2016 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Transmission Rebuild in Bowling Green, KY

It never fails to amaze me how some dealerships manage to get away with charging sky-high prices—and sometimes even flat-out misleading customers about what’s wrong with their vehicle. Just last week, a customer rolled into the shop with a 2016 Chevy Silverado 2500HD, convinced his transmission was toast. Why? Because the dealership told him the pump had blown up inside his 6L90 transmission and that his only option was a full replacement for over $10,000 installed.

Now, here’s the problem with that claim—if the pump in a 6L90 truly “blows up,” the truck isn’t going anywhere. It won’t move. At all. But this customer drove it from the dealership to our shop without a tow. That already told me something wasn’t adding up.

With that in mind, Ben Jr. got straight to work on diagnostics. The transmission fluid? Burnt but full. The scanner pulled multiple solenoid codes, which was already a red flag. After clearing the codes, he took the truck out for a test drive and quickly noticed the torque converter slip readings were off the charts—sometimes between 150-200 RPMs when they should have been under 40. That’s a dead giveaway that the torque converter clutch is failing.

So, what’s the real solution? A transmission rebuild.

Now, we don’t do same-day repairs because we stay booked solid, but once we had time to tear into the 6L90, the truth came out. Burnt forward clutches. A cracked 3/5/R drum. An absolute mess of metal contamination. No doubt about it—the torque converter was the root cause. We broke the news to the customer, letting him know a rebuild was in order.

For this truck, we followed our usual 6L90 rebuild process—fresh PR valve, brand-new forward clutches and steels, a 3/5/R drum replacement, a TECHM rebuild, a VB recalibration kit, and an updated heavy-duty torque converter. And because we like to do things right, we topped it off with a tune to get those shifts crisp and smooth.

Once the transmission was installed and the cooler was hot-flushed, the customer was thrilled. Not only did he save over $5,000, but he also ended up with a stronger transmission than he would have gotten from the dealership—because let’s be real, dealerships don’t tune transmissions. Now, he’s back on the road in Bowling Green, KY, driving a 2016 Silverado 2500HD with a rock-solid 6L90 transmission that’s built to last.

Location: Bowling Green, KY