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2014 15 Spark Transmission Pully Belt Damage Recall


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I have a 2014 Spark LT1 with 8000 miles, shifted absolutely perfect until they did this Recall now my car starts off in 2nd gear and then drops back in the first every time I take off. Calling the dealer tomorrow to have them undue this recall. I am seriously starting to hate this spark because of all the issues I've had with it already with wheel bearing noise and whistling coming from the roof

Hello Andyspark,

I'm very sorry to hear about the difficulty you're experiencing with your Spark and do understand this situation has been upsetting for you. Would you mind keeping us posted on your dealer visit? We're here to help if needed and are available via private message. Should you send an inquiry, please include your VIN, mileage, contact information, and the name of your dealer.

Best,

Jasmine

Chevrolet Customer Care

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There is a recall on the transmission I was told today I guess mine didn't need anything done other than a reprogramming of it done 15000 miles on mine not really happy with the transmission at all st

Your Husband is correct! You need to insist on 5W20 oil..that is the recommended oil for the Spark because of the small engine and small diameter oil transport system both inside and outside the engin

I'm not familiar with this, I've got the '13 auto, with the gearbox, but as the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". If it is running great, it doesn't need to be fooled with. Just my

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  • 2 months later...

Hey all! I've been lurking for a bit and wanted to weigh in:

First off, love the spark, she's been reliable for 45k miles, got me from AZ to MI no problem, MI to NJ and back lickety split!

Until recently lol.... I went through all the recalls, including transmission recall. Worked well for a month, then the RPM's started jumping around, shifting VERY hard, and just the other day BAM. It died. The recall didn't seem to help. I got it to the dealership, but every time I hit a red light, I would have to restart engine and it had very little power

Engine light came on, and the dealership told me it was in fact the transmission and they would be looking into it as soon as they could. (Holiday weekend, 2 other cars dead in the air)

Customer service has been very friendly and set me up w a rental no problem. But they were hesitant to follow up on the initial recall when I alerted them without charging me. I didn't want them to look at it for what appeared to be a bad transmission then they GOUGE me for fuel injectors. SO here we are!

I just want to make you all aware as I've been reading your posts, but it appears to be a problem w the CVT. Don't let the cust service attendants try to hypothesize. One was telling me it felt like a gas pedal or some other issue. Gas pedals don't make your engine smoke.....

In my opinion, the reprogram didn't help and Chevy needs to be aware of this so as to address the problem immediately with customers.

TY The Thickness

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Yup..Got interested in all this Jatco-7 CVT stuff and did some research. Apparently the first and last gear (overdrive) is managed by the aux gearbox, a small conventional auto tranny that is connected and activated via a clutch to increase the amount of ratios (gears) available and used for first and overdrive ratios. Once up to speed it retracts the clutch connecting the 2 units & hands off ratio control to the main CVT..this is an electronic/sensor/computer controlled unit as is the aux box clutch. This first gear function is supposed to be active from stop when the main CVT connects to the aux gearbox via clutch and engages a smaller gear ratio via the aux mini AT tranny box..this clutch engagement is not happening in many units and starts off from the main CVT unit higher gear ratios instead. Since the main CVT controls gear ratio's 'similar' from 2nd to 6th, many are starting off in a too low rpm 2nd+ type ratio and bog down due to lack of torque/rpms. Driver boots it and revs shoot up as it tries to find the correct gear ratio or connect to the aux box for first gear sometimes it connects once the car is rolling a bit and gears change correctly from that point on, but sometimes speed is too fast for one gear but rpm's too high for another and immediately tries to find the right gear position in the main CVT resulting in wild fluctuating revs as it tries to find the correct gear ratio for the speed using the CVT and/or trying to 'handshake' (engage) with the aux gearbox erroneously, but speed and rpms are not matched to the computer settings so it finds the right random gear ratio for the rpm's, but not for the speed or vice versa & bogs or revs too high as it constantly looks for the right ratio and whether to connect with the aux box. With all the fluctuating rpm's and speed it just can't decide if to use the aux box or just the mid range CVT ratio's, but the RPM's are too high for one gear and the speed too low for another. This results in erratic and constant shifting gear ratios that are mostly incorrect until it finally finds a ratio that matches the speed and tames the rpm's to match. With incorrect electronic/computer/sensor settings the whole confused sequence of finding the right gear ratio happens again once the driver boots to drop down a gear ratio or two in order to quickly accelerate, similar to a naturally aspired auto tranny dropping to a lower gear when booted. These problems seem to be unique mostly to the Jatco-7 since other CVT's rely on only one main box of belt driven sets of gear combinations while the Jatco-7 relies on the clutch to activate the aux tranny for the first gear function as well as overdrive...a malfunction in the clutch activation timing can cause wild gear ratio swings or just not starting in first and bogging down. With the car at speed..if the clutch is activated too soon for the overdrive function..the car again bogs due to insufficient torque/rpms for the overdrive gear combo driver boots it to gain speed and the whole confused gear finding process starts again with wild swings in rpm's. This ongoing stress of very high to very low belt drive speeds can lead to the belt snapping back and forth and breaking as well as other component damage..

This is probably not the best explanation ... but with a unit that is this complex and the only unit with an aux gearbox in the world..that's the best I can do without going into pages of tech #'s and math...hopes this gives some insight on how this works and obviously that the computer type of control it has is probably at the bottom of this random mess....OK..'Nuff said on that.

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so basically what you are saying is this transmission always starting off in the wrong gear is basically going to fail sooner or later . i took mine back after the recall was done told them i wasnt happy with the way it was they said the tech that drove it said everything was fine lol go figure ..........anyway iam not happy at all ! if i dont get something done with it its going bye bye ..... and for the first time ever ill be looking at anything but a chevrolet . i always wondered why the car i bought was a certified used car with 243 miles on it ,they said service used it now iam wondering if it was traded back in because of the transmission acting the way it does .......

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Not sure if it will fail..but the bottom line is it can be fixed and is mostly electronic programming that most others have had done successfully and once properly fixed it works great according to those that went back and had it done properly. GM needs to step up their instructions to the service techs at the dealers.

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Not sure if it will fail..but the bottom line is it can be fixed and is mostly electronic programming that most others have had done successfully and once properly fixed it works great according to those that went back and had it done properly. GM needs to step up their instructions to the service techs at the dealers.

I'm thinking this is the main issue. The problem with mine wasn't found until either someone came down, or they sat on the phone with "tech support".
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There is a recall on the transmission I was told today I guess mine didn't need anything done other than a reprogramming of it done 15000 miles on mine not really happy with the transmission at all still won't start out in the lowest gear unless you stop completely and take your foot off the brake and let the car roll forward then it starts out in the lowest gear . If you don't stop completely and take off it sluggishly starts moving then it revs to its lowest gear and keeps revving . I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be driving this thing

I recommend you push to get the vehicle looked at, if you're still under the power train warranty. The Spark CVT has always been bizzar & inconsistent for me. I was first told that "that's the way it drives" or I was unable to reliably reproduce the problem. Now, the problem is able to be reproduced when the engine is hot & it's 80-90+ Fahrenheit, accelerating from stop. However, my engine doesn't always respond the same in those conditions. Had pistons replaced, then PCM (computer) & now the whole transmission. So, just a thought.

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Just a heads up to you all:

 

Car has been in shop for a week now and CVT trans is on back order.  They do not have an estimated date of completion as they say theres only 4 transmissions available in the country right now haha!

 

They ran diagnostics and ultimately stated that they found metal in the pan and fixing these things is all or nothing.  They set me up w a rental car no charge because Im under warranty.

 

My fear is that these transmissions are lemons and it will continue to happen.  IDK whether to encourage everyone to take it in now and have it serviced or let it blow!

 

Good luck

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  • 4 weeks later...

Wow, exact same thing for me. I'm extremely disappointed with Chevy & after being in a family with LOTS of Chevys. I traded mine in for a Volkswagen Jetta. Honestly, with other people having the same problem, I wonder if this qualifies for some class action lawsuit. There are too many people with the same problems. And I would be beyond mad if my car engine or transmission died after just purchasing, as has happened with others. Well, Chevy no longer has my business. :/

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  • 2 weeks later...

I recently went in for a transmission flush and recall software fix and within a week my tranny died on the highway. Started shifting real weird, then very high RPMS, low RPMs, jumps etc. They are replacing my transmission now at no cost. 100k warranty. Will keep everyone posted.

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On Wednesday, August 03, 2016 at 10:16 PM, GuyFromMars said:

Wow, exact same thing for me. I'm extremely disappointed with Chevy & after being in a family with LOTS of Chevys. I traded mine in for a Volkswagen Jetta. Honestly, with other people having the same problem, I wonder if this qualifies for some class action lawsuit. There are too many people with the same problems. And I would be beyond mad if my car engine or transmission died after just purchasing, as has happened with others. Well, Chevy no longer has my business. :/

Yeah, i was wondering if something like that might come out of this issue.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Really worried about these reports of multiple failures.

 

Had my battery die about a month ago. Just barely still under warranty. Dealer replaced the battery and told me about this TSB, so they reprogrammed the transmission. 3 weeks later the check engine light comes on and coming off a stop car decides it doesn't really want to go when I hit the gas. Kind of creeps forward then eventually clunks into gear and goes but is making a whining sound and is generally untrustworthy. It goes back to the dealer and they say it's showing a transmission fault code or some such and give me a loaner. Two weeks later and they say so sorry but they can't replicate the issue and the car is fine, please come get it. ???

 

Don't know how I can trust this car now when nothing has been fixed.

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The 'Check Engine' light is mostly related to emissions...so when you start of in the wrong gear, that light will come on indicating inefficient fuel burning due to your pressure on the gas peddle when the car is stopped and in second gear..so the light will go off once the excess fuel has been burned off and car finally goes into correct gear..over time this can create carbon deposits that will mostly be burned off on a long high speed run. Still it is obvious there is a problem and I think the techs have not gotten a real solution to that issue and that kind of CVT behavior will eventually lead to the only fix being a tranny replace. The CVT issues are now becoming more prevalent among the units that have the 1.25L engine and much less prevalent among the 2016 units...I am fairly sure that GM will finally get Jatco to come up with a fix since replacing trannys, although no cost to GM for the CVT unit itself is costing GM big bucks in dealer warranty labor costs.

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16 hours ago, Retired old Gearhead said:

The 'Check Engine' light is mostly related to emissions...so when you start of in the wrong gear, that light will come on indicating inefficient fuel burning due to your pressure on the gas peddle when the car is stopped and in second gear..so the light will go off once the excess fuel has been burned off and car finally goes into correct gear..over time this can create carbon deposits that will mostly be burned off on a long high speed run. Still it is obvious there is a problem and I think the techs have not gotten a real solution to that issue and that kind of CVT behavior will eventually lead to the only fix being a tranny replace. The CVT issues are now becoming more prevalent among the units that have the 1.25L engine and much less prevalent among the 2016 units...I am fairly sure that GM will finally get Jatco to come up with a fix since replacing trannys, although no cost to GM for the CVT unit itself is costing GM big bucks in dealer warranty labor costs.

 

Thanks for the explanation. Any advice on my next move? It's out of the bumper to bumper warranty now (~36,000 miles) but powertrain should still be doubly covered by Chevy and Hertz (where I bought it). 

 

Options:

1) Take it to another mechanic to look at. Will probably cost me if they don't find anything but if they do it *should* be covered by Hertz. 

2) Take it to a different dealer.

3) Bail out and trade it in for something else. 

4) Wait until the transmission dies and hope it happens before the powertrain warranties expire. 

5) ???

 

Really annoyed. This is my first car and I was pretty happy with it initially but it's spent 3 weeks at the dealer in the 4 months I've had it. 

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I have to question whether the transmission is even at fault . My conventional  automatic spark has done the same thing as Stevens 3 different times as have a bunch of other owners of 2013 automatic  Sparks . Will rev freely in neutral and will barely move at all in drive  . The PRNDL indicator will also disappear at that time . In my case a restart corrects the issue until it happens again . Just like some people had engines replaced when the fault was really a defective PCV valve , I'm wondering if CVTs are being misdiagnosed when the fault is elsewhere .

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2 hours ago, sparkfanatic said:

I have to question whether the transmission is even at fault . My conventional  automatic spark has done the same thing as Stevens 3 different times as have a bunch of other owners of 2013 automatic  Sparks . Will rev freely in neutral and will barely move at all in drive  . The PRNDL indicator will also disappear at that time . In my case a restart corrects the issue until it happens again . Just like some people had engines replaced when the fault was really a defective PCV valve , I'm wondering if CVTs are being misdiagnosed when the fault is elsewhere .

You may very well be correct regarding your 4sp auto tranny. It's obvious your issue is electronic since the PRNDL indicator light is not a mechanical connection to the tranny and the tranny is sensor controlled to a degree, I'm thinking your tranny is fine but the electro control sensor/module is not. I have no idea how theses modules control the tranny but I have found that some of these electronic issues can sometimes be resolved by disconnecting the battery overnight to allow stored ram or temporary data to be erased and any capacitors to completely drain...that's the first thing I would try in absents of a GM tech who knows the issue and a fix.

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7 hours ago, steven17 said:

 

Thanks for the explanation. Any advice on my next move? It's out of the bumper to bumper warranty now (~36,000 miles) but powertrain should still be doubly covered by Chevy and Hertz (where I bought it). 

 

Options:

1) Take it to another mechanic to look at. Will probably cost me if they don't find anything but if they do it *should* be covered by Hertz. 

2) Take it to a different dealer.

3) Bail out and trade it in for something else. 

4) Wait until the transmission dies and hope it happens before the powertrain warranties expire. 

5) ???

 

Really annoyed. This is my first car and I was pretty happy with it initially but it's spent 3 weeks at the dealer in the 4 months I've had it. 

In order to effect some action from GM, a tech needs to duplicate the issue and record it in a document. An independent mechanic can also do this at your cost and can also document it, however I don't think it would carry any weight with GM. So my advise is to have another dealer tech duplicate and document the issue. Unfortunately that is the only way to effect action. That is the industry standard and even in the aircraft industry where I spent time as a mechanical advisor and later pilot, if we came across a problem we could not duplicate, we would document the complaint/issue and simply take the aircraft out of service until we could duplicate. If never duplicated we would often replace all possible associated components and go thru a rigorous series of ground and air tests...So duplication is key to a fix.

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1 hour ago, Retired old Gearhead said:

You may very well be correct regarding your 4sp auto tranny. It's obvious your issue is electronic since the PRNDL indicator light is not a mechanical connection to the tranny and the tranny is sensor controlled to a degree, I'm thinking your tranny is fine but the electro control sensor/module is not. I have no idea how theses modules control the tranny but I have found that some of these electronic issues can sometimes be resolved by disconnecting the battery overnight to allow stored ram or temporary data to be erased and any capacitors to completely drain...that's the first thing I would try in absents of a GM tech who knows the issue and a fix.

GMs fix per TSB is to put dielectric grease on the connector which of course doesn't work . I asked the service advisor how that's supposed to fix it when the location of the connector isn't subject to any moisture ect  . They said they wondered the same thing but have to do what they are told , they actually laughed  .GM don't want the techs replacing the PNP switch so that's the part I will replace if it starts to happen again . Luckily it's rare to happen but it's unsettling when it does .

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