Soooo...my next step was to have been to install the remote spin on filter assembly for the transmission fluid.
However...it was 8:00PM, I still had to put fluid in the transmission, and pull the Escalade down off the ramps. It needed to be ready for a flatbed at 9:00AM the next morning. And I needed sleep.
I did just that. It took a little over 6.5qts of Dexron VI to fill the transmission to the middle of the HOT zone with the trans at 122 degrees idling. I first filled it to the COLD mark on the dipstick. Then ran the shifter through all the gear positions, pausing for a few seconds in each. Had everything done and cleaned up by 10:00PM. The transmission pulled and moved the Escalade from the turnaround spot up to the driveway with no issues. However, I did not move fast enough to let it shift out of 1st gear.
9:00AM the next morning, local wrecker service flatbed appeared and we were off to a local transmission shop.
Why? you might ask? Because the Sonnax ZIP kit instructions and the service manual told me to.
In the Sonnax ZIP kit instructions, it states: Fast Learn Adapts, Following installation of the ZIP kit, the Service Fast Learn Adapts procedure must be performed. Follow instruction on the scan tool, or reference OE specifications for details on the procedure.
In the service manual, it states:
Note: The Service Fast Learn Adapts procedure must be performed when one of the following repairs have been made to the vehicle. Failure to perform the procedure after one of the following repairs may result in poor transmission performance, as well as transmission DTCs being set:
- Transmission internal service/overhaul
- Valve body repair or replacement
- Control solenoid valve assembly replacement
- TCM software/calibration update
- Any service in response to a shift quality concern
Also, from what I have read, driving the vehicle and letting the transmission could likely result in codes being set, as the transmission is still using learned adaptive parameters from before the repair. I didn't want that, so off to the shop it went.
Like I have said before, which is where it went wrong. I am an idiot, past and present tense. In my head, since this was a scan tool procedure, I would be in and out. I rode with the driver in the cab of the flatbed, and stayed with my Escalade. The shop took my information and keys, and told me they would call when it was done. Say what?
They said it would be done around 4:40-5ish. It was 9:45AM. Oh. And, it never occurred to me that there would be other jobs in line before mine. Like I said, I am an idiot.
To compound this, I was trying to get too much done. Returning from the P0131/P0171 fiasco at the Hendrick Cadillac of Monroe NC service department, an 18-wheeler tossed a rock. Which cracked the windshield. Safelite AutoGlass was scheduled to replace the windshield at 1:00PM this same day. So, I screwed up. Again.
I sheepishly called SafeLite and rescheduled.
And then started walking.
I live in Blacksburg SC, out in the country. The transmission shop is in Gaffney SC, approximately 10 miles away. My wife was at work. Anybody I really knew was at work. So, being GOOD AND PI$$ED at myself, I started walking. Eventually, I was able to get my mother in law on the phone and she picked me up. Only ended up walking 2 miles. It was good for me. Because I am an idiot.
The transmission shop called around 4:00PM, said my Escalade was ready. They said they performed the relearns and took it for a road test. The transmission shifted through all the gears and performed well. Except the technician noticed it was slipping in 3rd gear.
Huh?
My first thought was, "what did I do wrong?" My mother in law gave me a ride to the transmission shop. There, I asked the same question, and they told me, based upon the description of the work I performed, nothing I did could cause 3rd gear to slip. They said it was likely the 3-5 drum was cracked.
Lovely. Just lovely.
Pretty much all I could do was drive it until it quits. They of course offered to fix the transmission for me. I politely declined. I still have the 2 year powertrain warranty from Hendrick on this Escalade...
On the drive home, I didn't notice anything different. I couldn't feel any slipping. Which tells me this transmission was doing it before I bought the vehicle. I paid attention to the shifting when I test drove the Escalade. It felt the same on the drive home from the transmission shop as it did on the test drive.
The next day, I drove the Escalade 7 hours total to and from Hendrick Cadillac in Cary NC for a wasted trip to get the paint touched up on the front and rear bumpers. The transmission performed just fine. Shifted fine. I beat on it some on the highway. Temps always looked good. I saw 154 degrees at 75mph, and 165 degrees at 85mph. (I like to drive fast, and I was on I-85S in NC. Don't judge me...)
I ended up in a stop-and-go traffic jam, and saw the transmission temp go to 185 while crawling along. Once I got back up to highway speeds, the temp dropped back down in the low 160's.
Once I got off my exit, I performed an experiment. I put the shifter in M, and toggled it to 2. I drove up my road. Once 2nd gear was wound out sufficiently, I toggled the shifter to 3. I waited with bated breath, and felt the transmission immediately shift into 3rd gear. No flaring of RPM on the tachometer, no slowing of the vehicle. I toggled the shifter into 4 and drove to my house.
I am not sure what to make of this. I have driven my Escalade daily since that day. I have felt nothing amiss in the transmission. I don't necessarily think the transmission shop was trying to scam me, as they come well recommended. I think it is more I can't feel what the technician was feeling.
Regardless, all I can do is drive it. Because, if I invoke the warranty now, I will probably get laughed out. I would assume the transmission would have to be actively screwing up for them to be able to troubleshoot and diagnose anything.
