Tranny issue with second gear...

[steve142857]

Hey all!
I need your input on this one. I have experienced for several months now, a harsh bump or a «clunk» especially when downshifting with paddle shifters from 3rd to 2nd gear... Then, when I immobilize the car and press on the gas it does a bump again at low speed...
I went for the TSB 11-5-6 to be performed about three days ago. At first, everything seemed fine, but today the problem occurred again...
BTW, I don't know about you guys, but they told me that the TSB 11-5-6 was about a piece to be replaced in the transmission followed by a reprogramming of the transmission. They said it was 3.1 hours + 3.1 hours of labor... I thought the other guys that had it done was just about a reprogramming (a 20 minutes thing)...
So, now I am confused... I don't know much about mechanic, so please don't laugh if my concern sounds stupid. It feels like my second gear is somewhat broken, is that possible? Could it be the LMS tune that is too ******* the tranny/gears (no torque management)? That said, I believe I have experienced the issue before driving it tuned.
What do you guys believe should be my next step?
I will try putting back to stock and see if it duplicates the problem. I have the feeling that the next time I will bring it to the dealer they would require the problem to occur in front of them before attempting something else. They already did the TSB 11-5-6 without questions asked...
The problem only happens from time to time, not necessarily after WOT or brake/torque starts... Although more often with the use of paddle shifters.
Thanks for your help,
Steve:thankyou:
BTW, after the TSB, I drove it stock and then asked LMS for new tunes and found that the car was a bit more hesitant than before TSB... sometimes it took a second before kicking in, is it that the car has been reset and the tranny is learning again to match my style of driving?

 

[Crash712us]

I hardly ever use paddles, but I get a harsh bump occasionally under light to moderate acceleration.

 

[Billm0066]

Are you currently using stage 3 or 4? I personally use stage 2 because I felt stage 3 was too rough on the transmission. I only get a clunk on a rare occasion now. Flash stage 2 or go back to stock and report back.

 

[steve142857]

Are you currently using stage 3 or 4? I personally use stage 2 because I felt stage 3 was too rough on the transmission. I only get a clunk on a rare occasion now. Flash stage 2 or go back to stock and report back.

I am running stage 4... Do you think it can make irreversible damages? I will flash back to stock and see after a few days... The only thing is that once you have tried stage 4, it feels slow when driving stock, but hey, better a bit slower but keep moving forward than feeling fast and have to go to the garage and maybe face a bigger tranny issue and possibly not under warranty.
I will report in a week from now when drove under different stages to see if it is only a matter of torque management with the more aggressive tunes...
Nevertheless, it is fun to beat Camaro SS, Mustang Shelbys and C5 Corvettes (and yesterday an RS4!) on 330 ft (distance from one stop to another). But probably not worth thousand of dollars of repair...

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

Perhaps Rick @ Livernois can chime in. If stage 4 is mostly a tune and doesn't affect the tranny (vs. stage 3) perhaps you can get the stage 4 ECU tuning part with the stage 2 TCU portion, to calm the shifting down a bit.

Since I never use the paddle shifters, and avoid "M".... at a loss on your issues. From my experiences, Torries tranny tune & Livernois tranny tune feel pretty much the same in my Brick.

 

[Billm0066]

I am running stage 4... Do you think it can make irreversible damages? I will flash back to stock and see after a few days... The only thing is that once you have tried stage 4, it feels slow when driving stock, but hey, better a bit slower but keep moving forward than feeling fast and have to go to the garage and maybe face a bigger tranny issue and possibly not under warranty.
I will report in a week from now when drove under different stages to see if it is only a matter of torque management with the more aggressive tunes...
Nevertheless, it is fun to beat Camaro SS, Mustang Shelbys and C5 Corvettes (and yesterday an RS4!) on 330 ft (distance from one stop to another). But probably not worth thousand of dollars of repair...

I know when I tried stage 3 I was getting more clunks than stage 2. To me it felt really ******* the transmission. With stage 2 I only get them on a rare occasion. Actually probably less than stock for some reason. I remember when it was stock I got a lot of clunks when going around a turn and then hitting the gas. I have been putting off getting the TSB and a few other fixes because I haven't had much time to let me car sit at the dealership, but I hope the TSB clears up the random clunks I get. I have yet to try stage 4, but I will when I finally go to the track.

 

[steve142857]

Just to clarify, the clunks don't happen when I accelerate, but when I downshift, mainly with paddle shifters, from 3rd to 2nd gear... even when I let off gas before downshifiting... Then, after it does the clunk (which is quite hard, it gives me goose bumps!), the upshifting from 1st to second is hesitant (smaller clunk). I had hopes that the 11-5-6 TSB would have cleared that issue, but now I a m worried about my tranny. That said, I believe it was doing it even before starting tuning the car. The problem (which is also good), is that the car doesn't always do it and if I bring it back to the dealer, they are going to experience the clunks before being able to do anything more under the warranty...
Thanks for your imputs and EBB is right, maybe the boost of the stage 4 with torque management would be good, like a stage 2 with more boost...

 

[geekme]

The TSB includes removal of a checkball in the valve body, installing a new seperator plate and reprogramming. So yes it will take 3 or more hours of labor. The basic reprogramming was for the prior TSBs until they realized that an extra checkball had been added to the valve body.

 

[EcoBrick Bob]

I would seriously quit using those paddles too..... Get some "NO" stickers... if you are really addicted....LOL Do you do your stripping in "D" or "M"??? I have tried both and don't see any real difference under WOT.

They mean Discrete and Macho.... correct!!!!

 

[steve142857]

I would seriously quit using those paddles too..... Get some "NO" stickers... if you are really addicted....LOL Do you do your stripping in "D" or "M"??? I have tried both and don't see any real difference under WOT.

They mean Discrete and Macho.... correct!!!!

I never WOT with paddle shifters... I had abandoned the paddle shifters, but since I got the new exhaust, it just sounds too good when I downshift on manual mode... The thought of not being able to use a feature that exists is a bit frustrating, but I guess I prefer to avoid its use than to end up with a broken tranny. But again, the downshifts with the Dynomax mufflers sound sweet, like a mini-Harley lol!
Cheers! and some positive vibes for the stock markets... after all, I earn my living investing my clients' money in the markets and that is what gives me the $ for mods... ; )

 

[Showgun]

I never WOT with paddle shifters... I had abandoned the paddle shifters, but since I got the new exhaust, it just sounds too good when I downshift on manual mode... The thought of not being able to use a feature that exists is a bit frustrating, but I guess I prefer to avoid its use than to end up with a broken tranny. But again, the downshifts with the Dynomax mufflers sound sweet, like a mini-Harley lol!
Cheers! and some positive vibes for the stock markets... after all, I earn my living investing my clients' money in the markets and that is what gives me the $ for mods... ; )

Ouch! then things are little 'crappy' right now then.

Let's both hope things improve soon then. My retirement fund is what finances my 'habits'.

 

[SoCalSHO]

Don't quit using your paddle shifters. If you like them keep using them.

 

[SHOrod]

I experienced something odd this evening and I'm not sure if it is related to this TSB or not. I don't often use my paddle shifters, but since it was cool this evening and I had a tough day at work, I was driving a bit more aggressively than usual. When I approached a corner and slowed way down to check for cross traffic, the car downshifted to 1st. I stepped on the throttle to go and there was almost no power. I floored the throttle and the engine just stayed around 2300 rpms. No cars were coming, but I also didn't have a good place to pull over, so I let off the throttle and blipped the paddle to shift to second. I apparently hadn't let off the throttle enough because the engine nearly redlined, so I pulled my foot off the accelerator and at the same time pushed the shift lever up to D. At that point the car felt like it went in to park, the tires chirped, then it took off again. I happened to be in Sport mode with the Advance Trac at the time so I'm not sure if that had something to do with it either.

I drove the rest of the way home in D and didn't have any further issues. A few days ago I experienced a strange shift, but I wasn't driving aggressively and I wasn't positive that I didn't hit a bump or something that caused my foot to press the throttle, so I just noted it as unexplained.

For what it's worth, prior to all of this I inspected my knock sensor wires. They are fine, but I put a piece of split loom tubing over the wires anyway, so that shouldn't be part of the equation.

-Rod

 

[Showgun]

Sounds like it's related to TSB 11-5-6 to me ShoRod.
If it comes back you'll have to take it in for the 'procedure'.
G/L

 

[SHOrod]

Thanks, I'll do some research on that TSB. I think I read that one related to moving some balls around and making some new holes in the plate....

-Rod