# 2012 limp mode/trans issue?



## Perryhill15 (Mar 7, 2020)

I believe i posted in the wrong discussion board but my issue that i need help with is that my Cruze went into what i believe to be limp mode a couple months ago... i was
Going 55 down the road when all of a sudden my RPMS dropped and i couldn't go past 25... i let it sit for a day and went back to it and it drove fine home... i took it to my dealer in town and they said the trans is going and it would be 4K to replace (no one offers rebuilds in my town) so me being a college student not having 4K called around to places finding someone to rebuild it... when i did he said he wanted to mess around with it because he didn't think it was the trans. After a couple days he called me back and said it has to be the trans due to the metal shavings and hard shift into reverse. He rebuilt it and called me back a week later saying it's still going into limp mode. He's currently still working on it (it's been about a month since i took it in) and is confused as what is going on with it... any info would be great!!!
It's a 2012 1.8l with 140k on it, not positive on which trans is in it (because they have to be taken apart to tell which one it is)


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

Was this a G.M. Dealer who did the repairs?


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## Dcarlson 696993 (Mar 1, 2020)

My guess would be he is trying to figure out something electronic now. What caused the problem? I'm nervous they do not have a dipstick on these things sometimes it's not possible to notice a small leak over a long period of time. Hopefully he replaced all sensors they are realitivly cheap sonce he is already in there and a good insurance policy....imo G.M. has horrible automatic transmissions. Owned a Silverado and a buick that had auto transmissions problems they both starting happening around 140k. Just bought a cruze 2 weeks ago with a automatic ? but the deal was way to good to pass up...when you do get it back if you plan on keeping it awhile trans flush trans flush trans flush often! The recommendations from factory are every 45 k go every 35 k and upgrade the fluid haven't looked into the best transmission fluid but I would be willing to bet Amsoil or possibly royal purple is a good bet.


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## Perryhill15 (Mar 7, 2020)

Perryhill15 said:


> I believe i posted in the wrong discussion board but my issue that i need help with is that my Cruze went into what i believe to be limp mode a couple months ago... i was
> Going 55 down the road when all of a sudden my RPMS dropped and i couldn't go past 25... i let it sit for a day and went back to it and it drove fine home... i took it to my dealer in town and they said the trans is going and it would be 4K to replace (no one offers rebuilds in my town) so me being a college student not having 4K called around to places finding someone to rebuild it... when i did he said he wanted to mess around with it because he didn't think it was the trans. After a couple days he called me back and said it has to be the trans due to the metal shavings and hard shift into reverse. He rebuilt it and called me back a week later saying it's still going into limp mode. He's currently still working on it (it's been about a month since i took it in) and is confused as what is going on with it... any info would be great!!!
> It's a 2012 1.8l with 140k on it, not positive on which trans is in it (because they have to be taken apart to tell which one it is)





Perryhill15 said:


> I believe i posted in the wrong discussion board but my issue that i need help with is that my Cruze went into what i believe to be limp mode a couple months ago... i was
> Going 55 down the road when all of a sudden my RPMS dropped and i couldn't go past 25... i let it sit for a day and went back to it and it drove fine home... i took it to my dealer in town and they said the trans is going and it would be 4K to replace (no one offers rebuilds in my town) so me being a college student not having 4K called around to places finding someone to rebuild it... when i did he said he wanted to mess around with it because he didn't think it was the trans. After a couple days he called me back and said it has to be the trans due to the metal shavings and hard shift into reverse. He rebuilt it and called me back a week later saying it's still going into limp mode. He's currently still working on it (it's been about a month since i took it in) and is confused as what is going on with it... any info would be great!!!
> It's a 2012 1.8l with 140k on it, not positive on which trans is in it (because they have to be taken apart to tell which one it is)


no it was not a GM dealer who is working on it currently.


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## Perryhill15 (Mar 7, 2020)

Thanks for the info guys! Yes i agree with the trans flush, it ever realized how often it says to do it in the owners manual.... took it to a trans shop not a GM dealer since GM told me it was the trans i trusted them. And yes i do believe they're looking into it being something electrical just not sure what would be causing it


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Perryhill15 said:


> So I'm new here so apologies if what I say doesn't provide any useful information but I'm pretty lost. So I've had my 2012 Cruze for about 5-6 years and it has about 140k on it. A few months ago while i was driving for work the car went into what i believe to be limp mode, i went from going 55 to roughly 25 and wouldn't go any faster. I took it to my local dealer and they said the trans is going and that's what's causing it... I'm a college student so I didn't have the 4K they wanted to put a used trans in (no one where i live rebuilds them) so i called around and found a place who would rebuild it for about half the cost. So after saving up the money (and having my Cruze in a storage unit) for a few months i took it to the nearest trans place that would rebuild it. The technician didn't think it was the trans so he messed around with it for a few days and called me saying that it has to be the trans due to the color of the fluid, there being metal shavings, and the hard shift into reverse. That was about a month ago, he called me a week after i brought it in and told me it's still doing it post rebuild, so he's going to go back through the trans and see what else it could be. I called him last week and he still is lost as to what could be causing it. Only other issues i have with the Cruze is the actuator for the heat/ac is stripped so i need to get that replaced but I wouldn't think that would have anything to do with it... any info would help a ton!
> 
> It's a 1.8l 2012 automatic with 140k on it


Welcome Aboard!

Post the codes. Have Autozone read them for free if you can get it there. If not, buy a OBD-II dongle and download Torque lite for free. 

As for the actuator:

No air from vents!
Wont kick into Defrost


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## RoninDusette (Aug 21, 2018)

Yeah. I mean, without codes we are just guessing, and if they dude is not a dealer and doesn't have a LOT of experience in these newer cars, then he may not know what he is talking about, but if there were metal shavings and stuff, and you trust him, then it is what it is. I wouldn't rebuild it though. These cars are a dime a dozen, and people wreck and sell and whatnot these cars all of the time. You probably could have found a use transmission for like, 400 bucks and just had him swap it. That's what I would have done. I also would have asked for pictures or video of the transmission and it's insides, along with some way to identify it (like a video of him taking it apart next to the serial number or something.). Not hard to just take a tranny out and be like "Yup. just like I thought. You got muffler fluid in your johnson rod. This is a 1,000,000 gil job, but I can do it for half". Unfortunately a lot of mechanics out there give the rest of us a bad name. The dealer is expensive, but at least it will be all warrantied as far as the parts and labour, and they are usually scrutinized pretty hard (lots of eyes on them at a busy dealership. Harder to do dirt).


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