Trans problem again!

[jsimon63]

Been reading posts trying to figure out what happened last night to my Vibe. We had the same issue with the module/solenoid descibed in some posts, and all was well.... until last night! has anyone experienced what felt like the converter unlocked and maybe even droped out of overdrive then when I hit the gas it reved like it was in neutral then would "catch" and then do it again. Trans was plenty warmed up as I had driven 25 miles from Indy and was almost home. Anything like that happen to anyone yet? Oh and I only had about 13K on it when the first trans issue came a bout, now it has 18K on it now. This is on Our 06 base, driven by the wife. The Supercharged 04 hasn't had any problems ...yet!This is also posted in the warranty section.

[Petrucci914]

Is the fluid level good? Does the color look good? Kinda sounds like something with the torque converter.

[jsimon63]

I will verify the fluid level and the color/smell today. Thanks!

[lovemyraffe]

The only problem with checking the trans fluid level, is there is no dipstick in the engine compartment. It does sound like you are low on fluid. An easy way to see if it is working properly, go to a parking lot that has a slight incline. Put the front of the car uphill, with the car in drive (assuming it is an automatic) take your foot off the brake and let the tranny hold the car in place. The tranny should hold the car in place if all is well. Don't go on too steep of an incline, cuz it will roll back.

[Petrucci914]

Actually, there is a big dipstick in the engine compartment. It has a bright orange handle. Simply check it while the engine is running.

[Kamikaze]

Without looking at my engine bay (or a really good engine bay photo)I'm assuming the orange dipstick that Petrucci is talking about it the one circled in this photo.click on photo for larger image.

[Petrucci914]

That would be it.

[Kamikaze]

I wonder who's engine that is....(for those that do not know... it's Petrucci's)

[jsimon63]

Well, the car didn't make it home... the wife took it straight to the dealer this morning and has the paper work in hand for the trans work on it before (X2) Third time is the charm or the lemon! Is the lemon law still 3 strikes and they are out? Would be nice, this car, we bought new, and it has had it's issues! I will let you all know if they had to take it out back and shoot it or not! Thanks to one and all that gave advice, hope to return the favor some time. My 04 has an engine compartment like the picture, cept I have the GM sticker on the blower!

[lovemyraffe]

Hmmm...thank you for the pic. I went and looked at mine, and the previous owner has either lost or removed the dipstick, and blocked that. Looks like that is what I get to do this weekend. Good to know. Thanks!!!

[jsimon63]

Ok, the wife brought home all the invoices todate on the car. 5 in all, and it turns out that both the PCM and the pressure control solenoid and wiring harness. We have had trouble with the On-Star not being able to locate vehicle, that means if we wrecked and the bags deployed, On-Star would not know it or be able to send help or pizza or anything! Then there is the front end, ya had to "drive" it all the time just to stay in your lane. Never hit anything and turns out after some 12 year old tech couldn't feel it, I took servise manager for a ride and he could tell it right away. The engine/suspension cradle was not bolted in straight...... fixed... much better. Service writer says to wife today, "gee, I think it's avalve or something" If he had a clue he would be fixin em not writing them up!! Scmuck! We will see. Got a nice economical Envoy to drive while ours is in the shop. Talkin fast and hard that if Lemon law comes into effect... we should buy another 5 speed like my 03! Wish me luck!!

[keithvibe]

hope they get it right this time...But honestly, I was looking at this over the weekend for my wife... and boy i must say even with just the standard 2.5 170hp it's a bit of a kick in the tookiss compaired to my AWD...http://www.subaru.com/shop/ove...SPORTand under 20,000

[jsimon63]

Wife is on her laptop looking at G6 Pontiacs. The supercharger 04 is way more fun to drive then hers as was my 5 speed 03, matter o fact she used to take off in my 03 on the weekend instead of her car....

[Kamikaze]

Quote, originally posted by lovemyraffe »Hmmm...thank you for the pic. I went and looked at mine, and the previous owner has either lost or removed the dipstick, and blocked that. Looks like that is what I get to do this weekend. Good to know. Thanks!!! No problem!

[blue_can]

I've had transmission specialists screw up repairs in the past so now I'm really nervous if a repair needs the transmission to be opened up under warranty - you never know what they may do to it.

[jsimon63]

Well, I got the car back last night. Here is what they did this time...."Test drove several times-verified concern-removed trans for inspection-forward clutch seal damaged-removed and replaced forward clutch seal-replaced all relatedgasketsand reconditioned trans assembly-reinstalled and rechecked operstion-test drove"Sounds like some one damaged a seal last time in and we got a seal and a cleaning. What do ya's think? Spoke with rep from GM and he even said that the problem we were having was not safe on the highway but offered to extend out warranty to 50K. We told him we really didn't see how that would make us feel safe driving the car and that we had researched the lemon law. He says he will see what he can do and get back with us Wednesday. Bet if we end up with another Vibe it will be Wave in color and a 5 SPEED!!

[coldmm803]

Quote, originally posted by jsimon63 »Bet if we end up with another Vibe it will be Wave in color and a 5 SPEED!!sweet. good luck either way

[blue_can]

Sounds like my diagnosis on your problem was correct (in the other thread) in that it sounded like a problem with the forward clutch. Now the point is - how did it get damaged. I'll bet that they introduced some debris into the system during the last repair. The seals should be good for 100K miles or more normally. Your car is was too new for it to be worn. So the seal must have been cut.Typically the clutch piston has two seals - one inner and one outer. If it leaks then the piston cannot build hydraulic pressure and will not apply.Like I said - once they open it up - just hope they have not messed up something else.

[jsimon63]

Great call! I am sure that they messed it up. Like ya said, a bit new to be worn. I took in on a mini road trip yesterday and ran it trhu it's paces to see if it worked right in all senarios, seams fine.. for now... but if given lemons.... sqeeze a new car out of them! I will let you all know how we made out on weds. Thanks for all your advice!!

[ColonelPanic]

Man, that sucks! I had a pretty rough go at it with my auto, but when it died I lucked out and it wasn't repairable so they put a new one in under extended warranty. I wish I could have tried the lemon law but I didn't meet the qualifications for Indiana by the time my Vibe started having problems. They only give you 18 months/18,000 miles to file a claim, and I was way over the mileage. It requires at least 4 attempts or 30 days out of service as well. And that's just for one problem... I once tried to go through the lemon law in Kentucky when I lived there, and no matter how big of a POS your car is overall, you are unable to bring up any issues other than the one you filed the claim about. I tried to bring up all the other issues but they refused to listen. That's a real bummer for those of us who have problem after problem in different areas on the car occur and can't be fixed.

[jsimon63]

The 18 months or 18,000 miles is having the on set of trouble or the 4 th try to get it fixed?

[ColonelPanic]

I believe it's from the date/mileage of purchase. So you can't have more than 18,000 miles on the car, or if you have less than that, you have up to 18 months time to file a claim. Once you're past that, you're on your own, can't file a claim.. But within that time or mileage, whatever applies to your case, you have to have four unsuccessful repair attempts (or 30 days out of service) to file a claim. I haven't tried to do the lemon law thing in Indiana but from what I've seen on the atty. general's site, that's how it looks to me. Kentucky's law was similar. You've really gotta have your stuff together, GM has some goooooood people working for them when it comes to the lemon law / arbitration stuff. They'll eat you alive, if you don't play your cards right you'll end up like I did and they won't do the right thing and you'll be stuck with a problematic piece of crap that you can't get rid of.

[jsimon63]

I guess we wait till weds to see what they have to say. Thanks

[NewNeptune]

As far as the lemon law goes, I did that on a 2003 Malibu. They attempted to repair it 4 times for pull and they failed every time. I gathered all of my records and filed a claim with the BBB, who opened a case and assigned an arbitration manager. They finally got me in touch with the Service Area Manager who had previously been ignoring me. I took him for a nice long drive and demonstrated the pull, rough idle, poor shifting and general crappiness of the car. All through the trip he was trying to persuade me that they could fix it or that there was really nothing wrong (that shaking at idle? it's normal, really!) I even demonstrated that it accelerated by itself to ~12-15 MPH and he was basically silent on that item. We got back to the dealership and he basically said how GM is very generous and helpful in cases when vehicles can't get repaired but my car just didn't qualify like that. He even proceeded to tell me a story about a lady who tried to use it to get out of her negative equity, but I held firm. I said I demonstrated problems x, y and z that the dealer has failed to repair on several occasions and my car completely qualifies for the lemon law and GM has had more than enough repair attempts. He said well maybe another dealership should look at it and I said no, again GM has had enough attempts and there are no dealers near enough that can shuttle me to work. He then reiterated how he didn't see anything wrong with my car that warranted buyback. We went out to the car and I said look it's basically falling apart! And I held up some trim that was falling out of the tail lamp and then the drivers door panel. He said I'd get a call within a few days after he talked to his management. A few days later I received a call from the BBB arbitration manager who informed me that GM had agreed to buy back my car. I couldn't have been happier. I basically knew that I had him in that office with his doubletalk and that he was just trying to get me to back down. If it comes to it, DO NOT back down. Know the laws, your rights and do not hesitate to threaten to escalate. IIRC, I had to do that once during the meeting, saying I was basically willing to continue to court past the BBB if they did not resolve it. I was bluffing though, since I knew I couldn't afford a lawyer, but he didn't know that.

[jsimon63]

Well, we got our call from GM today and they want to just extend our warranty to 50K! Like that will fix my trans!He says thats all they are going to do till I tell him it was headed back the dealer this afternoon because it started shifting late yesterday. It wouldn't shift into overdrive until 60mph under light throttle. We took it back and got a rental at thier expense again. When I told the guy at GM that it was going in again for the 4th time, he stammered then said whe would like to talk to someone and would get back with us on Friday. We have investigated the Lemon law and we do qualify. It does seem that there are slightly different laws in each state. Ther are also law firms that take this sort of thing on and it is charged to the auto maker. They even evaluate you eligability for free. Try this link or copy and paste it and read up on it. indianalawlemon.biz | Indiana Law Lemon | Lemon Law | California Lemon Law | Ohio Lemon Law Thanks all for your input and we will keep you informed as it goes!

[ColonelPanic]

That seems to be standard operating procedure with GM: Customer complains about a problem that the dealer is unable to fix, GM offers extended warranty. They did that with me on the Malibu I had (I told 'em to shove it and began the lemon law proceedings) and they also did the same thing with my dad's Silverado, which he went ahead and took the warranty. Dearest GM, offering an extended warranty on a car that your dealers can't fix does little to remedy the situation that has your customer dissatisfied! They need to just bite the bullet and throw in an all new transmission. I hope you can get some resolution there... Good luck to you.

[NewNeptune]

If only they'd do that for my parent's Rainier. There is a steering clunk that they have been unable to fix (and I mean unable, they apply a "fix" and it is not resolved) for the last year. In addition the dealership recognizes a problem with the tranny where it responds sluggishly, yet there is no fix for that. They're "keeping an eye out for new TSBs." Buick customer service has been less than helpful, taking weeks to "locate" the people at GM to get the steering fixed. They said that they absolutely will not offer an extended warranty, even though the car would qualify for the lemon law had it not been outside the mileage and time limits. And then to taunt me, they said that they can and do offer extended warranties and other compensation in some cases, but "there is no way that is going to happen in your case".

[jsimon63]

Well, they called me at work and said the servic eamanager drove the car home last night to be sure it was good, and said I knew that he was going to do that. I told the gal that I haven't heard from them since last week! She says, oooh really? Scmucks! Also heard from the Lemon Law lawyer, he says we have an 8 out of 10 chance of GM eating my Vibe. There are 3 options and all end up getting us to a point that we can get out of it in ok shape. The lawyer said if he didn't think he could win, he would not take the case, wheich he is. The car is now even louder then before, they messed something up! Could take up to a year to get resolved but as little as 45 days. I will keep you all posted. We need to start holding these car companies accountable for turning out a bad product!The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a Federal Law that protects the buyer of any product which costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty. This law applies to any product that you buy that does not perform as it should.