Transmission problems?

[bthreadg]

Rather than start a new Transmission Question thread, I have a general question regarding a problem my car developed over Thanksgiving.

I have a 2009 4 door Aveo with 72,000 miles, no hard driving, just commuting. As expected with that mileage, it's never had transmission issues, and no real problems outside of the engine light prompting several emission fixes over the years.

Then last week, the following symptoms appeared:

1. When accelerating from a stop:
a. It intermittently missed some shifts (once reaching 5 – 10 mph, shifting was fine).
b. A sound from the front driver's side. A rapid, repeating sound, like a fan brushing against something.

2. After starting car, was able to shift to other gears, but transmission stayed in park. This happened after being at a friend's for a couple hours, parked in his driveway that has a slight grade. The car was in Park, and emergency/parking break applied.
After 5 mins, I was able to get out of Park.

3. My mechanic is doing diagnostics now, but said he checked the trans fluid was dark . . not terrible, but dark.

If anyone can provide an online diagnosis based on those symptoms, I'd appreciate it. I've had a dozen cars through the years, but never one that had transmission problems after 72,000 miles.

Thanks in advance,

Brent
aveo@threadgill.com

[Thymeclock]

Rather than start a new Transmission Question thread, I have a general question regarding a problem my car developed over Thanksgiving.

I have a 2009 4 door Aveo with 72,000 miles, no hard driving, just commuting. As expected with that mileage, it's never had transmission issues, and no real problems outside of the engine light prompting several emission fixes over the years.

Then last week, the following symptoms appeared:

1. When accelerating from a stop:
a. It intermittently missed some shifts (once reaching 5 – 10 mph, shifting was fine).
b. A sound from the front driver's side. A rapid, repeating sound, like a fan brushing against something.

2. After starting car, was able to shift to other gears, but transmission stayed in park. This happened after being at a friend's for a couple hours, parked in his driveway that has a slight grade. The car was in Park, and emergency/parking break applied.
After 5 mins, I was able to get out of Park.

3. My mechanic is doing diagnostics now, but said he checked the trans fluid was dark . . not terrible, but dark.

If anyone can provide an online diagnosis based on those symptoms, I'd appreciate it. I've had a dozen cars through the years, but never one that had transmission problems after 72,000 miles.

Thanks in advance,

Brent
aveo@threadgill.com

I assume this is an automatic. I'm confused by the statements in #2. In what you said, do you mean that no matter which selection of gear you chose (1st or 2nd or drive or reverse) the car wouldn't move at all for 5 minutes?

[2010AveoLT]

I assume this is an automatic. I'm confused by the statements in #2. In what you said, do you mean that no matter which selection of gear you chose (1st or 2nd or drive or reverse) the car wouldn't move at all for 5 minutes?

to the OP, did the Manual Shift Lever move, or was it locked in the Park Position? (and if it was locked, did you use the Override switch?) because Statement 2 sounds to me like a BTSI Problem.

[bthreadg]

to the OP, did the Manual Shift Lever move, or was it locked in the Park Position?

It moved front-to-back easily, the transmission didn't shift from Park.

[bthreadg]

I assume this is an automatic. I'm confused by the statements in #2. In what you said, do you mean that no matter which selection of gear you chose (1st or 2nd or drive or reverse) the car wouldn't move at all for 5 minutes?

That's correct, it's an automatic, and regardless of the front-to-back selection of the gear selected, the car wouldn't move (to be even more clear, the transmission wouldn't shift out of Park).
Sorry for not being more clear.

[Thymeclock]

That's correct, it's an automatic, and regardless of the front-to-back selection of the gear selected, the car wouldn't move (to be even more clear, the transmission wouldn't shift out of Park).
Sorry for not being more clear.

That sounds like bad news. If you are lucky it might be only a clogged filter, but that's usually not the case. By the time the filter gets clogged there is a lot of crud in the transmission from things that have deteriorated.

Rebuilding an automatic transmission is probably the single most expensive mechanical repair that there is on a car. After four decades of owning various cars and having to bear the expense of a tranny rebuild more than once, I found that the best preventive measure is to drain and refill your transmission regularly. If the fluid is brownish or it smells bad, that is a sign of the fluid becoming contaminated. It shouldn't look pinkish and thin, either. Transmission fluid should appear reddish in color. An automatic depends on having clean fluid in it to prevent failure of the various components in it. It pays to check it when you change your motor oil and see the condition of the A/T fluid.

When you drain and refill the tranny yourself you are only removing about 1/3 of the fluid (as opposed to a professional flush which will replace it all). However, over time, doing so will improve and replenish the overall condition of the total capacity of fluid in the system. If you do the partial drain and fill every year it certainly is better than not doing it at all. Compared to the cost of a tranny rebuild, changing the fluid yourself is cheap insurance against transmission failure.

[bthreadg]

That sounds like bad news.

Thanks, Thymeclock . . It was bad news.
I just got off the phone with Chevy, and coincidentally, the 5yr/100K warranty expired 2 mos ago.

My mechanic's quote is ~$3,000.

Bear in mind that the Aveo is an '09 w/72k easy miles. I've had a few cars myself, and that's the shortest lifespan I've experienced.

I'm going to donate this disappointment, forever close the "Buy American" chapter of my car ownership experience, and buy a brand new Honda Fit for $15k (what I should have done in the first place).
http://livingstingy.blogspot.com/201...-probably.html

FWIW, My rental has been driving a Toyota Yaris, which makes parting with the Aveo that much easier.

[2010AveoLT]

Thanks, Thymeclock . . It was bad news.
I just got off the phone with Chevy, and coincidentally, the 5yr/100K warranty expired 2 mos ago.

My mechanic's quote is ~$3,000.

Bear in mind that the Aveo is an '09 w/72k easy miles. I've had a few cars myself, and that's the shortest lifespan I've experienced.

I'm going to donate this disappointment, forever close the "Buy American" chapter of my car ownership experience, and buy a brand new Honda Fit for $15k (what I should have done in the first place).
Living Stingy: Should You Buy An American Car? Probably Not.

FWIW, My rental has been driving a Toyota Yaris, which makes parting with the Aveo that much easier.

and that is why Last january, I had my local dealership print me out a paper showing me What Warranties I had, and when they were to expire. and with the Transmission Fluid, (and knowing Scoots' unsavory history as an Enterprise Rental Car) I had it changed Two months after I bought scoots. my guess is that your aveo's build date was October of 2008. (the Model Year Changeover is usually in July-September)

[Thymeclock]

Thanks, Thymeclock . . It was bad news.
I just got off the phone with Chevy, and coincidentally, the 5yr/100K warranty expired 2 mos ago.

My mechanic's quote is ~$3,000.

Bear in mind that the Aveo is an '09 w/72k easy miles. I've had a few cars myself, and that's the shortest lifespan I've experienced.

I'm going to donate this disappointment, forever close the "Buy American" chapter of my car ownership experience, and buy a brand new Honda Fit for $15k (what I should have done in the first place).
Living Stingy: Should You Buy An American Car? Probably Not.

FWIW, My rental has been driving a Toyota Yaris, which makes parting with the Aveo that much easier.

Don't blame "buy American" because the Aveo isn't made in America. That has nothing to do with it. And don't think that a Honda is the holy grail of cars.

Somehow, I think this needs to be said over and over again.

No car manufacturer I know of (correct me if I am wrong, anyone) no car manufacturer ever recommends that you change your A/T fluid. They give a relatively long warranty for the power train and the transmission, (long enough for it to expire) but usually no car owner ever checks their A/T fluid, and sooner or later your transmission poops out from benign neglect.

Why should the manufacturer care? All cars die of something going wrong, eventually. And if your car dies prematurely from transmission failure, that's the sooner the manufacturer has the opportunity to sell you another new car. That used to be called "planned obsolescence".

BTW, the transmission in all Aveos is made by Aisin of Japan, and that same transmission is actually on some Yaris models. It's a low-end design for a transmission, but a very dependable product, made by a reputable manufacturer. We can't blame American GM or Korean Daewoo for that - it's a well made Japanese transmission. But we also need to realize that the brand of car you bought led you to believe that an A/T never requires any maintenance. I would suggest that you re-read my previous post about DIY maintenance of ANY automatic tranny. Because no matter what car you buy in the future, be it a Honda, or a Toyota or whatever, you still will need to pull the A/T dipstick and not trust the manufacturer's nonsense that an automatic transmission never requires any attention - until it craps out, it's out of warranty, and it doesn't go into gear.

So when you buy your new Honda, Toyota, Ford, Volvo (or name 'em all, whatever) ... remember the old song:

"You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh. The fundamental things apply... as time goes by."

Monitor and change your A/T fluid regularly to keep your transmission healthy.

[blueveo]

No car manufacturer I know of (correct me if I am wrong, anyone) no car manufacturer ever recommends that you change your A/T fluid. They give a relatively long warranty for the power train and the transmission, (long enough for it to expire) but usually no car owner ever checks their A/T fluid, and sooner or later your transmission poops out from benign neglect.

There is a recommended fluid and filter service listed in the owners manual at 50k. I think this is still to long, I always do fluid flush and filter every 30k. I feel it is cheap insurance.

I bought my 2009 Aveo5 used with 38k on it, one of the first things I did was change the filter and flush the fluid using the transmission cooler lines. I had to run 9 quarts through till I removed all of the old fluid. When I get more time I will post a how to, I took pictures but have not taken the time to type it up. A case of T-IV and a filter kit was about $70 and took less than an hour to do. Only use the manufactures recommended fluid, I thought someone said the used synthetic on this thread. I do not believe in the "universal" transmission fluids, each fluid has different friction modifies and additives, just because it meets the manufactures minimum spec does not make it equal, just my opinion.

Before I would spend 3k on a new transmission I would get a second opinion from a specialized transmission shop. Many times sifting problems are caused by solenoid failures or other less costly electrical / mechanical issues. I have replace 3 solenoid packs on other vehicles and installed shift kits on two others, all costing less than $150 in parts.

There are some newer cars with sealed transmission that are "sealed for life", I believe ford is using them, I am sure other as well. All fluids will break down with heat and time, I wouldn't trust a fluid to last the life of a vehicle.