Holden Colorado Torque Convertor Failure

[JohngQld]

Hi to All,
Firstly, I'm not here to knock the Colorado but to give an awareness of a failure of the Toque Convertor. I work for a large government body and we have been using the Colorado since 2016 complete with enclosed canopy and always carrying loads. I have two of these under my direct control, the first one about 135,000 klms when it started to shudder under load, sometimes coasting. It was due for service and to have the problem looked at when we got the call to say the replacement vehicle was ready to collect. Two weeks later its sister vehicle with just over 100,000 klm developed the same symptoms to the point where it almost became undriveable. When we got it to the service center, they asked the questions they already knew the answers to. We had it returned to us the same day as its replacement was ready to be picked up also. To our surprise, this replacement of the torque convertor is being covered by a special Holden Extended Warranty, meaning they already know the problem is widespread, We have since learnt a large number of Colorados statewide have reported the issue.

If you have a Colorado which may or may not have the the issues, get it your dealer for an assessment. Finally the service notice said the torque convertor was replaced due to contamination.

I hope this helps those of you with a Colorado to avoid a possible breakdown.

John

 

[Drover]

They had a 150K km service schedule for the 6 speeder GM box, which if its a working ute is way too long, no wonder they fall over. I did hear awhile ago about a problem which sounded to me like a bad batch as this box has been around for a long time.... I would change mine around the 40K mark.

 

[mfexpanda]

They had a 150K km service schedule for the 6 speeder GM box, which if its a working ute is way too long, no wonder they fall over. I did hear awhile ago about a problem which sounded to me like a bad batch as this box has been around for a long time.... I would change mine around the 40K mark.

i had mine serviced at 35k and is due again at 77k all done at wholesale automatic cooler fitted and full syn oil
so far so good
i did know about some having problems and the extended warranty
holden and many others state the autos are sealed for life

 

[Drover]

i had mine serviced at 35k and is due again at 77k all done at wholesale automatic cooler fitted and full syn oil
so far so good
i did know about some having problems and the extended warranty
holden and many others state the autos are sealed for life

Thats the only way to go, sealed for life is a cost cutting falicy just to keep costs down and thats on most brands and often the reason things fail... service often, don't let the auto lag on shift, find the sweet spot on the tacho and keep it there, change manually if need be...... oils have improved but haven't noticed the filter capacity increase.

 

[Hitting the road]

Bit like Jeep with the 8 spd ZF...sealed and good for the life of the car they say...except ZF says it should be serviced with oil filter change at least at 100,000 miles, and possibly sooner if towing...
The life of the car is no doubt is for as long as the warranty period!

 

[Drover]

Bit like Jeep with the 8 spd ZF...sealed and good for the life of the car they say...except ZF says it should be serviced with oil filter change at least at 100,000 miles, and possibly sooner if towing...
The life of the car is no doubt is for as long as the warranty period!

Many others as well, I did notice the ZF advised 70K and way back with the Merc W5A580 box it started out at 100K but then later pulled back to 70k, the GM 6SL50 in the Colorado did have a lot of complaints in the US but I never had any problems with mine, I know way back , when you got new vehicle it wasn't long before you dropped all the fluids out, coolant, eng, diff and box along with filters, grease job as well then you knew anything left over should be flushed out....(well I did anyway)...... sometimes the crap you found for a new bit of gear was worrisome, especially in the coolant, even now crap in the galleries is causing grief , slack QC..............
Interesting to see some distance schedules are being pulled back but I imagine they cut costs elsewhere....... Coolant being good for 8 years and 1.5mill km, in a perfect world maybe.....

 

[DRW]

I have all my fluids changed on a regular basis in my brake fluid, diffs and transfer box, gearbox and coolant it’s not that expensive especially coolants which I use genuine as there isn’t a direct replacement

 

[JohngQld]

From the research we have done since our two failures, the torque convertor is a standalone self contained unit that does not share it 's oil with the transmission. They list sources of contamination as extreme heat from being overloaded, failure of the seals allowing oil to escape and also contamination from the failure of internal clutch parts. Torque convertors these days use a multi plate clutch that essentially locks up the toque convertor to prevent slippage which of course is wasting energy and fuel. From a video I came across Landrover and Range Rover have a removable plug and has access holes in the bell housing to allow the fluid to be changed. No idea what year they were talking about. Since my post last week, we have been told of another 7 cases.
John

 

[Pace]

i had mine serviced at 35k and is due again at 77k all done at wholesale automatic cooler fitted and full syn oil
so far so good
i did know about some having problems and the extended warranty
holden and many others state the autos are sealed for life

What trans temps did you have before cooler fitted?
What temps you got now?

 

[Drover]

A few years back now but a mate and I on the road with our vans, both in Colorados, mine stock standard and his with a professional fan and cooler fitted travelling the same road, he just travelled in D and I was selecting my cogs and mine ran just as cool as his, but if I towed in "D" everything went way too hot, could be well over 106 without trying which if run for too long is a killer of auto's....... When he saw the temps he went and got the fan/cooler fitted while on the road so we got a good comparo.... Can't remember the temps but in the mid 80's to low 90's .

 

[mfexpanda]

What trans temps did you have before cooler fitted?
What temps you got now?

Towing average would be 70 to 80 c
Not towing would be in the low 60c

 

[Drover]

Towing average would be 70 to 80 c
Not towing would be in the low 60c

Spoke to my mate and thats the temps he had with his cooler/fan combo............. he saw the light and has a Grand now as well....

 

[mfexpanda]

Spoke to my mate and thats the temps he had with his cooler/fan combo............. he saw the light and has a Grand now as well....

If I win lotto I’ll have a 2500 silverado in my drive

 

[Drover]

If I win lotto I’ll have a 2500 silverado in my drive

Thats 2 isn't it ?? You still have my address so they can deliver mine or do I have to pick it up ??