My Dealership Service history regarding the imfamous LS3 "Transmission Problems"

[f5journal]

Originally Posted by LS3 SS

Do you have some evidence that leads or contributes to that?

There seems to be an RPM/Speed range where the skip shift indicator is not displayed, yet slightly interferes with your 1-2 shift causing a grind/kickback. This happens to me 3-4 times a month as I leave the house in the morning.

Others have reported no more grinding issues when doing the skip skift delete/bypass

However, there is unquestionably an internal problem with some of the transmissions.

So, I'm just saying there appears to be two related issues lumped under one subject here.

[mstanford.us]

I switched to Redline D4 ATF in my M6 and it shifts significantly better, especially at the drag strip. 1-2 cold shifts are now way less balky.

[carfansince73]

Originally Posted by LS3 SS

they have added another year to my Bumper to Bumper warranty, making it 4 years instead of 3.

Very nice to hear , but make sure you get that in writing.

[Russell James]

Originally Posted by nm1458

As far as i can tell the grind going in to second is caused by the clutch not releasing properly. Mine has failed to engage neutral a few times (clutch to the floor)when the car is cold, when this happens second gear wants to grind basically does not want to go in. Now i have caught this and will not force the shifter to second, however i think the problem happens when someone does force it in. So in short i would be looking at the clutch not the trans. Just my two cents.

That clutch issue is one possibility. But that is why whoever is working on one of these gear grind issues needs to follow the service manual step by step.

One of the first steps is to check the clutch, and there is a systematic way of doing that. The service manual goes through how to check the clutch under different conditions, engine on, car still, car moving, checking multiple gears... A clutch issue is going to affect multiple gears during those checks. Once the clutch passes those steps then you move on to - is there still a gear clash when shifting. If so, then you're into replacing the gear/blocker/syncho as a set repair.

All those parts are a matched set and have to be replaced together each time, even if just one was recently tried. The service manual is very clear - alway replace those components as a set. They have to fit and wear into each other as a matched set. Just like you wouldn't put a new clutch plate in with an old pressure plate and flywheel surface. You address all those surfaces together or it won't be a quality repair.

[Kalus]

I think the best thing you could do is bring your car to a reputable performance/tune shop and find out whats going on. The chevy dealership knows what they are doing for the most part, but they don't work on sport cars as much as a reputable performance/tune shops. They can probably get you the answers you need. For example, I brought my L99 car to chevy dealer because there was a weird vibration noise at exactly 70 mph noise coming out of my exhaust. I let the senior technician test drive and listen to it and they blamed it on the magna tv2300 super charger. I took it to the tune shop and had them listen to it and it was the DOD. Problem fixed...

[SS Mike]

Originally Posted by f5journal

There seems to be an RPM/Speed range where the skip shift indicator is not displayed, yet slightly interferes with your 1-2 shift causing a grind/kickback. This happens to me 3-4 times a month as I leave the house in the morning.

Others have reported no more grinding issues when doing the skip skift delete/bypass

However, there is unquestionably an internal problem with some of the transmissions.

So, I'm just saying there appears to be two related issues lumped under one subject here.

I run the skip shift eliminator on my car. I've never had any grinding issues before or after the install under normal driving conditions. However at basically full throttle or heavy throttle runs from 1st into 2nd gear I will get a grinding. It's happened 4 or 5 times, but only when I'm really on it.

The biggest problem I am having currently is with my 2nd gear. On Sunday I went to pull my car out of a show (my friend had driven it there for me the day before) and it wouldn't shift into 2nd gear at all. I had this problem when leaving work one day a couple years ago, and 2nd gear has always been a little weird since then. This time it seems to be worse. Basically I went to shift to 2nd, and it wouldn't go in at all. I basically forced it in while at a stop. Once it was in 2nd though it felt extremely tight. Usually the shifter moves slightly left and right while in gear, but right now in 2nd it is solid. So I'm driving like normal, because the last time it did this to me it went away after a couple days, and I realize that 4th and 6th feel strange too. The shifter feels solid in each of those gears, although I can shift into them just fine. I may be imagining things but 4th gear feels crroked when I shift into it. Anyways, I can still shift into 2nd, but it is very difficult to do so at this time. I will drive it a few more times and see if it goes away. Doesn't mean the problem is fixed though, there is obviously a real issue. But I really don't have thousands of dollars to fix the transmission if it breaks!

[Nessal]

Originally Posted by f5journal

As an M6 owner, I believe the skip-shift CAGS is contributing to the problem

The problem isn't the skip shift because people with skip shift eliminators are having the same problem still.

[LS3 SS]

UPDATE : No update, lol. The dealer still hasn't contacted me, therefore the part still needs to be made at the Mexico GM plant.

[LS3 SS]

UPDATE : Well today I officially had my worst dealership experience EVER.

(Background story : I have an LS3 M6 with TR6060 problems, car has been at the dealer once before this were they replaced the blocker rings in 2nd and 3rd gear. Did not fix the issue.)

The dealership called me a week ago letting me know that the syncros, blocker rings, and spacer sleeves were made at the GM plant and that they have them at the dealership now. They told me that I could schedule an appointment to drop the car off to have the 2nd and 3rd gear internals replaced ; so I did just that.

I dropped the car off yesterday morning, and I received a call this afternoon letting me know that the car was finished, and that I could pick it up.

Upon picking the car up, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary; everything seemed to be in place. This was, until I went to go make a turn onto another road at an intersection.

When I pushed the clutch pedal in, it stuck to the floor, and launched the car in first gear halfway into the intersection, during RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC.

The car was stuck in gear, and while I was coasting through the intersection, I was simultaneously fighting with the clutch pedal to get it off of the floor, so I could shift into another gear.

I finally coasted into an empty parking lot, after being beeped at and looked at by other drivers for about 30 seconds. I immediately called them, but it was after 6pm, and neither my service writer or tech was there. The second time I called, someone picked up the phone, and told me to try to "turn off the car, and turn it back on" (REALLY?? FOR A HYRDRAULIC CLUTCH ISSUE??) to solve the issue. So instead, I pumped the clutch pedal to try to bleed some of the air out of the system, to atleast limp the car back to the dealership. This worked, sort of.

I had to drive in 3rd gear, all the way down the road leading to the dealership, and then throw the car in neutral, and let it cost into the dealership. Then I had to get the service writer who was still there to help me PUSH the car into the bays so they could look at it in the morning. To make things ohh so great...I looked behind the car, and saw a puddle of transmission fluid, that I had apparently been leaking ever since the clutch pedal started sticking.


I am BEYOND pissed. Not sure how to approach the situation from this point. But I do know this : I don't feel comfortable with that technician working on my car again. This was a safety issue that I know nobody else would roll the dice wondering if the third time they tear your transmission apart, that it might be "fixed".

[was619]

Wow sounds like some of the standards at GM are not up to par of what anyone should be expecting. I have read through all of this thread and also experience similar issues in 2nd and earlier today 3rd gear.
I guess i'll take it to the dealership to get it checked out.
thanks for all the extra input that different people have added to the thread, Very Useful!

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Originally Posted by LS3 SS

UPDATE : Well today I officially had my worst dealership experience EVER.

(Background story : I have an LS3 M6 with TR6060 problems, car has been at the dealer once before this were they replaced the blocker rings in 2nd and 3rd gear. Did not fix the issue.)

The dealership called me a week ago letting me know that the syncros, blocker rings, and spacer sleeves were made at the GM plant and that they have them at the dealership now. They told me that I could schedule an appointment to drop the car off to have the 2nd and 3rd gear internals replaced ; so I did just that.

I dropped the car off yesterday morning, and I received a call this afternoon letting me know that the car was finished, and that I could pick it up.

Upon picking the car up, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary; everything seemed to be in place. This was, until I went to go make a turn onto another road at an intersection.

When I pushed the clutch pedal in, it stuck to the floor, and launched the car in first gear halfway into the intersection, during RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC.

The car was stuck in gear, and while I was coasting through the intersection, I was simultaneously fighting with the clutch pedal to get it off of the floor, so I could shift into another gear.

I finally coasted into an empty parking lot, after being beeped at and looked at by other drivers for about 30 seconds. I immediately called them, but it was after 6pm, and neither my service writer or tech was there. The second time I called, someone picked up the phone, and told me to try to "turn off the car, and turn it back on" (REALLY?? FOR A HYRDRAULIC CLUTCH ISSUE??) to solve the issue. So instead, I pumped the clutch pedal to try to bleed some of the air out of the system, to atleast limp the car back to the dealership. This worked, sort of.

I had to drive in 3rd gear, all the way down the road leading to the dealership, and then throw the car in neutral, and let it cost into the dealership. Then I had to get the service writer who was still there to help me PUSH the car into the bays so they could look at it in the morning. To make things ohh so great...I looked behind the car, and saw a puddle of transmission fluid, that I had apparently been leaking ever since the clutch pedal started sticking.


I am BEYOND pissed. Not sure how to approach the situation from this point. But I do know this : I don't feel comfortable with that technician working on my car again. This was a safety issue that I know nobody else would roll the dice wondering if the third time they tear your transmission apart, that it might be "fixed".

I very much apologize for the inconveniences and frustrations you are experiencing with these issues. I would like to research this issue further for you and see if there are any options available to you. Just PM me any more details and also include your first and last name, address, phone number, VIN, mileage and involved dealership. I look forward to your reply and also working with you.

Brandon
Chevrolet Customer Service

[2012-2SS]

All these transmission problems you guys are having are because of clutch problems. The clutch doesn't engage fast enough and the transmission grinds. You do that enough you wear out your blocker rings and syncros.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

[ChrisBlair]

Is it SOP for a GM dealer to not have a trans specialist but have their non-specialists tell an actual trans specialist what the problem is based on their non-specialist diagnosis?

[partymn]

Originally Posted by Chevrolet Customer Svc

I very much apologize for the inconveniences and frustrations you are experiencing with these issues. I would like to research this issue further for you and see if there are any options available to you. Just PM me any more details and also include your first and last name, address, phone number, VIN, mileage and involved dealership. I look forward to your reply and also working with you.

Brandon
Chevrolet Customer Service

Has anyone ever gotten help from this person? He pops up on alot of threads but I have never herd of him helping anyone. Just curious....

[ChrisBlair]

It's not "one person", it's several.

You'd need to ask the customers that are asked to PM the service rep if the service rep has been helpful.

What you're seeing is the end of commentary on the thread between the rep and the customer but you're thinking only in terms of internet forums, where other members see discussion for pages and pages. But this isn't an internet forum issue, it's a customer service issue between a company and a customer and it's not professional to take issue resolution out of the arena of privacy between the customer and the company, so you don't see the typical forum progression of a discussion in cases like this. The rep has reached out to the customer on a forum, but issue resolution for Chevrolet is not conducted via Camaro5 forum posts

[TheHorse13]

Originally Posted by partymn

Has anyone ever gotten help from this person? He pops up on alot of threads but I have never herd of him helping anyone. Just curious....

I can answer that.

No. It's just another layer of "frustration". I've been through GM customer care several times, all of which have resulted in nothing more than additional insult to injury.

[LS3 SS]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

It's not "one person", it's several.

You'd need to ask the customers that are asked to PM the service rep if the service rep has been helpful.

What you're seeing is the end of commentary on the thread between the rep and the customer but you're thinking only in terms of internet forums, where other members see discussion for pages and pages. But this isn't an internet forum issue, it's a customer service issue between a company and a customer and it's not professional to take issue resolution out of the arena of privacy between the customer and the company, so you don't see the typical forum progression of a discussion in cases like this. The rep has reached out to the customer on a forum, but issue resolution for Chevrolet is not conducted via Camaro5 forum posts

You can call it whatever you want to, professional or unprofessional, but regardless, the discussion forums are there for just that, DISCUSSION.

There are no "made" rules for someone who wants to discuss their dealership experiences on a discussion forum, period.

I could understand if I named the dealership, all of the people involved, and bashed their services, but I didn't.

It's actually posts like yours that are almost always noncondusive to the discussion, and irrelevant to the subject.


If you look in my thread, you will see that there were a couple people that came in here, and gained CONFIDENCE to actually bring up their case to a dealership, whereas before, they didn't see the purpose to do it if no one's issue was resolved. I think it's "professional" to discuss experiences, in order to help the next person who may be on the fence, or doesn't do extensive research about their vehicle.

[ChrisBlair]

LS3 SS, I can understand that you're unhappy, but try to remember that I didn't cause your car issues, OK? Somebody asked a question, and I answered it.

You don't seem to understand the difference between professional CS and a message board and that's OK, but your anger issue has nothing to do with me. You don;t really have the right to tell me that i can't post my opinion of what a professional CS rep is going to discuss on a general message board, especially one not run by GM, which I believe C5 is not.

I sorta kinda have an insight into effective CS, being tech support and customer service for EOD robot systems, so it's my opinion that I have some grounds to comment on what CS will and won't (or probably more accurately should and shouldn't) do or discuss, or where they will do it.

But anyway, I'm not sure why you're upset at me for honestly answering a question, but rest assured that if I could, I'd help you solve your issue. But you'd need a 1970 GS455 before I could really help; I know jack about 5th gen Camaros except how to write a check. The '70 GS I could rebuild for you over the weekend

[partymn]

Sorry I will not ask a question of that nature again.


It doesn't make since to me why GM ignores the issues that everyone is having with the trany in this car. Since there is a legit concern with the trany I would think that the manufacture would step up and offer a resolution to the issue so that GM doesn't have to carry the full brunt of the cost for repairs. We know that they are aware of it because they took steps to resolve the issue for the ZL1 and the 2012 models, I think, have not herd of any issues on those.


As for your issue after you picked the car up. I am very glad that you were not hurt, it could have been very bad for you. You should ask your service department how many, if any, of there service techs are ASE certified. The answer will surprise you, it surprised me when I found out.


Good luck with your car....


Frank

[LS3 SS]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

LS3 SS, I can understand that you're unhappy, but try to remember that I didn't cause your car issues, OK? Somebody asked a question, and I answered it.

You don't seem to understand the difference between professional CS and a message board and that's OK, but your anger issue has nothing to do with me. You don;t really have the right to tell me that i can't post my opinion of what a professional CS rep is going to discuss on a general message board, especially one not run by GM, which I believe C5 is not.

I sorta kinda have an insight into effective CS, being tech support and customer service for EOD robot systems, so it's my opinion that I have some grounds to comment on what CS will and won't (or probably more accurately should and shouldn't) do or discuss, or where they will do it.

But anyway, I'm not sure why you're upset at me for honestly answering a question, but rest assured that if I could, I'd help you solve your issue. But you'd need a 1970 GS455 before I could really help; I know jack about 5th gen Camaros except how to write a check. The '70 GS I could rebuild for you over the weekend

I'm not in any way shape or form mad at you sir,