A8's and Torque Converter failure
01-30-2016, 09:18 AM
#21
Pro
After unknowingly having several symptoms of torque converter failure I finally located a dealer who properly diagnosed my transmission problem as a bad o-ring in the torque converter. A new torque converter will be installed next week. I have a 2015 A8 born October 2014 and noticed a problem with the transmission at about 10K miles. I decided to do a little research into the symptoms of a bad torque converter and have included a partial list.
(1) - Surging and Lugging - Your car can't seem to maintain constant speed. I noticed this especially when in cruise control in V4 and your RPMs go up and down. This IS NOT normal unless you go from v4 into V8.
(2) - Shuddering - Feels like you are running over a rough road when you are on a smooth road. Comes and goes without warning. Mine did this and I thought my front tires were out of balance.
(3) - Vehicle Lurches - Mine did this maybe 3-4 times when at slow idle.
(4) - Slow to go into gears including reverse. Mine was slow to go into reverse.
(5) - Gears don't shift easy.
(6) - Strange Noises - Clicking or revving.
(7) - Gears Slipping - Loss of acceleration.
(8) - Overheating.
Hope this info helps other A8 owners who might be having torque converter problems and not know it.
(1) - Surging and Lugging - Your car can't seem to maintain constant speed. I noticed this especially when in cruise control in V4 and your RPMs go up and down. This IS NOT normal unless you go from v4 into V8.
(2) - Shuddering - Feels like you are running over a rough road when you are on a smooth road. Comes and goes without warning. Mine did this and I thought my front tires were out of balance.
(3) - Vehicle Lurches - Mine did this maybe 3-4 times when at slow idle.
(4) - Slow to go into gears including reverse. Mine was slow to go into reverse.
(5) - Gears don't shift easy.
(6) - Strange Noises - Clicking or revving.
(7) - Gears Slipping - Loss of acceleration.
(8) - Overheating.
Hope this info helps other A8 owners who might be having torque converter problems and not know it.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1591437122
01-30-2016, 09:35 AM
#22
Le Mans Master
01-30-2016, 09:35 AM
#23
Advanced
After unknowingly having several symptoms of torque converter failure I finally located a dealer who properly diagnosed my transmission problem as a bad o-ring in the torque converter. A new torque converter will be installed next week. I have a 2015 A8 born October 2014 and noticed a problem with the transmission at about 10K miles. I decided to do a little research into the symptoms of a bad torque converter and have included a partial list.
(1) - Surging and Lugging - Your car can't seem to maintain constant speed. I noticed this especially when in cruise control in V4 and your RPMs go up and down. This IS NOT normal unless you go from v4 into V8.
(2) - Shuddering - Feels like you are running over a rough road when you are on a smooth road. Comes and goes without warning. Mine did this and I thought my front tires were out of balance.
(3) - Vehicle Lurches - Mine did this maybe 3-4 times when at slow idle.
(4) - Slow to go into gears including reverse. Mine was slow to go into reverse.
(5) - Gears don't shift easy.
(6) - Strange Noises - Clicking or revving.
(7) - Gears Slipping - Loss of acceleration.
(8) - Overheating.
Hope this info helps other A8 owners who might be having torque converter problems and not know it.
(1) - Surging and Lugging - Your car can't seem to maintain constant speed. I noticed this especially when in cruise control in V4 and your RPMs go up and down. This IS NOT normal unless you go from v4 into V8.
(2) - Shuddering - Feels like you are running over a rough road when you are on a smooth road. Comes and goes without warning. Mine did this and I thought my front tires were out of balance.
(3) - Vehicle Lurches - Mine did this maybe 3-4 times when at slow idle.
(4) - Slow to go into gears including reverse. Mine was slow to go into reverse.
(5) - Gears don't shift easy.
(6) - Strange Noises - Clicking or revving.
(7) - Gears Slipping - Loss of acceleration.
(8) - Overheating.
Hope this info helps other A8 owners who might be having torque converter problems and not know it.
#1, #3 and #4. 2015 A8. 9,200 miles.
01-31-2016, 04:20 PM
#25
Melting Slicks
02-01-2016, 04:29 PM
#26
Drifting
02-01-2016, 07:27 PM
#27
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Car taken to the chevy dealer today for a new torque converter. Will advise if this solves the problems with the transmission. Service writer said their tech is getting plenty of practice with the C-7 torque converter swaps. Hopefully practice makes perfect.
02-01-2016, 07:46 PM
#28
Le Mans Master
The dealership I go to knows about the problem and is now installing the new torque converter without replacing the transmission.
I literally just returned from the dealership - having recurring problems with my '16 - and the service manager confirmed the torque converter problem and said he has 4 Corvettes coming in to get the torque converter changed out. I guess early on they were changing out the transmission and torque converter. Then, as GM obtained more field data, they identified the problem and are now only replacing the torque converter. At this dealership, for the past month or so, they weren't replacing anything (transmission, TC) while they were waiting for the new torque converter. Thus, why there are 4 coming in all at once to have them changed out.
I don't know, but 4 coming in at one time, at one dealership, and all failing in the past month or so seems to be a lot.
I literally just returned from the dealership - having recurring problems with my '16 - and the service manager confirmed the torque converter problem and said he has 4 Corvettes coming in to get the torque converter changed out. I guess early on they were changing out the transmission and torque converter. Then, as GM obtained more field data, they identified the problem and are now only replacing the torque converter. At this dealership, for the past month or so, they weren't replacing anything (transmission, TC) while they were waiting for the new torque converter. Thus, why there are 4 coming in all at once to have them changed out.
I don't know, but 4 coming in at one time, at one dealership, and all failing in the past month or so seems to be a lot.
02-01-2016, 08:11 PM
#29
02-01-2016, 08:27 PM
#31
02-01-2016, 10:10 PM
#32
A6 here. Not being a "Vette guy" prior to buying mine I asked a few hard core Vette guys for advice and they told me to get a late 14 unless I wanted to wait a few years. Their reason, the A8 was known to be a work in progress. I chalked that up to just a bunch of noise but maybe they knew something.
Also, I have a 2015 GMC Denali with an A8. 27,000 miles and it is on its second tranny. I know they are two different beasts all together but.......
Also, I have a 2015 GMC Denali with an A8. 27,000 miles and it is on its second tranny. I know they are two different beasts all together but.......
Last edited by Satch0922; 02-01-2016 at 10:11 PM.
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02-06-2016, 12:56 PM
#35
Thanks for the great info. Our A8 failed at 13,000 miles. They wouldn't work on anything in the trans...their only acceptable fix was remove and replace the whole transmission. We asked for a report back when they opened it up but that was October and we still haven't heard a thing. It had been reflashed once for the hard going into gear problem. Ours never got hot....even on road course. It failed on the road course but we had drag raced it too. It felt like the converter failed...it wouldn't lockup...then it would in reverse for a second then would lose it. Hubby limped it in reverse from the paddock to our pit and we called a flat hauler.... They checked everything to make sure we were still stock and hadn't tuned. they also sent the transmission fluid to be analyzed and said they found metal in it. They claimed there were no known issues with the A8. We found a tech online who had replaced a few and said there was a known problem with one of the clutch housings developing a crack. Symptoms of that were similar to ours....but so are some of the symptoms above. I sure wish we could get that report to see what did fail. the new trans started shifting into gear hard at 2500 miles. we took it in for a reflash. They said it was how we drive it and the car was learning to shift....we "might" have went to a race and test n tune during that time.....so we figured he might be right. Now I'm a little more concerned....but if it fails again we will replace it with a built 6 speed. We have been looking for a race converter and I just saw the circle d one yesterday. Hopefully a converter would solve it all. They wanted 6 grand to do the trans....said they weren't covering on warranty because we had raced it...then they changed and did it once a "goodwill gesture". I hate it that they played dumb about the no known transmission issue. I have zero confidence in them ever telling what's really going on.
Also, the same tech that told of the clutch housing problem also told me some are getting screwed up when they put them back together and causing the engine to need to be replaced. They screw up mating the trans/engine and have too much crank end play.
After they said our warranty was toast...we went crazy with mods. We don't expect them to cover anything else. It would be nice if they figure it out though. And it would be nice if they didn't act like it was the way we drive it causing the problem. I thought they built it to drive.
Also, the same tech that told of the clutch housing problem also told me some are getting screwed up when they put them back together and causing the engine to need to be replaced. They screw up mating the trans/engine and have too much crank end play.
After they said our warranty was toast...we went crazy with mods. We don't expect them to cover anything else. It would be nice if they figure it out though. And it would be nice if they didn't act like it was the way we drive it causing the problem. I thought they built it to drive.
Last edited by Orange Z06 Girl; 02-06-2016 at 01:00 PM.
02-15-2016, 09:27 PM
#37
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Hope you can find a dealer who can properly diagnose your problem. The first dealer I went to said they found no problem with my transmission. I later found a dealer who had replaced several torque converters for o-ring failure and properly diagnosed my problem.
02-15-2016, 09:32 PM
#38
Racer
This evening I noticed the surging with the cruise control set to about 68. I could clearly see the tach going up and down almost 200 RPMs. Sounds like I need a new converter.
Last edited by roSSco; 02-15-2016 at 10:21 PM.
02-15-2016, 09:38 PM
#39
Safety Car
Thread Starter
I picked mine up Saturday with only 2500 miles on it. I have been noticing some peculiar behavior from my transmission and found this thread.
This evening I noticed the surging with the cruise control set to about 68. I could clearly see the tach going up and down almost 200 RPMs. Sounds like I need a new converter.
This evening I noticed the surging with the cruise control set to about 68. I could clearly see the tach going up and down almost 200 RPMs. Sounds like I need a new converter.
