2017 Canyon 8 Speed Absolutely Horrible

Rick D. · September 25, 2018

My 2017 Canyon had the trans issue and the dealer did a torque converter replacement at 6,200 miles. It seems to be ok now, so far.

Canyon Conundrum · October 30, 2018

Update After a trans flush appointment and a reprogram appointment (now I have a shift flare between 2-3-4) (I did have convertor replaced first) The shudder is still there along with rpms fluctuating 2-300 rpms. dealer was in touch with TAC and the reply was "no further repairs available" Just filed with BBB. Its a shame could be a nice truck.

Ibmikey · November 24, 2018

My 2017 Denali just turned 16,000 with two trips to Texas to its credit(about 10,000 miles total) both with the bed stuffed full of ammo and guns for hunting and plinking...the truck was heavy. Both trips averaged 25 mpg and the eight speed was smooth and responsive when needed, in all my mileage I have no reason to complain about the transmission and have felt it was far better than my six speed 2015. In fact this truck from bumper to bumper is the best driving vehicle I have owned ( and I have had a bunch of new cars) nd maybe I will keep it beyond the next update of the series.

OldChevyNut · March 12, 2019

It is well known, and even acknowledged by GM, that the problems with this transmission cannot be fixed. Therefore, as soon as possible and with as few miles on the vehicle as possible, take it back to a dealer and request the defect be repaired. Do this several times, keeping all records of when, where, action taken (even if none), any advice or comments made by dealer persons, and if possible, record everything on video with sound. Remember it's not the dealers fault you bought a vehicle with a problem that cannot be fixed by any means, but the dealer is the one that's stuck with trying to fix it. Obtain all the information you can find on this problem, and even similar problems in other models (because the same transmission is used in multiple other vehicles), obtain all applicable GM TCB's (such as TCB 18-NA-177 and TCB 18-NA-355) that have any bearing on the problem, and then after a "reasonable number" of repair attempts apply for Arbitration according to the requirements applicable in your state. In Arbitration, which is free to the vehicle purchaser, present all evidence regarding nature of the problem, past history and the manufacturers inability to correct these serious defects, evidence that the issue exists in the vehicle you purchased, and the history of repeated attempts by dealer(s) to fix the problem but that the problem still exists. When is all is said and done, you may be given a refund of the vehicle purchase price, a replacement vehicle having the same configuration and options, a decision to return to a dealer for further repair attempts, or no other action or remedy. In the case of the 8L45 / 8L90 transmission issues, arbitration in many states has already ordered refunds and replacement vehicles, as the problems with this model transmission have been around for so long and are so well documented. In any event, Good Luck.

Dayve · March 17, 2019

On 7/1/2018 at 8:49 AM, pm26 said:

Thanks for the info. I was considering buying a new 2018 Colorado 4X4 WT. It has a 3.6 V6 and 8 speed automatic. It is a shame that they do not offer a nice 6 speed manual transmission with that package. Considering all the vibration problems with full size Silverados and this 8 speed auto transmission issue I do not think buying a new Chevy truck is a good idea now, no matter what the discounts. I could actually get about $9 k off the sticker with my GM card rebate included on that Colorado, but I'll pass. I do not need a headache, I will keep driving my 2006 Silverado with the old 4 speed auto. No issues with the engine or transmission so far (although the truck has low mileage).

Get a diesel....mine has the 6 speed.

Ibmikey · March 18, 2019

Phillip, I have no intention of reporting a problem to the dealer that does not exist in my truck but does in yours. I also wonder about your statements when my vehicle and several friends with the same engine transmission do not have a problem. My vehicle is run in varying weather conditions from summer nineties to harsh winter’s down to zero, although always garaged when not in operation. I expect to eceive continued good service from my truck and note that GM is continuing to sell vehicles with the V6/8 speed engine-transmission combination so I must assume they are not building tens of thousands of flawed transmissions that are destined to fail early and require maintenance paid for by them.

OldChevyNut · March 18, 2019

To the best of my knowledge and experience, the posting I made provides factual guidance for initiating and conducting an arbitration process, and I make no apology to anyone for what I posted.

In making the posting, I did so because I have considerable knowledge of the arbitration process gained prior to retirement, and a relative asked me to make a synopsis of the general process available on-line. Her best friends had a 2017 Colorado V6 8 speed (8L45) that exhibited shuddering and rough shifting, and had seen extensive repair attempts with several dealerships being involved. When they ultimately wanted to begin the arbitration process, they encountered many roadblocks because they had no information guidelines to go by.

Also, prior to retirement, I have worked for Ford at the Romulus plant as a contract engineer in flow processes, and while doing so, gained information on the 8L90/8L45 series that described internal design characteristics that will produce some level of operational and reliability issues sometime with the useful life of the EVERY unit.

GM knew of the problems very early (2014, perhaps before ?), but at the time, were pressured to get something on the market, so a flawed unit was released for use and basically the same unit is still being produced today.

DESIGN FLAWS EXIST IN EVERY UNIT. THAT'S A WELL DOCUMENTED FACT. The severity of problems encountered will vary from unit to unit, from almost no problems, to very severe problems.

And one of the compounding issues is that many owners simply ignore or fail to recognize unusual or problematic operation, or operate the vehicle in circumstances where issues are less likely to surface or the severity of issue will be less, and those owners never report issues and/or continue to claim that nothing is wrong.

I wish no ill will to anyone, and if someone chooses to purchase one of the affected vehicles, I very much wish the best of luck with the vehicle.

But I also know that new vehicle owners will have a 1-in-5 chance of getting a unit that will exhibit SERIOUS OPERATIONAL AND RELIABILITY PROBLEMS, sometimes very soon after delivery but in most cases with 12,000 miles.

And unfortunately in some cases, the only recourse is to begin the arbitration process for problems that have been acknowledged by the manufacturer as not fixable. In those cases, I very much hope my general description of the arbitration process will be helpful, but because exact conditions and requirements and processes vary from region to region, I also recommend obtaining specific information on the requirements applicable in the region in which they reside.

By the way, my relatives friends won their case, and were awarded buy-back. However, because they first took the vehicle in for repair at 9,233 miles instead of when they first noticed problems at about 1,000 miles, the amount paid was far less than the amount they could have received had they reported the problem at first occurrence.

So a word to the wise, at the first sign of an issue take it to your dealer and formalize the mileage at which the issue was first reported. This applies to ANY issue with the vehicle, not just the on-going serious problems with the GM 8L45/8L90 transmissions. This information just may become very important later on.

WilliamBos · April 19, 2019

On 2018-06-27 at 7:15 PM, mjm-1957 said:

No one can fix it because it is a pisspoor design that should never have been released to the public in the condition it was. Rushed out to keep up with other 8 speeds out there already. I am the guy who gets to try and fix the unfixable. I am the transmission guy at a GMC Buick dealer and I can tell you from experience in dealing with this piece of shit since 2014- cut your losses and get rid of it now.You will never be happy with it. Fast adapts, calibration update after update, valve body replacements and the triple flush on Canyon and Colorado and the one time flush on everything else.Band aid at best.Hopefully the ten speeds will be better. Haven't had one complaint yet and they have been out for a while now and the eight speeds were bad from day one.

Have they resolved this issue yet?

OldChevyNut · April 19, 2019

I've contacted a close friend and former colleague , an engineer at Romulus, and from his information the answer is NO, the core problems with the 8L45 and 8L90 transmissions have NOT been corrected.

I HAVE been advised that ALL TSB's have been CANCELLED for all Colorado/Canyon product using the 8L45 transmission, where the vehicle was assembled on or after 2-16-2019.

I was not advised as to what services, processes, replacements, or repairs may or may not be performed under vehicle drive-train warranty for vehicles manufactured prior to 2-16-2019. (I asked, but my friend was prohibited from commenting on that question !)

But it is my personal opinion (and nothing more !) that GM may continue to provide limited "band-aid" repair services until warranties run out. From then on, owners will be stuck with 8L45 8L90 transmission problems that cannot be fixed.

I was, however, informed that GM will be re-locating the manufacture of 8L45 and 8L90 transmissions to an undisclosed "off-shore" manufacturing plant. I was not told when this would occur, or which components or sub-assemblies may already have been transferred "off-shore". However I WAS told that GM and union talks, to include this change, will be conducted very soon. (And the union reps are already PISSED !!!)

By the way, on the Ford/GM 10-speed transmission, my friend at Romulus has been assigned to assist with an issue with shifting issues between 3rd and 4th gear on the GM version of that transmission, which in 10L80 form, is currently being produced at Romulus and is being installed in certain Chevrolet and GMC vehicles. (I THINK Romulus also makes the 10L90, RPO MX0, a slightly heavier duty version of the 10-speed, but that's one of the thing they weren't supposed to talk about.)

So the 10-speed transmission may also have issues and should not be considered a "cure-all".

By the way, for my relatives and their mid-sized GM truck, they were awarded "buy-back" for about 91% of the retail contract price and the vehicle has been surrendered. They have subsequently purchased a new full-sized 2019 Ford F-150 XL 5.0 liter V8 10-speed with specific options (tow package, locking differential, etc). In early April 2019, they paid $39,253.00 before tax and license and registration costs for the F-150, which is very slightly LESS than the purchase price they paid for their problem-ridden mid-sized GM truck.

And following several dealer visits to have transmission problems corrected (unsuccessfully), I have sold my 2019 GMC Canyon SLT under a "full price, cash buy-back" agreement that was reached outside of any litigation process.

Because I have lost faith in GM's ability to produce a long-term reliable product, I doubt I will be buying ANY GM product in the foreseeable future.

And it's a shame ...

Bob_Spencer · April 22, 2019

On 3/12/2019 at 4:36 PM, OldChevyNut said:

It is well known, and even acknowledged by GM, that the problems with this transmission cannot be fixed. Therefore, as soon as possible and with as few miles on the vehicle as possible, take it back to a dealer and request the defect be repaired. Do this several times, keeping all records of when, where, action taken (even if none), any advice or comments made by dealer persons, and if possible, record everything on video with sound. Remember it's not the dealers fault you bought a vehicle with a problem that cannot be fixed by any means, but the dealer is the one that's stuck with trying to fix it. Obtain all the information you can find on this problem, and even similar problems in other models (because the same transmission is used in multiple other vehicles), obtain all applicable GM TCB's (such as TCB 18-NA-177 and TCB 18-NA-355) that have any bearing on the problem, and then after a "reasonable number" of repair attempts apply for Arbitration according to the requirements applicable in your state. In Arbitration, which is free to the vehicle purchaser, present all evidence regarding nature of the problem, past history and the manufacturers inability to correct these serious defects, evidence that the issue exists in the vehicle you purchased, and the history of repeated attempts by dealer(s) to fix the problem but that the problem still exists. When is all is said and done, you may be given a refund of the vehicle purchase price, a replacement vehicle having the same configuration and options, a decision to return to a dealer for further repair attempts, or no other action or remedy. In the case of the 8L45 / 8L90 transmission issues, arbitration in many states has already ordered refunds and replacement vehicles, as the problems with this model transmission have been around for so long and are so well documented. In any event, Good Luck.

You make several statements as though they are facts, such as "It is well known, and even acknowledged by GM, that the problems with this transmission cannot be fixed", "DESIGN FLAWS EXIST IN EVERY UNIT. THAT'S A WELL DOCUMENTED FACT. The severity of problems encountered will vary from unit to unit, from almost no problems, to very severe problems. ", etc.

Do you have any verifiable proof of your claims? You make it sound like any dupe who has a vehicle with this transmission just purchased the new model of the Chevy Vega, etc., pick your pick your favorite historic piece of automobile excrement.

Bob

OldChevyNut · April 22, 2019

To fully describe the events that provided evidence to support my statements, it may take many pages of comment verbiage and many hours of typing, so to keep my response reasonably brief:

Yes, all of the objective evidence we have collected has been used to assist a member of my extended family to resolve their issue with a GM vehicle they purchased. The case has been resolved through litigation and the evidence collected has been made a part of case history.

We collected a considerable amount of documentation about the 8L45 unit that was the source of the issues in the case vehicle, but according to GM statements and documentation, to a large extent the 8L45 is simply a modification of other model units produced previously, such as the 6L45/6L50 unit, and the 5L40 and 5L50 models.

So, to be able to show that GM knowingly produced a product having known defects, and that my relatives unknowingly purchased a vehicle having a defective transmission, we were faced with wading through huge amounts of documentation, service records, previous testimony, and court transcripts of other similar cases. Because it seemed a daunting task, additional help was hired, including investigators and legal counsel. We even had a few para-legal volunteers helping.

From start to finish, the process took just over 18 months, large sums of money, and many sleepless nights to accumulate what we felt was enough evidence to make our case. And I'm glad to say that the outcome was a settlement for GM buy-back at just over 91% of the original purchase contract cost. (By the time the case was settled, just under 10,000 miles had accumulated on the vehicle before the transmission became functionally inoperable, so buy-back amount was reduced accordingly.)

Going into this I had no intention or desire to defame GM in any way: I was simply trying to accommodate a relative. Following college, there was even a time in which I was happily employed by GM, and I know to this day that they can produce virtually anything that will exceed applicable requirements.

But as I reviewed documentation and petitioned for clarification from GM sources, I found out the truth about what ultimately became the 8L45 unit, and I was a little angry knowing that everything we found wasn't simply a fluke in a single unit, but represented conditions and defects that are in fact present in every unit produced.

Since then I've been somewhat involved in 2 other cases that went though (and are going through) the arbitration process here on the west coast. One has been settled (buy-back), one is still pending (initial filing 4-15-19). But now I have politely turned-down requests to be involved in other cases, and fully plan to get back to a life of retirement that promises a more sedentary lifestyle.

I still believe the Colorado/Canyon product line has many strong points, some that go back to the Isuzu product from which it was developed, and could be a very good product if GM would just get off their corporate behind and equip the vehicle with a reliable transmission.

And although every transmission produced has defects, not every user will experience complete vehicle failure because of several possible conditions of vehicle usage that can mask serious transmission problems, or even that operators may be unable to recognize a malfunction when it occurs. Such as, they may no realize that shuddering is a defect, or their dealer may simply tell lie to them and say "Oh, that's normal", and the innocent person may believe the dealer. And from information we've accumulated, the latter occurs every day ...

As a side note, a vehicle my wife recently purchased, a 2019 GMC Canyon SLT for use in hauling her craft materials and items, has been sold back to GM, and I no longer own a GM product of any kind. While both myself and my wife operated it, the transmission exhibited symptoms of shuddering, hard shifting, and ultimately suffered failure where it refused to shift from 2nd gear into 3rd gear and was delivered back to the dealer on a flat-bed truck. All was documented as verified conditions by GM Technical staff members (NOT Dealer service personnel). The odometer read less than 1100 miles and the manufacture date of the vehicle was 2-16-2019, which makes it a very recently produced vehicle. So it's safe to say that, up to the time I no longer had possession of the vehicle, transmission problems were still present, at least on the vehicle we should have never purchased.

ckatech · May 3, 2019

There is a class action brewing for this, but for arbitration how long is that process?

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/04/25/gm-transmission-class-action-lawsuit/

Having the issue with my 2017 Colorado with the 8 speed, I've replaced the torque converter at 16K miles, I'm needing it again at 32K.

OldChevyNut · May 3, 2019

In our region, it can take as little as 40 days from the date of filing to the date of the arbitrators decision. Or it can take much longer.

If you agreed to binding arbitration as an element of the vehicle purchase contract, you'll be bound by the requirements for that process.

If you did not agree to arbitration, the most commonly used course of action is through the courts and legal system.

And remember, "buy-back" is only 1 of several possible adjudications or decisions. In fact, in my experience, the most commonly used decision is to continue with a repair process.

However, there seems to be growing movement among some dealerships to use the term "buy-back" without going through any legal process, and they make you think they're doing you a favor in doing so. In actuality, they're simply are purchasing a used vehicle, at trade-in value or less, with little or no regard to actual market value or a value that may have been determined by calculating the vehicle purchase price minus a usage factor as is used in arbitration.

I hope I've adequately answered your question ...

johnnyone · May 9, 2019

The only winners in a class action law suit are the lawyers

Ibmikey · June 16, 2019

Johnny one is so correct, in any class action the lawyers get paid for all the “victims” they can drag in but unfortunately the award to an individual is rarely worth the hassle. I’m sure there are many with legitimate complaints about the transmission or other parts but I am also sure there are many thousands of satisfied customers for every complainer. Another unfortunate thing with automobiles in particular is their complexity and dependence on other suppliers for much of the finished product, even with high standards the possibility of a glitch in all those gathered parts is all to real and constant checks and corrections are demanded by the auto manufacturer.....no matter what brand...GM is not the only manufacturer to receive a class action suit or to find part of it’s product requires attention.

old chevynut, i just ordered a 2020 Denali to replace my 17...both with an eight speed transmission.