6L80E toast or timing chain guides?

[oms]

Hi Gents,

My LS3 VF2 CalaisV started making some weird scraping/grinding noises on soft acceleration (1000-3000rpm).

It is usually more prevalent when the car is warm. Initially I thought it might've been timing chain guides but I noticed some hesitation when accelerating and took it to a transmission specialist who confirmed its probably the gearbox.

The thing is, it makes the sound even when in Neutral or Park so I'm not sure if it is still gearbox.

I've had the gearbox serviced about 10k ago (oil, filter) and used the correct penrite gl-5 oil. The recent diagnostic tests run by the transmission specialist showed not tcu errors (he also cleared the tcu)

It seems like gear 1 slips the most and usually engages and lurches forward. I don't get any slip on hard acceleration and it still pulls hard.

I've been quoted $5-6K+ to rebuild the gearbox. I literally had put the car up for sale days prior to this.

So a few questions:

1. Is it possible the gearbox can make a scraping noise when it's not even engaged (Park or Neutral)?
2. Why doesn't it slip on hard acceleration?
3. Can anyone point me to a cheaper alternative to the 6k? I called around and there seems to be 3 wreckers in Australia that have one (2 in SA that require you buy it as part of a 18k conversion with engine, loom etc; and one in WA and they want $4140). I'm in Sydney and was planning on using Condell Park transmissions

Thanks in advance

Edit: 2016 VF2 CalaisV LS3 with 166k on the clock.

Edit2: I put the Penrite ATFLV004 auto trans oil in, not gl5 like I mentioned above.

 

[NJD-1992]

When you say it was serviced, I hope you DONT mean Penrite GL5?

As in this

Because that’s Differential Oil, not transmission fluid

The correct Penrite fluid for the 6L80 is the Dexron VI fluid below

 

[oms]

Yeh sorry, I put the auto trans one in, I recently did my diff which used the other one. Sorry, brain fart.

 

[NJD-1992]

Yeh sorry, I put the auto trans one in, I recently did my diff which used the other one. Sorry, brain fart.

Thank god for that, cause was thinking "Ahhh, there's your problem!"

 

[Skylarking]

There are a bunch of known issues with the 6l80E that causes a number of symptoms…

These should have been fixed under recall cause loosing traction while driving is dangerous. Sadly the regulators are and have always been asleep at the wheel…

Have a look at the following as it impacts the 2014-17 Chevy SS and thus impacts our cars as well…

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10178309-9999.pdf

There was also a period where some Torque Converters had a manufacturing fault leading to the TC neck cracking ( and stuffing up the pump?) but I can’t remember which year that was (VE, VF, VF2?). There is an accompanying TSB on this issue as well but don’t have a link.

Some of these transmission/TC issues should really be handled by Holden under one’s consumer statutory warranty rights under law (if the car was bought from a car dealer) as a transmission should last much more than 166,000 kms. That’s especially the case considering the first factory fluid change should occurs at 150,000 kms for the normal service schedule (but with the severe schedule, hot city driving, towing, etc, the trans fluid is changed @ 75,000 kms intervals).

If the trans issue is the problem, then it can still make noises in neutral if it’s caused by parts that spin while the motor is running, such as TC and/or pump.

I don’t know what your issue may be (I’m not a transmission expert) but I hate when DTC’s are simply cleared. Really, the history should be well documented on paper for the owner as history can be important…

I‘m also not a fan of used transmissions as their history may not be well known and you may be buying someone else’s problem. New 6L80E with TC can be had for $7k odd so I’d say that’s a better option (though a bit more costly) unless he who does the rebuild is actually an expert in these transmissions and is able to correct the factory defects/shortcomings…

Whatever the case, always flush the vehicles lines and cooler (when replacing a transmission) to ensure there is no crap that would get back into the new rebuild and stuff it up (some say you cant effectively flush the trans cooler so it should also be replaced). Those who rebuild the trans and reuse their old TC and don’t replace/flush can suffer badly from repeat transmission failure.

The difficulty is finding an honest dealer that will take up your cause or an honest trans specialist that will highlight such known defects and your consumer rights under law… All businesses hate ACL and don’t like highlighting how it can help.

Good luck with it.

PS: just one of the many many threads on JC that discuss trans/TC issues

https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/2014-vf-commodore-torque-converter-problem.295086/

 

[oms]

Thanks Skylarking.

Can anyone recommend a 6L80E specialist to rebuild my auto? My local guy has a bunch of experience but I'm not sure if he's super familiar with the 6L80E specifically.

 

[losh1971]

Thanks Skylarking.

Can anyone recommend a 6L80E specialist to rebuild my auto? My local guy has a bunch of experience but I'm not sure if he's super familiar with the 6L80E specifically.

https://www.craigsautos.com.au/

 

[oms]

Off to craigs on the 22nd of April. $5100 for a stock build and $7600 for a "performance build"

Thanks gents.

 

[oms]

The bizarre thing is I've driven about 200km since the above and it hasn't slipped once. It still makes a weird scraping noise. Is it possible that the slip is gone? Maybe it wasn't a gearbox issue all along?

 

[lmfvf2ssredlineute]

The bizarre thing is I've driven about 200km since the above and it hasn't slipped once. It still makes a weird scraping noise. Is it possible that the slip is gone? Maybe it wasn't a gearbox issue all along?

is it slipping or flaring, these trans vf2 only have a shallow oil pan and flaring slipping can happen at times when trans oil pick up tube runs out of oil when cornering, accelerating ect
a cheap up grade is a deeper GM camaro trans sump pan along with matching longer oil pick up
holds bout 1 litre extra oil and stops trans flaring slipping due to low oil and pick up sucking air and no oil
search this forum for camaro deep trans pan
make sure what problem is before splashing cash