Project Carbon Next Gen 10 Speed Valve Body Kit - Finally Installed!

[jfoj]

Just putting this initial info out about the Project Carbon Next Gen 10 Speed Valve body kit for anyone that wants to follow along.

I contacted Next Gen and spoke at length with the design Engineer that came up with the Project Carbon valve body repair/update. Spoke about many topics but it seems they have done their homework on this update and found many things about the OE valve body design and parts choices that are causing problems. They drew from experience from all the other transmissions they have repaired over the years and took what worked and lasted from other manufacturers and applied the materials and techniques to the GM OE valve body.

Mostly it comes down to higher quality machined steel spool valves that are properly chamfered and highly polished, one piece thicker laser cut valve body separator plates without the need for paper gaskets that can fail and getting rid of the steel, not even stainless steel, filter screens that tend to tear and end up with steel wires from the screens getting caught up in the magnetic control solenoids and/or jamming spool valves in the valve body. They also have some modifications for the lube circuits as well as some other precision machined steel valves with O-rings that will not wear the valve body bores like the standard poorly machines aluminum valves in the OE valve body.

I put the Next Gen representative on the spot a bit about how many of these valve body kits they have sold and he is more on the Technical side and not the Sales side, but he said in the range of 4000-5000 kits.

I decided to Preventatively and Proactively purchase the full Project Carbon valve body upgrade kit with the addition of the billet shift valves, which are not cheap, and the total with shipping came out to around $1500.

Some people may say why am I doing this. Part of the reason is I have built automatic transmissions in the past, modified valve bodies and dealt with similar valve body problems so I understand what this kit changes, upgrades or modifies. I also understand how the valve body bores can wear over time with aluminum valves riding in aluminum valve body bores. The other issue is what happens when the valve body starts to have internal leaks and/or valve body bore wear, the application of the clutch packs is impacted and the clutch packs can start slipping and cause more advanced wear in the transmission. Some may not be able to detect some of the slippage, but you will clearly feel harsh or banging during shifting. Since these transmissions are pretty smooth shifting even of you are the daily driver and are trying to be aware of any change in shift slippage, you may not notice problems until additional clutch pack wear has occurred.

My goal is to head off any serious transmission clutch wear. While the 2023+ light trucks have not been recalled, I expect they will based on a lot of searching I have done online and the failures I am even seeing even with some of the 2025 models. I would have assumed GM may have updated the transmission software on the 2025 models, but maybe they did not get it in the earlier builds. The Recall is only for a software update that DOES NOT CORRECT OR FIX the valve body problems. All the Recall does is update the transmission control module software to "detect" wear and slippage and to put the transmission in a "Limp" mode that will not allow the transmission to shift above 5th gear, limiting the vehicle to about 45 MPH. As part of the "Recall" if your VIN is covered, GM will extend the valve body and only the valve body warranty to 15 Years/150,000 miles. The rest of the transmission does not have the warranty extended and a faulty valve body can cause excessive wear or possible failure within the transmission. I think it is still too early to tell if the transmission software update can really "protect" the transmission from lower pressures applying clutch packs and premature transmission clutch pack wear.

I plan on personally pulling the valve body and installing the Project Carbon valve body update kit hopefully before my truck has 7500 miles on it. I will update this thread with pictures of the kit parts once received and try to get some pictures during the valve body upgrade and determine how difficult a job this will be. It is a bit more work and advanced than changing the transmission fluid, but I would hope that someone that could do brake work or replace a water pump could do this work. Next Gen says most people can do the job in about 3 hours in the driveway. You could also have a local transmission show install the parts probably for about 3 hours of labor and fluid locally if you do not think you could do the work yourself.

I do a lot of long haul trips and I would rather head off problems, even if I have to pay for it out of my own pocket. At the moment I am seeing too many stories of owners that have been held up for 2-4 months waiting on a GM rebuilt valve body that may not be much better than the the original the vehicle shipped with. I assume at some point the months long delays may get much shorter, but a valve body problem will at a minimum probably cause at least 3 days loss of the vehicle in most cases. Again, based on the searching I have been doing, I am seeing 2023-2025 models with these valve body problems, some with as few as 1,000 miles! I personally think this is a more "When" than "If" scenario. I do believe that the 2022-2025 models will likely be recalled based on the recent Cadillac and Camero recall.

I would rather take my chances spending my own money and time on what appears to be a superior set of parts to address the problem before it becomes a "problem".

Again, some may way why do this, you have a warranty, I say I do not want the hassle and potential for additional transmission clutch pack damage. I would rather have control over the repair in my driveway than at the dealer, this is just me. I have the skills, experience and tools to do this job, so it will get done depending on my schedule.

I have already done a lot of things to try and keep the 6.2l alive: DFM and Auto/Stop Start bypassed, Catch Can installed, Magnetic oil drain plug, no remote starting or allowing the truck to idle to warm up especially in the Winter, 3rd oil change before 6,000 miles, no 0W20 crap in the crankcase, running 9 quarts with oil filter.

So we shall see how things go, will try to add updates as I get parts and have time to perform the valve body upgrade.

Project Carbon Valve Body

Project Carbon Repair Story

As the world burns!

 

[blanchard7684]

Fantastic info thanks.

It is good to know an aftermarket upgrade exists.

This is like the east coast bushing upgrade for Toyota needle bearing failures: the aftermarket had a really good solution that was cost effective.

 

[jfoj]

There are a few other way cheaper options/kits from Sonnax, Suncoast and other transmission related vendors, but you need to be very careful, a lot of these kits are mostly springs and maybe a few seals or O-rings, some do have some spool valve sleeves, but on some kits you actually are required to cut the spool valve stems with a grinder to a specific length.

Few kits really address the OE factory sepraator plate problems, address partial bore wear and have precsion machined, highly polished replacement spool valves that should last far longer without damaging the valve body bores that the OE aluminum spool valves. Sure you could replace the factory metal separator plates with an OE replacement, but these have been known to be constantly failure prone.

I expect minimal updates to the replacement GM valve bodies they will put in vehicles during the 15 year/150,000 mile extended warranty period. Once they have primed the supply chain with valve bodies, the remaining will all be remanufactured either by GM or a contractor.

 

[jfoj]

A couple quick updates while I am waiting on the shipment of the valve body kit.

Went ahead and purchased the GM Part #24050764 for around $15 which superseded GM Part #24294356. These are 1 time use bolts with some special sealer on a few that should keep internal leakage from occurring around the threads of a few specific bolts. I think they may be for the filter and a few for the valve body, but I will do more research and make sure other bolts are not required as sometimes there are Torque to Yield one use bolts for things like valve bodies.

Since the OE pan has no drain which is typical, some earlier versions have a small plug on the bottom of the pan, but this not technically a drain, it is for filling, you can pull the plug and it will drain some fluid, but not much and it takes a long time as it is only about 5/16" diameter.

I decided to get an aftermarket transmission pan mainly because it has a drain plug integrated into it. Decided to go with the PPE pan, it holds 2 additional quarts, not a bad thing, but I really wanted a drain plug for ease of partial fluid changes. I figured if I could pull a drain plug and at least change a good portion of the transmission fluid as easy as changing oil, I would be more inclined to drain and refill every 10k miles and then about every 30k miles drop the pan, clean it out change the filter and refill. The filters on these transmissions are typically more of a fine metal or plastic screen from what I have seen, so they may not really need to be changed often. Once I get my valve body out, I will try and post a picture of the OE filter type with a description.

While some may think I am foolish for doing this while I do not seem to have a problem and the vehicle is under warranty, my take is I would rather head off the problem now, save the transmission and possible more costs later in the ownership cycle. I mean there are plenty of members here and other owners that immediately put larger wheels and tires on the truck or modify the intake or exhaust within months of purchasing the vehicle. This is typically far more money than I am spending on my transmission at this point. I am just putting money into what I deem as reliability rather than other things.

Everyone has their wants and needs, I want to try and control possible future failures and hopefully put off premature damage occurring to the transmission as well as letting me control downtime for maintenance and repairs. I fully understand there are other failure points within these 10 speed transmissions, however, I feel a number of the premature failures can be directly attributed to failing valve bodies. Some problems like the pump gear whine may just happen no matter what, but hopefully fluid services and lake of heavy towing and loads will keep this specific problem from occurring. I may not have all the bases covered, but the valve body is a pretty failure prone part from the research I have done and I think I am investing my time and money in the best place at this point in time. Prefer to have this happen on my schedule and not someone else's timeframe.

 

[jfoj]

My PPE aluminum trans pan with drain arrived yesterday, I have not unboxed it yet, but that dude is freaking HEAVY!! It must be a pretty solid casting. If comes with bolts for the trans pan as I assume they may be a bit longer than OE due to the aluminum pan flange thickness. For my 2024 Yukon 6.2l the PPE part number is listed as #128051300. Please double check your application on the PPE website before ordering because some of the descriptions are somewhat vague or confusing as I think there may have been changes mid run for application on the GM trucks. Will compare and update once I get into the job.

I have the trans pan gasket, fluid should be here tomorrow. Ordered a decent container/pump, kind of like a garden sprayer, I could have used one and modified it, but this trans fluid container pump was not too expensive, if it make life easy, I will change the fluid more often!

Waiting on the GM bolt kit and the NextGen valve body still. I think bolt kit will be here Friday. Not sure the valve body kit has shipped yet. I ordered the 6 shift valves with the kit, more $$$$ but figured I might as well do the entire job while I am at it. Possibly the delay is the shift valves? Hopefully I will get a notice of shipment in the next 3-6 days.

As far as I know, I have not noticed any transmission related problems, but I want to get this weak point knocked out and off the table as a future problem. I drive too many longer trips and I have no interest in finding out when the valve body will act up.

Seems the transmission problems are now more frequent than the 6.2l bearing failures at the moment. I guess we are all in the same boat with the valve lifter problem, these have not been on the radar lately due to all the 6.2l bearing failures.

 

[jfoj]

Today's update for anyone that is silently following along in the background.

GM valve body bolt kit arrived
GM ULV trans fluid arrived
Fluid pump arrived

Ordered a 10L80 manual just to have it as I plan on figuring out how the thing actually works! It was only $45 so I figured what the heck, I may actually learn something and if I find I no longer need it, there is always ebay!

Ordered a smaller Sonnax 10L80 Zip kit because there were a few small things in this kit that I do not think the NextGen kit offered. Maybe NextGen did not see a need for the few items the Sonnax Zip kit supplied. I will inspect the valve body and probably make an audible on whether I may use any of the parts from the Sonnax kit. The Sonnax kit came up WAY short and WAY cheaper than the NextGen kit, but they did not have the valve body separator plates and only a few valves and sleeves. Again, I will make a judgement call on the Sonnax parts once I am into the valve body.

Waiting on NextGen valve body kit and the Sonnax Zip kit. Once these get here, then I have to look at my schedule when I can tear into the transmission.

 

[jfoj]

Great post from Camero forum with pictures installing the Project Carbon Valve Body kit in a Camero 10L60 transmission which should have the same valve body as the 10L80 transmission we have. There may be a slight difference in the electronic shift and electronic/hydraulic Park.

CAMARO6 - View Single Post - There is a new recall on "certain Camaros," GM Program #N242480630

Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, 1LE, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5 & Camaro6.com

www.camaro6.com

 

[DuraYuk]

I mean as a former gm transmission tech I think you are going a bit overboard. But it's your vehicle and money so long as it makes you happy.

How are you running 9 quarts tho? You have a larger oil pan?

Problem with replacing parts that are seemingly find so early is that when vehicles fail it's usually early. And you replacing that component and if you end up having problems you have just muddled up the water further.

2nd I've done thousands of transmissions and I am not going to replace my valve body in my drive way lol.

No way. I want a lift and to have access not to mention the fluid everywhere as it slowly drips everywhere even tho it's been drained.

I'm also curious to the thousands they claim they have sold. Seems suspect.

Hope it all works out.

 

[jfoj]

You and other may think I an going overboard, but this is what the world has come to, premature engine and transmission failures. Designed down to a price, not to a level of reliability. This along with all the Federal Government EPA and CAFE requirements have tanked once reliable vehicles and turned them into fragile devices that need careful operation and maintenance. We have gone back to 1960's maintenance requirements. Based on everything I have researched, it is not IF but when. Similar problems on the 6 and 8 speeds as well with valve body wear and separator plate sealing problems.

The issue is with these internal leaks, clutch packs can have reduced application pressure and slippage. What happens is these leaks start out minor and you may not notice the problem until it gets really bad. By that time, you have started to cause excessive wear to the transmission and it may be a bit late for a simple valve body replacement. Understand on the units GM recalled, ONLY the valve body is warranted for 15 years/150,000 miles, not the entire transmission.

So I have the tools, skills and experience to perform the job, so rather than wait for the problem to happen, I will head off the issue and address it now.

Doing valve body work in the driveway is not a problem, I have done this before a number of times. Really not so difficult, sure a lift is better, but I have not spend $4500 on a lift yet!

Not so worried about fluid dripping, it will only drip so long. Not a problem is you have a decent drain pan!! Some folks miss the big picture on drain pans!!

Best $8 drain pan for large oil sumps and transmission work!

As for the 9 quarts of oil in the engine, the vehicle has a stock oil pan, but GM's spec of 8 quarts with oil filter for the V8's is not how they come filled from the factory!! Anyone running 8 quarts with a filter is asking for trouble. All I did was match what the engine was shipped with from the factory. Have crossed checked almost a dozen Yukons, Suburbans, Tahoes and they are would be about 2/3 rds low on oil if 8 quarts is used during an oil change.

Figuring out the stupid GM transmission fluid will will be fun as well. SO MUCH DOCUMENTION is conflicting and I believe WRONG. For the STUPID GM Engineer that came up with a fluid fill at around 180-212F is asking for problems and for people to get hurt. The smart fill procedures I have seen for other vendors was for the trans fluid to be at 100F, this is below burning temperature.

So many users are failing to use the fluid fill standpipe in the bottom of some of the trans pans. The fluid fill standpipe is a genius way to go, VW and other German manufacturers even allowed the standpipe to be unthreaded so you could actually drain most of the fluid via the standpipe hole. You can even fill easily via the standpipe hole as well, it is very easy, the convoluted and expensive tools they suggest are crazy, you can use a $8 fluid transfer pump from the parts store.

I will first be checking the fluid cold from the upper case fill port and taking a measurement. I will pretty much then measure the fluid I drain from the transmission and this will be my baseline. GM fills these transmissions "cold" or at least at a fixed temperature during assembly and I can guarantee it is not likely over 100F.

A quick glance under my vehicle I did not see the standpipe in the pan, but I need to check closer as it may be in a corner that I missed. But what I can say for sure there are plenty of DIY videos and posts on forums that I believe are way wrong and I have even seen a GM bulletin that want the transmission temperature up to close to 200F which is hot going to happen on my watch. I have yet to see the operating temperature of my transmission go above 160F so far.

 

[jfoj]

So today's update.

Sonnax Zip Kit and Torlon Check Balls arrived. Decided to swap out the cheap nylon check balls wit hthe Torlon Check Balls. These are overall more durable than the cheap nylon OE check balls that may start to wear over time.

Project Carbon Valve Body Kit should be shipping today. They were waiting on a spool valve delivery.

 

[DuraYuk]

You and other may think I an going overboard, but this is what the work has come to, premature engine and transmission failures. Based on everything I have researched, it is not IF but when. Similar problems on the 6 and 8 speeds as well with valve body wear and separator plate sealing issues.

The issue is with these internal leaks clutch packs can have reduced application pressure and slippage. What happens is these leaks start out minor and you may not notice the problem until it gets really bad. By that time, you have started to cause excessive wear to the transmission and it may be a bit late for a simple valve body replacement. Understand on the units GM recalled, ONLY the valve body is warranted for 15 years/150,000 miles, not the entire transmission.

So I have the tools, skills and experience to perform the job, so rather than wait for the problem to happen, I will head off the issue and address it now.

Doing valve body work in the driveway is not a problem, I have done this before a number of times. Really not so difficult, sure a lift is better, but I have not spend $4500 on a lift yet!

Not so worried about fluid dripping, it will only drip so long. Not a problem is you have a decent drain pan!! Some folks miss the big picture on drain pans!!

Best $8 drain pan for large oil sumps and transmission work!

As for the 9 quarts of oil in the engine, the vehicle has a stock oil pan, but GM's spec of 8 quarts with oil filter for the V8's is not how they come filled from the factory!! Anyone running 8 quarts with a filter is asking for trouble. All I did was match what the engine was shipped with from the factory. Have crossed checked almost a dozen Yukons, Suburbans, Tahoes and they are would be about 2/3 rds low on oil if 8 quarts is used during an oil change.

Figuring out the stupid GM transmission fluid will will be fun as well. SO MUCH DOCUMENTION is conflicting and I believe WRONG. For the STUPID GM Engineer that came up with a fluid fill at around 180-212F is asking for problems and for people to get hurt. The smart fill procedures I have seen for other vendors was for the trans fluid to be at 100F, this is below burning temperature.

So many users are failing to use the fluid fill standpipe in the bottom of some of the trans pans. The fluid fill standpipe is a genius way to go, VW and other German manufacturers even allowed the standpipe to be unthreaded so you could actually drain most of the fluid via the standpipe hole. You can even fill easily via the standpipe hole as well, it is very easy, the convoluted and expensive tools they suggest are crazy, you can use a $8 fluid transfer pump from the parts store.

I will first be checking the fluid cold from the upper case fill port and taking a measurement. I will pretty much then measure the fluid I drain from the transmission and this will be my baseline. GM fills these transmissions "cold" or at least at a fixed temperature during assembly and I can guarantee it is not likely over 100F.

A quick glance under my vehicle I did not see the standpipe in the pan, but I need to check closer as it may be in a corner that I missed. But what I can say for sure there are plenty of DIY videos and posts on forums that I believe are way wrong and I have even seen a GM bulletin that want the transmission temperature up to close to 200F which is hot going to happen on my watch. I have yet to see the operating temperature of my transmission go above 160F so far.

You don't need to explain to me what you are trying to prevent.

I'm saying if you do have an early failure your aftermarket valve body will make finding the route cause harder and potentially void the warranty. As you yourself just said it's crucial to transmission function.

So you are basing your 9 quarts off what gm comes with ? How did you do that? What's the level look like on the lipstick when it has 9 quarts?

I fill a cars engine by putting in 90% of the asked for spec, start the car. Turn it off then check dip stick and add until I get to the max line.

If you are way past the dip stick at 9quarts you risk causing cavitation.

Another misnomer is that you seem to think you know more than the people that designed these systems and that's always a fatal error.

I could hop on the bandwagon for aftermarket valve body but no way in hell if it's got factory warranty. The rest of what you say I'm just lost on.

I hope it works out but the 10 speed is no 8 speed and they are very stout and reliable as can be seen by how many get rebuilt at the dealer level under warranty. The 8 speed has many issues that are not relevant in either the 6 or 10 speed.

I wish you luck. I'll be following this thread to see how it all ends up.

 

[jfoj]

The level on the engine oil dipstick with 9 quarts is just barely over the top hash marks, where I found the oil level or very close to it when I took delivery of the vehicle. I have personally inspected about 6 other 6.2l with less than 8 miles and found the same oil level from the factory. These engines take AT LEAST 8.7 quart with filter. It is not a problem if we are putting 0.3 quarts additional oil in the engine. We are talking 9 oz over the upper surface area of the oil pan, we are talking less than 1/8" oil level above the top full line, there is PLEANTY of space below the windage tray, no problems with cavitation, I have watched for this and it is a non issue. GM should or any other manufacturer should not be making it so difficult to perform and oil change that you have to split quarts during an oil fill. Same thing I have done in any car that required something stupid like 4.8 quarts with filter, it gets 5, move on, nothing to see here, nothing to worry about. Just search my user name here, I have a thread on this issue and was flamed up one side and down the other, but I will be having the last laugh on this one!!

Um yea, I do know a bit more than some of the people that design these vehicle and other brand vehicles. Understand that designs are usually not based on 100% reliability, rarely have the safety margins that they should and there are other factors like $$$$$. Again, design down to a price, not to a level or reliability. I have seen SO MANY STUPID design choices over the years, this is why the aftermarket has so many solutions for many of these poor design choices as well as people like myself have modified and corrected design deficiencies.

You may think the 10 speed is a rock solid transmission, while overall it is very good, there have been a number of problems with clutch pack drums, GM's stupid helical cut pump gears and some other problem areas, the VALVE BODIES are a PROBLEM. Over 500,000 vehicles have been recalled due to the valve body problem. GM took an approach of performing a Software Update for a Hardware Problem!! Not ideal, they chose to not take full responsibility for the problem, because with the all the engine and transmission failures it would likely bankrupt GM.

Trust me, I expect to also see the 2023-2025 model trucks to have the same valve body recall. I just do not know how deep into the 2025 model year they will recall them because GM may have started to push out the updated TCM software that is supposed to detect the valve body problems. Great in theory, they clearly sold this idea to NHTSA, but is this a 100% way to solve the problem, not in my book.

Not so worried about the modified valve body causing problems, if there are problems they should show up pretty quickly after the modifications, otherwise, I expect the modifications to outlast an OE valve body.

Start researching the 10 speed problems, they are happening more and more frequently as these trucks age and usually occur before the Powertrain Warranty has expired, some afterwards. I have seen some have problem in less than 1000 miles. As I post this there are people that have been out of their cars for 3-4 or more months waiting on a replacement valve body that is not likely much better than the one coming out of their vehicle. Additionally once enough "new" valve bodies have charged the pipeline, all the others will be remanufactured!!

We shall see what happens, I am confident in my work and will decide if I am comfortable with the aftermarket parts, but in general they are far superior than what ships with the OE valve bodies, aluminum pistons operating in aluminum bores with Ultra Low Viscosity transmission fluid is not going to end well along with the thin paper gasket and thin valve body separator plate.

 

[DuraYuk]

The level on the engine oil dipstick with 9 quarts is just barely over the top hash marks, where I found the oil level or very close to it when I took delivery of the vehicle. I have personally inspected about 6 other 6.2l with less than 8 miles and found the same oil level from the factory. These engines take AT LEAST 8.7 quart with filter. It is not a problem if we are putting 0.3 quarts additional oil in the engine. We are talking 9 oz over the upper surface area of the oil pan, we are talking less than 1/8" oil level above the top full line, there is PLEANTY of space below the windage tray, no problems with cavitation, I have watched for this and it is a non issue. GM should or any other manufacturer should not be making it so difficult to perform and oil change that you have to split quarts during an oil fill. Same thing I have done in any car that required something stupid like 4.8 quarts with filter, it gets 5, move on, nothing to see here, nothing to worry about. Just search my user name here, I have a thread on this issue and was flamed up one side and down the other, but I will be having the last laugh on this one!!

Um yea, I do know a bit more than some of the people that design these vehicle and other brand vehicles. Understand that designs are usually not based on 100% reliability, rarely have the safety margins that they should and there are other factors like $$$$$. Again, design down to a price, not to a level or reliability. I have seen SO MANY STUPID design choices over the years, this is why the aftermarket has so many solutions for many of these poor design choices as well as people like myself have modified and corrected design deficiencies.

You may think the 10 speed is a rock solid transmission, while overall it is very good, there have been a number of problems with clutch pack drums, GM's stupid helical cut pump gears and some other problem areas, the VALVE BODIES are a PROBLEM. Over 500,000 vehicles have been recalled due to the valve body problem. GM took an approach of performing a Software Update for a Hardware Problem!! Not ideal, they chose to not take full responsibility for the problem, because with the all the engine and transmission failures it would likely bankrupt GM.

Trust me, I expect to also see the 2023-2025 model trucks to have the same valve body recall. I just do not know how deep into the 2025 model year they will recall them because GM may have started to push out the updated TCM software that is supposed to detect the valve body problems. Great in theory, they clearly sold this idea to NHTSA, but is this a 100% way to solve the problem, not in my book.

Not so worried about the modified valve body causing problems, if there are problems they should show up pretty quickly after the modifications, otherwise, I expect the modifications to outlast an OE valve body.

Start researching the 10 speed problems, they are happening more and more frequently as these trucks age and usually occur before the Powertrain Warranty has expired, some afterwards. I have seen some have problem in less than 1000 miles. As I post this there are people that have been out of their cars for 3-4 or more months waiting on a replacement valve body that is not likely much better than the one coming out of their vehicle. Additionally once enough "new" valve bodies have charged the pipeline, all the others will be remanufactured!!

We shall see what happens, I am confident in my work and will decide if I am comfortable with the aftermarket parts, but in general they are far superior than what ships with the OE valve bodies, aluminum pistons operating in aluminum bores with Ultra Low Viscosity transmission fluid is not going to end well along with the thin paper gasket and thin valve body separator plate.

What are some design failures that you have seen?

Capacity spec for a 6.2 is 8 quarts with filter. 9 quarts sounds like a lot over. But if that's what you see on the dip it is what it is.

Whew.
Good luck man. Hopefully you don't find out the hard way. Let us know if you do.

 

[Fless]

Not so worried about fluid dripping, it will only drip so long. Not a problem is you have a decent drain pan!! Some folks miss the big picture on drain pans!!

Best $8 drain pan for large oil sumps and transmission work!

This is exactly the pan I use for antifreeze and other fluids that are likely to have a larger footprint when draining. Cheap, reliable, good capacity and easy to use.

 

[jfoj]

The valve bodies are junk. The paper gasket on the valve steel valve body separator plate with the number of bolts and the expansion differences between the aluminum valve body, the THIN separator plate cause the paper to fail/tear and there are internal passage leaks within the valve body. The leaks can become so bad this is what is causing a 4th clutch pack to be turned on locking up the transmission/drivetrain. People have had the wheels lock at speed due to this problem. This is why there was a recall on this 10 speed transmission. I have followed A NUMBER of 2023-2025 valve body failures, it is not IF, but WHEN. GM has not solved/corrected this problem.

The aluminum spool valves are wearing at a fast rate and can also damage the aluminum valve body bores especially with the Ultra Low Viscosity transmission fluid. The helical cut pump drive gears are wearing the bosses they ride on, Ford used straight cut gears and is not seeing this problem. Most rebuilder install the Ford pump drive gear sets when the GM gears start whining. If you catch it in time, you can just swap the gears, if you wait too long, then more hard parts are needed. There have been some drum weld failures and piston related problems. Hopefully most of these problems have been ironed out by now??? Most of these are "design" choices/deficiencies.

The GM oil fill "SPEC" for the 6.2l with filter is WRONG. Just look at the dipstick with 8 quarts during a oil change, it is about 2/3 a quart low. GM CLEARLY fills these engines at the factory ABOVE their "spec"!!!! While some may say if the oil level is within the "hash marks" it is full, it is not, the level is just not quite 1 quart low. Why start out with an oil change with almost 1 quart low on oil??? These engines need all the oil they can get and it cannot be fuel diluted! Almost every 6.2l failure is oil related or lack of enough non fuel contaminated oil!

 

[jfoj]

This is exactly the pan I use for antifreeze and other fluids that are likely to have a larger footprint when draining. Cheap, reliable, good capacity and easy to use.

Yup, best antifreeze/cooling system drain pan going!!! You can also pick it up and move it without too much fear of it twisting on you, but you still need to be careful.

I have a smaller rectangular "official" oil drain pan from the parts store that can barely hold the 8-9 quarts of oil from the engine, do not even think about picking that stupid pan up to drain the oil, it will twist like crazy with a full engine oil change in it. The drain edge is crap on this smaller pan as well. I just use my oil extractor to empty the pan rather than trying to hold the pan full of oil.

Can't beat the $8 pan from Lowe's, Home Depot or other hardware/home stores. They have a deeper and more expensive version, but you do not really need it.

 

[jfoj]

Interesting YouTube video on the valve body problems. This is pretty much the reason I am updating the valve body at 6k miles with no obvious problem at this point. But who knows, after the update, I may see/feel a significant change in shift performance.

YouTube Video On Valve Body Problems

 

[jfoj]

Just another indicator that these valve bodies are junk!!

I will confirm once I pull my valve body if the screen are still inside the valve body on the separator plate. GM chose to use STEEL so the screen parts come apart and then are attracted to the electromagnetic solenoids. The strands also get stuck in the spool valves as well. The word from the rebuilders is to do away with the screens and deal with any debris that should not be in the valve body passages!

Valve Body Torn Screen

 

[viven44]

@jfoj good project, and I think @DuraYuk has brought in some valid concerns about warranty.

My only suggestion is to source a spare valve body pulled off from a parts vehicle on Facebook or eBay and use it to install the kit you have purchased. I don't know much about these newer transmissions, but I assume these valve bodies just bolt up into the transmission body and plug and play just fine without need for software/reprogramming. I am used to playing with old vacuum/hydraulic operated units so may be simplistic in my thinking.

I think it would be best to save the factory valve body and preserve it AS-IS for what it's worth. It may or may not be useful later, but you can always just swap back to it or maybe use it on another truck later with any modifications. Having a working spare is just peace of mind.

 

[jfoj]

@viven44

Appreciate the concern, however, there are some issues that need to be outlined here.

1. Valve bodies are somewhat "tailored" to the vehicle and application. While this may not be 100% as true today with the TCM in more modern vehicles being able to be programmed for torque management, there are still some springs, some running changes and so forth that might be a bit different. This is why I ALWAYS prefer to stay with the original valve body and rework it rather than having some sort of "exchange" unit, which is what all the GM vehicles that may have future valve body problems.

2. In my case, I do not expect to need to have any valve body bores "reamed or oversized" with only 6k miles on the truck. Every part of the NextGen Project Carbon kit is an improved quality part with a few small exceptions that I believe is for the lube circuit. I do not believe that any parts are "drilled or oversized" at this point. The primary problem area that this valve body kit addresses is the subpar valve body separator plate that is thin, has thin paper gaskets and likely has small filter screens embossed in the thin paper gasket. Given the working pressures of this transmission, I fully believe the valve body separator plate system is under designed and a severe weak point, I think this is well documented within the aftermarket as well as clear by the 500,000 or so transmission related recalls that will likely grow soon for newer models.

3. I will roll the dice with the "Warranty". The problem with the "Warranty" it is only as good as the parts available and if the parts can be obtained. At the moment the "Warranty" is pretty much useless. There have been people waiting 1-5+ months for valve bodies at this point in time. Will this change, sure it will get better at some point, but the replacement valve bodies will not be significantly improved based on my experience. Again, GM will worry about cost and they just want these items to get beyond any Warranty period, the only problem is on some of these vehicles, the Valve Body and ONLY Valve Body Warranty has been extended to 15 years/150,000 miles. But like any good corporation, they will hedge their bet that they will only need to replace a very small percentage of valve bodies after the vehicles that have been recalled with the TCM update and they expect to typically replace only a single valve body, but there will be cases of multiple valve body problems.

4. If I have any future problems during the Warranty period, I will getting a used valve body and swapping it back in just so I can keep the valve body I have invested money in and I will go thru the original valve body and inspect it for wear and correct any wear issues and reinstall it after any "Warranty" repair has been completed. What I do not what is the valve body that I have improved to be sent back as a core if there is a full transmission exchange. But if I have any problems within the Warranty period, I may just foot the bill if I plan on keeping the truck and having one of a few transmission shops I trust fully upgrade the transmission with the latest and greatest known parts that are either OEM or aftermarket.

I have absolutely ZERO confidence in GM's approach to PROPERLY resolve the transmission lock up/wheel lock up problem. GM's first solution is to update the TCM software to try and offset or reduce a mechanical problem in the transmission. A software solution for degraded hardware is NOT a fix! Additionally even if my vehicle or others do not come down to the transmission lock up/wheel lock up problem, premature valve body wear WILL cause premature transmission wear which will require the transmission to be removed, inspected and rebuilt. My goal is to head off BOTH the transmission lock up/wheel lock up problem as well as premature clutch pack and torque converter wear. Unfortunately I have no plans on pulling the transmission out at this point in time, if I did, I would replace the stupid helical cut pump drive gears with the Ford straight cut pump drive gears to head off transmission pump whine and gear wear. The problem is the helical cut pump drive gears are likely to wear more on vehicles with the Auto Stop/Start disabled, but this is a price we may have to pay. I am in the habit of putting the transmission in Neutral at longer stops to unload the transmission as a way to hopefully cut down on increased wear, but who knows if this is really 100% effective.

I expect that if enough complaints are filed with the NHTSA on the 2023-2025 models, they will also be recalled for the exact same problem with transmission lock up/wheel lock up. I am not sure I have found any specific cases for these years yet, but I have read any of a number of transmission related problems even into the 2025 models with under 1000 miles, that all lead to 100% valve body leakage problems. Unfortunately reflecting back on the 6 and 8 speeds this valve body leakage problem seems to have impacted a percentage of those transmissions as well. I just do not think the transmission lock up/wheel lock up problem occurred in the 6 & 8 speed transmission due to their overall design. The customers were just left dealing with transmission failures both in and out of Warranty.

As I may have mentioned before, people spend their money how they see fit, some spend more than I am spending on aftermarket wheels and tires, exhaust systems, audio upgrades, extended warranties and so forth.

I am putting my money to where I know if needs to be spent to hopefully totally eliminate problems with transmission lock up/wheel lock up and premature transmission clutch pack wear.

Similar to some things I have done to hopefully prolong the life of the 6.2l engine in my truck as well.

Maybe this is all a waste of time and money, but I do not think this is the case based on my research and experience in the automotive world which goes back a few years to include rebuilding and repairing automatic transmissions over the years.