Followup on 2012 Chevy Trans issues

[Denis4x4]

Got the truck back and towed the AS back to Durango. Talked to the service manager where I purchased the truck and requested a new transmission as there's no real estimate of how the over heating will affect the life of the unit. Any transmission and/or engine replacement under warranty will be a remanufactured unit according to the dealer, district and regional service managers. In as much as the problems were caused by faulty work at the factory, I find this to be a very poor customer relations.

This will absolutely be the very last product I purchase from a company bailed out by tax payers and turned over to a foreign company or the UAW.

I wonder if I bought a new transmission out of pocket and took the cost as a tax credit on next year's return if I could get away with it?

[Gene]

I hope you get the transmission you should have. A remanufactured one may be built better than the original since it is done by hand. Fords have had transmission problems too.

Why is there overheating? Is the cooling system for the transmission involved? Is this happening with other Chevies?

I know how frustrating major problems with a new vehicle can be–we have an Airstream.

Gene

[Al - K4GLU]

Why did you waste money on Government Motors junk to begin with?

[Gene]

If no one buys GM vehicles, the government and us loses money on the stock we still have. Seems like the newer GM designs are much more reliable than the older ones and GM seems to be about equal with Ford now.

Gene

[Denis4x4]

Very simply, I bought a goverment motors product from a local dealer that supports the community. I have ordered a number of vehicles from this dealer and he has been great.

Gene....the lines carrying the trans fluid to and from the cooler were kinked at the factory and the link from the CPU to the trans module was not properly connected. Both items covered under a service bulletin. Perhaps if Eric Holder's new Suburban has the same problem, they'll rethink the remanufactured engine/transmission option! It made me furious that my truck wouldn't go fast!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Dennis,

.....Under factory warrantee you will be getting a GM SERTA transmission. It carries a 5 year 100000mi warrantee when installed customer pay.

Negotiate with your dealer service mgr to have that warrantee applied from date of install on your vehicle.(something we did at the Chevy Store) Ask to speak with the region rep, dealers do have leeway in such cases, especially with a good customer history.

POI....ALL GM warrantee transmissions are SERTA units.

Good luck...

Bob

[Ridgerunner3]

That is a terrible situation for a new truck owner to face. I was able once to have a transmission replaced with a new one by writing a letter to the plant manager at the factory where my truck was built. I did some research and found the man's name and sent it to him by name, not title. I shamed him for the quality of my truck. He responded quickly with a phone call. He then sent a representative to Tennessee to see me personally and then shipped a new transmission from the factory. My dealer could not believe it. Maybe a once in a lifetime event but I had tried all the normal routes. I have never needed such tactics since then.

I would like to check my new 2500HD truck (400 miles) for a similar situation. Is your truck diesel or gas. Do you know where the line was kinked in relationship to where it connects to the transmission and radiator? Did you have any indication of how high the transmission temperature rose?

I hope you are able to get satisfactory results.

[Gene]

If there is a service bulletin, it seems the dealer should have caught this before the truck was delivered. These seem like pretty easy items to check, especially a kinked line.

Does GM have a policy of having dealers check for those things when there's a service bulletin?

Bob, what does SERTA mean?

Gene

[Skater]

Gah. First, I'm no fan of GM transmissions, having had TWO GM cars - both built well before the government bailout, I might add - with serious transmission issues at less than 80,000 miles. But can we focus on the actual question here instead of kicking the poor guy?

I would be entirely OK with a remanufactured transmission. I had a Jasper reman installed in the B190 and it was GREAT - they upgrade the components that commonly fail so you get a transmission that should last a lot longer than the original one. So the question becomes who will remanufacture it? I'd say, as long as it's covered by the initial vehicle warranty, I'd be fine with reman.

That said, I doubt GM will replace it. My guess is that they won't agree that there was potentially long-term damage done ("It's working fine now..."). I hope for your sake I'm wrong, though. Push the dealer, then the regional guys as much as you can. Good luck.

[Goin camping]

I'd jump at the reman trans. First because I don't know if or how much the current trans life was shortened by the overheating and secondly because factory remans usually carry a better warranty than the new ones that came in the vehicle.

I'd use the situation to reduce or remove any costs in the swap.

[danlehosky]

Denis, sorry for your problems. We have a 2011 Chevy Tahoe with the KSL tow package. So far so good, but we've not towed in hot weather. Our max trans temp has been 148 degrees. I have noticed the cooling lines where they come by the radiator but have never looked for kinks. I will now.

We towed this weekend over some pretty steep rugged roads and the rig performed great. So far I have no complaints. Lots of power and handled well in some very wet conditions.

I've always driven Chevy trucks and feel good about the company.I hope GM got the message and has changed their quality model and your problem is an isolated one. I was impressed with the build of the Tahoe. Of course I've only got about 5500 miles driven, it has performed well. Time will tell, but I've got a 74 PU that has had three engines, a couple of trannys but is still on the road. I have no idea how many miles it has been driven as the speedometer broke about 10 years ago.

I hope your new transmission is a good one. We've had good luck with rebuilt ones and I know rebuilt or rewound motors seem to be higher quality than new.

Dan

[ROBERT CROSS]

Gene,

GM, SERTA = Service Replacement Transmission Assembly


Bob