tclark2020

Thanks for any help in advance. I have a 2009 Impala with a 3.5 that began slightly chugging (usually while at road speed) a couple of days ago after fueling. I thought it may be some moisture so I ran some seafoam thru it. We then drove it about 400 miles yesterday and the chugging seemed to be a slight bit better. We got home last night and parked it. My wife left for the grocery store this AM and it quit accelerating on her. I went to get her and found that although it would show it was in gear it would not move forward or back. I then went home, got the trailer, and when I returned (30 mins) it would move on its own. Since I was only a few blocks away from the house I decided to drive it home. It then quit again after a block, so I went back and grabbed the truck and trailer. I was able to drive it on the trailer, so it is intermittent. I checked the code and the only one it gives is P0700. It didn't throw the code until I loaded it on the trailer. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for any input. Travis

tech2

this will get confusing.

The ecm has turned the ses light on after receiving a message from the tcm that a dtc has set in the tcm. you will need a full function scan tool to read the dtc that has set in the tcm.

undefined or "U" communication codes or powertrain codes that have set in the tcm will cause the p0700 to set.

You will need the tcm codes to continue any diagnosis.

You can check the condition of the fluid. Is it brown, smelly and burned, or clean and bright red?

tclark2020

tech2,

I checked the fluid last night, and unfortunately it is dark and burnt. As I stated, this happened quickly (within a few days). I am assuming that a rebuild or replacement will be in order. The car just hit 80,000 miles on Sunday.
The P0700 code makes sense to me. Its just telling me there is a problem. Fortunately I have a mechanic buddy from a F**d garage and he is very good with all vehicles (and always priced right).
If there is anything else I can do before I haul it an hour away to him I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks again for all your help!

tech2

Nothing you can do at this point. Send it to him. Make sure to flush the trans cooler lines before the fixed trans goes back in. Have him reset the transmission shift adapts. It and adaptive learn function that should be reset with a scan tool when the non-slipping trans goes back in. Fords may not have this function so he may not have heard about it.

tclark2020

Good news. Called the Chevy garage today on a whim and it is covered under warranty. 5yr/100,000 mile powertrain!! Not used to that kind of good news. Thanks for your help tech2!!

tech2

glad to here it.

for your new trans...make sure you do your trans fluid changes every 50 000 miles. 80% of trans failures are from lack of maintenance.