Traverse Forum banner

Stutter when shifting between 2nd and 3rd

14K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  kgorilla 
#1 ·
Hello all,
Wife and I just bought our used 2018 Traverse LT (63k miles) and it appears to have a slight stutter when you accelerate quickly from a stand still. Took it back to the Chevy dealer to have them look at it but was told that this is "normal" behavior. I tend to disagree but before I make a federal case out it I wanted to check with you guys to see what your thoughts were. Again its not bad just noticeable, meaning not jerking just stuttering slightly. Love the truck / car / SUV (whatever this thing is) and am more than willing to invest a little to get it right. What are your thoughts?
 
#2 ·
I was pointed to the answer here:

Sorry to the mods for the repost. Tried to delete the thread but I can't seem to find the delete button.
 
#3 · (Edited)
This issue is all over the 2018+ Forum. It IS NOT normal transmission behaviour.

There are 2 possible issues

1. The first can be solved with a TSB ( not sure of the exact TSB #) which consists of replacing the transmission fluid with New special transmission oil and reprogramming the transmission computer. ( Fixed my 2018 Traverse)
2. The second can be caused by a bad Torque converter.

Your dealer should do the TSB first. If that doesn't work, they will have a check the torque converter.

@AlisoBob is one of the local experts with transmissions. Just check some of his posts.

Good luck!
 
#11 ·
Just a clarification as confirmed by 4 GM dealers so far (Memorial Chevy in Somerset, PA, Memorial Chevy in Windber, PA, Woy Brothers GMC in Somerset, PA, John L Sullivan Chevy in Roseville, CA) the 8-speeds (like in a GMC Canyon pickup) get the "special fluid" (Mobil 1 LV HP whatever). The 9-speeds get the very unspecial fluid of AC Delco Dexron VI. If your dealer is putting the special fluid in your 9-speed that is awesome, but according to the 4 dealers I interacted with, that is not the spec fluid per GM and GM warranty wouldn't be instructing them to use the special fluid. This could change in the future, but as of now, this has been my experience. YMMV and it may be a good thing, just not GM blessed.

Mine going in Tuesday for possible torque converter, fear they will not find any abnormalities during road test.
 
#4 ·
... it appears to have a slight stutter when you accelerate quickly from a stand still.
The converter is not locked when taking off from a standstill. I dont think this a tranny issue.

This sounds more like a engine misfire issue. Whatever it is, the dealer needs to step up and make it right.

I'm pretty leery of buying a fairly new car off a dealer lot. Lots of "lemon" Duramax pickups with incurable driveability issues get traded in on new trucks, and the lemons are resold and the new customer gets stuck with it. When the new owner complains the dealer states.... " Well, that's what you get when buying a used car. Lets see if we can take it back, and get YOU into a new vehicle too!".

I've seen it happen over and over.
 
#6 ·
The converter is not locked when taking off from a standstill. I dont think this a tranny issue.

This sounds more like a engine misfire issue. Whatever it is, the dealer needs to step up and make it right.

I'm pretty leery of buying a fairly new car off a dealer lot. Lots of "lemon" Duramax pickups with incurable driveability issues get traded in on new trucks, and the lemons are resold and the new customer gets stuck with it. When the new owner complains the dealer states.... " Well, that's what you get when buying a used car. Lets see if we can take it back, and get YOU into a new vehicle too!".

I've seen it happen over and over.
This issue is all over the 2018+ Forum. It IS NOT normal transmission behaviour.

There are 2 possible issues

1. The first can be solved with a TSB ( not sure of the exact TSB #) which consists of replacing the transmission fluid with New special transmission oil and reprogramming the transmission computer. ( Fixed my 2018 Traverse)
2. The second can be caused by a bad Torque converter.

Your dealer should do the TSB first. If that doesn't work, they will have a check the torque converter.

@AlisoBob is one of the local experts with transmissions. Just check some of his posts.

Good luck!
[/QU
 
#5 ·
Had the same problem. The dealer replaced our transmission fluid with a newer type and reprogrammed the TCM software. Problem solved. At least this problem. Our 2018 Traverse has been back to Chevy more times than I can count. Enough that GM extended our warranty to 75,000 miles or 5 years. As much as we love the Traverse, we will not keep it after the warranty is gone.
 
#7 ·
I had this issue at I think it was 59,000 miles. It was just within the warranty. It wa a Torque Converter and they had to take the transmission apart to replace it. It would have cost $3,700 if I had to replace it outside of warranty. It ran great after that. I now have just 73,000 miles on it but am worried that it will go bad again if it is bad parts!
 
#9 ·
Well I guess persistence pays off, I keep at it and emailed the senior leadership team of the dealership explaining my issue and they finally agreed to review the issue. So today the service manager and I took a ride in the car and lo and behold there was an issue. Turns out the torque converter needs to be replaced so while I am out $1,000 (they pay 1/2 and I pay 1/2) I am happy the issue is going to be resolved. I will follow up if I continue to have issues. Thank you to everyone who posted.
 
#10 ·
The car doesn't have a warranty with the dealer for it? Usually buying used from a dealer, you get a certain time length warranty (6 months/12 months) and a certain mileage (12,000 miles or so) for any issues.

You mentioned that you just bought, so I would exercise that clause and save myself the $1,000 the dealer is trying to charge.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top