2008 Saturn Outlook: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Oct 23, 2018 · Acceleration, Transmission · 110,000 miles · CA

I was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden my 2008 saturn outlook just lost power. I pushed the gas pedal but nothing happened. As I was pulling over to the side of the road the power came back but the engine was reving very high and the check engine light came on. I managed to get almost home when the gear got stuck in 1st and the truck would not accelerate higher than 20 MPH. Luckily I was just about home. Once I arrived at my home I turned of the truck and turned it back on and it was fine. The mechanic could not figure out what it could have been but was guessing it may be a speed sensor in the transmission. Error codes: p0741 & p0700. I have also taken the truck into the chevy dealership for jerking around 30-35mph. The dealership was not able to fix the problem.

Filed Jun 3, 2018 · Transmission · 147,000 miles · CA

While the vehicle was in motion on the freeway in the carpool lane, going approximately 70 miles per hour, all of a sudden I heard the engines rpms sounding louder than supposed to be. I looked down at my dashboard and they were at 7000 RPM. The accelerator pedal felt like it was no longer accelerating and the check engine light was on. Previous to this, the check engine light had never come on. I took my foot off the accelerator pedal and depressed it again and only the rpms went up and the vehicle did not accelerate. At this point, I realized I had no acceleration pedal control, while in the carpool lane, so as so as safely possible, I merged over to the freeway shoulder. I came to a complete stop on the shoulder, then began to accelerate and realized the vehicle would only go as fast as 20mphs before taking the rpms over 5000. I completely stopped the vehicle again on the shoulder before attempting to move it again. And was met with the same response. I realized, at this point, the transmission is the problem. I shifted through each gear to see if I had them, park reverse neutral drive, and I had them. I proceeded to drive on the shoulder and the vehicle would not shift past 2nd gear and I could not comfortably drive faster than 41mph. I had to get the vehicle towed 75 miles back to my home.

Filed Mar 13, 2018 · Transmission · IN

Having trouble with my transmission it will not shift it is tanking my RPM's past 6 there was a recall for this but I can't fine it.

Filed Feb 7, 2018 · Electrical, Seats · 154,000 miles · MI

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 saturn outlook. The contact stated that the transmission intermittently would not shift out of gear and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. In addition, the air bag warning indicator illuminated and there was an abnormal noise coming from the dashboard. The vehicle was taken to kool chevrolet buick gmc (810 w chicago rd, sturgis, mi) where it was determined that the sensor in the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer regarding the air bag warning indicator and it was diagnosed that the passenger seat was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failures and referred the contact to the federal safety agency. The failure mileage was approximately 154,000.

Filed Feb 9, 2015 · Transmission · 93,000 miles · TX

Transmission failure transmission would not go into reverse, drive, and was shifting hard. Upon further research found numerous like failures for saturn outlook, gmc acadia. Big safety issue. I was fortunate it didn't happen while I was driving. Please review failure rates and propose gm recall transmissions for failures.

Filed Jul 15, 2014 · Transmission · 76,000 miles · MI

I was driving home doing 35mph, when my car would not shift into gear and the engine light came on. I was able to get it home doing 5mph. My husband came out to take it for a drive and will not go into reverse. We had it put on the computer and a couple of different codes showed one of them being p0776. I have been looking on line and found many other complaints with this same problem. I also came across this: saturn outlook transmission fault and/or check engine light with code p0716, p0776, p0717, p0777, p2714, p2715, and/or p02723 saturn outlook problem model years affected: 2007, 2008, 2009 drive trains affected: 2wd, 4wd average mileage: 71,429 mi (39,000 mi - 118,879 mi) verified vehicles with a 6 speed automatic transmission may develop one or more of the following faults related to a broken 35r clutch wave plate inside the transmission: illumination of the check engine light with code p0716, p0776, p0717, p0777, p2714, p2715, and/or p02723, loss of reverse gear, slipping or harsh 3rd or 5th gear shift. Removal and dis-assembly of the transmission will be required to replace the broken 35r wave plate. It is also extremely important that all debris from the failed part be cleaned from the transmission while it is disassembled in order to try and prevent future problems.

Filed Jul 9, 2014 · Transmission · 74,000 miles · VA

The car was moving at approximately 55mph on rt168 chesapeake expressway and would not accelerate which almost resulted in a rear-end collision. Over the next few days we experienced hard shifts going into 3rd gear and 5th gear. On 6/25/2014, the car would not shift into reverse, so we took the car to the priority chevy. We were told the transmission was destroyed, and a new one would need to be installed. I researched the issue, and found many other drivers reporting the same issue. I also contacted a national transmission chain, and they also reported seeing an increased number of transmission issues with saturn outlooks, some of which almost resulted in crashes due to the hard shifting.

Filed Jun 23, 2014 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · TX

Transmission would not upshift from 2nd gear. Engine was warm and had been driving for 6 miles. I was accelerating to reach highway speeds in the left lane in heavy traffic. As it tried to go from second to third gear, the check engine light came on and it would not shift. I limped the car off the highway (much slower than the traffic honking and trying to avoid hitting me) and could only get the gears to reengage after completely powering down the car and cutting all auxiliary power. Then after restart, the gears worked properly again. After transmission teardown, we have identified that the wave plate has broken lose and additionally damaged the transmission control module, and clutch assembly.

Filed May 20, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 126,000 miles · CT

I have an issue with my 2008 saturn outlook. All of the sudden one day I went to leave my driveway, put the car in reverse and it would not go into gear. It also barley goes forward. I had previously had problems with slower than normal acceleration and rough gear change. After doing extensive research on what the problem could be I have found numerous complaints of the similar kind all over the internet. It seems there is a $25 part called a wave plate that is defective in these cars which causes the transmission to cease resulting in thousands of dollars of repairs. After finding this out I called gm customer service and was bounced around quite a bit. They are aware of the problem and discussed helping financially to fix the issue. They asked us to have it towed to a gm dealership so we did just that. After doing that they renigged their offer to help us so the car just sat there for quite a while. I bought this car used in 2011 with 98,000 and owned it 2 years then had this problem, now at 126,000. After I bought it and had this happen I have found out there have already been transmission issues with this car. I love the car but it is a complete headache. I am a single mother of three kids and do not have $3500 to shell out to get this problem fixed and believe that it is such a huge issue that something should be done and these cars need to be recalled. Meanwhile I make a car payment every month for a broken down car in my driveway. My car has been sitting for almost a year because I can't and also feel like I should shell out that kind of $ when gm is clearly at fault. I also am afraid if I do fix it the same problem will happen again. This is very unsafe. They are a terrible company who does not stand behind their products and leaves so many americans out in the cold. What horrible customer service.

Filed Mar 10, 2014 · Transmission · 76,386 miles · WI

Transmission stuck in gear. Would not shift. Service tech found metal filings in transmission and advised to replace with new. ($4700). Researched the problem and found the to be common with this transmission. My opinion that gm should have recalled it or pay for the new transmission.

Filed Jan 7, 2014 · Transmission · 71,000 miles · MO

Vehicle would not shift gears properly. Drove it directly (less than 5 miles) to a local auto shop. Diagnostics identified transmission problems. Vehicle is 5 months out of warranty. Transmission had to be replaced.

Filed Oct 23, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 139,000 miles · LA

Without warning, I left a parking lot and my car seemed very sluggish. I noticed that it would not shift out of 1st gear. The check engine light came on, so I pulled over and killed the engine. I let it sit a few minutes and started the engine again. I had the same problem as I accelerated to go down the road. I didn't know what to do, so we called a wrecker and had it hauled to the transmission place. They called and told me the transmission would have to be rebuilt and the computer inside the transmission replaced and programmed. These repairs totaled just over $3,000. I am so angry because I have read on a saturn forum that this is a pretty common problem. I don't understand why gm won't do the right thing and recall the transmission. This is ridiculous to have this type problem on a 5-6 year old vehicle.