# What a Weird Transmission



## mr overkill (Dec 1, 2013)

Think you might need a relearn. IT SHOULD HAVE "learned driving habbits"by now


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## icecube58 (Jan 16, 2015)

Interesting question. Mine started out well but then started to deteriorate as the miles accumulated -- lunging for a too high gear on part throttle, excessive down changes when coming off the throttle. And then it went in for an oil change service @ ca 8,000 miles, and it came back transformed. Don't know whether the dealer downloaded new software, but now its seems to always be in the right gear, though it still prefers not to be hurried; allowed to get on with its own choices, its fine. And its still a dynamite overtaker -- one of the CTD's quirks is that it absolutely thrives in the 45--75 mph range, but is not always so convincingly at 25-35mph.


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

Mine never learned driving habits, that's gotta be baloney, Diesel transmission is just a rough down shifter.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

Ger8mm said:


> Mine never learned driving habits, that's gotta be baloney, Diesel transmission is just a rough down shifter.





jwill213 said:


> I bought a leftover 2014 Diesel new at the end of March for about $22k out the door. After putting ~7500 miles on it, I love the car, aside from the transmission; it's great if you can accelerate normally, but boy does it ever SUCK in stop and go traffic. Which I'm stuck in for ~45 miles every weekday afternoon (my morning commute is much less congested). It reminds me way too much of my Lumina's old 4t65E with a failing torque converter clutch, the way it slams in and out of drive when I have to speed up, immediately let off the gas, and then haltingly accelerate again.
> 
> Does this ever go away? I'm becoming increasingly afraid to keep this car for the long haul.


Mine behaved a bit strangely when new, then "learned" a little and smoothed out over the first 10,000 miles or so. Even then, it still had some noticeable quirks. When I switched it to AMSOil Signature Series Fuel Efficient ATF around 30,000, it dramatically changed the way the transmission behaves, and I've been much more satisfied with the way it downshifts and it doesn't seem to hunt for gears as much either. It seems the properties of this fluid are more compatible with making this transmission perform comfortably than the factory fluid is.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

I've never had any of the problems you guys have mentioned, mine works like it should and I've yet to think, "wow wtf is wrong with this". Actually to be honest, I don't even think about the engine or transmission because they both give me no reason to. 


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## warloc (Dec 10, 2013)

I have to agree with money_man, this is a very good trans (mine is). It is a Aisin 6 speed that is made in Japan that was half the reason I went with the Cruze, the other is obvious, DIESEL engine. I don't even ever find a need to manually shift even in the mountains it seems to always be in the correct gear. Maybe you have problem with yours. BTW maybe not the best choice of car to be stuck in traffic with, I would have gone with a Volt IMO. My CTD loves the open road and WOT once in a while!


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

revjpeterson said:


> Mine behaved a bit strangely when new, then "learned" a little and smoothed out over the first 10,000 miles or so. Even then, it still had some noticeable quirks. When I switched it to AMSOil Signature Series Fuel Efficient ATF around 30,000, it dramatically changed the way the transmission behaves, and I've been much more satisfied with the way it downshifts and it doesn't seem to hunt for gears as much either. It seems the properties of this fluid are more compatible with making this transmission perform comfortably than the factory fluid is.


This is currently what I am looking forward too, nice new trans fluid.



> BTW maybe not the best choice of car to be stuck in traffic with, I would have gone with a Volt IMO. My CTD loves the open road and WOT once in a while!


Agree, CTD is a not a car for heavy traffic but on the other hand if your cruze is always open road and you happen to get stuck in traffic the CTD barely sucks up any juice in that case.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

I suspect if you went and drive a 2011-2012 with a 1.4T you would think your trans was smooth as butter in comparison. Seen more complaints about the diesel trans this year than every previously, before everyone commented on how smooth it was compared to the gas model cruze neutral slip and thunk gearbox.


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## jwill213 (Jun 9, 2015)

warloc said:


> I have to agree with money_man, this is a very good trans (mine is). It is a Aisin 6 speed that is made in Japan that was half the reason I went with the Cruze, the other is obvious, DIESEL engine. I don't even ever find a need to manually shift even in the mountains it seems to always be in the correct gear. Maybe you have problem with yours. BTW maybe not the best choice of car to be stuck in traffic with, I would have gone with a Volt IMO. My CTD loves the open road and WOT once in a while!


I'm a field tech for an IT managed services firm. Aside from my 90 mile roundtrip daily commute, I've been driving hundreds of highway miles a week to make site visits.

I may look into doing a relearn, or I'll see if any new firmware is available (not holding my breath for such a low volume unit).


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## Ger8mm (Mar 13, 2014)

Hey it could be worse, I'm stuck in third gear 
<------------


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## jhipsi (Oct 7, 2013)

I just brought my cruze into the shop. 80k on it and at a stop light the car shifts into neutral but doesn't come out until it decides to. It honestly feels like it is being neutral dropped. So bad. 

I haven't had much problems with it, although I have noticed when it shifts on its own it is much harder on itself then when manually shifting. It feels like a mount is loose, best way to describe it really.

I drive 200km a day, GM gave me a rental, but I really want my cruze back. Missing that fuel mileage.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

jhipsi said:


> I just brought my cruze into the shop. 80k on it and at a stop light the car shifts into neutral but doesn't come out until it decides to. It honestly feels like it is being neutral dropped. So bad.
> 
> I haven't had much problems with it, although I have noticed when it shifts on its own it is much harder on itself then when manually shifting. It feels like a mount is loose, best way to describe it really.
> 
> I drive 200km a day, GM gave me a rental, but I really want my cruze back. Missing that fuel mileage.



Are you still on the factory fluid, or have you changed it? When they originally sold the Diesel, they called the fluid a "lifetime" fill, but it turns out not to be so. I got rid of my factory fluid around 30,000 miles, so I don't know how it behaves as it ages, but it certainly sounds like a fluid change might be in order. Many of us have switched to the AMSOil Signature Series Fuel Efficient ATF (because the GM AW1 fluid is not the greatest fluid and really expensive), and have found that the transmission works much more smoothly with it. 

If you're lucky, maybe moving to a fresh fill of better fluid might be all the fix you need. If it turns out to be something broken, keep us updated. We haven't seen many problems with the Aisin transmissions in the Diesel yet, so this will be one of the first reports we have.


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## JRB'sOilburningCruze (Feb 25, 2015)

I have 8k on my CTD now and have gotten used to the transmission. I find that at a dead stop it works much better if you give it about 1/2 throttle, spool the engine up to about 2,500 RPM's, and then punch it. So far so good. I really wonder if it is the transmission, or the turbo spooling up. I have a nice long straight down hill on-ramp near by, and when I do the half throttle then punch it, it takes off like a shot and I'm up to 85 before I know it. Lot of fun...


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## jhipsi (Oct 7, 2013)

I will suggest the change of fluid. I haven't done it yet. Probably should. 

The tech spoke with GM tech support and said this is a becoming a common issue but they do not know what causes it. 

I'm happy it's covered. They did order some part. I forgot, I'm sorry. I'll keep you updated.


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## jhipsi (Oct 7, 2013)

So good news and bad news.....

They (GM) wants my transmission. They want to see what's happening themselves. 

They are replacing it completely. 

So guys, if you have this issue/problem I recommend bringing it in to the shop. 

Unfortunately I cannot tell you what is wrong with it. I just hope they don't try and screw me and put in a new/used one out of some car that has been all smashed up.

Thanks for some advice though guys.

Cheers.


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

Well that's excellent to hear! Seems like for the most part these drivetrains are bulletproof 


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## Aphidman (Nov 24, 2014)

It took a while for me to figure out how the transmission and engine work together, especially in city traffic. Now that I understand it, I know when to put my foot down, and it’s all good. (The tranny could really use Normal, Sport, and Eco modes, like I found in a rental Cadillac ATS. It could all be done in software, of course.)


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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

icecube58 said:


> Mine started out well but then started to deteriorate as the miles accumulated -- lunging for a too high gear on part throttle, excessive down changes when coming off the throttle.


Mine does this exactly but only when it's warm weather and only for the first few minutes if its been parked for a few hours, then it's fine. No issue in the colder months. It's going in soon.


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## jhipsi (Oct 7, 2013)

I found it worse when warmer. I drive 95% highway but on the highway I drive there are stop lights. Those stop lights are when I would experience this bad shifting the most.

Also it would shift hard coming off the throttle after passing someone. Like I said it felt like a mount was loose, that's how bad it would shake the car. 

Hopefully they won't leave me in the dark when all is said and done.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

jhipsi said:


> So good news and bad news.....
> 
> They (GM) wants my transmission. They want to see what's happening themselves.
> 
> ...


If the power train guys want your transmission I suspect you're getting a new one.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

First off, welcome new forum members! I have 121K miles on my diesel and the transmission behavior is exactly the same as it was day 1. Yes there are rough shifts and so forth, but I think that's just a characteristic of this transmission. That being said, I am jumping on the Amsoil bandwagon soon and changing the factory fill out to see if there is any difference.


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

The transmissions are a little weak not going to lie in my opinion of course! My first gear is really really long even my mechanic ( not from my dealer ) says it doesn't sound right. As I recall back in 2011 my car always felt a little sluggish in the first gear but nothing too crazy so I just let it be. Never got to a tune but I heard tunes fix that first gear slug anyways. Good luck to all!


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

CHEVYCRUZE RS said:


> The transmissions are a little weak not going to lie in my opinion of course! My first gear is really really long even my mechanic ( not from my dealer ) says it doesn't sound right. As I recall back in 2011 my car always felt a little sluggish in the first gear but nothing too crazy so I just let it be. Never got to a tune but I heard tunes fix that first gear slug anyways. Good luck to all!


That's the gas model. We're talking about the diesel transmission. 


Sent from the sexy electrician


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

I do realize that.... I found it odd that a diesel had similar issues to my gas model 



money_man said:


> That's the gas model. We're talking about the diesel transmission.
> 
> 
> Sent from the sexy electrician


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## jhipsi (Oct 7, 2013)

Car is going in for a new transmission on Monday!!

Has anyone else had engine lights come on? For what reasons? 

Also when I brought the car in the first time they changed out the position sensor for the transmission, to see if it would help. It didn't. One new werid thing though, backing the car out of the driveway and then switching into drive the car stayed in reverse. Full on reverse. Shifter in drive. First time it happened. I haven't been able to replicate it. I love my car but things are going downhill a bit.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

jhipsi said:


> Car is going in for a new transmission on Monday!!
> 
> Has anyone else had engine lights come on? For what reasons?
> 
> Also when I brought the car in the first time they changed out the position sensor for the transmission, to see if it would help. It didn't. One new werid thing though, backing the car out of the driveway and then switching into drive the car stayed in reverse. Full on reverse. Shifter in drive. First time it happened. I haven't been able to replicate it. I love my car but things are going downhill a bit.


There have been a few users with random CELs, but it doesn't seem as if there are really any issues that are very common


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## jhipsi (Oct 7, 2013)

New transmission in. No problems as of yet. Fingers crossed. My heck engine light went on a day before the car went in. It is the heater for the DEF. 

Otherwise car drives like it did when I drove it off the lot. 100 km in so far.


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