[TailHappy]

Hey guys,I took my car to the dealer couple days ago because my bumper to bumper was about to expire and as some have said my trans would bump after stopping here and there and sport and track shifts were not as crisp as I think they should be so was hoping to get the 2020 update and be on my way. Well not the case. They said it came up as a internal issue and would have to keep it. Few days go by and so I went there tonight to get a update. Tech said it's a bad solenoid and a FCA guy was coming next Wednesday to look at it because FCA doesn't want the techs to open up these transmission and they are probably going to replace the whole thing. Anyone hear of this? Seems odd they can't work on the transmission. Anyone have a solenoid go bad? Tech said they will probably have the car for months. I told him I'm taking the car home until the FCA guy gets there because they had it parked outside,unlocked and would have been till next Wednesday. It's home for now but I'm freaked out thinking my car is going to be sitting outside for possibly months in one of the most theft prone areas in the country.

 

[borden72]

Let them do their diagnosis and take it home until the parts arrive. There's some stipulations in law that they would have to make things right if you cannot drive your car greater than 30 days.

 

[Cerino2000]

These trans are known as non serviceable. They typically replace the whole thing.

 

[Rockster]

Typical to just replace something like the transmission rather than have a dealer tech work on it. It is expensive to train a tech on these transmissions and odds are the tech will not even work on one let alone a number that justifies his training.

The bad transmission is removed and a new (or re-manufactured) one is installed in its place. You get back on the road again sooner and the odds are with a transmission that will prove to be problem free going forward.

With another car -- covered by a 2 year, 100K mile CPO warranty -- the 6-speed manual developed a selector shaft seal leak. Long story short factory told tech to remove the leaking transmission and it shipped a new transmission from the factory. New transmission addressed the leak but also proved to be about 1000% times better. The original transmission had a lousy shift feel to it while with the replacement transmission the shifting was butter smooth. After the transmission was replaced, at around 30K miles, I drove the car to 161K miles and the transmission was still working perfectly.

 

[ArchGE]

Had that issue on mine. Took it to my local (Mopar friendly) speed shop and he did a trans. tune on his Mustang dyno. All is good now.

 

[baabootoo]

What year and miles?

 

[TailHappy]

It's a 2018 with 22,000. I know the 18's were known for trans issues but I thought there was a TSB that just required a update. I had no idea they just replaced them. If they want to replace it I'm ok with it just don't want it sitting outside waiting for the new trans to arrive. Clearly I'm paranoid about my car getting stolen lol.

 

[Rockster]

It's a 2018 with 22,000. I know the 18's were known for trans issues but I thought there was a TSB that just required a update. I had no idea they just replaced them. If they want to replace it I'm ok with it just don't want it sitting outside waiting for the new trans to arrive. Clearly I'm paranoid about my car getting stolen lol.

Think the odds of any car getting stolen from that dealer are real small. And to believe a car theft gang would walk by new cars to drive off in a 2018 MY obviously in for service... the odds are really really small.

 

[DodgeCares]

Hey guys,I took my car to the dealer couple days ago because my bumper to bumper was about to expire and as some have said my trans would bump after stopping here and there and sport and track shifts were not as crisp as I think they should be so was hoping to get the 2020 update and be on my way. Well not the case. They said it came up as a internal issue and would have to keep it. Few days go by and so I went there tonight to get a update. Tech said it's a bad solenoid and a FCA guy was coming next Wednesday to look at it because FCA doesn't want the techs to open up these transmission and they are probably going to replace the whole thing. Anyone hear of this? Seems odd they can't work on the transmission. Anyone have a solenoid go bad? Tech said they will probably have the car for months. I told him I'm taking the car home until the FCA guy gets there because they had it parked outside,unlocked and would have been till next Wednesday. It's home for now but I'm freaked out thinking my car is going to be sitting outside for possibly months in one of the most theft prone areas in the country.

Hi TailHappy,
Glad to hear you are working with your dealer for this concern. If we can be of any additional assistance as you are working with your dealer, feel free to send us a private message. We'd be more than happy to help.

Rob
Dodge Cares

 

[Rockster]

It's a 2018 with 22,000. I know the 18's were known for trans issues but I thought there was a TSB that just required a update. I had no idea they just replaced them. If they want to replace it I'm ok with it just don't want it sitting outside waiting for the new trans to arrive. Clearly I'm paranoid about my car getting stolen lol.

FWIW my 2018 Hellcat A8 was fine right up to when I traded it in with 27.5K miles and after 33 months of ownership.

Part of the reason I traded it in was because I didn't want to own the (complex) car out of warranty. While the drive train was covered for another couple of years the original uConnect radio went bad -- the NAV system had my position off by in some cases 90 miles... -- and had to be replaced. This was done in July 2020 and under warranty.

The A8 was quite a nice transmission. I did have a problem with the +paddle causing a downshift instead of an upshift. Long story short two software updates were applied, one to the engine controller the other to the transmission controller -- this back in 2019 -- and with me using the car more often -- these Hellcats do not like to sit unused -- the +paddle behaved perfectly from then on.

 

[procharger]

Trans can be rebuilt I seen it.

 

[TailHappy]

Yeah,my bumper to bumper expired yesterday and I haven't read any good post on extended ones so I'm on the fence on selling it after this is over. I'm taking it back tomorrow to see what they are going to do. I put roughly 5000 miles a year on it but it sits during most of the winter. I'll update when I hear what the verdict is tomorrow.

 

[Rockster]

Yeah,my bumper to bumper expired yesterday and I haven't read any good post on extended ones so I'm on the fence on selling it after this is over. I'm taking it back tomorrow to see what they are going to do. I put roughly 5000 miles a year on it but it sits during most of the winter. I'll update when I hear what the verdict is tomorrow.

The drive train warranty runs longer than the bumper to bumper warranty. At least this is what I recall with my 2018 Hellcat. Bumper to bumper runs for 3 years, 36K miles. Drive train warranty runs for 5 years, 50K miles.

If my memory is any good that still only provides you with another 2 years of warranty and only on drive train hardware.

Issues arise from miles driven not from time the car spends in the garage.

Have to mention I sold (traded in) my 2018 Hellcat after 33 months and 27.5K miles because in part I just didn't want to own a complex of a vehicle out of its bumper to bumper warranty. I figured with some few months of the new car warranty left the car had as much value as a used car as it would ever have. So last November I traded it in for a 2020 Scat Pack.

 

[TailHappy]

So they called me the other day and asked for the red key so they could test drive the car to replicate the problem. Before I took it up to them I printed out the TSB for the issue I was having and gave it to them with the key. He said he would give it to the tech when he gives him the key. 3 hours later the call and said car was ready to pick up. Service manager said they drove the car and couldn't replicate the problem BUT they did find a TSB and installed the required update and car was good. No mention of the bad solenoid,no mention of the trans needing replaced,just it was fixed and ready to go. What a joke.

 

[Gotgap]

Let us know if it’s actually fixed after some seat time

 

[TailHappy]

It does seem better in terms of shifts. I haven't drove it enough to get the hard downshift into first from second but hasn't happen yet. Weather is really crappy so probably won't be driving it much.

 

[Gotgap]

Yes fall finally showed up

 

[baabootoo]

It's a 2018 with 22,000. I know the 18's were known for trans issues but I thought there was a TSB that just required a update. I had no idea they just replaced them. If they want to replace it I'm ok with it just don't want it sitting outside waiting for the new trans to arrive. Clearly I'm paranoid about my car getting stolen lol.

So just the 2018's or earlier too?

 

[DodgeCares]

So they called me the other day and asked for the red key so they could test drive the car to replicate the problem. Before I took it up to them I printed out the TSB for the issue I was having and gave it to them with the key. He said he would give it to the tech when he gives him the key. 3 hours later the call and said car was ready to pick up. Service manager said they drove the car and couldn't replicate the problem BUT they did find a TSB and installed the required update and car was good. No mention of the bad solenoid,no mention of the trans needing replaced,just it was fixed and ready to go. What a joke.

Hi TailHappy,
Thank you for this update. Please feel free to keep us updated regarding your situation.

Rob
Dodge Cares

 

[TailHappy]

So just the 2018's or earlier too?

Yes,the TSB was just for the 18's.