10 speed Transmission Hot - Please help

TrueBlue · December 20, 2023

Come on GM. For the love of pete just put a new transmission in this guy's truck and be done with it. What would your cost be on that? $1000. Don't you think that amount would benefit you in customer satisfaction and relations more greatly than that? This guy buys a new truck from you, documents the problems with it from the gitgo, loses the use of his truck for months now, and you as a company are ignoring the issue? Shameful.

ArthurW · December 21, 2023

35 minutes ago, TrueBlue said:

Come on GM. For the love of pete just put a new transmission in this guy's truck and be done with it. What would your cost be on that? $1000. Don't you think that amount would benefit you in customer satisfaction and relations more greatly than that? This guy buys a new truck from you, documents the problems with it from the gitgo, loses the use of his truck for months now, and you as a company are ignoring the issue? Shameful.

Thank you, I really appreciate the words. I'm at a loss as to what I'm supposed to do in this situation. With the holidays coming up this is only going to get prolonged so I assume I'll be on the waiting list again. No initiative taken from the company to source a trailer, or to replicate the issue other than them just driving my truck around the city and expecting it to show signs of overheating (which I told them it wouldn't unless they were towing.) I really had hoped that GM would be an advocate for helping me get the issue solved whether that meant getting someone to drive my truck with a trailer for a couple hours, renting a trailer, or doing anything to help resolve it.

Right now there really doesn't seem to be a plan, just a "when it's doing it bring it to us" which isn't exactly easy with a 25ft camper.

Anyway, guess I'll just hope I can make it out of province with this thing with minimal stops for overheating (I expect several lol), I'm just disappointed in the company.

TrueBlue · December 21, 2023

Were it me I'd drive around with the camper until it started to overheat and then bring it straight to the dealer. Even if it meant driving circles around the vicinity. And first let them know I was going to be doing just that so they could have the right person on hand to observe it when I drove the truck and camper in hot. Might be time to think out of the box a bit. Possibly even look for something like a notary public, or an advocate for situations just like this. Possibly a trained mechanic that is certified by GM but doesn't actually work for them?

Edited December 21, 2023 by TrueBlue

ArthurW · December 21, 2023

26 minutes ago, TrueBlue said:

Were it me I'd drive around with the camper until it started to overheat and then bring it straight to the dealer. Even if it meant driving circles around the vicinity. And first let them know I was going to be doing just that so they could have the right person on hand to observe it when you drove the truck and camper in. Might be time to think out of the box a bit. Possibly even look for something like a notary public, or an advocate for situations just like this. Possibly a trained mechanic that is certified by GM but doesn't actually work for them?

Yeah that's my next plan - just have to arrange a day I can get off work to do it. Beyond that, I'm not sure I can do anything.

Grover67 · December 21, 2023

Just a thought

Check to see if your radiator shutters are closed when you start to see your trans temps climbing.

ArthurW · December 21, 2023

9 hours ago, Grover67 said:

Just a thought

Check to see if your radiator shutters are closed when you start to see your trans temps climbing.

Good thought, I don't think I've actually ever looked. The engine never overheats, but I'll definitely check that when I get the transmission to overheat again.

SVG · December 21, 2023

GM and your dealer should be taking better care of you. There must be a way for them to hook a laptop to your truck to monitor parameters while you recreate the problem.

If they continue to yank you around I think I would put giant banners on each side of my trailer with a not-so-great testimonial and park it in front of their dealership.

ArthurW · December 21, 2023

7 minutes ago, SVG said:

GM and your dealer should be taking better care of you. There must be a way for them to hook a laptop to your truck to monitor parameters while you recreate the problem.

If they continue to yank you around I think I would put giant banners on each side of my trailer with a not-so-great testimonial and park it in front of their dealership.

Don't get me wrong, they have tried that and claim to have software they can use to replicate trailering, but they've had no success in finding anything.

My last thing I'll be able to do is bring it to them while it's overheating, although I'm fairly confident it's a mechanical problem that won't be observable on software (bypass valve, like the TSB says lol) but at some point someone with some power has make this right.

TrueBlue · December 21, 2023

Another thing you might do is to crawl under your truck and follow the tranny coolant lines from front to back. Look for any kinks or crimps that don't look like they should be there. Also make sure they they are mounted where they should be, away from other sources of heat.

A pity that we sometimes have to do things that the manufacturer or the dealership should do, but it is what it is.

December 21, 2023

19 hours ago, ArthurW said:

Thank you, I really appreciate the words. I'm at a loss as to what I'm supposed to do in this situation. With the holidays coming up this is only going to get prolonged so I assume I'll be on the waiting list again. No initiative taken from the company to source a trailer, or to replicate the issue other than them just driving my truck around the city and expecting it to show signs of overheating (which I told them it wouldn't unless they were towing.) I really had hoped that GM would be an advocate for helping me get the issue solved whether that meant getting someone to drive my truck with a trailer for a couple hours, renting a trailer, or doing anything to help resolve it.

Right now there really doesn't seem to be a plan, just a "when it's doing it bring it to us" which isn't exactly easy with a 25ft camper.

Anyway, guess I'll just hope I can make it out of province with this thing with minimal stops for overheating (I expect several lol), I'm just disappointed in the company.

Good luck. I really hope you get it fixed. I can't say I would hold my breath. I have done the same with my truck after it dropped a lifter and then would spudder again after the dealer replaced the one bank. I took it back and they were even able to see the code it threw, but they claimed the same BS of "we can't replicate it". I got them to give me warranty and the next time I will drive it until it pukes. So, unfortunately, I understand your pain with the parts flingers who work at dealers anymore.

Edited December 21, 2023 by 1454

ArthurW · December 21, 2023

3 hours ago, TrueBlue said:

Another thing you might do is to crawl under your truck and follow the tranny coolant lines from front to back. Look for any kinks or crimps that don't look like they should be there. Also make sure they they are mounted where they should be, away from other sources of heat.

A pity that we sometimes have to do things that the manufacturer or the dealership should do, but it is what it is.

Yeah, I did check for lines quickly when the dealer didn't do anything for the second or third time, I didn't see anything but next time I guess I'll have to open up more of it to get a clear view. I'm fairly confident that it's the faulty bypass, but we'll see where that goes.

TrueBlue · December 21, 2023

Best of luck to you!

SVG · December 22, 2023

7 hours ago, ArthurW said:

Don't get me wrong, they have tried that and claim to have software they can use to replicate trailering, but they've had no success in finding anything.

My last thing I'll be able to do is bring it to them while it's overheating, although I'm fairly confident it's a mechanical problem that won't be observable on software (bypass valve, like the TSB says lol) but at some point someone with some power has make this right.

I was thinking of your dealer having a laptop connected to your truck while you are actually pulling the trailer. I think I would tell them if you can't spare a tech to ride with me on that drive I'll be back in XX minutes.

ArthurW · December 22, 2023

18 minutes ago, SVG said:

I was thinking of your dealer having a laptop connected to your truck while you are actually pulling the trailer. I think I would tell them if you can't spare a tech to ride with me on that drive I'll be back in XX minutes.

That is the plan for tomorrow, I threw my tractor on my trailer and I am going to tow that tomorrow to work, sneak out for a couple hours, drive it for an hour or so and dump it off at the dealer for them to look at it. Beyond that there's not much else I can do. I doubt they'll give me a tech for 1.5-2 hours lol.

ArthurW · December 22, 2023

Just as a further update,

I took the morning off work to make a trip about an hour away to get the transmission hot to help the dealer diagnose this issue. I loaded my tractor on my trailer the night before and hauled it from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. for them to diagnose the issue when I got there. Their technician looked at the truck, took it for a drive, and came back, saying that I had overloaded the truck and that the trailer was overweight, causing the issue. I adamantly disagreed with them and got to the point where the manager offered to call DOT to have it scaled to prove his point. He attempted, but was unable to contact DOT. I took initiative, got the truck scaled at a local gravel pit, and brought the dealership the scale ticket for the truck and trailer. My trailer and truck combined were 11,760 lbs. My GCWR on my truck is about 15000, so I am not overloaded. They agreed that they could see that the transmission temperature was continuously rising but had no code to go off of.

I heavily suggested (I was angry) that they should consider the TSB that explains this issue and that the next logical solution would be the thermal bypass valve (valve body) (which they claimed they ordered but apparently didn't) or even to just check the cooler. The manager was very adamant that he couldn’t do anything. This needs to be resolved by GM.

I am obviously not doing this for fun, and I just want to be able to haul with my truck without the transmission overheating.

To summarize my experience today so far:

I spent $100.00 in fuel for GM to once again waste my time (the only purpose of this trip was to help the dealership diagnose this issue) (250 km).
Take the morning off work to help GM diagnose the issue.
Load my trailer with my tractor the night before (taking it out of winter storage solely to help GM diagnose the issue).
Be blamed for overloading my trailer when it 100% wasn’t. I clearly explained to GM that this happens with any trailer (my utility trailer is empty (2500 lbs), my camper (5500 lbs), or in this case, my utility with my old tractor (the combined gross weight of the vehicle and trailer was 11,700 lbs (call truck 4500 lbs on the light side, so trailer at 7200 lbs).
To prove my case above, I have provided in previous emails to GM Customer Support and to the service manager, the registrations, including the weights of my trailers, so as to help my case.
After our argument, I took time to get the truck scaled at a local gravel pit to prove them wrong and further my diagnosis so they couldn’t just push it off.
I was apparently lied to by the manager about my valve body being ordered two months ago, which I’ve been patiently waiting for, but apparently nothing was actually ordered.
This is now the 7^th visit my truck has had to the dealership, with no end in sight.
The manager has promised me he will reach out today to confirm the next steps of action (but I doubt there’s going to be anything, if he even calls)

It is absolutely ridiculous that this much of my time is being wasted. Every single time GM asks for something to help with the diagnosis, I help, but I am getting absolutely nothing in return outside of headaches and frustrations.

GM, please step up and help me fix this vehicle or buy it back/replace it so I can get a replacement that won’t cause me these headaches.

Edited December 22, 2023 by ArthurW