Montana transmissions

[rajjhauf]

Just wanted to post a message for you all. My 2001 Pontiac Montana van had 50,000 miles on it when the tranny started acting up, dealer did a tranny flush and it ran great for about 5,000 miles then tranny went way south. Dealer wanted $2,500.00 for new one installed, I found a used one with 18,000 miles on it and installed it myself. Installing this was a @#$%. Would not attempt it again. Waiting for (holding my breath) to hear back from general motors on this issue. Transmission shop said to never flush a tranny, thats what made mine go out. They said to only change the filter and fluid. Hope this helps someone out there.

[Dan_in_WA]

Oh freakin' great.

I have a 2001 Montana with 50K miles on it, and just dumped the warranty.

Thanks for the warning; at least I have all the factory manuals.

Dan

[rajjhauf]

Well to update you all G.M. did respond to my email and said that since I was not the first owner they really couldn't help me with this matter and that they were sorry. (computer generated?) I thought this would be their response anyways. I just wont buy another G.M. again. Good luck to anyone dealing with G.M. too.

[danstrong]

There is a service bulliten on GM transmissions for a bad thrust bearing from Torrington.

Tell the dealer to look up the service bulliten. It will likely be the same problem you are having.

No way about the fluid change. You did the best thing for it by keeping the fluid changed. I'm sure it would have failed sooner without the fluid change.

I dont think it matters if you were the first owner or not. With the service bulliten, GM should repair it, or at least pay for most of the cost.

Good luck.
Dan strong

[LuxLeMans]

I have to disagree about the fluid change. Unless you`re changing the fluid regularly, when you have high miles on your transmission the rule is not to flush the system. If the fluid is low, add fluid, but never change it. There`s a reason for this.

Over time, friction material from your clutches and bands will wear off. This stuff is still floating around in the old fluid and will still help apply the bands and clutches. When you flush the old ATF, you lose all the old friction material. I always hear about people that flushed their trannies at 90-100k, only to have it fail shortly thereafter.

If you buy a car new, or have a tranny rebuild, I`d recommend changing the fluid every 10k or so. If you don`t, then don`t change it at all. Just drive it until it fails.

I have a `98 Montana with 151k on it and my tranny`s still going strong.

[rajjhauf]

I dont mind changing the filter and fluid, was told that I shouldn't ever had the tranny flushed. G.M. never said anything about a service bulliten.(no suprise there?) Thank you all for the help.

[bertmaster2000]

thought i'd share my experience.

our 2000 van with 3.4 l engine occasionally "thumps" into each gear. this is totally intermittent and does not appear to be associated with anything.

i changed the fluid and filter twice within 100 miles, the second time i also added some trans conditioner. since then, (about 20,000 miles) the problem has not occured near as often, but i won't be surprised when i get the call from my wife that "the van won't go".

berto

[Vanrunner]

Originally Posted by bertmaster2000

thought i'd share my experience.

our 2000 van with 3.4 l engine occasionally "thumps" into each gear. this is totally intermittent and does not appear to be associated with anything.

i changed the fluid and filter twice within 100 miles, the second time i also added some trans conditioner. since then, (about 20,000 miles) the problem has not occured near as often, but i won't be surprised when i get the call from my wife that "the van won't go".

berto

I just bought a 2000Montana with 75K on it.

No knowing what kind of maintenance has been done what should I do? Flush or no? What is the difference b/t a flush and just changing the fluid and filter?

Any advice would be great.

[rodeo02]

If your AT pan does not have a drain plug (the GM 4T65E does not), you can buy a cheap hand pump / dipstick pump. Pump out a few qts of ATF thru the dipstick tube, add fresh ATF in the amount you took out & repeat if you want to clean it up more. You should ATLEAST do this every year or every 20K mi on these trannies if you want them to last. Drop the pan & change the filter every 40Kmi or so.
G/luck
Joel

[bertmaster2000]

Originally Posted by Vanrunner

I just bought a 2000Montana with 75K on it.

No knowing what kind of maintenance has been done what should I do? Flush or no? What is the difference b/t a flush and just changing the fluid and filter?

Any advice would be great.

vanrunner,

i strongly recommend dropping the trans pan and changing all of the fluid and filter right away. it's not difficult so you can do it yourself. my van had 80k on it when i got it and changed the fluid...the fluid was black black black and the filter looked terrible!

[rajjhauf]

I think replacing the filter and fluid is the best thing to do. I would not have it flushed (been there, done that) unless you want to replace the tranny. The filter and 12 quarts of fluid are cheap.

[has]

I have a 2002 Pontiac Montana with just over 50,000 miles that the transmission died with no warning. Its now having to be rebuilt at my expence beause the warranty expired at 36000 miles. I have owned over 10 Chrysler mini-vans over the past years with no problem and decided to give GM a chance, poor decision, it will not happen again. Is there any recourse that I might have with GM.

[bottomtech]

Originally Posted by bertmaster2000

thought i'd share my experience.

our 2000 van with 3.4 l engine occasionally "thumps" into each gear. this is totally intermittent and does not appear to be associated with anything.

i changed the fluid and filter twice within 100 miles, the second time i also added some trans conditioner. since then, (about 20,000 miles) the problem has not occured near as often, but i won't be surprised when i get the call from my wife that "the van won't go".

berto

Many 4t65e's had problems with the pressure control solenoid. It would usally cause harsh shifts intermittently. Sets code P1811. Thought this might help.

[hot_in_ottawa]

Originally Posted by rajjhauf

Just wanted to post a message for you all. My 2001 Pontiac Montana van had 50,000 miles on it when the tranny started acting up, dealer did a tranny flush and it ran great for about 5,000 miles then tranny went way south. Dealer wanted $2,500.00 for new one installed, I found a used one with 18,000 miles on it and installed it myself. Installing this was a @#$%. Would not attempt it again. Waiting for (holding my breath) to hear back from general motors on this issue. Transmission shop said to never flush a tranny, thats what made mine go out. They said to only change the filter and fluid. Hope this helps someone out there.

raffjauf, what was your transmission doing before you flushed it??? I've
also got a 2001 and also have about 52K miles on it and for the last
few weeks I can feel each gear change with a bit of a thump, not
always but enough to start noticing something as changed. I also
hear whinning at low speed (transmission??) I have had the transmission
fluid and filter changed but nothing as changed. Am I looking at some
serious transmission problems coming up or is this all normal wear and
tear?????

[rajjhauf]

My tranny was doing the same thing at first, it would "thump" into gear and then a little later would slam hard from 1st to 2nd gear. I was told it was the sun gear going out. I understand there is a service bulletin on this from the dealer but my warranty was already up. If your check engine light is not on yet, it will soon. This is a common problem with these G.M trannys. I would start checking prices to have yours rebuilt. My dealer wanted $2500 to replace it. A transmission shop can rebuild it for about $1200. And yes, your looking at serious transmission problems. I know this what you wanted to hear.