2017 with 140k miles not shifting into overdrive gears!!

Thanks everyone.

So I made it home with no issues. @longboat I was on the phone with my other half when this happened and the first question was exactly that, was I in D4. hahaha. And I was not. lol In trouble shooting mode, when the truck was driving correctly, I did press the D4 button and confirmed that the vehicle was indeed not shifting into overdrive.

@stevem5215 I plugged in the scanguage... and realized I didn't have the right programming in it to be able to tell what gear the vehicle was in. So still need to figure that out. In the mean time, I'll keep driving it and I'll put battery voltage on the screen since @Rockwood and @feetdry suggest that this could be a charging/battery issue. I am still on the OEM battery. I do believe I saw the battery at 12 and 14 something during the drive though, but I will keep an eye on it.

@zroger73 Much appreciate your input on this situation. Your knowledge is invaluable.

@14v6 I do hope this is an easy fix. Although I am having issues, it does confirm there was no need to get an extended warranty. As for fork in the road, there really isn't any compelling alternative... so the tines to follow would pretty much be either fix what we have or get a new RL.

@gti16vman Awesome! Thanks for the link, super helpful.

Edit:
I got the gauge programmed but haven't tested it yet actually going anywhere. Reads 15 in reverse, 1 in Drive, 0 in park/neutral.

Before getting it set up though, I snagged my dad's meter (and my dad) take some battery measurements. Started the vehicle from cold, sitting overnight, with 47F ambient temperature. Turned the truck on twice, with the voltage drop measured at 9.884V and 9.54V on the sequential starts. The cold battery hung out at 12.146V and the alternator kept it up at 14.266.



I also took 3 short trips of 15, 1, and 14 miles, all with no issues. I mean, who doesn't like to chase intermittent problems?

So update on the situation. No, not stranded yet. lol

Commuted all week without issue on the OEM battery, which is a trip of roughly 43 miles each engine cycle, about an hour of on time, mostly in 6th gear with minimal traffic. Despite scanguage reading battery at 11.9 when sleeping, which is lower than read at the battery terminals, it starts up no problem in 30-40F weather and the alternator keeps it charged up on and off as expected during the drives.

Then yesterday, after about 2 hours and ~40 miles of traffic, traveling between periods of stop and go, slow roll, to free flowing, and back to stop and go... the issue popped up again. I mean, I get it, I too despise traffic. I was trying to pay attention and what I noticed was that there was a solid clunk of what I assume was the transmission, when I was rolling somewhere between 20-30mph. I was not sure if I was accelerating or decelerating, as it was slow rolling traffic, but immediately after the clunk I looked at the scanguage and it was in 3rd gear. I could have been accelerating and it had problems downshifting, or I could have been slowing down enough that it wanted to downshift. I really can't say for sure, as I was just feathering the throttle to scoot along in the congestion. Anyway, immediately after this audible and noticeable clunk, when traffic started moving faster, I was no longer able to get into 5th and 6th gears. Almost as if I had the D4 button pressed, of which it was not pressed. So I pulled off at the next exit, shut down the truck, counted to 20, restarted, and off I went... for another 23, 123, and 76 miles, with minimal slow downs and with no issues.

We will be getting a new battery this weekend and I'll keep everyone updated on how this all goes. I quite like the radiant red color....

Well... I'm back to post disappointment after two weeks of hopeful optimism. Battery wasn't the issue.

Today on my commute to work, about an hour in on the drive. I lost the overdrive gears again. I was freeway cruising for about 40 minutes, then 20 minutes into stop and go traffic. As stop and go traffic was starting to ease up into a slow roll and my foot was feathering the gas, the transmission went clunk. When I tried to accelerate, I could no longer get into 5th or 6th gears. The truck was stuck in 4th. There was no safe place to stop and restart the truck, as I was about to enter the express lanes, so I just stuck in 4th the 6 miles to my exit into the city. When I got onto city streets and slowed to stop at a light, I noticed that the transmission would not downshift. It was stuck in 4th until a complete stop. I was able to shift into neutral and reverse. As I accelerated to the next light, the transmission would go from 1-2-4, in a not exactly smooth fashion. I don't recall loosing 3rd before... so that is possibly a new symptom? I made it into the parking garage where it now sits until this evening when I attempt to get home.

Well the truck is at the dealer which I bought it from.

I worked a half day and made it a mission to cause the tranny to error out during shop hours. Took off into the evening commute just after 3pm and after an hour I got off the freeway near the dealer and started doing loops around the dealership on the highway. I was about to give up when CLUNK it happened! LOL. I called the dealer and told them I was on my way.

I pulled in and was met by the service advisor and a very green tech. They brought a laptop out and hooked it up without turning off the engine. I offered to drive them around to show them the issue, but they declined. The computer was not connecting and so the tech said they had to turn off the engine and turn it back on for the laptop to read anything.... so that is what they did. Of which I had warned them, the issue disappears upon restart, but they did it anyway. Attached is a picture of their laptop screen from after that restart. (I did offer to drive around again to show them the issue to try to recreate the issue... but it was also declined the 2nd time.)




The service advisor and green tech didn't know what to make of the readings and said they hadn't seen the missing overdrive gears and 3rd gear before... so they went back and grabbed someone with more experience. The "old timer" who came out looked at the screen and commented that something was wrong with the transmission, not exactly sure what (solenoid, blockage, sensor), but that he was surprised that I made it to 140k miles. LOL. I asked him if he has seen tranny issues and he replied yes, but usually starting more at like 30-40k miles. I gave this tech our personal service history listing, highlighting tranny services, and also my documentation on the tranny issue. At first he was confused on where I found what I handed him, and I said, that's my personal documentation for this truck, and they took a photocopy of it to add to their records. This more experienced tech said that he would be the one taking this job tomorrow. I asked him how long he has been wrenching on cars and he replied 20 years.

As for the warranty thing, neither the service advisor or techs knew "anything" about it, despite the dealership sales side advertising "Lifetime Limited Warranty". The service advisor said I might have to talk with finance. They did notice I did not have my service done there, except the timing belt, but I showed them my records book. I suspect they may say it is not enough "proof" that all service was done. But with dates of every fuel up plus MM codes, I feel like that is something hard to fabricate and backdate for 6 years.

In any case, it is $170 diagnostics fee and $35/day rental in a purple HRV. They said they would cover my first two days... and we'll be in touch. (And that they would do the three open recalls while they had it.)

*A funny side note about the HRV, they brought it around to me with the low tire pressure light on. I brought this up before I left and they were confused. I took my tire pressure guage from my truck and went around to find 3/4 tires at 28PSI, and the front passenger tire (also missing a valve cap) at 19psi. They pumped it up and looked for a nail which they did not find, so I asked if I could grab my tire pump from my truck. They seemed amused that I not only had a tire pressure guage, but that I also had a tire pump.

@14v6 Here's their claim. @stevem5215 The part highlighted in yellow is where I think the sticking point will be.