2013 Audi A3

GM says Camaro SS transmission issues identified, but doesn't disclose the problem

 
11 5,954 views Jul 21, 2009
Follow Nelson

2010 chevrolet camaro ss motorauthority 001

Manual transmissions in the new Camaro SS have been experiencing reports of breakage

Manual transmissions in the new Camaro SS have been experiencing reports of breakage

Enlarge Photo
The new Camaro SS is definitely one of the hottest pony cars to come along in the last decade, but so far it hasn't been all roses for the car, with a recall over a faulty battery and most recently, a new problem with breaking manual transmissions. Now a General Motors spokesman says the problem has been identified, and therefore can be solved, but the company isn't revealing what the cause was.

The news comes by way of the New York Times, which quotes GM spokesman Adam Denison as saying, "I think they want to keep that one pretty close to their chest" in reference to the underlying cause of the transmission breakages.

The Tremec TR6060 sourced to send the LS3's power to the rear wheels is a popular industry choice, found in a wide range of muscle and performance cars including Chevrolet's own Corvette, but the units installed in Camaro SS models apparently have some internal flaw that lends them to sudden and catastrophic failure.

Reports of the problem emerged on enthusiast forums over the past several weeks, usually with breakage occurring during use of the built-in launch control. Owner speculation points toward the output shaft being the weak link, but GM's statement to Camaro5, one of the largest Camaro enthusiast sites on the web, didn't confirm that aspect of the story.

The statement revealed only that GM had decided to temporarily stop shipment of the car to dealers, and that an 'in production' review is being made. GM makes it clear that it is "NOT requesting vehicles be returned for any service or dealer deliveries stopped as a result of this action." Now that the problem has been located, however, GM could be on the hook to fix all of the early-build manual-transmission SSs.

Whatever GM decides to do, however, Camaro SS owners out there might want to refrain from using their traction control for hard launches for the near future to avoid a lot of downtime as their transmission is replaced.

Automatic SS models and all other Camaros are unaffected by the problem.
2010 Camaro SS official photos
2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS

HI-RES GALLERY: 2010 chevrolet camaro ss motorauthority 001

HI-RES GALLERY: x10ch cm148




Tags:
Posted in:
 
Contribute
Send us a tip Comment Contact the editor
Follow Us

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

  • Posting indicates you have read this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • Notify me when there are more comments
Comments (11)

  1. ma_bepsf avatar bepsf Posted: 7/14/2009 9:07am PDT

    So the Camaro is a crap car?
    You don't say...
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  2. ma_dougo1807 avatar dougo1807 Posted: 7/14/2009 6:42pm PDT

    And they wonder why no one is buying american
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  3. ma_brick avatar brick Posted: 7/14/2009 11:31pm PDT

    Great news for a car company trying to pull themselves out of a hole. What's the American/import recall ratio up to these days?
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  4. ma_NoNameDenton avatar NoNameDenton Posted: 7/15/2009 12:15am PDT

    Great news for a car company trying to pull themselves out of a hole. What's the American/import recall ratio up to these days?

    Can not say that because this is ONE American company, Ford's recalls and such have gone done since their quality has shot up.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  5. ma_HECTOR avatar HECTOR Posted: 7/15/2009 3:44am PDT

    Welcome to the New GM. Same as the Old GM.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  6. ma_54chevyman avatar 54chevyman Posted: 7/15/2009 7:44am PDT

    Kudos for GM even offering a launch control and then for upgrading it as needed. GM is a again proud American force with world wide global engineering at their fingertips. Wake up America GM is poised to be a force again!
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  7. ma_solo84 avatar solo84 Posted: 7/15/2009 3:11pm PDT

    54chevyman says
    Kudos for GM even offering a launch control and then for upgrading it as needed. GM is a again proud American force with world wide global engineering at their fingertips. Wake up America GM is poised to be a force again!

    a glaring indication that some cheerleaders need to wake up...and possibly take English 101 again...

    and to think i had hope for the "new GM". this is a GREAT way to start off.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  8. ma_54chevyman avatar 54chevyman Posted: 7/15/2009 5:28pm PDT

    the message is true however
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  9. ma_Mike avatar Mike Posted: 7/15/2009 8:43pm PDT

    So the Camaro has launch control issues and it's automatically a "crap car". However, the R-35 GTR had similar issues with its launch control/transmission and everyone hails it as one of the best cars ever?! Okay, the Camaro is a different class of car than the GTR but still, I feel I sense more than a bit of bias against any American car.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  10. ma_HECTOR avatar HECTOR Posted: 7/16/2009 3:32am PDT

    You guys may have seen that mash up of the German movie *Downfall* where Hitler's VW bug get stolen and they start suggesting cars for him to buy. At one point he says *if I wanted a piece of shit I would get a Camaro SS. I have toy cars with less plastic on the interior*.

    True. True.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

  11. ma_minicar3 avatar minicar3 Posted: 7/16/2009 4:33am PDT

    Don't they test these things. Jesus, that much for a car and they are having major problems with breakage. GM better rattle the cages at Tremec. If they sell something like that to GM they should stand behind it.
     
    Post Reply
    Vote
    Bad stuff?

 

Have an opinion?Join the conversation!

Connect with Facebook

Motor Authority. Now with your friends.

Discover stories your friends read.
Share stories more easily.
You control what you share.
Learn more

Research New Cars

Go!

More from High Gear Media

 
 
MotorAuthority
  • Follow Us
  • Twiiter
  • Facebook
 
 
© 2011 MotorAuthority. All Rights Reserved. MotorAuthority is published by High Gear Media. Stock photography by Homestar, LLC. Send us feedback.