Simple Solution to a 2017 Chevy 1500 Transmission Problem, Bowling Green, KY

A customer came to us with what seemed like a large issue involving their 2017 Chevy Silverado Truck. Randomly it would stop moving altogether, forwards or backwards! This could happen going any speed or even just sitting still. Of course they thought this would cost thousands of dollars to fix an issue like this. Luckily they brought their vehicle to us, Wholesale Transmission Center, as we were able to get them back on the road quickly and for much cheaper than expected.

First one of our diagnosticians, Ben Carney Jr, went to the vehicle and did some preliminary checks. With his expertise and knowledge involving this style of transmission he believed the best course of action would be to drop the transmission pan and inspect the valve body for any abnormal wear and tear. Typically when these issues are occurring with this style of transmission (6l80), the most likely culprit is hard part failure starting to fill up the pan & filter, in which case a rebuild is usually necessary. Though in some special cases, such as this one, it could be much simpler like a hung valve or a stuck check-ball. Based off Ben's preliminary checks he was of the opinion this vehicle could very well be one of the lucky ones, and he was right.

Once we got the pan taken off (Figure 1) we noticed a lack of clutch material or metal on the magnet. This is a good sign. We then removed the valve body and brought it to our builder for inspection. He was able to determine that the forward check-ball (Figures 2 & 3) had shrunken and gotten stuck in the separator plate. This issue isn't necessarily common, but it has happened enough that we know to look for it when working on or repairing 6l80 transmissions. We cleaned the valve body in our Ultra Sonic Cleaning machine (Figure 4). We then replaced the shrunken check ball with an updated one and put everything back together, fixing the customers issue entirely. Such a simple Transmission Repair and the customer was able to get back onto the road in Bowling Green.

Isn't it strange that such a small component, something that can fit on top of your fingernail, can cause such a large issue?

Location: Bowling Green, KY