Unknown Issue causing shudder and vibration

[Robbo77]

Hi Robbo, my wife has same issue with her 2014 VF Calais, intermittent shuddering. Just wondering if you ended up resolving the issue? I'm thinking maybe driveshaft universal but noted online that GMH had an issue with VE torque convertors in 2012. Regards, Phil

Hi mate that's unfortunate to hear you're dealing with the same issue.
What happened with me is after trying and exhausting possible options from least expensive onwards I got sick of wasting time and money on the damn thing and have been driving around dealing with it since I bought it to this day, it has been a part of my commodore ownership. BUT it is likely it's the torque converter. I went through a local mechanic and had the suspension components checked, wheel alignment etc. New tyres, had the whole driveshaft replaced as there was minor play in the centre uni, this did nothing and proved to be a waste of $. Local mechanic was useless, took it to Holden, they tell me they're "first stage diagnostic and repair" is to replace the torque converter attached to a stupid quote. They couldn't tell me with 100% certainty that it would solve my problem as the issue was "unheard of in the VF's" so I wasn't real keen on wasting more money and just keep driving around. The quote was so high to replace the torque converter that in the coming weeks I'm probably going to look into finding a low km trans at a commy wreckers and just replacing the whole transmission seeing as the torquey is a component of it and the issue could have caused damage to the rest of it not worth the risk I reckon.
I hope yours isn't the same mate. Might be lucky and she's the Uni.

 

[Stroppy]

Robbo77. If your car has low kays then approach Holden directly. Consumer Affairs looks at what "a reasonable person" might expect out of the life of an appliance, car, part...etc. If you have low kays then you could argue this fault was there from the start and request that Holden come to the party for part or all of the cost. They've been in the doggy-do with the ACCC of late so they wouldn't be wanting yet another complaint from them. Worth a try.

 

[Trevor loves holden.]

Robbo77. If your car has low kays then approach Holden directly. Consumer Affairs looks at what "a reasonable person" might expect out of the life of an appliance, car, part...etc. If you have low kays then you could argue this fault was there from the start and request that Holden come to the party for part or all of the cost. They've been in the doggy-do with the ACCC of late so they wouldn't be wanting yet another complaint from them. Worth a try.

Probably why they only sold about 6 thousand cars last year, they new their time was up and didn't give a toss about quality control.

 

[GM tek]

TL,DR
shudder/vibration under car when it feels like it
Clunk when driving off at times
"Helicopter" sound from rear of car
Mechanic reckons no loose or obvious wear from inspection
Diff oil was low when he serviced it

Sorry for the long post guys just wanted to get as much info in as possible to try diagnose the issue.

So my 2014 VF SV6 Auto has something wrong which feels like it's coming from the rear end somewhere. Have had it serviced at the local mechanic and had him inspect for anything loose etc. And reckons he couldn't find anything.
Symptoms are a shuddering, vibration from under the car, can occur at seemingly any speed/acceleration, but not constant, car can be driving smoothly and then have a heavy shuddering which can be felt through the wheel and by passengers.
It has also been making a loud clunk from the rear end when taking off at standard/light acceleration, such as reversing out of a driveway and shifting to drive and pulling away. Again it doesn't do this every time.
Also I have noticed lately that I have been hearing what sounds almost like being pursued by a helicopter if that makes sense, kind of sound from the rear end, at first thought maybe an aircon sound but still present at times when it's off and just sitting in the car.
When serviced the Diff oil was very low.
After purchase found out previous owner was a bit of a hoon off road etc. Likely abused the poor thing.
Am I looking at likely a buggered diff.?
Or something drive shaft related..uni joint, centre bearing etc.
Transmission seems to shift smooth and fine so hoping it's all good. Worth a trans service?
Old mate says he doesnt want to start replacing things and looking for something that could be anything and tells me to go get the wheels balanced. However he also hasn't experienced the issue first hand. I'm very skeptical its a balance issue as I've experienced it now with 3 different sets of wheels/tyres on the car and don't wish to waste the cash on having balancing done should it turn out to be something expensive. Also the car drives smooth and at high speed other than when it has the obvious shudder so not thinking it's a wheel balancing issue.
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated guys.
Cheers

You have described the exact symptoms I'm experiencing with my VF wagon..
After 2 mechanics driving it, new rims, new tyres, tailshaft inspection etc. still at first base'
I finally decided to take it to an out of area Holden service dealer (both my local genuine dealers have stopped servicing Holdens since the shut down)
After keeping the car overnight the service manager reported the issue as a 'noisy diff due to excessively worn gears'
I would not have thought so at 120,000 kms!!

Any help or advise would be appreciated before I fork out for another diff..
Thanks

 

[RevNev]

Anyway, not sure what gearbox a 2014 SV6 has but a 'clunk' when going from reverse to drive is a known problem with 6L45 autos. It could be your 2014 sv6 auto has a similar issue. Your SV6 could also have a number of compounding problems making diagnosis somewhat difficult.

Anyway, check here for the 2015 6L45 shift clunk bulletin which describes the problem and the solution (i'm sure i've seen similar issue for 2014 VF's but a quick google didn't find the bulletin)....

My VF2 SV6 ute has a bit of a twangy clunk like that I read a bulletin about a loose gearbox flange. The remedy is removing it, cleaning up the splines and refitting with a particular grade of Loctite and let it cure overnight before driving. I intend to have a look at some stage.

 

[Skylarking]

Yes, there is that defect causing a clunk in 6L45 autos which was rectified by locktight on the gearbox drive shaft flange (but haven’t found the service bulletin for it as it seems to have disappeared)… If you suspect that issue, Holden should pay to fix this latent defect under your ACL statutory warranty

But it seems there are also other issues that impact 6L80 autos as used in the 2014-2017 Chevy SS,… see GM service bulletins here. This isn’t relevant to 6L45 boxes… however it‘s disappointing to read about this 6L80 issue today…

Still, gotta love, not, what seems like Holden’s lack of openness as many NHTSa bulletins that reference Holden seem to have been pulled from the USA site So where is the corresponding Australian recall or even bulletin on this defect?

VE had a bunch of auto defects with links to bulletins as described here. The VF section of that site does discuss the locktight fix but provides no links to the bulletin (with its technical details and pictures within the doc..)

 

[Bunz of steel]

Hey Robbo, did you try changing the Transmission fluid? I had a similar shudder- vibration that would kick in occasionally around 60km at 1500rpm.

That clunk, getting that fixed not having to hear it, fantastic.

 

[mikzmixify]

TL,DR
shudder/vibration under car when it feels like it
Clunk when driving off at times
"Helicopter" sound from rear of car
Mechanic reckons no loose or obvious wear from inspection
Diff oil was low when he serviced it

Sorry for the long post guys just wanted to get as much info in as possible to try diagnose the issue.

So my 2014 VF SV6 Auto has something wrong which feels like it's coming from the rear end somewhere. Have had it serviced at the local mechanic and had him inspect for anything loose etc. And reckons he couldn't find anything.
Symptoms are a shuddering, vibration from under the car, can occur at seemingly any speed/acceleration, but not constant, car can be driving smoothly and then have a heavy shuddering which can be felt through the wheel and by passengers.
It has also been making a loud clunk from the rear end when taking off at standard/light acceleration, such as reversing out of a driveway and shifting to drive and pulling away. Again it doesn't do this every time.
Also I have noticed lately that I have been hearing what sounds almost like being pursued by a helicopter if that makes sense, kind of sound from the rear end, at first thought maybe an aircon sound but still present at times when it's off and just sitting in the car.
When serviced the Diff oil was very low.
After purchase found out previous owner was a bit of a hoon off road etc. Likely abused the poor thing.
Am I looking at likely a buggered diff.?
Or something drive shaft related..uni joint, centre bearing etc.
Transmission seems to shift smooth and fine so hoping it's all good. Worth a trans service?
Old mate says he doesnt want to start replacing things and looking for something that could be anything and tells me to go get the wheels balanced. However he also hasn't experienced the issue first hand. I'm very skeptical its a balance issue as I've experienced it now with 3 different sets of wheels/tyres on the car and don't wish to waste the cash on having balancing done should it turn out to be something expensive. Also the car drives smooth and at high speed other than when it has the obvious shudder so not thinking it's a wheel balancing issue.
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated guys.
Cheers

hey mate have you fix the problem is it the torque converter, tail shaft or centre bearing? cheers!

 

[hademall]

Original post was three and a half years ago. Robbo could well have spat the dummy and got rid of his car?

 

[Billy vf]

TL,DR
shudder/vibration under car when it feels like it
Clunk when driving off at times
"Helicopter" sound from rear of car
Mechanic reckons no loose or obvious wear from inspection
Diff oil was low when he serviced it

Sorry for the long post guys just wanted to get as much info in as possible to try diagnose the issue.

So my 2014 VF SV6 Auto has something wrong which feels like it's coming from the rear end somewhere. Have had it serviced at the local mechanic and had him inspect for anything loose etc. And reckons he couldn't find anything.
Symptoms are a shuddering, vibration from under the car, can occur at seemingly any speed/acceleration, but not constant, car can be driving smoothly and then have a heavy shuddering which can be felt through the wheel and by passengers.
It has also been making a loud clunk from the rear end when taking off at standard/light acceleration, such as reversing out of a driveway and shifting to drive and pulling away. Again it doesn't do this every time.
Also I have noticed lately that I have been hearing what sounds almost like being pursued by a helicopter if that makes sense, kind of sound from the rear end, at first thought maybe an aircon sound but still present at times when it's off and just sitting in the car.
When serviced the Diff oil was very low.
After purchase found out previous owner was a bit of a hoon off road etc. Likely abused the poor thing.
Am I looking at likely a buggered diff.?
Or something drive shaft related..uni joint, centre bearing etc.
Transmission seems to shift smooth and fine so hoping it's all good. Worth a trans service?
Old mate says he doesnt want to start replacing things and looking for something that could be anything and tells me to go get the wheels balanced. However he also hasn't experienced the issue first hand. I'm very skeptical its a balance issue as I've experienced it now with 3 different sets of wheels/tyres on the car and don't wish to waste the cash on having balancing done should it turn out to be something expensive. Also the car drives smooth and at high speed other than when it has the obvious shudder so not thinking it's a wheel balancing issue.
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated guys.
Cheers

Mine has a shudder when accelerating lightly between 50-60km not every time just random probably 5/10 times only started yesterday even between 80-100 rarely but the feels of it I think it starts from the back and vibrates to the front