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VE Transmission WARNING

TonyVY

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I've got a 2010 VE Sport Wagon with the 5 speed auto that just clocked 180,000km.

Few days ago the transmission got hot for the last time and torque converter failed and the killed the transmission.

Ringing around to find a solution to this problem I learn from three different transmission specialists that these transmissions are ALL failing in the same way and at about the same km's and at 180,000 mine has done well.

They get hot because there is no real transmission cooler and there is no in-car warning that the transmission is hot.

The fix is to fit the transmission cooler from the factory "tow pack" or some aftermarket cooler.

If not you will be up for $3500 plus to reco the transmission like I am.

Wish I'd known this 12 months ago when I purchased the car.

Tony
 

monstar

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That’s not the full story, having done twice the km in a loaded wagon, spoken to various specialists and service / tune myself.
Your fluid is cooked of course, not a mechanical fault initially (you can do that in any almost car in about five minutes flat if you try hard enough) but seeing crap fluid wasn’t replaced filter blocked etc., it is now.
Fluid and filter replaced every 60k km, at near $500 a pop for trans service on top of the rest you would have noticed it.
If not, there’s info on here about our tans pan being shallow to clear our Aussie conditions. Which is silly, normal size trans sump and proper deep pan filter with wide mouth fixes flow / overheating.
Bottom line is that with proper regular servicing the MTBF for all the Strasbourg trans is 170k km. So yeah that’s how long they last at a minimum.
Mine’s a 6L80 lasted with heavy duty over seven years and 320k km no problem with deep pan and regular changes. Plenty of examples done over 300k km with regular fluid changes.
EDIT: I’d try flush, self-clean routine, reset adapts through controller firmware, fresh Dexron VI fluid and filter, teach adapts to behave and you never know, you know?
 
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monstar

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@TonyVY i should add that cavemen in this auto trans game been telling me I need a new trans or at least recon since about 20k km.
What actually lead you to believe it is now dead?
Reason I ask is because the L in the component designation is for Lazerus:D, so yeah may live again, at least mine did three or four times after being pronounced dead by auto specialists.
I doubt any of the specialists you spoke to have the computer equipment / software to initiate a self-clean or to reset the adapts.
 
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RiCeY

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These trannys should def have fluid changes much more often than the service schedule. Depending on how hard you drive most trans specialists will recommend every 30-50,000kms. An aftermarket cooler will also extend it's life.
 

h8tensv6

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Isn't there a read out for trans temp in engineering mode.
 

mike_nofx

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That’s not the full story, having done twice the km in a loaded wagon, spoken to various specialists and service / tune myself.
Your fluid is cooked of course, not a mechanical fault initially (you can do that in any almost car in about five minutes flat if you try hard enough) but seeing crap fluid wasn’t replaced filter blocked etc., it is now.
Fluid and filter replaced every 60k km, at near $500 a pop for trans service on top of the rest you would have noticed it.
If not, there’s info on here about our tans pan being shallow to clear our Aussie conditions. Which is silly, normal size trans sump and proper deep pan filter with wide mouth fixes flow / overheating.
Bottom line is that with proper regular servicing the MTBF for all the Strasbourg trans is 170k km. So yeah that’s how long they last at a minimum.
Mine’s a 6L80 lasted with heavy duty over seven years and 320k km no problem with deep pan and regular changes. Plenty of examples done over 300k km with regular fluid changes.
EDIT: I’d try flush, self-clean routine, reset adapts through controller firmware, fresh Dexron VI fluid and filter, teach adapts to behave and you never know, you know?

Two questions for you,

Do you have a transmission cooler?

And how do you reset the transmission?

My 6L80 seems to be shifting slightly differently lately and I want to reset to see if it changes anything. Genuine fluid changed 10,000k ago.

What it’s doing is it seems to hold onto the gear slightly longer than normal with an increase in Revs before changing gears. Not slipping though.
 

monstar

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Two questions for you,

Do you have a transmission cooler?

And how do you reset the transmission?

My 6L80 seems to be shifting slightly differently lately and I want to reset to see if it changes anything. Genuine fluid changed 10,000k ago.

What it’s doing is it seems to hold onto the gear slightly longer than normal with an increase in Revs before changing gears. Not slipping though.
No I don’t have an additional transmission cooler, to clunky and plumbing is complex (vs swapping back to proper trans sump at service).
You can reset the learned settings with Holden thing, a licenced thing from EFIlive or HPTuners. Else I think you can also reset the TCM learned settings by pulling the negative lead off the battery overnight.
Where are you located?
 

blackve76

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I've got a 2010 VE Sport Wagon with the 5 speed auto that just clocked 180,000km.

Few days ago the transmission got hot for the last time and torque converter failed and the killed the transmission.

Ringing around to find a solution to this problem I learn from three different transmission specialists that these transmissions are ALL failing in the same way and at about the same km's and at 180,000 mine has done well.

They get hot because there is no real transmission cooler and there is no in-car warning that the transmission is hot.

The fix is to fit the transmission cooler from the factory "tow pack" or some aftermarket cooler.

If not you will be up for $3500 plus to reco the transmission like I am.

Wish I'd known this 12 months ago when I purchased the car.

Tony
Servicing is important I've done mine(old 4spd 09 Berlina dual fuel) at 65k and 130k now at 188k starting to have odd change but still strong.
2nd is life it's had, stuck in city, highway or lots of towing, mine at 65k pan was full of grey crap 130k clean as even with towing does heaps of highway driving
 

mike_nofx

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No I don’t have an additional transmission cooler, to clunky and plumbing is complex (vs swapping back to proper trans sump at service).
You can reset the learned settings with Holden thing, a licenced thing from EFIlive or HPTuners. Else I think you can also reset the TCM learned settings by pulling the negative lead off the battery overnight.
Where are you located?

Thanks for the reply, I don’t want to hijack this thread, but have more questions!

Tried the battery reset thing, possibly a small improvement. Seems to be more noticeable when cold, which makes sense.

I plan to do another fluid change and am interested in getting the deeper pan for it now. Which pan do you recommend? I see that there are B&M alloy pans with some fins on the bottom which look interesting.
Also there’s a few options from US sellers, including ones which suit a Silverado, and ones which include a drain plug which is handy.

Located in the Illawarra.
 

commodore665

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No I don’t have an additional transmission cooler, to clunky and plumbing is complex (vs swapping back to proper trans sump at service).
You can reset the learned settings with Holden thing, a licenced thing from EFIlive or HPTuners. Else I think you can also reset the TCM learned settings by pulling the negative lead off the battery overnight.
Where are you located?

Does that pulling the negative cable off the battery work on the 5 speed auto on the VZ as well ? .
 
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