Auto Transmission failure

[zedsdead]

Thought you all may be able to shed some light on this one for me.

My well looked after VY just got tilt-trayed away tonight after a transmission failure. Only done 130000km. Always serviced at local dealership. Mainly country highway running. No hint of noises or anything at all!

The missus was driving home and sudden loud whining noise so she powered down and pulled over. When I got there, checked over and started up to hear a loud buzz/whine from the transmission. Tried selecting any gear but no drive. When turned engine off, sounded like something freely spinning to a stop in the transmission.

The towey said "that doesn't happen to these things these days". I replied that my beautiful old original VN has done 296000 with no probs at all.

Not knowing much about autos, what could have caused this?

Thanks in advance.

[Sean880]

Sounds terminal from what you have said. In normal driving (ie not thrashing) and with proper maintenance these transmissions will last well beyond 130000 kms. (It's the European stuff that starts breaking at this km mark).

Is this a one owner car or did you buy its used?

[VZ_SS]

Sounds terminal from what you have said. In normal driving (ie not thrashing) and with proper maintenance these transmissions will last well beyond 130000 kms. (It's the European stuff that starts breaking at this km mark).

Is this a one owner car or did you buy its used?

Well beyond 130 000? How you come to this figure on old mates commodore? i'm not being a smart arse, but i would want double that figure before i had problems.

[acarmody]

I'm pushing 220000km and the tranny is still going strong. Just keep getting it serviced, and I would expect 200000km at the minimum.

Never get it serviced and there will be problems.

As far as I remember Holden don't service the transmission unless you ask them. But I would rather take it to a transmission shop and get someone with knowledge do it, rather than a Holden apprentice.

[danja]

The 4L60E is built like a brick shithouse, if it failed at 200,000 I'd still be very surprised. 500,000+ is what I'd want out of one of those. It was designed for duty in light trucks and SUVs, so lugging a Commodore around is tame by comparison. They are rated to nearly 500Nm or torque, which is firmly V8 territory. There really shouldn't be anything an N/A V6 can do to break one, even if you hammer it.

The only thing that kills this trans, like every auto box, is lack of servicing. Best check your logs and see if they changed the trans fluid and filter in accordance with the factory specs.

[Torquative]

mine in the VZ got changed on the weekend just gone as it had developed a whirrr/groan type noise, like a dry power steering pump.

I suspect it to be a oil pump issue or similar, but I could be wrong and without paying someone to pull it apart I'll never know. Someone I knew had a 4L60E going cheap after a manual conversion so I nabbed that and swapped them over.

Also servicing isnt that hard

- drop the sump and drain the oil
- change the filter and gasket
- put the sump back on
- fill with fresh oil

Thats basically it, then from there you go into flushing and so on but your typical auto service is just that.

[wortus]

From memory log book servicing on the auto's is around every 105,000km. It's not that expensive to get done about $150 even cheaper if you want to do it yourself but it can be messy. I will be having mine done at about 1/2 that interval. I had my old VN done every 40,000km max and not a problem with it, it was apparently a reco box just before I got it at 170,000 and I sold it with 302,000.
Maybe check the cooling pipe in the radiator hasn't split before you get a new one fitted.

[0081]

Thought you all may be able to shed some light on this one for me.

My well looked after VY just got tilt-trayed away tonight after a transmission failure. Only done 130000km. Always serviced at local dealership. Mainly country highway running. No hint of noises or anything at all!

The missus was driving home and sudden loud whining noise so she powered down and pulled over. When I got there, checked over and started up to hear a loud buzz/whine from the transmission. Tried selecting any gear but no drive. When turned engine off, sounded like something freely spinning to a stop in the transmission.

The towey said "that doesn't happen to these things these days". I replied that my beautiful old original VN has done 296000 with no probs at all.

Not knowing much about autos, what could have caused this?

Thanks in advance.

Your answer is in there **dealer servicing**

[VYMAD]

Yeah anyone with basic mechanical knowledge can service thier own tranny, I do mine every 40,000, buggered if I'd pay some kid from Holden to do it, or even a transmission specialist, as there is nothing to adjust, no bands etc, just the fluid, filter and gasket. So, OP, it is extreme bad luck that yours has crapped itself with that fewer k's on it, never heard of a serviced transmission dying that young.

[VTPREDATOR]

The 4L60E is built like a brick shithouse, if it failed at 200,000 I'd still be very surprised. 500,000+ is what I'd want out of one of those. It was designed for duty in light trucks and SUVs, so lugging a Commodore around is tame by comparison. They are rated to nearly 500Nm or torque, which is firmly V8 territory. There really shouldn't be anything an N/A V6 can do to break one, even if you hammer it.

The only thing that kills this trans, like every auto box, is lack of servicing. Best check your logs and see if they changed the trans fluid and filter in accordance with the factory specs.

i beg to differ. my auto lasted til 68000km, threw in a mild cam and a mafless tune and that sent it straight into a rebuild


sorry, just saw your qoute of 500nm torque lol.....

[zedsdead]

Thanks to all replies,

Just been told that the splines on the input shaft have all completely worn away. They don't know why it has happened. They said it might be a manufacturing problem with a "soft" metal in the input shaft.

I've done some ringing around and this sort of thing is almost unheard of.

[Cobez]

Mine makes a slight whining noise too, changes with gears, almost sounds like a baby supercharger. Might get mine serviced quick smart and see if they can figure out what the noise is.

[delcowizzid]

Thanks to all replies,

Just been told that the splines on the input shaft have all completely worn away. They don't know why it has happened. They said it might be a manufacturing problem with a "soft" metal in the input shaft.

I've done some ringing around and this sort of thing is almost unheard of.

ive seen a few with a well worn input shaft

[Cobez]

Does anyone reckon mine might be the same sort of problem? The slight whine moves up with the shifts etc. As in the noise changes in pitch with the shift through gears when in drive. It shifts fine though, no problems with it at all that i can feel.

[M100]

From what you guys have written about the box lasting minimum 200,000ks is hopefully what im aiming for. Currently at 147ks and its never been serviced so ill do it soon.. Although finding a place as one guy told me that flushing is bad with a machine because you will just mix the crap oil with good oil.. Hmm. Also, apparently ill get not much change from $350.. If you read alot of the articles on the internet written by the main car sites, they pretty much ALL state that the box will only last to 170ks and when purchasing a car, factor this into the equation. Well, I had a TH magna which is apparently prone to gearboxes crapping themselves and guess what.. It lasted to over 260,000kms when I sold it and with no signs of breaking any time soon. All thanks to maintenance.

[brad_m_is]

common problem for the spline on the reaction shell to strip. happened to mine at 100 000 kays. the transmission place said some strip at like 40 000 and some never strip just the luck of the draw like anything to do with cars really

[arty]

Just reading this thread... It looks like I have the same problem.... Will be taking it to a transmission place to see what is wrong with it... I hope I don't need a transmission. My car has done 210,000.