How GM Transmissions are designed To Fail with NextGen Drivetrain

[FreedomOne]

It's still my opinion that the ulv fluid is exacerbating the wear situation.

 

[4wd]

There is a TCM update over the rear wheel issue - its surveillance software that can put the 10L into a 1-5 mode - can be driven in for service … IIRC, for a limited number of 2022’s

 

[BigCahuna]

The transmission failures in question are in trucks that cost much more initially and historically pickups are not disposable like an Equinox.

If you're not in the rust belt, a 2011 GM truck is absolutely worth fixing. 1500 less so, but still worth it. If you get into Duramax territory, ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT worth investment.

A 2011 Equinox is disposable.

Apples to oranges

I did a quick look around and found that a 15 year old 4wd pick up with 150k on the clock, usually sells in the $12,000 range. And a replacement transmission job would set you back anywhere between $3500- $7,500. That's close to what the truck is worth. And if any other big ticket item goes out after you spent big money on a transmission job, like if the engine blows, you would be throwing good money after bad at that point. And if you say, well if what now you would have a new motor and transmission to work with, think about this. If your vehicle was involved in an accident and was totaled, your ins would only pay you what a 15 year old vehicle is worth. My point is, that at a certain age vehicles aren't worth fixing. I know my Equinox wouldn't be, and either would a 15 year old GM pick up.,,

 

[Audiman]

I did a quick look around and found that a 15 year old 4wd pick up with 150k on the clock, usually sells in the $12,000 range. And a replacement transmission job would set you back anywhere between $3500- $7,500. That's close to what the truck is worth. And if any other big ticket item goes out after you spent big money on a transmission job, like if the engine blows, you would be throwing good money after bad at that point. And if you say, well if what now you would have a new motor and transmission to work with, think about this. If your vehicle was involved in an accident and was totaled, your ins would only pay you what a 15 year old vehicle is worth. My point is, that at a certain age vehicles aren't worth fixing. I know my Equinox wouldn't be, and either would a 15 year old GM pick up.,,

In my opinion your looking at it wrong, if you have a $12,000 truck that you have already paid for, that needs a transmission it’s not going to be worth much, so you have no equity in that vehicle, so you can fix it for $7500 or buy another for $12000 that the transmission might then need replacing soon, so not a very clever move, considering your down $24000 for two trucks, if you maintain the first one fixing issues when they come up then cost of ownership is generally lower IF like D60 says there’s no rust.

No point putting money into rust.

 

[buster]

The steering issue fixed itself. No idea what it was or what caused it. Maybe it won't come back again.

 

[nascarnation]

It's still my opinion that the ulv fluid is exacerbating the wear situation.

If that's the case, Allison Transynd TES 295/468/668 should be a step in the right direction.

 

[64bawagon]

If only it were a legit Allison transmission, which it isnt unfortunately

 

[PWMDMD]

The highlighted sentence is the real reason components fail. I'm convinced the automakers have designed basic maintenance to be difficult or nearly impossible as the real cause of planned obsolescence. It doesn't even have to be an impossible-to-service filter like this, but things like requiring special expensive (and often hard-to-get) service tools for the likes of timing-belt changes.

This doesn't include such wonders as the several-thousand-$ taillights on newer pickups that incorporate electronics and sensors, or throwing away large pieces of vehicles to service a small part, such as replacing an entire control arm instead of just a bad ball joint.

It's obvious that such design features are deliberate to ensure periodic vehicle replacement. Cha-ching! Such unnecessary consumption is not sustainable, and we should be encouraging much longer lifespans for vehicles to minimize use of finite resources.

If governments are going to mandate elements of vehicle design, these are among the things that definitely need to be addressed in those mandates.

I'm convinced underbody shielding that is difficult and cumbersome to remove only serves as a literal barrier between the owner and their ability to maintain their vehicle. I look up videos on Youtube about how difficult maintenance is and will not buy a vehicle that makes it difficult. I vote with my dollars!

 

[clinebarger]

This is literally the same conclusion for most of the products they make.





ZF, Ford, GM, Aisin, Chrysler: They're all designed to fail unless you buy our $700 fix kit!

"The internet told me that 10-speed anything sucks and that I'm better off with a 6-speed transmission because they last forever but the guy selling $700 valve body kits with ™ and ® all over the site says that 6-speed sucks too unless I have PulseDelete™."

For the 8L90 & 8L45.....The Pulse/Signal Dampers are the root cause of many problems. He has the only kit on the market that completely eliminates them. TransGo & Sonnax has kits that repairs the worn dampers but they will just wear out again.

A fellow builder was who turned me on to deleting the dampers after doing it to his personal 8L90 in a 2017 Camaro & was impressed.

I have 3 damper deleted 8L90's out there now putting in work & the customers are happy.

They do go to far with the PulseDelete slogan as 6L80/6L90 units doesn't have pulse dampers. The 10L80 only has 2 EPC & TCC dampers which the Next Gen kit does delete....I have a kit in my Gen 1 10L80 & the TCC control is noticeably better.

I did have a issue with a certain part of the kit in my 10L80......The O-ringed Latch Valves (4 of them) fit to tight in the valve body bore & I had to remove them & reinstall the factory ones as it caused rough/flared shifts & solenoid performance DTC's.
The latch valve likely work in a worn out VB put haven't confirmed.

 

[4wd]

The steering issue fixed itself. No idea what it was or what caused it. Maybe it won't come back again.

Sent PM

 

[Chief2025]

Potential fix for the 8l45/8l90. Worth considering if you plan on keeping your truck long term. So the gen 3 transmission hasn't really changed from the gen 2. I thought it did (8:40). This guy is pretty knowledgeable. Worth watching. Very critical of GM's behavior.

7:00-8:40.



https://nextgendiesel.com/collections/8l45-e-transmission-transmission-parts/products/project-carbon®-8l90-e-billet-valve-body-upgrade-kit-w-pulsedelete™

View attachment 334191

Conclusion:

This product was designed so that the 8L90-E transmission could survive hundreds of hundreds of thousands of miles safely. In all data we’ve collected, it was obvious that the pulse dampening system was the root cause of this poor longevity. Finally, a permanent and total solution exists.

Is rather use a bottle of lubegard........
Much cheaper and MUCH easier to use.

 

[Chief2025]

Another youtube video that has very little credibility. BUY MY STUFF!

At least its not AI generated with an obvious non human voice.

 

[SC Maintenance]

ou can't change the internal filter without taking the engine and transmission out of the car, so it's just a drain and fill 5/6 qt deal.

The highlighted sentence is the real reason components fail. I'm convinced the automakers have designed basic maintenance to be difficult or nearly impossible as the real cause of planned obsolescence.

I don't disagree on the planned obsolescence part, but my Nissan's have no internal filter at all, only a screen, and drain is about 4 quarts out of 14, and that is all it gets every 30K. One has 420K on it, the other 240K both still going. I don't think this is the route problem.

 

[buster]

Most important upgrade on any modern transmission is a valve body. He said they design valve bodies because of this problem and data they collected, not the other way around. The data shows it's the valve bodies that usually fail.