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2013 Issues

5K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  Asinity 
#1 ·
New to the forum here and am looking for a bit of information.

I recently had my 2013 2LT in for routine service and brought up a couple concerns. I purchased extended warranty coverage when we took ownership of the vehicle in January of this year with 57,000km's. It now has 91,000km.

- Brake pedal has developed a non-metallic groan upon press and release. The tech had a listen and said it's very likely the brake booster that needs replacement. They sent me on my way, told me to bring the car back the following Friday (Nov 4) to get the new part installed. They would look at the next concerns at that point.

- Steering wheel makes a whirring noise, particularly when navigating parking lots with lots of sharp turns. It was getting particularly offensive when I brought the car in so I asked to speak with the tech before they did anything with it. He touched the steering wheel, said "I know what that is" and they sent me on my way again to return this Wednesday so they can replace both the booster and the steering gear, both under my extended warranty. Doing some reading on these forums it seems there could be a reason for this failure, the power steering pump?

- Third, the car has always had a strange knock/pop come from the front, driver side of the vehicle. The pop can sometimes be felt through the gas pedal and the dead pedal on the left side. It only happens upon initial acceleration after the car has been parked for a length of time (seems to be about an hourish or longer). I'll start the car, place it into D, and go on my way. Once I reach 20-25kph I hear a faint buzz/vibration of sorts, followed by a single, audible knock/pop in the 30kph range. It happens once, and then doesn't do it again until the car is stopped and turned off for a while. Like clock work though, it does it the next time. The tech said he would look at it once he finishes the other work this week. To me, it sounds almost like it's coming from the transmission, but I could be wrong. I wouldn't call the shifts violent, but I certainly do feel them, sometimes the shifts feel sloppy, other times they feel perfect - slow, gradual acceleration tends to cause these questionable shifts. I've had some 2-3 shifts that seem to slip a little bit if the transmission isn't fully warmed up. At first I chalked the shifting up to me not being used to driving a vehicle with a 6-speed transmission, but as time goes on, I'm questioning the vehicle now. I'm not sure if the pop is related to the transmission, but I am starting to wonder. I did have the transmission serviced at 70,000km but did not notice a change in anything after the fact.

I have to ask - are 2013 and newer owners seeing the transmission issues of the previous generation? I did not look at any Lambda's older than 2013 when we were in search of a vehicle because of the transmission issues known on the older ones. After further reading of these forums I really can't help but wonder what kind of longevity I should expect out of this truck.

I am very disheartened that a 3 year old vehicle with 91,000km's needs this much work, despite warranty covering the problems. If the steering gear needs replacement in another 90,000km, obviously I'll be footing the bill for that. So, to those who have had the steering gear replaced, is the replacement actually better, or does GM simply throw another piece of garbage into it for it to fail on the customers dime the next time?

Any thoughts or opinions, particularly on the knock/pop noise that I'm getting. I'd like to see if maybe someone else is dealing with something similar, I can get the tech pointed in the right direction.

Thanks for the help.
 
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#2 ·
I'll only speak to the 3rd item as it's the only one I'm familiar with. The "pop" or clicks upon initial drive away is the stabilitrak system setting itself up. My 2013 does the same thing. My parents have a 2012 Buick, previously they had a 2008 Buick - both did the same. I've had a couple of Traverse rentals (various years) and they all did it as well.

As for the shifting, I've experienced the same thing - seemingly random "bad" shifts. Nothing alarming, just not what's expected. I don't think it's anything to be alarmed by.
 
#3 ·
Well for one, good news is everything is being covered.

#1 I can't say I've heard of on these cars before.

#2, now that is prevalent particularly on the older ones. My '10 had the p/s pump let go after a lot of whining. There was a 10/120k special coverage implemented after mine failed on the pump itself. I thought they had resolved that by '11 or '12 though.
 
#4 ·
30 Kilometers Per Hour = 18.6411358 Miles Per Hour


This is totally normal.
It is a self test of the system.


StabiliTrak System
The vehicle has the StabiliTrak
system which combines antilock
brake, traction and stability control
systems and helps the driver
maintain directional control of the
vehicle in most driving conditions.
When you first start the vehicle and
begin to drive away, the system
performs several diagnostic checks
to ensure there are no problems.
The system may be heard or felt
while it is working. This is normal
and does not mean there is a
problem with the vehicle. The
system should initialize before the
vehicle reaches 32 km/h (20 mph).
In some cases, it may take
approximately 3.2 km (2 miles) of
driving before the system initializes.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the input, especially about the Stabilitrak noise, that certainly puts my mind at ease.

Is there any information about the replacement steering gears, if they are any improvement over the failed versions?

I'll let everyone know how things pan out on Wednesday, thanks again.
 
#7 ·
Got the Traverse back today and all is well. Steering gear seal was worn causing the failure, and the brake booster was replaced. They couldn't replicate the pop that I hear, which was rather funny when I pulled away and it made the sound - with that said though I'm not too worried about it any more.

I was given a Silverado rental truck for a couple days and I'm not sure if I was getting used to that vehicle or what, but the new parts seem to have brought new life into the Traverse with regards to how the steering and braking feel and everything is very quiet now. Hopefully the replaced parts last for the rest of the trucks life.

Thanks again for the assistance in the earlier posts.
 
#8 ·
I don't mean to dig up an old thread but just wanted to post a follow up at 118,000km.

Transmission is still slipping from 2-3, albeit still intermittently but happens 2-3 times a day... sometimes more so it's getting to be rather annoying and worrisome.

You can hear, see and feel the slip when it happens. Around town it doesn't happen much, but merging onto a highway or passing on one of the country roads on my way to/from work is when it seems to happen most. I've seen it happen at 3000RPM up to about 6000RPM.

I've had a couple chats with 2 dealers about getting it looked at but I've been told that I'd be on the hook for diagnostic time if nothing is found, and being as it's intermittent, then I could be wasting time and money. I've also had it suggested that I could have the transmission flashed/reset for yet another 'reasonable' cost but that it likely wouldn't help anyway. I don't think I'm imagining that this transmission is acting wonky between the rough shifts and these slips.

I'd love to get some opinions on it, so I've shared a link to a short video. It happened this time, and then 2 more times on the way home from work today.

Hope the following link works;

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9zIJuAVNSH9VWJWTEFqQVRLN1k

Thanks, and sorry again for resurrecting an old thread.
 
#9 ·
in the video---
whats happening?

To me it looks like youre doing a hard acceleration and the engine is revving up to 5500 before shifting. youre at about 37- and reach 50 mph....

or are you talking about that shift at about 5300-- where the trans 'releases' and you get a quick little spike in RPMs to 5500... before it drops...?
 
#10 ·
Yep that spike is what I'm talking about. Sometimes its a quick little one, I've seen it spike up 400ish rpm between shifts.

I'll get 'regular' shifts without the spike doing the same sort of acceleration, again, merging onto highways etc. But these spikes are happening more frequently it seems.

Any thoughts on the cause?

Thanks
 
#11 ·
I was going to say-- Ive seen small spikes.. when the release occurs..
but if youre seeing up to 400 RPMs... then yeah thats too much.

the 2013s, this is the year the transmissions changed from using the little plastic pressure plates (cant remember the name) to solenoids....

Im wondering if doing several drain/refills would drain out particles that may be causing some issues. (do not do a flush).
at 73,xxx miles--- it would be a good time to do your 1st drain...

my HOW TO drain fluid.

http://www.traverseforum.com/33-engine-drivetrain/2683-how-drain-your-transmission-fluid.html
 
#12 ·
Thanks.

I actually did my first transmission service at my dealer last summer at around 70,000km. This issue really started to pop up in the fall, so that was probably 15-20,000km after my service.

Is there a way to quickly verify the solenoid is functioning properly? Again this only happens on my 2-3 shift, 3-2 sometimes feels sloppy. All other shifts are pretty good.

I'd love to get this checked under my powertrain warranty... maybe I'll just have to suck up a loss to diagnose it and hope it yields an answer.
 
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