My Canyon goes to the dealer this morning because it's got a shudder when mildly accelerating or driving at nearly constant speeds. On line forums describe it as a feeling of driving over small rumble strips which is exactly what it feels like. The fix is supposedly a complete trans flush and changing to a later specification fluid per a GM service bulletin. Has anyone here had it done and does it work reliably?
It's not limited to the mid-size trucks either, full sized trucks, Camaros and Corvettes all had the same transmission and the same issue.
Normally the tcc apply solenoid has a slew of horrible apply programming and the clutch itself has apply problems from the material used.
I do not have this issue. I do feel that the trans has a hard time finding first when cold at times. The 1-2 shift is also a little sluggish and then pops into gear when cold. Once warmed up, I've never had an issue. My truck is 19 Colorado Z71 if you are keeping notes with V6.
The 8k mile Chrysler Pacifica rental I had this past week had the worst 1st gear behavior of any auto I've ever driven. It was really awful and why I still prefer a manual transmission in most cases.
I have a 2017 Colorado V6. Shortly after I bought it new in 2017 I had the torque converter replaced due to the shudder, aka "the Chevy Shake". It originally fixed the problem, but it has recently started up again, although not as bad. I am currently trying to decide if I hassle with the dealer again or just sell it.
There is a class action lawsuit for the 8L45 and 8L90 GM transmissions due to the torque converter shudder.
The transmissions were used in the following vehicles:
My old 2017 Colorado Z71 Duramax had it with the 6 speed(6L50 for the diesel). Reprogram and transmission flush fixed it.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:I do not have this issue. I do feel that the trans has a hard time finding first when cold at times. The 1-2 shift is also a little sluggish and then pops into gear when cold. Once warmed up, I've never had an issue. My truck is 19 Colorado Z71 if you are keeping notes with V6.
The 8k mile Chrysler Pacifica rental I had this past week had the worst 1st gear behavior of any auto I've ever driven. It was really awful and why I still prefer a manual transmission in most cases.
Try out ANY of the Nissan CVT cars. The single most abysmal experience ive ever had in a vehicle.
I got stuck with a Nissan Versa rental with the CVT on a work trip to Ohio. Felt like the car was going to explode at any moment, at any speed and with any throttle input. Surprisingly enough the car didnt but i advised the counter/desk woman that if they ever stuck me with a Nissan again i would drop my account for another rental company.
A friend has had quite a few Nissans over the years with the CVTs and each one of them was a horrible experience. Worst of all was his Rogue. Ugly, severely underpowered and beyond E36 M3ty. Nissan loaded it up with as many tech features as possible to distract you from how disgustingly bad the engineering was in the driveline.
Close second for worst transmission of all time would be a Subaru Crosstrek with the CVT. What a berkeleying pile of crap. It made the entire trip a headache inducing adventure with its constant buzz, shudder and drone. Just an abysmal car in every facet.
In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
Check your build date. Any trucks built after March 1, 2019 got the upgraded fluid and shouldn't have the shudder.
GM tech here. Having the transmission flushed is usually pretty successful on the 8-speeds. We disconnect the cooler lines at the case, hook a machine up and exchange 20 quarts of fluid. I've had some with violent torque converter shudders that it has fixed. Note that the bulletin says it can take up to 200 miles driving after having the fluid exchanged before it fully goes away. So if you have it done, and it still has a slight shudder, drive it before returning to the dealership and having it reevaluated. In the cases that the flush doesn't fix it, throwing a new converter in will be the ultimate fix, which is a bitch of a job in a Colorado/Canyon. But I can't remember the last time we put one in a Colorado/Canyon. It seems to be the full-size trucks that come back for a converter predominantly.
In reply to kevinatfms :
Good to hear it worked.
In reply to NickD :
Is this a common issue? My service writer this morning behaved like he hadn't heard of it, we took it for a drive and it wouldn't do it (I think it needs to be warmed up), but they're keeping the truck to evaluate it. Mine's at 16,200 miles , so I'm expecting this is all warranty work.......it better be.
In reply to B. Yourself :
Glad it worked....not glad that it has recurred. I keep vehicles for 10-15 years and I wasn't thinking of getting rid of the truck any time soon.
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren):
Extremely common. GM even came out with a Technical Service Bulletin for the issue. And it's anything with the 8-speed longitudinal auto, which includes Colorado/Canyons, Silverado/Sierras, Escalades, Tahoe's, Yukon's, Suburbans, Camaros and the Alphabet Gang over at Cadillac. Actually the transverse 8- and 9-speeds have the same issue, and the same fix plus an ECM flash, and it also occurs to a lesser degree on the 6-speeds in the trucks. If they didn't know about it, they either live under a rock or they're playing dumb
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :
Check your build date. Any trucks built after March 1, 2019 got the upgraded fluid and shouldn't have the shudder.
Mine says 02/19 on chassis tag. I've got 33k miles on it too. It may be time for a trans service soon anyway.
kevinatfms said:AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:I do not have this issue. I do feel that the trans has a hard time finding first when cold at times. The 1-2 shift is also a little sluggish and then pops into gear when cold. Once warmed up, I've never had an issue. My truck is 19 Colorado Z71 if you are keeping notes with V6.
The 8k mile Chrysler Pacifica rental I had this past week had the worst 1st gear behavior of any auto I've ever driven. It was really awful and why I still prefer a manual transmission in most cases.
Try out ANY of the Nissan CVT cars. The single most abysmal experience ive ever had in a vehicle.
I got stuck with a Nissan Versa rental with the CVT on a work trip to Ohio. Felt like the car was going to explode at any moment, at any speed and with any throttle input. Surprisingly enough the car didnt but i advised the counter/desk woman that if they ever stuck me with a Nissan again i would drop my account for another rental company.
A friend has had quite a few Nissans over the years with the CVTs and each one of them was a horrible experience. Worst of all was his Rogue. Ugly, severely underpowered and beyond E36 M3ty. Nissan loaded it up with as many tech features as possible to distract you from how disgustingly bad the engineering was in the driveline.
Close second for worst transmission of all time would be a Subaru Crosstrek with the CVT. What a berkeleying pile of crap. It made the entire trip a headache inducing adventure with its constant buzz, shudder and drone. Just an abysmal car in every facet.
My experience was exactly like yours. Rental Sentra with a CVT. Worst experience ever with a close second being (or maybe equally horrible) a rental Focus. It wasn't even safe to drive either one of those in traffic, especially left turning in front of oncoming traffic. Shudders, balking, farting (the car not me), stumbling. Miserable. I will never own a vehicle with a CVT or the moronic start/stop feature. At one time I was a big Nissan fan but I can't purchase a vehicle from a company that would release that monstrosity on the public.
My '16 Silverado with 105,000 miles was slamming from 3rd to 2nd after I got off a highway run. I took it to Chevy asking about the common shuttering issue and they were hitting me $129 to diagnose and $250 for the fluid change.
Knowing the tranny was crap I took it to an independent shop and they rebuild it after their diagnosis.
The good news is I helped the shop make payroll that week.
This is common to anything with a lockup torque converter going all the way back to Ford AODs (which didn't even have clutches in the converter...).
Back inna AOD days we would put an additive in the fluid and it would be happy. Nowadays, we do a full flush and use BG trans additive. Has cured 100% of the TCC shudder cars I have tried it on, mainly Hondas.
In reply to Feedyurhed :
Key word being "rental". Rentals usually drive like crap.
99% of CVTs work great. Nissan apparently beancountered all of their good engineers away. I note that Nissan has some dumb faux-gears feature, which probably causes problems similar to burning images into an old CRT. If they stay in one spot for too long it probably makes the nice smooth curved surfaces stepped.
Honda has what sounds like a very similar issue with their 6spd auto. The fix is to drain/fill the transmission 3 times (with highway speeds in between flushes), and if that doesn't work, they also reflash the transmission. Seems to cure the issue in a vast majority of the cases. (Honda specifically says not to flush their transmissions, so they recommend successive drain/fills instead.)
Symptoms were that the converter would lock-unlock constantly, which gave the feeling of driving on rumble strips. You could see the tach bounce back and forth in a 200 RPM range with steady throttle/speed on flat ground.
So, it is possible that a fluid flush and a transmission reflash could solve the issue.
In reply to dj06482 (Forum Supporter) :
6sp, 5sp... they all can do it.
I am not sure what the exact cause is. I would like to say driver habit, because some cars do it and some never do. For sure the TCC clutches get glazed and the friction properties change from what the apply strategy assumes they are. Old fluid also has different friction properties from new, so changing the fluid removes that variable. The BG trans additive is, however, pure magic in a can.
On the earlier Colorado/ Canyon 8-speed transmissions the dealer had to replicate the shudder complaint before service. Once replicated, the dealer would flush and refill with the same type trans fluid. Some got new torque converters if the shudder returned. Still, many complaints after the flush and TC replacement.
Trucks built after 3/19 received the new Mobil trans fluid. Vehicles with the earlier fluid could get the flush and refill with the new fluid, no shudder complaint replication required. See TSB below.
If your dealer requires replication before service on the earlier fluid they are wrong. Show them the TSB or find another dealer.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
In the case of the GM 8-speed shudder, it was caused by the trans fluid that could absorb moisture and affect the TCC. The new trans fluid introduced in 3/19 did not (or not as much afaik).
In reply to fasted58 :
Also caused by, and this came from a GM engineer's mouth, they didn't clean the aluminum chips out of the case after machining.
Well, I had a 2005 Colorado and when I got the shudder, it turned out it was the transfer case. Put a junkyard one in for temporary and shudder was gone. Don't know if this applies but thought I'd throw something out there
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:My Canyon goes to the dealer this morning because it's got a shudder when mildly accelerating or driving at nearly constant speeds. On line forums describe it as a feeling of driving over small rumble strips which is exactly what it feels like. The fix is supposedly a complete trans flush and changing to a later specification fluid per a GM service bulletin. Has anyone here had it done and does it work reliably?
I had a brand new 2018 that had the issue. It was a company truck and we had two of them, and both required it at some stage in the first 2 years that we had them. Both were solved by the treatment you've been suggested.
While people are diverting onto the subject of CVT transmissions (which I loath), I like to play a game with them if I get a rental car with them when I travel (it's been a few years now admittedly): the goal is to see how high you can get the RPM's to go. Best I've achieved is 250rpm over the start of redline in a Nissan Sentra 
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