Transmission Replace
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 12,759
Likes: 10,657
From: Prosper TX/Austin TX
2020 C6 of the Year Winner - Modified
Do you think Ron Fellows would really tell class participants if they have any issues with their cars?
Problem is GM rarely acknowledges a problem & thus never fixes the problem. They weigh the incident rate & cost. They realize (same with LS7 heads) that the majority of owners will not put very many miles on the vehicle during the warranty period to experience an issue that costs them money.
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2021
Posts: 51
Likes: 82
If transmissions are still having to be replaced 4, and soon to be 5 model years in & at such low mileage, then yes there is a real problem with the DCT.
Do you think Ron Fellows would really tell class participants if they have any issues with their cars?
Problem is GM rarely acknowledges a problem & thus never fixes the problem. They weigh the incident rate & cost. They realize (same with LS7 heads) that the majority of owners will not put very many miles on the vehicle during the warranty period to experience an issue that costs them money.
Do you think Ron Fellows would really tell class participants if they have any issues with their cars?
Problem is GM rarely acknowledges a problem & thus never fixes the problem. They weigh the incident rate & cost. They realize (same with LS7 heads) that the majority of owners will not put very many miles on the vehicle during the warranty period to experience an issue that costs them money.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 1,396
Likes: 1,323
From: Melbourne Florida’s Barrier Islands
If transmissions are still having to be replaced 4, and soon to be 5 model years in & at such low mileage, then yes there is a real problem with the DCT.
Do you think Ron Fellows would really tell class participants if they have any issues with their cars?
Problem is GM rarely acknowledges a problem & thus never fixes the problem. They weigh the incident rate & cost. They realize (same with LS7 heads) that the majority of owners will not put very many miles on the vehicle during the warranty period to experience an issue that costs them money.
Do you think Ron Fellows would really tell class participants if they have any issues with their cars?
Problem is GM rarely acknowledges a problem & thus never fixes the problem. They weigh the incident rate & cost. They realize (same with LS7 heads) that the majority of owners will not put very many miles on the vehicle during the warranty period to experience an issue that costs them money.
I’m curious if Ron Fellows services the transmissions so often that that alleviates the problems. They say 24 hrs of track time and the fluid gets changed (I think), maybe we should change the fluid very early in it’s life. Maybe daily driving in traffic is more harsh than expected? Maybe start/stops/idle is the real enemy.
my plan is a filter change and a full fluid change plus two quarts at 2000 miles (plus black stone analysis). Probably overkill, but then again, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Cars drop out of warranty quickly, an ounce of protection….
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 12,759
Likes: 10,657
From: Prosper TX/Austin TX
2020 C6 of the Year Winner - Modified
.
I’m curious if Ron Fellows services the transmissions so often that that alleviates the problems. They say 24 hrs of track time and the fluid gets changed (I think), maybe we should change the fluid very early in it’s life. Maybe daily driving in traffic is more harsh than expected? Maybe start/stops/idle is the real enemy.
my plan is a filter change and a full fluid change plus two quarts at 2000 miles (plus black stone analysis). Probably overkill, but then again, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Cars drop out of warranty quickly, an ounce of protection….
I’m curious if Ron Fellows services the transmissions so often that that alleviates the problems. They say 24 hrs of track time and the fluid gets changed (I think), maybe we should change the fluid very early in it’s life. Maybe daily driving in traffic is more harsh than expected? Maybe start/stops/idle is the real enemy.
my plan is a filter change and a full fluid change plus two quarts at 2000 miles (plus black stone analysis). Probably overkill, but then again, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Cars drop out of warranty quickly, an ounce of protection….
Racer
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 472
Likes: 238
Good points made by everyone . I also tend to agree that there would be more anecdotal evidence if the DCTs are 'faulty' and had a high rate of failure. Look at YouTube for example - there has to be at least 50 people / groups who post C8 related videos online. And many others who track and race their C8s.
But because we see maybe 2 or 3 individuals every month who come here to post about their transmission issues , it seems like we are always hearing about it .
Every car I've ever owned has always had 'problem areas' as evidenced by that particular car community, where you know it's something that you have to keep your eye on , and pray that the issue doesn't happen to you.
But because we see maybe 2 or 3 individuals every month who come here to post about their transmission issues , it seems like we are always hearing about it .
Every car I've ever owned has always had 'problem areas' as evidenced by that particular car community, where you know it's something that you have to keep your eye on , and pray that the issue doesn't happen to you.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 5,812
Likes: 8,303
From: Dove Mountain, AZ
2023 C8 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I I for one do not believe there is a "real" problem with the DCT. If there was, we would have heard about it from places such as Ron Fellows who punish their Corvettes every day. Many who have taken the class have asked them if their cars have any transmission issues. Every report back has been no. As much as they beat their cars, if there was a systemic issue you would have thought that they would have seen it as well. 
Last edited by tadda; Jan 14, 2023 at 11:40 AM.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 12,759
Likes: 10,657
From: Prosper TX/Austin TX
2020 C6 of the Year Winner - Modified
Jeep Wranglers are notorious for "death wobble". I've owned 6 different Wranglers (YJ, TJ, & JK/JKU) purchased all brand new & never experienced death wobble in any of them. Doesn't mean I downplay a very real problem. I was just fortunate that my vehicles didn't experience it. People that come on here with "my car doesn't have a DCT problem" or "it's just being blown out of proportion because nobody I know has the problem" maybe just don't want to accept that there is a problem.
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Instructor
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 214
Likes: 134
From: Omaha, NE
Took C8 to dealer to finish top rattle repair (95% fixed) waited on final part. During the wait time "check engine" light came on. This was around 01/06. Being that I had appointment 01/12, decided to wait, although got e-mails from GM to take Vette in immediately daily. Well when dealer read codes yesterday (4) one was code of death and GM said replace with new and would ship immediately. Talked to friend in FL, had C* 4 months, developed leak, took to dealer also told transmission replace. I wonder how many out there have had the same experience ? Frank
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 7,277
Likes: 1,546
From: Florida
Jeep Wranglers are notorious for "death wobble". I've owned 6 different Wranglers (YJ, TJ, & JK/JKU) purchased all brand new & never experienced death wobble in any of them. Doesn't mean I downplay a very real problem. I was just fortunate that my vehicles didn't experience it. People that come on here with "my car doesn't have a DCT problem" or "it's just being blown out of proportion because nobody I know has the problem" maybe just don't want to accept that there is a problem.
Statistics are statistics and, even though some failure might be a small number, it is until it is your failure...then it's 100%.
And, BTW, I haven't owned a car of any brand, ever, that didn't have a weakness or more somewhere in the design. Even my Bentley Continental GT. Some Bentleys were plagued with air suspension failure, or vacuum leaks....if you made it w/o these failures, it was easy to say - "Not my car. My car has been perfect." If these happened to you then you wanted to fix and sell.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
"...And as close a relationship RF has with GM I'm sure they are not going to willingly disclose the exact details or numbers..." tadda
There's a very good point.
There's a very good point.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 141
Likes: 53
From: Virginia Beach
Transmission Replace
Took to dealer. Service Manager plugged his reader in OBD port. Called Corvette Tech. 10 minutes later tech comes to Service Entrance, let's me know that one of my codes was "Code of Death" and that my tranny shipped back untouched not even drain trans fluid. New one had been ordered. Call GM later and found that yes a new one had been ordered. Amazing to me Service Manager and Tech recognized this code immediately. Understand they normally want to perform test. Not this time, my tranny was deemed bad while still T Service Entrance. Said take about a week
Hopefully Frank
Hopefully Frank
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 12,759
Likes: 10,657
From: Prosper TX/Austin TX
2020 C6 of the Year Winner - Modified
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,261
Likes: 1,431
From: Brentwood CA
What you all are posting is no different than what was said in the C6 and C7 forums about the A6 and A7 transmissions. Don't believe me, look for yourself. And I bought into it, afraid to drive my car. Till one day I woke up and said screw it, I'm going to enjoy my car. Never had an issue, nor did the over whelming majority of C6 and C7 owners. If you listen to the vocal minority you'd think the world was coming to an end. Not saying there are zero issues with the transmission. But the sky is not falling either. Go enjoy your car and stop worrying about it.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 229
Likes: 84
From: FL
Sorry about your failure. From my own personal research and experience at a local dealer I came to my own theory on these failures. It seems most of the failures are before the 7500 mile service. The main cause of failures seem to be from debris getting clogged within valves not allowing parts to operate correctly. Which is why it is seen most often during break in or before the 7500 mile service. This eventually causes the CEL to be thrown. Here is where the problem lies in my opinion. By the time it has become bad enough to throw the CEL irreversible damage has already been done. Sometimes a flush helps but most often at least the valves need replacing, but often it just delays the full failure. There are other reasons for failures as well but id argue the clogging is the main culprit.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2022
Posts: 1,065
Likes: 1,122
From: Western Mass
Sorry about your failure. From my own personal research and experience at a local dealer I came to my own theory on these failures. It seems most of the failures are before the 7500 mile service. The main cause of failures seem to be from debris getting clogged within valves not allowing parts to operate correctly. Which is why it is seen most often during break in or before the 7500 mile service. This eventually causes the CEL to be thrown. Here is where the problem lies in my opinion. By the time it has become bad enough to throw the CEL irreversible damage has already been done. Sometimes a flush helps but most often at least the valves need replacing, but often it just delays the full failure. There are other reasons for failures as well but id argue the clogging is the main culprit.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 229
Likes: 84
From: FL
This is my supposition as well. My thoughts on how to mitigate this as best as possible is to replace the DCT filter early (1500 miles is my plan) and dump and fill the transmission including adding another 2ltrs of fluid. I believe that replacing the fluid is probably more important than the DCT at that mileage as there's no evidence that the filter is actually experiencing breakthrough (I'd like to know what the flow-delta pressure curve looks like on a new filter vs one with 7500 miles. I bet it's not much different). My theory is the solution to pollution is dilution. And removing any material in the fluid and then adding almost 20% more into the DCT can only help to mitigate the particulate/debris theory. I'll be sending the fluid out for testing mainly for curiosity as we don't have any correlation to failures as far as I know. I'll check the fluid at subsequent DCT filter changes just to collect data. What actual information that provides remains to be seen. If my car never has a problem, we'll never know why. If it does develop a trans issue, we'll know that what I plan on doing didn't mitigate the issue. In the mean time....drive the hell out of it.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 13,180
Likes: 10,528
IF there was really a massive problem with failed DCTs, you wouldn't be able to read about anything on the forums there would be so many complaints. Ditto YouTube. Have there been issues with the DCT? Certainly. Is it an endemic problem affecting a large number of cars? Doubtful. But anyone who's worried about it has other cars to choose from.
Google "brand model" (any car of your choice) and "problems" and you'll be afraid to ever buy any car again.
Last edited by Red Mist Rulz; Jan 15, 2023 at 08:00 PM.