Who likes their 8 Speed?

nickb217 · May 19, 2016

I have a 2016 5.3L with 8 speed and have to say it is very smooth. I recall maybe a clunk once or twice which seem to coincide with either stopping quickly or flooring it then letting off quickly which even my 05 Silverado with the 4 speed with clunk under those conditions. I came from a Ram 2500 Cummins daily driver to the 16 Sierra and I have to say it is one smooth vehicle!

GMCustomerService · May 19, 2016

Mine's in the shop since yesterday afternoon for rough shifting and the 'Chevy Shake' at 70mph. Not sure what's happening but I have a loaner 2016 Silverado LT 5.3 with the 6 speed and it seems to shift great!

Good afternoon wetcoaster,

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing rough shifting in your vehicle. I see that you have already brought your truck into a dealership, has there been an official diagnosis yet on what could be causing this concern?

I would be more than happy to reach out to your dealer on your behalf to see if there are any new developments, or just to offer an additional layer of assistance. If this is something you would like me to do, please private message me your VIN, full contact information, current mileage and dealership you are working with. Also, I will keep checking in on the forum for further updates from you.

I am glad to see you are happy with your loner!

Best,

Julianne M.

GM Customer Care

wetcoaster · May 19, 2016

Good afternoon wetcoaster,

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing rough shifting in your vehicle. I see that you have already brought your truck into a dealership, has there been an official diagnosis yet on what could be causing this concern?

I would be more than happy to reach out to your dealer on your behalf to see if there are any new developments, or just to offer an additional layer of assistance. If this is something you would like me to do, please private message me your VIN, full contact information, current mileage and dealership you are working with. Also, I will keep checking in on the forum for further updates from you.

I am glad to see you are happy with your loner!

Best,

Julianne M.

GM Customer Care

Hi Julianne,

Thanks a lot for chiming in and helping. The dealer ship contacted me yesterday indicating that the transmission adaptives have not fully settled yet after 1500 km of driving since updating the transmission software. They said I should keep driving with the harsh shifting transmission for another 1000km and re-assess. They are also balancing the tires to attempt to fix the shaking issue. I will be picking up my truck later today.

I will send you a PM to add that additional layer of support because if I have transmission harshness after an additional 1000km, it will be the third time I've had the truck into the dealership in less than 6500km's.

Thanks,

Chris

brosse01 · May 19, 2016

I just took delivery of a new 2016 Sierra SLT 4X4 Crew Cab 5.3L with 8 speed a few days ago. 120 miles so far. I am experiencing a transmission shift jolt when coming to a stop. It is probably the trans shifting from 2nd to 1st. It is pretty harse. Seems to happen every stop. Seems the up shifts are a little more noticable than I would expect. I hope there is a calibration fix for this soon.

FADEC · May 19, 2016

I just took delivery of a new 2016 Sierra SLT 4X4 Crew Cab 5.3L with 8 speed a few days ago. 120 miles so far. I am experiencing a transmission shift jolt when coming to a stop. It is probably the trans shifting from 2nd to 1st. It is pretty harse. Seems to happen every stop. Seems the up shifts are a little more noticable than I would expect. I hope there is a calibration fix for this soon.

Brossee01, Not to be the bearer of bad news but my 8 speed has the same jolt as yours. Has had it since new, now with 4100 miles on it. Dealer did a relearn, no change. These transmissions are NOT the smooth transmissions of GM past. BTW my truck is the same as yours.

FADEC · May 19, 2016

Brossee01, Not to be the bearer of bad news but my 8 speed has the same jolt as yours. Has had it since new, now with 4100 miles on it. Dealer did a relearn, no change. These transmissions are NOT the smooth transmissions of GM past. BTW my truck is the same as yours.

Wanted to add that I almost think it is a torque converter issue. I was somewhat of a gear head back in the day, and it almost feels like the torque convertor is reengaging when coming to a stop. Almost like driving a manual and leaving it in first when coming to a stop and not pushing in the clutch. Has that jerky solid engagement feeling. if that makes any sense!!

mookdoc6 · May 19, 2016

120 miles it will be herky jerky for 1000 more if at 2000 your experiencing problems have it fixed to your satisfaction. They are not like GM transmissions of the past! Mine had clunks and roughness in 1-2-3 sporadically too then one day it stopped. Then I did all the usual stop and go BS driving trying to make it happen again and it really has not. So I guess now I am stuck with a damn good working 8speed.........but it took some miles!

FADEC · May 19, 2016

120 miles it will be herky jerky for 1000 more if at 2000 your experiencing problems have it fixed to your satisfaction. They are not like GM transmissions of the past! Mine had clunks and roughness in 1-2-3 sporadically too then one day it stopped. Then I did all the usual stop and go BS driving trying to make it happen again and it really has not. So I guess now I am stuck with a damn good working 8speed.........but it took some miles!

I'm right at 4100 and still pretty harsh. Will keep driving and see if it goes away.

JacobC1983 · May 20, 2016

The field service engineer came back with a fix!!!

He told me that all of my clunking and jerking of the transmission is actually caused by the active fuel management and I should drive around in manual 7 mode......

Needless to say I am pushing for trade assistance.

Badass69 · May 20, 2016

Well I do thank this thread for something I never paid attention too being grade braking. I turned it off and drove my truck today..... can't say that I won't drive that way all the time now lol. It's nice not having the truck constantly downshifting. Also figured out on my 2015 Tundra if you press and hold the traction control button twice it disables the system entirely..... like my how much traction control my 86 K5 Blazer has. It was almost unbearable on a gravel road before.... now it's a blast.... and does awesome burnouts! Wish I could get my Chev to do that lol.

FADEC · May 20, 2016

The field service engineer came back with a fix!!!

He told me that all of my clunking and jerking of the transmission is actually caused by the active fuel management and I should drive around in manual 7 mode......

Needless to say I am pushing for trade assistance.

Jacob, Did you try driving around in M7 to see if it went away or improved?? I will try mine out tomorrow. If its as simple as disabling the AFM then there plenty of tuners to override that. Not saying that you should have to override it on 50k truck to get a decent ride though!!

JacobC1983 · May 20, 2016

I tried it on the way home but I only live a few miles from the dealer.. I will give it a shot on a longer drive this weekend. Let me know your results.

gary.smedley · May 20, 2016

I have a 2016 SLT w/ 8 spd and don't have any issues so far. Only clunk I've experienced is when someone cut me off bad and I had to slam on the brakes and it downshifted "hard."

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GMCustomerService · May 20, 2016

Hi Julianne,

Thanks a lot for chiming in and helping. The dealer ship contacted me yesterday indicating that the transmission adaptives have not fully settled yet after 1500 km of driving since updating the transmission software. They said I should keep driving with the harsh shifting transmission for another 1000km and re-assess. They are also balancing the tires to attempt to fix the shaking issue. I will be picking up my truck later today.

I will send you a PM to add that additional layer of support because if I have transmission harshness after an additional 1000km, it will be the third time I've had the truck into the dealership in less than 6500km's.

Thanks,

Chris

Hi Chris,

I am always happy to help. Thanks for reaching back out. I look forward to receiving your PM. In the meantime, if you have an additional questions please feel free to ask.

Have a great day.

Julianne M.

GM Customer Care

FADEC · May 20, 2016

I tried it on the way home but I only live a few miles from the dealer.. I will give it a shot on a longer drive this weekend. Let me know your results.

Jacob, Just got done driving about 20 miles in various conditions. No change from driving in M7 except worse MPG from the higher RPM's on the highway.