04 Impala Tranny RECALL,PCS,P1811, Hard shifts

[chevymandan]

Faulty Pressure Control Solenoid, GM knows about it, there are TSB about it. Harsh shifts when hot. The best and cheapest thing to do is call GM and complain. Their number is 1-800-222-1020. These transmissions are known to be defective but have yet to be recalled. I called today 6-21-2010. Ask for it to be recalled. If they get enough calls they will. Maybe. They acted like they knew nothing about it which I do not like being lied to.

[chevymandan]

Here is the persons # i have been dealing with 1-866-790-5600 ext 11310. Tell her your problem, she wants to hear all about it. Tell her Danny with the 04 Impala told you to call. She will take care of it.
GM did nothing but say it is an isolated problem and the vehicle was driven hard and has a lack of maintenance.

[SierraK1500]

Thats like asking your ex-wife to let you stop making alimony payment.....

They ain't going to recall anything...and in that case then GM owes me 2100 bucks!

John

[chevymandan]

I got the Transgo sk4t65e kit and replaced the accumulator springs, which can be accessed by dropping the tranny pan and it shifts a lot better now, no hard shifts, and easy to do. Kit cost $65, tranny fluid $60, filter $15, 1.5 hours total from setup to clean up. Definitely the way to go

[DanOttawa]

Hey Chevyman. I have a 04 Venture (4t65e tranny) with 114,000 Km (approx 70,000miles) with hard shifts and code P1811.
There is a thread under the Buick forum with a lot of good info http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...79#post6816779

Have you had any problems since installing your Transgo shift kit?

[chevymandan]

No i have not had the problem since I installed the shift kit. I only installed the accumulator springs and shims from the shift kit into the accumulator housing, which on my vehicle I can get to by dropping the tranny pan. The kit comes with other things as well, but you would need to take the tranny out to install all of them. I have driven it about 3k miles without it happening.

[chevymandan]

I was dreading changing the pcs, but it was easier than i thought. I am not a mechanic and I am not suggesting that you do this, this is what I did and it worked fine and saved a bunch of money and was easy to do. Anything you decide to do is your choice and I am not liable for it
1. disconnect battery and drain transmission fluid, put transmission pan back on with a few bolts, you can change the filter when you are done with everything else and put all the bolts back in
2. take off air filter housing and air intake, take electrical plug out of transmission
3. raise boot on steering gear box and take bolt out of steering connecting to steering shaft, it is one bolt and has to come completely out and then slide the shaft up off of it (this is done so you do not damage the steering when you lower the cradle)
4. loosen axle nut and lug nuts so you can get them off when you raise the vehicle.
5. raise vehicle,and support it,take off the following only on drivers side: wheel, brake caliper (hang out of way), lower ball joint off of lower A arm, tie rod end, sway bar
6. now you can take out the 3 strut nuts from up top and tap on the axle nut very lightly, then take the axle nut off to get it out of the front hub assembly,
7. push down on the lower A arm, and pull the strut out (i left the strut, rotor, front hub assembly as one when i took it out), also take out engine splash shield which has 3 plastic rivets in it, then pull out axle, i used a slide hammer
8. I had 3 different areas of support , the body, the transmission, and the front drivers side cradle
9. I placed a piece of plywood on the jack and used it to support the transmission, be careful not to raise it to high and crack your coolant reservoir
10. I placed another jack on the cradle
11. I used jack stands to support the body
12. I took out the tranny mount nuts that bolt it to the cradle.
13. With the tranny supported, as well as the Cradle, I loosened the 2 drivers side cradle bolts and took them completely out. Lower the cradle down. This allows you to get to the bottom bolts of the side cover. Then lower the transmission down to get the rest of the bolts out.
14. Pull off side cover and replace solenoids. Disconnect wire harness, they have a pin that you must pull out with needle nose pliers, pull out solenoid
15. Reverse procedure to assemble
16. got alignment

This job took about 5 hours, because it was my first time doing it, but it is real easy
I bought a solenoid kit off ebay for $108, fluid and filter for about $60, I used about 10 qts

every car is different so use common sense when you are working on it, you have no one to blame but yourself if you screw up, good luck