GMC Acadia Transmission Problems

thecardoc3 · May 2015

bmlock said:
There's probably more to the story, but that is what I was told. I think the $1,899 quote for TCM replacement is crazy. I looked up flat rate on that and its 3.8 hrs. Even with the part at MSRP, it shouldn't cost more than $1,000 for that part of the repair even at $100 per hour labor.

Just think how much money you could make if you opened a shop and tried to do this for less than the $1000, especially if you had an event like this tech is fighting.

bmlock · May 2015

I could make quite a bit, scan a code, change a TCM that costs me 200ish bucks but charge $400ish. This job doesn't take that long i.e. flat rate can be beat. In this scenario, the wave plate is bad. I said this was bad to begin with when I brought it in. The fact that this is doomed to fail would lead me to change it straight way. So up front I would change the wave plate and deal with the TCM if necessary as there could just be debris in it. I could do both for the price I am paying for a TCM and not have had the vehicle down as long. Considering the near recall nature of this, GM should have done that to begin with. FYI, I would have changed the TCM myself, but I don't have the ability to program it, along with the wave plate which I was sure was bad and under warranty still, I took it to the dealer.

thecardoc3 · May 2015

bmlock said:
The fact that this is doomed to fail would lead me to change it straight way. So up front I would change the wave plate and deal with the TCM if necessary as there could just be debris in it.

If you were running a shop and did that there would be no shortage of people who would condemn that as overselling, especially when it came in with the P0752. That always makes the job so much more fun when someone keeps moving the finish line.

ashley85nicole · May 2015

Help my 2008 GMC Acadia has so many problems and I find more and more everytime I get one fixed there is two more to replace the one! Multiple times a day I will be driving my RPM's shoot up to 6 as my speed starts slowing I press the gas it shoots up my RPM's but does nothing to my speed. It did the same thing the first week I bought is in 2012 I towed it to GMC they fixed it. Well I thought they did but now no warranty and it's doing it again. I took it in to trade for a 2014 only to find out with so many issues they will only give me $2,000 less than what I still owe on it. Here are my issues:
1) Transmission only shift gears when it wants to
2) Oil leak under the motor
3) leaks through the lights on the roof when it rains
4) Some sort of gas sensor needs replaced
5) Even after fixing the headlights only work one at a time sometimes it's my right sometimes it's my left
6) I was told that at anytime my steering something will drop in my lap while driving meaning I will have no control of where the car goes. I won't be able to turn the wheel.
7) When you go to a car wash water shoots through the passenger side door.
8) The windows have a mind of their own sometimes they'll go up sometimes they won't

I work hard to have nice things for my family I'm not hard on my car. I was taught from a young age to take care of what you have. There is no reason I should have this many issues. I have been looking for a 2014 GMC Acadia am I going to have the same problems with it? I want a safe vehicle for my children!

andres3 · May 2015

wizardmark said:
2008 Acadia with around 70k miles. Dealer just told us blown transmission ("metall all over the place"). 5k Estimate. Seriously, how does any decent vehicle today blow a transmission that early, and cost that much to replace? How do you retain a client base with this kind of quality. Was my first GMC - made the concious decision to buy American over imports, and now I am regretting it.

Sad to see a lot of other folks with the same issue. Shame, too, the Acadia has been over-all a good vehicle (and anyone who owns one knows the cargo space is awesome).

They don't retain a client base. That is why they went out of business SANS the massive billion dollar bailout perpetrated by the 2 worst Presidents in the history of the US. You don't need bailouts if you are retaining your client base! LOL!

revxml · June 2015

I know there are several threads concerning this issue, but my attempt to reply prompted me to start a new one.
On Sunday 05/31/2015, my wife and I took my 16yr old to a baseball game at Marietta High School, from our home in Suwanee GA. The usual/quickest route is 85S to 285W to 75N. We dropped him off at the high school to warm up for the game, and drove to Krystal to get lunch, noticing storm clouds rolling in. On the drive back to the high school he texted us saying the game had been cancelled due to inclement weather. The rain began before we got back to pick him up.
We started heading back as the rain grew heavier, and heavier. Because my wife can't stand being on the interstate during storms, I set my GPS to get us home without major highways.
We basically got in line with the other traffic, all driving between 10 and 20 mph due to the visibility and flash-flood-like conditions. About 10 minutes in, my Acadia started shimmering - the front end. I had no idea what was going on, and attributed the shimmy to a possibly un-balanced front left tire - I had a nail in the tire on the previous weekend, and the local tire store (Kauffman Tires) plugged it for me. I thought they possibly didn't balance it, and presumed that it was now noticeable because of the amount of rain water/rushing water on the roads.
I pulled off the road twice over the next thirty minutes - once at a Texaco Food Mart, so my son could get something to eat and a drink, and another time at a church. Both time were while the visibility was almost nothing and I didn't want to have the family on the road - with the shimmy - even though we were only traveling about 15 mph.
The rain began to lighted up, or we managed to get ahead of the storm, on Cobb parkway. The shimmy was still present, even on the dry road, but appear to lessen when I got the RPMs over 2500. Maybe after five minutes of being out of the storm, and on dry roads, I went to accelerate from being stopped at a red light. Around 30 MPH - CLACK-BAM-CLACKITY-CLACKITY-BAM!!!!
I still had my hazards on because I had been driving through the storm with them engaged, and saw a driveway to a parking lot, behind some townhomes about 75 yards up and to the right. I managed to get across three lanes of traffic and into the parking lot.
I got out and looked under the vehicle and there it was, the Drive Train, lying under the engine.
Called the insurance and got the car towed to a local Pep Boys.
I then called Rick Hendricks Chevrolet in Buford, because that is where I purchased the vehicle, exactly one year ago. The rep did the research and said - yes, its a power train issue and you are still under warranty. But then he said that I didn't need to get it back to him - that any Certified GM dealership could do the work. Told me to have it taken to Carl Black in Roswell. So I did.
I get a call from Carl Black when the tow truck arrived and explained the situation. Then I never get a call back, so I call the next afternoon.
The service manager proceeds to tell me that he had "never seen anything like it", "all the retaining bolts are missing", "not sheared - but totally missing".
Then he proceeds to tell me that I had to have an under-carriage collision and that the drive train would not be covered under the power train warranty!
He tried to tell me that "the missing bolts" was "indicative of an undercarriage collision" and that "shear bolts" would indicate the "drive train was defective" (or something similar). Which is completely backwards as far as I'm concerned - if there was an undercarriage collision THEN the bolts would be sheared - if there was 30 -45 minutes of vibration (shimmying) THEN the bolts would back out and not be found.
I told him that I wanted the vehicle relocated to Rick Hendricks - where I purchased it, and that I would deal with them directly.
The car arrived on Thursday, but I didn't get a call until Friday morning. I told the Service Manager what had transpired and he said he'd call back after they'd inspected the car. I called them back later in the day to be told that the Acadia had been inspected by "our technician AND a GM rep", and "it would not be covered under the power train warranty". So I asked "what happened to, and where were the 6 retaining bolts". Tom's response was "that, I can't explain".
I called my insurance and told them that I didn't want to file a claim, because this is a warranty item, and I was sure they wouldn't want to cut a check for it either. They happened to have an adjuster at the Rick Hendricks location where I bought the vehicle, and he was going to investigate. This is when I found out that Carl Black had sent my vehicle to the wrong location - it was now in Duluth - how and why they got that address I still don't know.
The adjuster called this morning telling me that they were saying it wasn't going to be covered by the warranty - I asked why and he said, that they were saying - either there was under carriage collision, or "someone" removed the retaining bolts. I take that as an accusation. One that I would sabotage my vehicle, then drive 70+ MPH on three highways, with my wife and oldest son in the car, then drive back through a flash flood, knowing that there were no bolts holding the drive train on????? Absolutely warped and ludicrous.
So far I've had two different dealership Service Managers tell me that the "vanishing retaining bolts" do not constitute something that is covered by the Power Train warranty. One of those stated that "those bolts are designed specifically to NOT back out" - yet they did - but that doesn't signify a defective part.
I have a meeting with the General Manager at 8:30 AM tomorrow morning - I'll keep you all posted.
Keith Brooks. 470.865.8039

andres3 · June 2015

revxml said:
I know there are several threads concerning this issue, but my attempt to reply prompted me to start a new one.
On Sunday 05/31/2015, my wife and I took my 16yr old to a baseball game at Marietta High School, from our home in Suwanee GA. The usual/quickest route is 85S to 285W to 75N. We dropped him off at the high school to warm up for the game, and drove to Krystal to get lunch, noticing storm clouds rolling in. On the drive back to the high school he texted us saying the game had been cancelled due to inclement weather. The rain began before we got back to pick him up.
We started heading back as the rain grew heavier, and heavier. Because my wife can't stand being on the interstate during storms, I set my GPS to get us home without major highways.
We basically got in line with the other traffic, all driving between 10 and 20 mph due to the visibility and flash-flood-like conditions. About 10 minutes in, my Acadia started shimmering - the front end. I had no idea what was going on, and attributed the shimmy to a possibly un-balanced front left tire - I had a nail in the tire on the previous weekend, and the local tire store (Kauffman Tires) plugged it for me. I thought they possibly didn't balance it, and presumed that it was now noticeable because of the amount of rain water/rushing water on the roads.
I pulled off the road twice over the next thirty minutes - once at a Texaco Food Mart, so my son could get something to eat and a drink, and another time at a church. Both time were while the visibility was almost nothing and I didn't want to have the family on the road - with the shimmy - even though we were only traveling about 15 mph.
The rain began to lighted up, or we managed to get ahead of the storm, on Cobb parkway. The shimmy was still present, even on the dry road, but appear to lessen when I got the RPMs over 2500. Maybe after five minutes of being out of the storm, and on dry roads, I went to accelerate from being stopped at a red light. Around 30 MPH - CLACK-BAM-CLACKITY-CLACKITY-BAM!!!!
I still had my hazards on because I had been driving through the storm with them engaged, and saw a driveway to a parking lot, behind some townhomes about 75 yards up and to the right. I managed to get across three lanes of traffic and into the parking lot.
I got out and looked under the vehicle and there it was, the Drive Train, lying under the engine.
Called the insurance and got the car towed to a local Pep Boys.
I then called Rick Hendricks Chevrolet in Buford, because that is where I purchased the vehicle, exactly one year ago. The rep did the research and said - yes, its a power train issue and you are still under warranty. But then he said that I didn't need to get it back to him - that any Certified GM dealership could do the work. Told me to have it taken to Carl Black in Roswell. So I did.
I get a call from Carl Black when the tow truck arrived and explained the situation. Then I never get a call back, so I call the next afternoon.
The service manager proceeds to tell me that he had "never seen anything like it", "all the retaining bolts are missing", "not sheared - but totally missing".
Then he proceeds to tell me that I had to have an under-carriage collision and that the drive train would not be covered under the power train warranty!
He tried to tell me that "the missing bolts" was "indicative of an undercarriage collision" and that "shear bolts" would indicate the "drive train was defective" (or something similar). Which is completely backwards as far as I'm concerned - if there was an undercarriage collision THEN the bolts would be sheared - if there was 30 -45 minutes of vibration (shimmying) THEN the bolts would back out and not be found.
I told him that I wanted the vehicle relocated to Rick Hendricks - where I purchased it, and that I would deal with them directly.
The car arrived on Thursday, but I didn't get a call until Friday morning. I told the Service Manager what had transpired and he said he'd call back after they'd inspected the car. I called them back later in the day to be told that the Acadia had been inspected by "our technician AND a GM rep", and "it would not be covered under the power train warranty". So I asked "what happened to, and where were the 6 retaining bolts". Tom's response was "that, I can't explain".
I called my insurance and told them that I didn't want to file a claim, because this is a warranty item, and I was sure they wouldn't want to cut a check for it either. They happened to have an adjuster at the Rick Hendricks location where I bought the vehicle, and he was going to investigate. This is when I found out that Carl Black had sent my vehicle to the wrong location - it was now in Duluth - how and why they got that address I still don't know.
The adjuster called this morning telling me that they were saying it wasn't going to be covered by the warranty - I asked why and he said, that they were saying - either there was under carriage collision, or "someone" removed the retaining bolts. I take that as an accusation. One that I would sabotage my vehicle, then drive 70+ MPH on three highways, with my wife and oldest son in the car, then drive back through a flash flood, knowing that there were no bolts holding the drive train on????? Absolutely warped and ludicrous.
So far I've had two different dealership Service Managers tell me that the "vanishing retaining bolts" do not constitute something that is covered by the Power Train warranty. One of those stated that "those bolts are designed specifically to NOT back out" - yet they did - but that doesn't signify a defective part.
I have a meeting with the General Manager at 8:30 AM tomorrow morning - I'll keep you all posted.
Keith Brooks. 470.865.8039

Wow, seems like GM has learned from Insurance companies how to act in bad faith and deny deny deny.

helopro · November 2015

My 2007 GMC Acadia had the transmission fail at 49000 miles luckily fixed under warranty. At that time, I was informed of the ongoing Acadia transmission problems through the dealership service department and the internet. During the initial diagnostic process, I requested the transmission be 100% replaced as a preventative measure which was denied. They said they were only able to replace the “broken” parts. Lo-and-behold, at 101000 miles the transmission is failing AGAIN! I called my local transmission shop and he suggested that I contact GMC Customer Service to inquire about the possibility of GMC extending the warranty on Acadia transmissions due to the ongoing issues. I did and they (GMC) don’t. Initial estimation is $4000 for a new transmission. The local shop owner told me, he’s seen plenty of Acadia transmissions and once GMC warranty service work is done; it is inevitable it will fail again.

If you currently own an Acadia, you should consider selling it ASAP. Basically, it’s a ticking time-bomb… And, if it’s fixed under warranty, they just install another ticking time-bomb….

andres3 · November 2015

helopro said:
My 2007 GMC Acadia had the transmission fail at 49000 miles luckily fixed under warranty. At that time, I was informed of the ongoing Acadia transmission problems through the dealership service department and the internet. During the initial diagnostic process, I requested the transmission be 100% replaced as a preventative measure which was denied. They said they were only able to replace the “broken” parts. Lo-and-behold, at 101000 miles the transmission is failing AGAIN! I called my local transmission shop and he suggested that I contact GMC Customer Service to inquire about the possibility of GMC extending the warranty on Acadia transmissions due to the ongoing issues. I did and they (GMC) don’t. Initial estimation is $4000 for a new transmission. The local shop owner told me, he’s seen plenty of Acadia transmissions and once GMC warranty service work is done; it is inevitable it will fail again.

If you currently own an Acadia, you should consider selling it ASAP. Basically, it’s a ticking time-bomb… And, if it’s fixed under warranty, they just install another ticking time-bomb….

I think that's the case for most Big 3 vehicles, just a ticking time bomb of big repair bills. Speaking from experience here.

matthew54 · December 2015

Hi have a question everyone, I recieved a letter from gmc for reimbursement for transmission repair on a 2009 acadia I used to own. Just wonder if i should mail it, because my whole transmission was replaced at just over 140k miles. I have all documentation for it. Took it up to dealer, and he said we should mail it, because it would kick it out of the system being over 120k. Anyone think i would be reimbursed? Guess I'll do a shot in the dark and just mail it lol. Just wondering if anyone went through similar situation and got lucky thanks for any comments feedback or help ,Matt

Cpbock · December 2015

I'm hoping that with all these problems that GM will help out on the repair. Same story, wife calls and say all of a sudden the car won't go over 20. Checked transmission fluid and it seem low. Put about 25% of the quart in then test drove it. Seemed ok for half a mile and then it started slipping above 20.

matthew54 · January 2016

Just wanted to let all of you know, (if you ever get back to read this) we're getting Fully reimbursed for transmission. I mailed in the claim form, because as stated work was done at 140k miles. My work was done elsewhere, but transmission came from gm, and gm also finished the work up. (Mine was not repaired) yep it was so bad it couldn't be repaired. Glad gmc made things right!! May buy one of their cars soon, but never an SUV lol! Hope you'll have goodluck as well. Still waiting for check, I'll repost when that comes. Just got the call friday about all this

andres3 · January 2016

matthew54 said:
Just wanted to let all of you know, (if you ever get back to read this) we're getting Fully reimbursed for transmission. I mailed in the claim form, because as stated work was done at 140k miles. My work was done elsewhere, but transmission came from gm, and gm also finished the work up. (Mine was not repaired) yep it was so bad it couldn't be repaired. Glad gmc made things right!! May buy one of their cars soon, but never an SUV lol! Hope you'll have goodluck as well. Still waiting for check, I'll repost when that comes. Just got the call friday about all this

Glad to hear of GM stepping up to resolve a problem. Rare to hear; often hear otherwise.

Maybe GM really is changing in a way we can hope and believe in!

valveguy2 · June 2016

rolls backward as soon as you take your foot off the brake: normal for this car.
the front air-conditioner vents are surrounded by shiny silver which reflects the sunlight in my eyes: GM has a fix for that. They have flat black surround that replace the shiny silver.

chuck1394 · May 2017

We purchased a 2012 GMC Acadia in 2015 and the warranty expired in July of last year. Almost right after we bought the vehicle we took it to the dealership because it wasn't acting right (sputter/misfire feeling). The dealership, Love Buick GMC in Columbia SC, said that they thought the coil packs needed to be cleaned. We had that done but the problem persisted after a couple of months. We just lived with it until it recently started getting more frequent. We took it in and now another dealership (wanted fresh eyes) said that the transmission is slipping and needs to be replaced $4,700.... Now we are having major issues with the RPMs jumping all the time.... We have not had the repair as I don't feel like I can trust what their saying and wondering why the first dealership didn't identify the problem completely. The engine light has yet to come on, I might add. I've read some GMC customer service comments on this thread, so wondering if there is anything GMC can do as it looks like we've been dealing with this problem for some time and there appears to be and understanding of problems with the Acadia transmission. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

mike4584 · June 2017

My 2012 Acadia has vibration issues at highway speeds and the dealer changed just about the whole drive train as well as 4 sets of tires and tried different wheels too. They (GMC Dealership) said they cant fix it and I have to live with it. What the heck it's a 40K car... Now the car jerks and sputters on the highway and they cant fix that either. I took it to 3 private shops and the dealer with no success. I don't know what else to do.

andres3 · June 2017

mike4584 said:
My 2012 Acadia has vibration issues at highway speeds and the dealer changed just about the whole drive train as well as 4 sets of tires and tried different wheels too. They (GMC Dealership) said they cant fix it and I have to live with it. What the heck it's a 40K car... Now the car jerks and sputters on the highway and they cant fix that either. I took it to 3 private shops and the dealer with no success. I don't know what else to do.

Never buy a GM again and vote out the nincompoops that thought bailouts were a good idea.

scarbs91 · July 2017

Yep, me too! Bought my wife a 2009 Acadia (sub 80k) that was really like new. She had wanted one for a while, and I needed to shoot the old Trailblazer (transmission out 4 times in a year). Boy did I jump from frying pan to fire!

Owned Acadia now for 2 years. Replaced all three catalytic converters (saving that planet) at $700-$800, per - plus an all night family rescue drive since they were stranded. Oh yes, that radiator replacement - what was that $900? Then the transmission broke last year - and replaced timing chain too. Then the car stranded us on vacation again as the alternator cable burned completely in two.

So, who's counting - I think that's five times we have been stranded in 30k miles!

But wait, there's more! Now the tranny is out again! And the intake valves are dirty (apparently a common Acadia issue - although the dealer service guy said,"the internet makes everything a big issue." Hmm, the independent shop guy said it was very common! Okay, that bill will be $6,100!!!!!!!

And the family barely made it back from a trip - narrowly avoiding the 6th stranding!

The independent shop said, "they are great cars - for mechanics." Who is designing these things????

scarbs91 · July 2017

Oh yes, I forgot that the thing used to tell us to turn off the engine while we were going down the highway. (First time while out of state.) It thought it was either out of oil or the oil pressure was low. We'd pull over - I remember being on the side of the interstate in the middle of the night in another state trying to figure out what was wrong with our "new car" - hoping we weren't going to get killed! It finally quit doing that - they didn't know why it did this. Loving me some Acadia!!!!

scarbs91 · July 2017

Yep, forgot replacing coil packs too. Can't keep up.

acadia09 · March 2018

Could some one from GMC take a look at all my troubles with my 2009 Acadia with only 67k miles on it I will give you the VIN # I don't want to have to list all my troubles with brakes fluid pump rack and pinion and the transmission that won't go into reverse now. I think after reading all the troubles with the transmission on Edmunds GMC should open a recall on it. Oh one more problem that I had at 17K miles was under warranty was the Timming Chain. I have already put 5,772.66 in to this and that is not counting regular Oil changes and Tire Rotations Vin # 1GKEV13D29J140476 LOW MILEAGE. I have always had Fords and never put that type of money into any car. I bought a GMC because my son was a service writer for a dealership and got us a good price......not now! Regards, Pret01

GMC Acadia Transmission Problems

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