5l40E shift issues

[SuperJIVE]

Hey guys, I've got a VZ SV6 commodore sedan with the 5L40E auto gearbox installed, everything was running perfectly up until about 2 months ago where i noticed the gearbox started to 'clunk' while trying to change from 5th to 4th while doing around 80km/h and using medium throttle, it continues to 'clunk' until giving it heavy throttle which seems to force it to change down gears, it doesn't do this while using the active select to manually change gears and works flawlessly, have been doing some reading about it and think it could possibly be the shift solenoids. Has anyone else encountered this problem or knows anyone that has?. Any info would be muchly appreciated. - Cheers

Hey all, I've been having this issue with my 5L40E for a bit now and was kinda stumped on it but just found this post from 2013 and wasn't sure if i should necro the thread. I'm having the same issue with my trans atm where shifting in and out of 5th is hazy, sometimes shifts fine but a lot of the time dumps it both in and out of 5th. When shifting with paddles in active select it shifts smooth as but back to normal if you put it back in auto shift. Long story short trans got run with low oil for a while till it started making noise so i flushed it twice and put in a bottle of lucas trans additive which helped noticeably. 1-4 are normally smooth as now but there is an occasional hiccup in the revs at high rpm in 3rd or 4th (can't remember which, doesn't happen often). Have also heard that it could be solenoids or possibly valve body, I thought i might've buggered the clutch pack but it'd surely be playing up regardless of active select if that was the case. Any help would be legendary, thanks in advance

 

[Commo64]

It could be a solenoid or a valve body, though it could also be the 5 speed wearing out, as these transmissions aren't very good, and it probably didn't help that you ran it on almost no fluid either... Have you scanned the car yet? That will give you an idea of what's going wrong...

Also is it a VZ or a VE?

 

[SuperJIVE]

It could be a solenoid or a valve body, though it could also be the 5 speed wearing out, as these transmissions aren't very good, and it probably didn't help that you ran it on almost no fluid either... Have you scanned the car yet? That will give you an idea of what's going wrong...

Also is it a VZ or a VE?

It had fluid but was around a litre low as did the service in my slanted driveway, was a **** idea but had nowhere else to do it without paying someone. I haven’t scanned the car yet no, don’t have a scan tool unfortunately but there’s no warnings, lights, nothing. It had a problem previously where it would go into limp mode if you have it some juice a few times in a single drive and that showed no warnings or anything either. Changed the fluid from that and it was so dark it looked similar to used engine oil. It is a VZ SV6 sorry should’ve included that. Thanks heaps for the reply mate

 

[Lex]

It had fluid but was around a litre low as did the service in my slanted driveway, was a **** idea but had nowhere else to do it without paying someone. I haven’t scanned the car yet no, don’t have a scan tool unfortunately but there’s no warnings, lights, nothing. It had a problem previously where it would go into limp mode if you have it some juice a few times in a single drive and that showed no warnings or anything either. Changed the fluid from that and it was so dark it looked similar to used engine oil. It is a VZ SV6 sorry should’ve included that. Thanks heaps for the reply mate

Did you change the filter too?
May help with another fluid & filter change?

 

[Commo64]

It had fluid but was around a litre low as did the service in my slanted driveway, was a **** idea but had nowhere else to do it without paying someone. I haven’t scanned the car yet no, don’t have a scan tool unfortunately but there’s no warnings, lights, nothing. It had a problem previously where it would go into limp mode if you have it some juice a few times in a single drive and that showed no warnings or anything either. Changed the fluid from that and it was so dark it looked similar to used engine oil. It is a VZ SV6 sorry should’ve included that. Thanks heaps for the reply mate

You might want to scan the car as it may tell you some codes, even if there's no warning light... The black fluid isn't a good sign either and means that it was running on low oil (as you said), which may mean your transmission is worn out... It might be worth taking some of the fluid in your transmission and sending it to a lab, to make sure there isn't metal shavings in the oil... But definitely get a scan tool first (a Bluetooth one will work well)

 

[SuperJIVE]

Sorry should clarify, car was going into limp mode early this year. Changed oil and filter and that's when oil came out extremely dark. After that it ran beautifully but this is when i underfilled trans and drove it until it made noise. I flushed oil twice and added lucas to the third fill about a month ago. Now it's definitely better than before flushing but still having the shifting issues. There was quite a bit of debris in the pan when flushing, I won't lie it was an alarming amount. However after flushing it has definitely gotten better and like i said now shifts fine in manual select but not auto. The debris in the pan is what made me think I may have done a clutch pack but that would affect it at all times even in auto select. I'll have to buy a scan tool and look at codes. Anyone have any recommendations for a good scan tool that can read codes that doesn't break the bank? Massive bonus if it can do live data too but that's probably a stretch and a half

 

[Jolls]

Gday @SuperJIVE ,

The scan tool you are looking for is probably either a Tech 2 clone or a Vident for Holden (see here). I have both - the Tech 2 is best for the nitty gritty stuff and has a few more tricks when testing because it is specifically designed for the car; however, the ability to link modules and program keys is a real weakness. The Vident has many great features, like programing keys and linking modules without the need for AC Delco security authoristion. If you don't need these features the Tech 2 would be my choice. That is where I started and then I found I needed both.

Another bi directional scanner that has a good rep for its price is Topdon. If you search for Topdon on here @Fu Manchu has loaded up a couple of vids. You can view the Topdon info here.

Cheers n Beers
Jolls

 

[Just Damo]

Sorry should clarify, car was going into limp mode early this year. Changed oil and filter and that's when oil came out extremely dark. After that it ran beautifully but this is when i underfilled trans and drove it until it made noise. I flushed oil twice and added lucas to the third fill about a month ago. Now it's definitely better than before flushing but still having the shifting issues. There was quite a bit of debris in the pan when flushing, I won't lie it was an alarming amount. However after flushing it has definitely gotten better and like i said now shifts fine in manual select but not auto. The debris in the pan is what made me think I may have done a clutch pack but that would affect it at all times even in auto select. I'll have to buy a scan tool and look at codes. Anyone have any recommendations for a good scan tool that can read codes that doesn't break the bank? Massive bonus if it can do live data too but that's probably a stretch and a half

Either the bluetooth dongles you can get online then an app you can download. That's a cheap way.

or

I picked up a foxwell et2707 from repco for $99. Reads live data and codes. Just a basic one, but a good starter.

 

[Commo64]

There was quite a bit of debris in the pan when flushing, I won't lie it was an alarming amount. However after flushing it has definitely gotten better and like i said now shifts fine in manual select but not auto. The debris in the pan is what made me think I may have done a clutch pack but that would affect it at all times even in auto select.

Did the debris look like metal?

As for a scan tool that won't break the bank, @Just Damo and @Jolls have suggested good scanners

 

[SuperJIVE]

Thanks for the info lads, I'll check the scanners out. Yeah the debris was what looked like a mix of metal and clutch material. Magnet was completely covered in it and was a decent amount in the bottom of the pan, bit more came out after the flushes too. Was driving around this previous saturday when it was kinda warm and think the trans was slipping in 5th. Revs would jump up 200ish rpm for a second or two then drop back down to what they were. Honestly feels like the box is on its way out atm but I'll still see about getting a scanner and having a look