2009 GMC Acadia: transmission slipping

Filed Apr 13, 2017 · Transmission · 107,000 miles · KY

I bought the car on march 21st of 2017 car seemed to be running and driving fine( shifting and driving smooth) and on april 10th 2017 I was on my way to work I have a approx 12 mile drive one way commute to my work place and I noticed all of the sudden whn trans was shifting gears it would slip a little bit so I drove it in a manner to where the slipping was minimal and after work when I put in reverse it was slipping worse than what it was that morning in drive I drove it home so at most from the time the problem started it was drove less than 20 miles but by the time I got home two blocks away from my house I stopped at a stop sign and trans completely stopped pulling car would not move at all luckily I was on small incline and there was no other vehicles behind me so I was able to put in reverse and get the car out of the road so I called the car lot where I had bought the car and they said to not get to exited that it could just b a sensor something small that they would send a tow truck to pick it up and take to mechanic shop and we go from there we'll now on april 12 we was told that the transmission is completely shot and it was could b upwards to 3500$ for used transmission that had 76kmiles that also includes installation of transmission I'm not comfortable with paying that much for used transmission that I don't know what I'm getting and also no warranty on or guarantee I bought the the car as is but I traded in my 03 tahoe still a very dependable SUV and I also put 5000 $ cash down on this acadia and now this the dealer says he will need 2000$ up front and he will pay the rest of it and whatever that amount is that he would put it on top of what he had already financed because (he wants to help out) no help other than not having to come up with the whole 3500$ at once. Any advise on wht I should do or if this may b part of a recall on this vehicle

Filed Jan 1, 2015 · Transmission · 59,500 miles · OH

2009 acadia just under 60k miles, transmission slips, can't go over 45mph, took to gmc dealer who stated our wave plate was damaged, needs new transmission, warranty ended 6 months ago $4000 bill and gm won't back their vehicles, had vehicle at same gmc dealer less than 1 year ago complaining about transmission slipping but was told nothing is wrong.

Filed Dec 13, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 98,000 miles · GA

The car felt as though the gears weren't catching and RPM would drop but if you took your foot off the accelerator it would go away for a second but then it would happen again. No one seems to know what's wrong, but it seems as though the transmission is slipping. It seems to happen at speeds of 50 miles and higher which is very dangerous especially when traveling on the expressways.

Filed Nov 20, 2014 · Transmission · 67,000 miles · IN

The transmission begin to slip intermittently 2 days ago. It continually became more frequent. I got it into the dealer right away and they believe it is the 3/5 wave plate. After doing some research, there are numerous complaints about this same issue beginning around 35,000 miles. Gm seems to be turning a blind eye to the problem even though there is clearly a significant problem. The mechanic and advisor at the dealer even said they have had many in for the same issue. This repair is quite expensive and shouldn't happen to vehicles with such low miles. I hope that gm will be held accountable to recall this and cover the cost of the repairs. Two weeks ago, I had an issue with the oil life monitor and engine running rough. The advisor stated that these are trash and shouldn't be used as they are causing major engine issues. Problems with this can stretch the timing chains causing more significant and costly repairs. Again, gm is well aware of the issue but seem to be ignoring the truth. Please help hold them accountable and recall these items to prevent the customers from very costly repairs.

Filed Apr 28, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 72,000 miles · MA

My 2009 gmc acadia was purchased in aug 2009. Aside from routine maintenance, I have already had to replace the water pump, the radiator, & the timing belt (none of which were covered under my warranty) but on september 9, 2013 , my transmission let go. The dealership kept my vehicle for 20 days. Claim they couldn't rebuild it and had to get a new one. (which I have since been told that was a lie, that they have to use factory rebuilt transmissions). Got my vehicle back on sept. 28. On march 22, 2014, I brought it back to dealership because it was showing signs of slipping transmission again. Dealer told me it was fine sent me home. Less than 2 weeks later on april 8, the transmission let go again. No reverse & truck would not move in drive just rev the engine. Back to dealership for "another transmission" this time they had my vehicle for 18 days. I just picked it up 2 days ago. This morning while driving my kids to school, transmission went again! This is unsafe! I am scared to death to drive my kids around in this vehicle! I almost got into an accident this morning because of it! 3 transmissions in 6 months?! This is a red flag don't you think.. How much longer will gmc not value my life or my families?? Something needs to be done about this!

Filed Feb 21, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 75,000 miles · IL

Current issue is a transmission failure, apparently the "3-5-r waveplate." five months prior, my wife and children were traveling out of state. They experienced a sudden loss of power and were stranded on a rural highway not once, but twice. The vehicle was towed in to a gm dealership, "repairs" were performed under warranty, and we were told we could pick up our car. My wife (again with children in the car) made it less than 10 miles from the dealership before the engine failed again. This time on the bridge of a major highway....no where to even exit the vehicle. After the second incident the engine was replaced (after 3+ weeks of diagnostic work). We were told the dealership was not able to identify the problem that caused the engine failure. Engine was replaced under warranty. Transmission had been shifting erratically for several months. At time of engine failure/replacement, gm dealership that performed the engine replacement advised us that the transmission shifts/slips were "normal" for this particular transmission. They advised a transmission fluid flush, which we authorized. Shifting remained abrupt, slipping continued, but as we were advised this was "normal", we continued driving the vehicle and did not seek further repair. Two weeks ago, (now six weeks out of warranty), the slippage became distinctly more evident, vehicle at one point wound not continue forward motion through an intersection and had to be idled to roadside. After multiple calls, we were advised to take the vehicle to a local gm dealership. Diagnosis of 3-5-r waveplate failure was given. This transmission waveplate failure is a well documented issue that can cause driver and/or passengers to be put at serious risk for injury. Our hope is that an investigation will take place to require gm to recall/repair this issue before someone is needlessly harmed.

Filed Feb 21, 2014 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · IL

Current issue is a transmission failure, apparently the "3-5-r waveplate." five months prior, my wife and children were traveling out of state. They experienced a sudden loss of power and were stranded on a rural highway not once, but twice. The vehicle was towed in to a gm dealership, "repairs" were performed under warranty, and we were told we could pick up our car. My wife (again with children in the car) made it less than 10 miles from the dealership before the engine failed again. This time on the bridge of a major highway....no where to even exit the vehicle. After the second incident the engine was replaced (after 3+ weeks of diagnostic work). We were told the dealership was not able to identify the problem that caused the engine failure. Engine was replaced under warranty. Transmission had been shifting erratically for several months. At time of engine failure/replacement, gm dealership that performed the engine replacement advised us that the transmission shifts/slips were "normal" for this particular transmission. They advised a transmission fluid flush, which we authorized. Shifting remained abrupt, slipping continued, but as we were advised this was "normal", we continued driving the vehicle and did not seek further repair. Two weeks ago, (now at 82000 miles, but six weeks out of 5 yr warranty), the slippage became distinctly more evident, vehicle at one point wound not continue forward motion through an intersection and had to be idled to roadside. After multiple calls, we were advised to take the vehicle to a local gm dealership. Diagnosis of 3-5-r waveplate failure was given. This transmission waveplate failure is a well documented issue that can cause driver and/or passengers to be put at serious risk for injury. Our hope is that an investigation will take place to require gm to recall/repair this issue before someone is needlessly harmed.

Filed Jan 19, 2014 · Transmission · 104,000 miles · MA

While driving thru an intersection with a yield my vehicle suddenly stopped and the engine RPM climbed to around 3500 RPM. The transmission slipped between gears causing a sudden and unexpected slow down.luckily another driver was alert and had to slow down quickly to keep from hitting us as we were merging with traffic.this never happened before and came on without warning.as soon as it happened once it has been happening more often, I brought the vehicle in and the diagnosis was the "wave plates" in the transmission. The mechanic informed me that this transmission had an issue with a part that was not properly heat treated and caused it to fail.I called the gm dealer and they would not warranty because we were just outside the 100,000 mile warranty period. They also stated that they knew there have been many issues with this vehicle but gm has not issued any type of recall.now I need a new transmission at a cost of around 4,000 dollars. I have owned several gm vehicles in the past and gotten well over 250,000 miles with no issues at all. This could have been very serious and caused injuries if the circumstances were different and someone who panicked was involved. I feel that this should warrant a recall and force gm into looking into this further. Thank you for your time.

Filed Sep 30, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 19,682 miles · CA

When accelerating, my car seems to 'slip' or 'stutter' before clicking into gear. This happened in the first year of ownership. The dealership never acknowledged it when I would bring it in to get checked. After a few years of owning it I now know that it is a transmission issue very common with the gmc acadia. I have read that it is a faulty wave plate. Not sure what that is but now with only 50,000 on my car it is really bad. It barely made it home last night. Transmission is totally slipping and even when just driving along at the same speed it went into limp mode. The gas revved like I was in neutral. This is extremely dangerous as I had a carload of girls on a trip to the mountains. What is it going to take until this causes an accident and casualties! Gmc needs to step up and get this part recalled. It is a faulty part and they need to pay for the replacement!!!

Filed Sep 17, 2013 · Transmission · 79,386 miles · CA

Transmission began slipping when I was accelerating out of turns. Dealer replaced broken motor mount and reprogrammed computer and said transmission was fine. 17 days later, 3-5 reverse clutch went out and dealer had to rebuild 3-5 reverse and 4,5,6 clutch and replace torque converter because of contamination. The car still isn't driving right but dealer states they can't find anything wrong with the vehicle. This is a very common problem with '08 and '09 acadia's and gmc is aware of the problem but isn't don't anything to prevent failure with other owners.

Filed Aug 21, 2013 · Steering, Transmission · 56,000 miles · GA

* transmission was slipping and revving up between gears. Delayed response and clunking sound when it is in reverse. "check engine light" also came on. Barely drove the car to the dealership for repairs. Dealership service advisor scheduled a transmission rebuild. After doing internet search, I saw countless complaints in blogs, sns, etc. There are so many people having this transmission problem. Not acceptable. Gmc has powertrain warranty 5 year /100k miles. My warranty expires in four months and gm should provide extended powertrain warranty beyond 5 years based unreliable transmission design/quality. * power steering problem. Power steering is making moaning under low speed driving (in the parking lot, driving around subdivision, etc.). Noise is coming from the inside steering column area. Also steering is very tight and hard. Complained to dealership multiple times. Dealership replaced the seal twice, but the problem is still there. Dealership told me that gm does not have a fix for this problem.

Filed Jan 30, 2013 · Transmission · 57,000 miles · CA

My vehicle began to "jump" when you press on the gas petal. Then it had trouble finding a gear. I took it in to the dealership and they said that they could not replicate the problem. I was then coming home from work at 5pm in traffic, going 65 miles an hour in the fast lane and the transmission failed. The car would not move forward or backwards. I was left in the middle of the road in heavy traffic where people could easily hit my car. I was able to guide the car to the side and a tow truck came and towed me into the dealership. They returned the car a week later saying that it was working as designed. I was then driving up to eureka ca and the transmission began to slip. The car would not go past 35 miles per hour. I was on a busy freeway at the time. I took it to repair and they tested it and said that transmission sensors where faulty. There was no dealership there so I drove it back to the san francisco bay area with my hazard lights on at 35 miles per hour with the transmission wining the whole time. The car was returned to me a week later saying that the transmission had been repaired. A couple of weeks later I was driving and felt the transmission slip again. I took it in to the dealership and they said that they could not replicate the problem. I told them that I was sure I was going to be back as this was the pattern of the car. The car is now in the shop after the transmission failed again on a busy street while I was driving. This issue is well documented for this car at around 60,000 but there has been no recall. Does someone need to get hurt for a recall to happen?