Mopar Jimmy

WE HAVE AN UPDATE on diagnosis and good news for repair, see latest update on thread #65 below.

Well, the last thing that I expected to happen on my stock 2016 Z06 with A8 trans with 6,300 miles on it was that I would have major transmission problems.

I noticed for the first time last weekend that when cruising along the highway in DRIVE when the car is in 8th gear and I go to wide open throttle (WOT), the car would down shift into 2nd and 3rd gear and then hit off the rev-limiter at 6,500 rpm because the car would not upshift into the 3rd, or 4th gear. I experimented with this multiple times in touring mode and track mode with t/c off and every time I went WOT while cruising at highway speeds it would do the same thing, downshift into 2nd or 3rd gear and then fail to upshift and spank the rev-limter. Whenever I did this I went all the way to WOT and not 3/4 throttle, etc.

I also notice since then a few other strange things the car and tranny was doing:

1. When cold starting the car while in park I could feel the car move very slightly forward after the engine fires up (with the car in park) which is very strange.

2. Sometimes when driving normal coming off a red light the car would shift very hard from 1st to 2nd gear.

3. The car seemed to be shifting sluggishly and the upshifts seemed to take longer than normal when pulling away from a stop light.

4. The cars herky jerky sensation when coming to a stop in drive at a red light seems to have been getting worse.

Called my dealer and he said bring the car in and let's give it all the tranny reflash upgrades which I brought in today and he said let's see if this does not fix your problems and go from there. Of course the dealer checked for any codes having been thrown and no codes were thrown.

Upon leaving the dealer the shifts seems to be much crisper and faster when driving normal pulling away from a stop sign so I felt somewhat optimistic maybe the tranny reflash might have fixed my problem. I jumped on the highway and after driving at different highway speeds varying my acceleration in case the new tranny reflash had to re-learn anything, I then went from highway speeds in 8th gear and the car had the same problems as described above and was not fixed.

I exited the highway and tried a few 0 to WOT runs at my local industrial area in launch control to see if the car would shift normal from a stand still (as if drag racing) and the 1/2 shift felt normal, but the 2/3 and 3/4 shifts were very funky (can't quite describe) but I knew the car was not shifting properly from a dig.

Pulled onto the street car was driving normal at driving speeds on 40 mph road and then I noticed the trans while in drive still started to shift very sluggishly and late. Came to a red light stopped the car light turns green and the car would not move at all in Drive or reverse, nor would it drive when I put it in manual (WTF)! After several seconds I gave it more and more gas and was able to barely limp it into a commercial parking lot where a few folks helped push me into a parking spot (as it would not move at all again). Shut the engine off and after 5 minutes the car would start moving again but after 1 or 2 minutes would no longer move again. Shut it off waited 5 minutes and it did the exact same thing, would move in the parking lot but after 1 or 2 minutes would not go move at all.

Dealer just picked up the car with a flatbed they provided I guess now I no why I bought a tow hook from GM last month.

This is fairly discouraging and I just hope GM gets this fixed right the first time or better yet that they find a major mechanical problem with the tranny and I get a brand new one right of the bat (but I really doubt that's going to happen). Well the only thing keeping me from really losing it is the fact that I have a full factory warranty and this happened towards the end of the year for Vette weather living in the Midwest.

OnPoint

Man that sucks, Jimmy.

Hopefully they'll get you a whole new trans. Thank goodness for the warranty. GM really needs to get these A8s sorted. Too many people having issues with them (particularly with the Stingray). Way too good of a car for this stuff.

23/C8Z

sounds like a torque converter failure. pleas keep us all updated. it'll be alright. car will be better than new when you get it back.. just MAKE SURE after it's FIXED THEY FLUSH THE TRANS LINES WITH THE MACHINE...

Mopar Jimmy

Thanks man, much appreciated

BOBSZ857

Man that really sucks that this happened to you. Hopefully the dealer will be able to get this resolved quickly. Please keep up posted on what caused this.

pkincy

And we are graced with a several year old tranny used on several models. Can you imagine the stories and threads on Camaro6 in a few months when the ZL1 appears with a brand new A10??

CliffB-99

Sorry to hear about the failure. With this and all the other A8 failures, it looks like GM developing the A8 transmission in-house was a mistake.

dbs1vette

Baloney. Very few issues compared to number of A8 trans out there. Sheesh

Gary '09 C6

although not every A8 owner is having trouble, it does get one thinking about whether the A6 with a tranny tune is more reliable...

kutlow

I hope GM finds the problem and gets you taken care of. I think it would be better for you to have them fix that tranny over a new one because wouldn't that show up on a Carfax etc?

I worked for GM and I can tell you stories you would not believe. Like people going on lunch break and smoking weed etc. I remember this one guy who use to throw in a few extra nuts in the doors before the panels went on as a joke to make noise. The saying was "aint going on my car"

After a career in the military I was in total shock when I first started at GM. Ive seen people put dings in car panels just to get overtime fixing them!

Hirohawa

Hope they get you back on the road with a solution you are 100% happy with.

FastestBusaAround

A8 isn't exactly a piece of art...more like a piece of crap.

449er

A piece of crap, really? I bet that compared to the amount of A8 trannys out there in use, the failure rate is a very small percentage. We only read about the few that fail on this forum, not about the thousands that are trouble free.

FastestBusaAround

I bet not...too many complaints here alone about it. And from my own experience with it, I have nothing great to say about it...and it's not just a few that have issues...(me included).

There's simply no reason they should have the bugs in them that they do...

I have driven more than one A8...and they all behave badly...software issues or otherwise, they are not great by any standards.

1st time in my life I have these stupid transmission issues in a vehicle I own...and I've owned many.

Mopar Jimmy

And if I knew what I knew now and the fact that the A8 trans in a $100,000 C7 Z would have a total failure and leave me stranded on the road yesterday in a 2016 mode, with only 6,300 miles on the clock, I would have gone with the M7 Transmission and good chance may have just kept my 2009 Dodge Viper (which was bullet proof) and not traded for my 2016 Z (that's how discouraging this all is). I will also go on record that if GM doesn't get this right the first time and this becomes a protracted issue, I will gladly trade in my Vette for a Gen IV Viper ACR.

23/C8Z

can't disagree with anything you've said. this is my first new vette. coming from an 08 LS3 with 98k on it and a bulletproof A6.

i would've skipped a Z06 entirely if this A8 wasn't in it. i would've gone either C7 7spd or ZL1 A10. hoping mine doesn't falter

please keep us in loop. and jimmy, if it gets fixed properly you will feel whole again and everything will be right in the world again

rbartick

Sorry to hear. Let's hope this gets resolved quickly.

moon2605

Jimmy,
I bet you will get a new trans. they dont seem to work on them. remove and replace. as far as people defending the A8 i dont get it. it is a little herky jerky even when it works right. its OK but its far from exactly what it should be. before I modded my car I had the transmission start acting goofy and had to have the dealer reflash and retrain. drive the car hard and the trans gets a little freaked out. I do like the launch mode and I do love the car. would like a more durable trans.

kevin

ajrothm

Sucks to hear your trans failed Jimmy.. hopefully they'll give you a new one.

The A8s in the camaros have been holding up much better. You rarely hear of any A8 failures. Maybe it's due to all of the additional power in Z06 but...

I have 7k Miles on my 16' 2SS Camaro and the A8 has been flawless..

That being said, it's very hard on transmissions to do a WOT down shift from the upper gears, that's generally the cause of OD trans failures, this was really the case with the 4L60. I make a point to never let it down shift at WOT. I manually toggle it down to the correct gear and then nail it.

23/C8Z

I forgot about this. very good advice. I haven't even gone wot in mine yet. have another 80 miles or so. but I have used he paddles to bring it down a gear and drive spirited while keeping under 4500.