Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||||
| PI-0324-C | 04/17/2012 | 10043647 | Gmc/chevrolet/buick: transmission pump needs inspecting due to engine cranking but fails to start, has no forward, no reverse, transmission leaks, hard shift and no cranking. *pe | 04/17/2012 | |
| PI-0670 | 02/01/2012 | 10043628 | Gmc/buick/chevrolet: transmission slips when in reverse or not in reverse, 3rd gear or no 3rd gear, flare shifting to 5th or no 5th gear. *pe | 04/16/2012 | |
| PI-0670 | 02/01/2012 | PI-0670-A | 10043628 | Gmc/buick/chevrolet: transmission slips when in reverse or not in reverse, 3rd gear or no 3rd gear, flare shifting to 5th or no 5th gear. *pe updated 4/17/12. *pe | 04/16/2012 |
| PIP-4624-M | 04/04/2012 | 10043487 | Chevrolet/buick/gmc: restriction, through the pqc, has been placed on the valve control solenoid (tehcm) p/n 24256524 and 24265367, to assist engineering feedback product. *pe | 04/04/2012 | |
| PIP-4990 | 12/01/2011 | 10043320 | Buick/chevrolet/gmc/pontiac/saturn: some model year vehicles may experience service engine soon (ses) lamp illuminated. issue may be caused by the control solenoid/module assembly or may have damaged or poor terminals for under hood fuse | 03/13/2012 | |
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL) | |||||
| PI-0805 | 09/01/2012 | 10047259 | Chevrolet: transmission sticks in third gear or flare or slip in third gear or no third gear, due to possible rubbing contact of clutch housing 3-5-r/4-5-6 and reaction carrier hub. model 2012 sonic. *pe | 11/19/2012 | |
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - LEVER AND LINKAGE - COLUMN SHIFT | |||||
| PI0670B | 03/01/2012 | 10043890 | Gm: diagnostic tips for dtc p0776, slips when reverse is selected or no reverse. slip or flare when shifting into third/ fifth gear or no third/fifth gear. also included model chevrolet captiva sport model year 2012. model chevrolet orlando | 05/01/2012 | |
| POWER TRAIN - MANUAL TRANSMISSION | |||||
| PIP-5049 | 08/01/2012 | 10045344 | General motors: difficult to get into or out of gear excessive free play in the shifter. the condition can be caused by a nut that has come loose on the shift tower ( see item 2 located under plug item 1). *js | 08/28/2012 | |
| PIE-0197B | 04/01/2012 | 10043937 | Buick/chevrolet: manual transmission shift lever concerns - loose, noise when shifted, hard to shift into gear or proper gear not selected when shifted. *kb | 05/02/2012 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 03/15/2012 | 5000 | ||
| Idles dramatically while the car is at a stop, and the engine stalls very frequently, regardless of temperature or weather conditions. on start-up, or while stopped with the engine running, the idle will become rough and very between 200-3,000 rpm. also at times, while stopped, the idle will increase from normal, smooth idle up to about 3,000 rpm for approximately one second, then drop back down to 750 rpm (normal idle speed) without touching the accelerator. the automatic shifting from 1st to 3rd gear completely skips around. the car shifts are hard to the point, once you come to a stop it feels like the transmission is going to fall out. | |||
| 12/18/2012 | 9000 | 1 | |
| As i was driving down a intersection my car was going 50 miles an hour, then it just shut off. it's a 5 speed and it shut off and then started back up.the car was in 5 th gear at the time it was very scary im glad there was no one directly behind me. i've had problems with this car since day 1 there is other problems with it. but the dealers say its normal. they dont know why it did this. but this car is unsafe and to me its a lemon. i'm tired of feeling like a idiot this car has issues. *tr | |||
| 12/18/2012 | 9000 | ||
| As i was driving down a intersection my car was goingh 50 miles an hour,then it just shut off.its a 5 speed and it shut off and then started back up.the car was in 5 th gear at the time it was very scary im glad there was no one directly behind me.ive had problems with this car since day 1 there is other problems with it.but the dealers say its normal.they dont know why it did this.but this car is unsafe and to me its a lemon.im tired of feeling like a idiot this car has issues. | |||
| 12/28/2012 | 3700 | 1 | |
| After only owning the 2012 sonic for less than 4 months and having only @ 3,700 miles on it, i have a problem with the transmission. i pulled out of my work driveway, and the engine was racing in drive but going nowhere. it was moving forward very slowly and not shifting. i eventually was able to get almost off the road, but my back end was sticking out into a major thoroughfare because it completely quit going forward . i put the car in park and back into drive to try to get it to move forward again. at that point, whether in drive, neutral, m1, etc, it was in reverse, so essentially the car ended up being even further sticking out in the busy road. i had to wait for a quick break in traffic and drive it in reverse the wrong way into a parking lot to get towed. dealership replaced solenoid pack but was not the problem. they tore transmission down and found it was a torn belt on the clutch fan, so they think. as of today, still fighting with general motors for a new transmission. they just want to fix it and extend warranty. i think that's unacceptable for a car with 3,700 miles on it .it's a shame gm won't stand up to their product. starting to feel this car was not a safe choice. seems to be a lot of complaints on the power train, especially shifting issues. *tr | |||
| 12/28/2012 | 3700 | ||
| After only owning the 2012 sonic for less than 4 months and having only @ 3,700 miles on it, i have a problem with the transmission. i pulled out of my work driveway, and the engine was racing in drive but going nowhere. it was moving forward very slowly and not shifting. i eventually was able to get almost off the road, but my back end was sticking out into a major thoroughfare because it completely quit going forward . i put the car in park and back into drive to try to get it to move forward again. at that point, whether in drive, neutral, m1, etc, it was in reverse, so esentially the car ended up being even further sticking out in the busy road. i had to wait for a quick break in traffic and drive it in reverse the wrong way into a parking lot to get towed. dealership replaced solenoid pack but was not the problem. they tore transmission down and found it was a torn belt on the clutch fan, so they think. as of today, still fighting with general motors for a new transmission. they just want to fix it and extend warranty. i think that's unacceptable for a car with 3,700 miles on it .it's a shame gm won't stand up to their product. starting to feel this car was not a safe choice. seems to be a lot of complaints on the power train, especially shifting issues. | |||
| 05/21/2012 | 200 | ||
| Vehicle stalls when pulling out from a stop, and/or at low speeds when the clutch is pushed in. then, it takes three seconds before the car can attempt to be re-started! very dangerous when turning left across a highway or into traffic, especially since there is what seems to be a 'programmed' waiting period of 3 seconds before you can attempt to re-started. i've owned this vehicle (1.4l turbo engine with 6 spd manual transmission) since 05/21/2012, and over 8,000 miles later, it still stalls every time i drive it. the dealerships say, cannot reproduce. operating to specifications. | |||
| 02/22/2012 | 1 | ||
| Issues began with an intermittent rattle at cold start after car had been sitting about 30mins to an hr, from being driven. no codes showing so went un-repaired, once pinpointed, it was replicated, still no codes, no fix, starting about aug 2012 after my 1st service car began to shake at idle while stopped in d, started getting worse progressively. vehicle stalled in middle of intersection while trying to shift itself (auto trans) into 3rd, violent jerk to a stop and immediately picked itself up and jerked forward and moved, with my children in the car. next stall occurred about 3-4 weeks later, idled so rough and low while in d at a stop light, car bogged down and stalled, started itself right back up. engine power surging began at this point. while braking or on brake while stopped, engine would power surge thrusting car forward, came very close to hitting several cars while pulling into parking spot from these surges. had taken vehicle in multiple times between 1st occurrence and this point in sept. it was duplicated with multiple symptoms at once, including as given from dealer: hard shaking, misfire, and rattle/knock at cold start. only code to show was for the misfire, repair: valve cleaning, not fixed. rattle became a knocking. idle meanwhile getting rougher. took back for knocking, surging, rough idle, stalling. no codes, repair: gm tech assist had camshaft actuators replaced , fixed knocking/rattle at cold start only! idle worse, now loss of engine power intermittently causing vehicle to hardly move, had vehicle back less than 24hrs. almost had a t-bone accident and head on into a pole in same incident due to said loss of power. asked for replacement (after 7 service repair attempts), request presently in limbo, no offer of replacement thus far! i am severely concerned for my family's safety at this point, clearly defective in itself with no codes showing. *tr | |||
| 02/22/2012 | |||
| Issues began with an intermittent rattle at cold start after car had been sitting about 30mins to an hr, from being driven. no codes showing so went un-repaired, once pinpointed, it was replicated, still no codes, no fix, starting about aug 2012 after my 1st service car began to shake at idle while stopped in d, started getting worse progressively. vehicle stalled in middle of intersection while trying to shift itself (auto trans) into 3rd, violent jerk to a stop and immediately picked itself up and jerked forward and moved, with my children in the car. next stall occurred about 3-4 weeks later, idled so rough and low while in d at a stop light, car bogged down and stalled, started itself right back up. engine power surging began at this point. while braking or on brake while stopped, engine would power surge thrusting car forward, came very close to hitting several cars while pulling into parking spot from these surges. had taken vehicle in multiple times between 1st occurrence and this point in sept. it was duplicated with multiple symptoms at once, including as given from dealer: hard shaking, misfire, and rattle/knock at cold start. only code to show was for the misfire, repair: valve cleaning, not fixed. rattle became a knocking. idle meanwhile getting rougher. took back for knocking, surging, rough idle, stalling. no codes, repair: gm tech assist had camshaft actuators replaced , fixed knocking/rattle at cold start only! idle worse, now loss of engine power intermittently causing vehicle to hardly move, had vehicle back less than 24hrs. almost had a t-bone accident and head on into a pole in same incident due to said loss of power. asked for replacement (after 7 service repair attempts), request presently in limbo, no offer of replacement thus far! i am severely concerned for my family's safety at this point, clearly defective in itself with no codes showing | |||
| 09/07/2012 | 6500 | 1 | |
| This vehicle is very dangerous and unsafe and needs to be recalled. i was going to make a right turn out of a red light numerous amounts of times and when going to speed up to make a right turn the vehicle would get stuck or stall out and not speed up. i almost got hit by larger vehicles four times now because it stalls out when going to accelerate. i have talked to four other people with this vehicle and they said they have the same problems! *tr | |||
| 06/25/2012 | 10000 | 1 | |
| The chevrolet sonic that we had started having trouble shifting out of the first and second gears around 9000 miles. it is a brand new car with an automatic transmission. in mid june of 2012 we started noticing that the when the transmission went to shift to a higher gear it would stick, then shift hard, thus causing the vehicle to lurch forward. on june 25, 2012 we were driving it home when again the problem shifting started again. this time however, the transmission stuck in second gear and would not shift up or down. the car had to be towed to the dealership we purchased it from and it took two weeks to repair. the technicians told us that there was faulty control link out and replaced it. they test drove it and it still didn't fix the problem. the tech's determined that replacement part was faulty and replaced it with another one. after this the car was given back to us. the car performed well until september 2012 when it started doing the same thing again. when approaching speeds of 17 to 18 miles per hour, the transmission will attempt to shift, get stuck and jerk forward. it eventually shifts but not easily. the rpms when it does this is approximately 3500 rpms. it also gets stuck when there is a little more torque needed around 25 to 28 miles per hours. this is what concerns me as a driver is that when it does it at this speed, the rpms are 5500 to 6000 and when it gets stuck and cant shift, the rpms will actually red line or reach 7000 rpm. my wife and i again took the car to the same dealership who said that since there is no error code or fault code they are consulting the engineers and technicians from general motors. they have been unable to determine that cause only that it is an internal problem with the transmission. *tr | |||
| 06/25/2012 | 10000 | ||
| The chevrolet sonic that we had started having trouble shifting out of the first and second gears around 9000 miles.it is a brnad new car with an automatic transmission. in mid june of 2012 we started noticing that the when the transmission went to shift to a higher gear it would stick, then shift hard, thus causing the vehicle to lurch forward. on june 25, 2012 we were driving it home when again the problem shifting started again. this time however, the transmission stuck in second gear and would not shift up or down. the car had to be towed to the dealership we purchased it from and it took two weeks to repair. the technicians told us that there was faulty control link out and replaced it. they test drove it and it still didnt fix the problem. the techs determined that that replacement part was faulty and replaced it with another one. after this the car was given back to us. the car performed well until september 2012 when it started doing the same thing again. when approaching speeds of 17 to 18 miles per hour, the transmission will attempt to shift, get stuck and jerk forward. it eventually shifts but not easily. the rpms when it does this is approximately 3500 rpms. it also gets stuck when there is a little more torque needed around 25 to 28 miles per hours. this is what concerns me as a driver is that when it does it at this speed, the rpms are 5500 to 6000 and when it gets stucks and cant shift, the rpms will actually red line or reach 7000 rpm. my wife and i again took the car to the same dealership who said that since there is no error code or falut code they are consulting the engineers and technicians from general motors. they have been unable to determine that cause only that it is an internal problem withe the transmission. | |||
| 06/24/2012 | 2460 | 1 | |
| After disengaging, engaging, and then disengaging the clutch to place the vehicle in reverse the transmission grinds. *tr | |||
| 06/24/2012 | 2460 | ||
| After disengaging, engaging, and then disengaging the clutch to place the vehicle in reverse the transmission grinds. | |||
| 05/01/2012 | 7800 | ||
| I purchased my car brand new with 3 miles on it in november 2011. when i hit around 7500 miles i noticed the car when stopped on a hill would drift backwards - when i got to 7800 miles the whenever i was in traffic traveling around 5-13 mph i noticed the car would not shift on it's own the rpm's would shoot up and the tach would rev but the car would not go. i would need to put it in park and then drive and it would be fine. this happened almost every day for about 2 weeks. when going to park and put it in reverse to back in the car would hesitate about 30 seconds before it would move.. i contacted my dealer and took it in. onstar said they did not find issues when they checked. the dealer corrected the problem.. on the engine control module they had to reprogram it with sps ( not sure what the means ) and it now works like the day i pulled it off the lot.... they also left me know if there are any other issues to contact them right away and they would get it right in. on the electrical - the driver window button sticks and window will go up and down on it's own until you get the button un-stuck -- this is also being repaired by the dealer however they had to order parts .. when they come in is to be determined | |||
| 12/01/2011 | |||
| When i am driving on city streets and am behinde a car that is turning i have to slow down. when i give it gas at around 2k rpm. the car has some hesatation like it cant find a gear to be in. it has dune it sence about 100 miles. has 7000 miles on it now. was told it was the transmision trying to find its shift points as you break it in at 1000 miles.(berger chevy) also when in gerage and start car it sounds fine. but once i put it in rev. i hear lost lot pings coming from the enegin area. started after deer crash. took to berger chevy where car was bought. they found nothing but just body damage. hood, front end, and passage side all replace. with 600 miles on car | |||
| 02/16/2012 | 925 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet sonic ls. the contact stated that while sitting on an incline, the hill holder was engaged yet the vehicle rolled away in reverse. on a separate occasion while driving 45 mph, the brakes started to squeal after being depressed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for both failures. the dealer confirmed there was corrosion along the rear brakes.the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 925 and the current mileage was 1041. kmj | |||