Clogged Trans Filter, is it toast?

[18Burbanator]

I have a 2018 Suburban LT with the 6L80e. I bought it with 24k, now has 123k. I performed the first trans service (pan drop, new filter) at 94k, fluid was not especially dirty and nothing scary in pan or on magnet.

Two days ago I pulled out of the driveway and all of the sudden I had no power. Coasted of the road, and I had no movement in any gear, engine just revved. I let it sit engine off for 5 minutes and then it would move for a few seconds and then stop again. I towed it home and then drove it it o my shop.

Dropped the pan and found very dirty brown fluid. Magnet totally covered in clutch material. No chunks in pan. Cut open the filter and it was very dirty but no chunks and only maybe 3 tiny specks of aluminum. I put in a new filter and it's been working perfectly fine for the past two days.

I've since read about all of the issues with these transmissions. Is there a chance mine is still fine? What would cause a sudden increase in clutch wear but would allow it to still work fine?

 

[Trey Hardy]

I have a 2018 Suburban LT with the 6L80e. I bought it with 24k, now has 123k. I performed the first trans service (pan drop, new filter) at 94k, fluid was not especially dirty and nothing scary in pan or on magnet.

Two days ago I pulled out of the driveway and all of the sudden I had no power. Coasted of the road, and I had no movement in any gear, engine just revved. I let it sit engine off for 5 minutes and then it would move for a few seconds and then stop again. I towed it home and then drove it it o my shop.

Dropped the pan and found very dirty brown fluid. Magnet totally covered in clutch material. No chunks in pan. Cut open the filter and it was very dirty but no chunks and only maybe 3 tiny specks of aluminum. I put in a new filter and it's been working perfectly fine for the past two days.

I've since read about all of the issues with these transmissions. Is there a chance mine is still fine? What would cause a sudden increase in clutch wear but would allow it to still work fine?

Might not be toast but I would expect a rebuild in the near future
Personally I’d drive her still she quits then replace it with something better
The torque converters are weak in this model also so I would highly recommend upgrading to a billet converter when you go to rebuild do not reuse the old one because when she breaks she usually pumps metal in the trans therefore frying it in the process which turns a 1000$ part to a 4000$ trans and converter real quick

 

[wjburken]

@NickTransmissions might have some input on this, but…..yeah…..brown fluid, clogged filter, no movement…..rebuild or replacement time as you likely have debris all throughout your transmission.

 

[NickTransmissions]

I have a 2018 Suburban LT with the 6L80e. I bought it with 24k, now has 123k. I performed the first trans service (pan drop, new filter) at 94k, fluid was not especially dirty and nothing scary in pan or on magnet.

Two days ago I pulled out of the driveway and all of the sudden I had no power. Coasted of the road, and I had no movement in any gear, engine just revved. I let it sit engine off for 5 minutes and then it would move for a few seconds and then stop again. I towed it home and then drove it it o my shop.

Dropped the pan and found very dirty brown fluid. Magnet totally covered in clutch material. No chunks in pan. Cut open the filter and it was very dirty but no chunks and only maybe 3 tiny specks of aluminum. I put in a new filter and it's been working perfectly fine for the past two days.

I've since read about all of the issues with these transmissions. Is there a chance mine is still fine? What would cause a sudden increase in clutch wear but would allow it to still work fine?

Could be a combination of torque converter, 1-2-3-4 cluch and 3-5-R clutch all shot or on last legs. If there's a little bit of friction left, it will work but not for long...New fluid helps slightly...Another possibility is loss of line pressure (TEHCM) or #1 and #5 check ball stuck/sticking/worn/migrating into the clutch circuitry...Id also advance front gear train failure but you should have seen metal chunks in the pan and filter.

Agree with @Trey Hardy / @wjburken , start planning for an overhaul or replacement.

 

[swathdiver]

I have a 2018 Suburban LT with the 6L80e. I bought it with 24k, now has 123k. I performed the first trans service (pan drop, new filter) at 94k, fluid was not especially dirty and nothing scary in pan or on magnet.

Two days ago I pulled out of the driveway and all of the sudden I had no power. Coasted of the road, and I had no movement in any gear, engine just revved. I let it sit engine off for 5 minutes and then it would move for a few seconds and then stop again. I towed it home and then drove it it o my shop.

Dropped the pan and found very dirty brown fluid. Magnet totally covered in clutch material. No chunks in pan. Cut open the filter and it was very dirty but no chunks and only maybe 3 tiny specks of aluminum. I put in a new filter and it's been working perfectly fine for the past two days.

I've since read about all of the issues with these transmissions. Is there a chance mine is still fine? What would cause a sudden increase in clutch wear but would allow it to still work fine?

She ought to have been serviced 3 or 4 times by now. The thermostat kills them by about 100K miles. They are excellent transmissions capable of going 300K plus miles with regular service (36K to 45K mile service interval).

You might get away with rebuilding the transmission by replacing the torque converter first.

Have a GM dealership flow test your transmission oil cooler and lines. Clogged lines kills transmissions.

 

[18Burbanator]

Thanks for all the responses so far. Yeah I realize I screwed up by not servicing the trans at the correct interval. In addition to flow testing the cooler and lines, is there anything the dealer or a trans shop can do to evaluate the health of the transmission without pulling it from the vehicle?

We have a trip from Ohio to Montana pulling our 24 ft camper planned for this summer. At this point I feel like it would be a good idea to have it rebuilt before then even if it's not showing any other symptoms.

 

[Marky Dissod]

... is there anything the dealer or a trans shop can do to evaluate the health of the transmission without pulling it from the vehicle?

YOU can have an ATF analysis done, but it'll likely only confirm your neglect.
It's likely too late to just flush out all the old ATF for new.

At this point it would be a good idea to have it rebuilt before then even if it's not showing any other symptoms.

You only dropped the pan and changed the filter. So old ATF was still in the torque converter.
You also never mentioned disabling cylinder deactivation. By now it is a well known fact that cylinder deactivation wears the torque converter clutch, eventually taking the 6L80E out with it.
It is too late to merely upgrade the torque converter, although it's a damn good idea to do so when you swap in a rebuilt 6L80E.
Did you ever flip the pill? If not, do so.

It'd likely be better to have an already-rebuilt 6L80E swapped in.
Quicker than waiting for yours to be rebuilt.

 

[18Burbanator]

How do you disable the AFM? The fact that this causes converter clutch wear may be well known to people who use this forum often, but that's not me. I'm just a guy who had some transmission issues and did a Google search to figure what the hell was going on. I appreciate people's help and responses, but I'm here asking questions because I didn't know stuff like that.

 

[wjburken]

How do you disable the AFM? The fact that this causes converter clutch wear may be well known to people who use this forum often, but that's not me. I'm just a guy who had some transmission issues and did a Google search to figure what the hell was going on. I appreciate people's help and responses, but I'm here asking questions because I didn't know stuff like that.

You can by a disable dongle that you plug into the OBDII port, you can have someone turn it off with a tune and you can have someone completely remove the AFM lifters, cam and VLOM. All of which are certainly options.

That being said, we are at 177K on our Yukon with AFM still active. The biggest thing is just keeping up with maintenance. Yes, AFM can contribute to some wear in the torque convertor, but I wouldn’t beat yourself up for not disabling AFM.

 

[Marky Dissod]

The fact that this causes converter clutch wear may be well known to people who use this forum often, but that's not me.

Not yet, but you're here on this forum now, read up!
Regarding V4 mode stuff, yeah, what wjburken said:
plug-in, tune, or physically converting your valvetrain.

Properly written tunes not only disable V4 mode and significantly reduce TCC wear, they minimize MpG lost, and improve smiles per gallon.
I agree with wjburken about keeping up with maintenance, sort of.
I actually suggest changing motor oil and ATF more often than GM would have you do so, and using the longer version of your oil filter.