I am what people refer to as a "super-commuter." Since buying the car new almost two years ago, I've accumulated over 63000 miles, mostly highway, with a lifetime MPG average of over 43 exceeding the EPA estimate for the car.
Last Friday, the vehicle began acting strange. At highway speed (65mph), the tachometer began to oscillate up and down slightly. Then, the engine speed would jump upwards to over 3000 rpm while on straight and level road for no reason. It didn't feel like the transmission was slipping, but I could tell that I had lost some thrust. Then, in town coming home, the transmission really jumped/bucked. It felt similar to how it would feel in a manual transmission car when you go from second to first by mistake. The check engine light then (finally) came on and the car went into "safe/limp home mode." I pushed the OnStar button and they pulled a P0700 code from the PCM. When I got home, I used my own scan tool and also found the PCM threw a P0797 code. Both are transmission codes. Doing some research, I've found that the transmission is a JATCO trans. JATCO is either mostly owned by or is a subsidiary of Nissan. I should have known. I hadn't discovered Scotty Kilmer's YouTube channel, and his warnings about JATCO and Nissan, until long after I had bought the car.
I let the car sit for a week and took it to the dealer. Their assessment is that the transmission needs a new valve body. The valve bodies in these JATCO tranny's do not have any serviceable parts. So, if one solenoid is broken, they can't fix the one solenoid. They have to replace the whole valve body. Total cost? $1,800. The car operates fine when the tranny is cold, and it only malfunctions about 50 miles into a trip. So, I'll use it around town until I can save up enough to have it fixed I guess.
Aside from the Nissan tranny, I haven't had any issues with the AC Delco bits of the car. I think I will unload the car this year on a trade in.
I am what people refer to as a "super-commuter." Since buying the car new almost two years ago, I've accumulated over 63000 miles, mostly highway, with a lifetime MPG average of over 43 exceeding the EPA estimate for the car.
Last Friday, the vehicle began acting strange. At highway speed (65mph), the tachometer began to oscillate up and down slightly. Then, the engine speed would jump upwards to over 3000 rpm while on straight and level road for no reason. It didn't feel like the transmission was slipping, but I could tell that I had lost some thrust. Then, in town coming home, the transmission really jumped/bucked. It felt similar to how it would feel in a manual transmission car when you go from second to first by mistake. The check engine light then (finally) came on and the car went into "safe/limp home mode." I pushed the OnStar button and they pulled a P0700 code from the PCM. When I got home, I used my own scan tool and also found the PCM threw a P0797 code. Both are transmission codes. Doing some research, I've found that the transmission is a JATCO trans. JATCO is either mostly owned by or is a subsidiary of Nissan. I should have known. I hadn't discovered Scotty Kilmer's YouTube channel, and his warnings about JATCO and Nissan, until long after I had bought the car.
I let the car sit for a week and took it to the dealer. Their assessment is that the transmission needs a new valve body. The valve bodies in these JATCO tranny's do not have any serviceable parts. So, if one solenoid is broken, they can't fix the one solenoid. They have to replace the whole valve body. Total cost? $1,800. The car operates fine when the tranny is cold, and it only malfunctions about 50 miles into a trip. So, I'll use it around town until I can save up enough to have it fixed I guess.
Aside from the Nissan tranny, I haven't had any issues with the AC Delco bits of the car. I think I will unload the car this year on a trade in.
- Joseph S., Jesup, US