, acknowledges the defect in the original version. This being the case, I don't know why I should have had to pay anything at all to repair their defective design. I like the truck overall, primarily for it's design, but really wish they hadn't cost-reduced everything to the point of it being so failure prone.

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Reply to
Cape Cod

snip

I like the truck

It's called "Planned Obsolescence". If the truck makes it past warranty, engineer did his job as best as the company wants - now you need to get a new truck! All manufacturers do it.

Reply to
Stephen Young

I disagree here, the 4L60E is a good tranny properly cared for. The number one enemy of auto trannies is heat and factory cooler typically lack capacity in some of todays heavy and taller geared trucks. Install a aux tranny cooler and route oil through tank cooler then aux cooler then back to tranny and service tranny with a fluid and filter change every 15k miles or so to look for early warning signs. ALso if fuild is not bright or medium bright red, it is a sign the fluid is getting too hot and starting to break down. I have a 700R4 which s the predicessor to a 4L60 in my 89 4x4 burb and it has 172K miles on it now and I bought it new. The tranny is still flawless in operation and it has had more than a dozen cross country trips on it thru the rockies and most of them heavily loaded too. It was last out their in 03 and it has been from ohio to south carolina twice in last few months too. Fix the problem correctly and it will not return. Also stay away from shift kits as they are not really good for internal tranny parts as makers claim and hard shift kits are tough on sprags and planetaries too. Those trannies are design to shift that way for a reason and I will also add that if you have tall gears like

3.42 with stock or big tires or 3.73 with bigger rubber you are loading the tranny a lot too and can result in early failure.
Reply to
SnoMan

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Reply to
habbi

Actually it can have a effect because if fluid break done it can not properly lube gear set and lead to higher temps that can develop stress cracks and fail. I am not say that it has never happened otherwise but even 4L60 or 700R4 that I have seen component failure in like that had shift kits in them and big rubber too as the stock parts will not stand up to that abuse long. Usually it is the sprags that go first but I have seen planetaries fails too from this. The sun gear just does not fail for no reason and the design is not that weak in a stock tranny properly geared and cooled or my 700R4 would have blown up long ago because it has had a hard life.

Reply to
SnoMan

Hi Again Guys, My truck also has the Aux Trans Cooler. I am confident that the fluid temp had nothing to do with the failure. As I recall, the LCD display in the instrument cluster has a warning for high trans temp. Also, the vehicle was cool when this happened. Like I said, it is difficult for me to imagine using this truck for lighter duty than I have. I consulted with several transmission shops before GM agreed to take partial care of the repair. They all told me that the sun gear was a common problem with this model and that the symptoms I reported were consistent with this mode of failure. The dealer told me the same thing. As I recall, a weak weld cracks, usually when you shift into reverse, and you're left with only first and third gears. The weak point was beefed up in the new version of the part. The 700R4 in my 87 Trans Am is also still doing fine with 150K+ miles on it. The 4L60 is no

700R4 in my opinion. I know about the planned obsolescence thing too, but would have difficulty thinking this is a case of it. The manufacturer is unlikely to want major power train components failing so young and for no reason. The buyer's reaction to such a premature failure may well be to buy a new truck, but probably not a new Chevy. All the evidence I encountered in addressing this repair leads me to believe that it was a design defect. I believe that GM's revised design of the part is clear evidence of this. More likely a victim of cost reduction than planned obsolescence, in my opinion. Best of luck in getting this problem resolved.

Reply to
Cape Cod

I had 3 rebuilds on my 2000 4L60E. 40k miles total. A month after the last rebuild, with the beefed up hardware, the tranny went again, same symptoms. They made me pay for the labor of installing what they first said was a new tranny, but later found out it was "remanufactured". I have no respect for the dealership or chevy for this one. The dealer even had the balls to try to blame it on me saying i threw it into park while still moving.

Reply to
Kevin

You all want to here some bullshit? A friend of mine bought a 05 Chevy 2500 HD, 15,000 miles on the truck, transmission failed, turns out the the transfecase had a crack and a bad seal between the trans and transfer, well all the fluid leaked into the transfer case, slow leaks, not enough to notice right off the bat. Well on a long trip from Alaska, the transmission over heated, and his trans temp guage said everything was normal, and no warning in the LCD came on. He got into some mountains, and he noticed how he was having to rev the engine at 4800 rpms just to keep his truck at 40 mph. He finally got to a dealer, and the truck ended up being towed on a flat bed, GM footed the bill. Well he got back home, and the dealer wanted to rebuild his trans, he told them no that he wanted a brand new one. So they took an exact model off the lot, pulled the trans out of it and threw it in his pickup, they rebuilt his trans and put it back in the one they took off the lot. Then they stuck it back on the "new car lot". Says a lot about GM, doesnt it. If they would actually kiss a little ass and make customers happy, they might make some bussiness.

Reply to
KMU

Was in a motel in Texas some years ago. A guy there had a VW rabbit and the alternator died. The VW dealer had a lot full of new Rabbits but would not remove an alternator and put it on his car. He was there for three days waiting for the alternator. Him his wife and two kids. I would have been kicking some serious ass over that BS.

Al

Reply to
Big Al

At our dealership, we are in the process of pulling a 2005 Duramax Diesel out of a brand new truck, so that it can go into a customers

2004 truck. His engine blew up and he needs to go on holiday on Wednesday. He pulls a 5th wheel and you can't rent any trucks equipped to pull a fifth wheel. There is another Duramax on order, but it will be two weeks before it gets here. That will go back into the 2005 truck at our leisure.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

That seems so wrong. Your not paying for a brand new vehicle in my opinion then. The rest of the vehicle might be new, however, the engine is rebuilt, used, not new.

Reply to
KMU

Perhaps I didn't make it clear. There will be a "brand new" engine going back into the "brand new" truck. Other then the fact that it's been pulled out and replaced, nothing will change. All items like ps pump, alt, a/c compressor will stay with the new truck.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

ok, sorry I misunderstood. I assumed the engine was going to be rebuilt and then thrown back into the one from the lot.

Reply to
kmu

Reply to
Fake ID

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