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Anyone have a fix for the 8l90 transmission shudder?

4599 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Manny Munoz
I recently purchased a 2015 Escalade ESV. I noticed it has a very pronounced shudder when shifting gears past 30 mph. Also, if I am cruising at highway speed with a light throttle to maintain speed (say around 1.6-1.9rpm) it will do a light shudder and the rpms will bounce a little. I have read a lot of forums where people discuss this issue as well as a hard shift issue from 1st to 2nd gear. My vehicle does not seem to have the hard shift issue, but it definitely likes to shudder.
Apparently I have read that at one point gm was replacing torque converters, that then they started doing fluid swaps. A lot of people seem to say that some of the earlier fluid swaps did not permanently fix the problem, but it sounds like the last one, where they swap the tranny fluid out for blue label Dexron HP LV has fixed many people’s shuddering issues.
I believe my vehicle was driven around for quite a while with the shudder and this has me worried that permanent damage has been done to the torque converter. My big question is wether or not this fluid exchange is a permanent fix or not? I have seen a lot of posts where people describe the exact same problem. I see very often people talking about this transmission fluid exchange. I never seem to be able to find follow up. Does it really cure the issue every time? Or should I expect to have to replace my tcc because it was driven with this issue for so long? Or worse? Please help I need to get this problem fixed ASAP once and for all. This is a work vehicle that I rely on to make a living.
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Hello and welcome. Lots of threads on this issue. We have the same truck and transmission. Latest official GM service bulletin regarding this transmission was to flush trans fluid and replace with Mobil 1 LTV HP fluid. Bulletin number 18-na-355. This was covered under our CPO warranty at 91K miles. Shudder is now gone and we are currently at 101000 miles. The low speed shifting is still a bit clunky though, but at least at all cruise speeds it is smooth.
Check out this article, excellent read about the 8l90.
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Thanks for the response Kevin. I am gonna try to get a caddy dealer in my area to do the fluid exchange. I don’t want to end up having to replace the torque converter afterwards, but I guess the only way to find out if I need to or not is to do the fluid exchange first and see if that fixes it. If not then I’ll do the torque converter afterwards. I will follow up on this post for anyone that has the same issue in the future.
Our 2015 ESV platinum had the same issue. The dealership changed the fluid and eventually replaced the transmission. I love our rig, but glad I got the extended warranty. In the 20,000 we have drove it, I have had to replace transmission, front struts and rear shocks, CUE system and an engine oil leak from the two piece rear main seal. For a 100K truck when new, they sure have a lot of issues.
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