[Yasha]

After two years of struggling with terrible transmission problems, I finally found a dealer that listened to me. Dropped my M6 2SS off in September and just got it back from the dealer service center this week. They had just lost their master transmission tech and ordering tranny parts is a nightmare lately but well worth the wait. Here's the full story. TLDR for those who have already read another thread complaining about 2nd gear grind or whatever else on the TR6060: it's NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT. In proper working order, this is an exceptional transmission well suited to the car (and it's price tag...) and don't let anyone blow you off with "it's a chevy" if you complain.

I took delivery of my M6 Camaro 2SS in 2019, with 11k miles on odo. It shifted like absolute crap. Sticky in and out of every gear. Couldn't engage 1st when cold without touching 4th first. Still didn't feel right in that case. 2nd gear always made a grind and a clunk when shifting, very rarely worked on the first try, frequently I was forced to skip to 3rd and it made for dangerous situations on left turns sometimes. 3rd and up were ok enough but had to try twice to shift sometimes. Always grinding too. Now you might ask why did I not think this was a problem? Well my other car is a 1970s Alfa Romeo (which I always found to shift so much better) and so I am completely used to rev matching and double clutching in and out of all gears. I was already used to coming to a complete stop before attempting to engage 1st gear and NEVER trying to down shift into 2nd or 1st. Heck, I almost never down shifted except 6th-5th on the highway and every once in a while I would go 5->4 around town to accelerate up a steep hill. If I was slowing down and going too slow to use 3rd and a light turned green I would fully stop, wait 30 seconds with clutch disengaged, touch 4th, gently coax 1st into gear... you should not need to do this in your gen 6 Camaro. I brought it to a dealership once every 2 months and complained. I heard all the standard nonsense.

• It's supposed to drive that way
• It's not Italian
• The car drives the way Chevrolet intended
• If it was broken we'd love to fix it, but it's not, so we can't help you.
• It's a chevy, of course it makes noise
• Just drive it and if it breaks we'll fix it
• Our techs looked into it and they couldn't duplicate your concern, they said it drove fine

This was at 2 different places and working with different reps each time I was there, complaining to higher and higher upper management. They also told me "all of those Camaros do that, if we had an identical car on the lot you could drive it and you'd see." One time they got one in the same week and I came back asking to drive it. They refused.

Well in September it was almost time for the factory warranty to be up, I had owned the car for 2 years at that point already, and put only 9k miles on it. Over the winter I gave up on getting the gearbox issue fixed and resolved to just replace the transmission some day, but i never stopped complaining. Family, friends, girlfriend, were all overwhelmed and baffled by how much I absolutely hated on the TR6060 and obsessively described what they would call conspiracy theories on manufacturing errors and that it's just how cars are sometimes.


I brought the car to another new dealership and tried one more time. Told them look, my transmission makes the most awful sounds, it's sticky, it doesn't shift right in 2nd gear, it makes a clunk not a grind, and I can't get anyone to believe me. They took it in and said wow this 2017 car has 20k miles on it, have you even drove it? Called me a week later and said yep this is awful, we're going to fix this. Two months pass, got the car back, and wow. What a difference. I cannot believe I got jerked around before. This car is amazing and the gearbox is too. This is a long story but if you have any complaints about this car and how it shifts and drives, please do yourself a favor and bring it to the dealership. Complain. If it gets you nowhere and they say it's fine, please go to a different dealership because they are most likely wrong. By the way, the bill for the repair (covered under warranty) was $5000. In addition to replacing the 1st and 2nd gear synchronizers, they had to replace the 1st and 2nd gears themselves, and do a complete gearbox overhaul with new bearings and seals. There's nothing crappy about this car's transmission just because the car is made by Chevrolet, and I'd put my Camaro 6 up against any other supercar around.

[Yasha]

Oh, and if your clutch pedal feels odd like the return spring is rubbing, like it kind of clicks a bit, if it's resistance to pressure is unusually nonlinear, if it makes any weird sounds - it's not supposed to do that either. The tech couldn't really explain what the problem was with it but he did fix it somehow and I didn't even mention it... I guess I was so busy ignoring the problems in the gearbox itself I forgot about that part entirely.

[BrandanK]

Thank you for sharing.
Do you know if they did anything with the throwout bearing? Or was this 100% transmission related?

BK

[N Camarolina]

Thanks for sharing and glad to hear you finally found success with the dealers. Sounds like the lesson (unfortunately) persistence and trying several dealers if need be.

The TR6060 is a fantastic transmission. Buttery smooth once warmed up and confidence inspiring on the track with reliable, positive shifts every time.

That said, everyone here over the years has verified that it doesn't shift quite so well in 1st and 2nd when cold, especially starting in cold ambient temps. Notchiness, gear nibbling, etc. You need to be gentle with it for the 1st half mile or so until the fluid starts warming. Then everything is great. This seems to the main reason people debate changing the OEM fluid to aftermarket.

[RobO]

Encountered similar issues in my '17 1SS with the M6. Acquired the car "nused" with only 20,500 miles in Jan 2022. Upon 1st drive, I noticed 1-2 shift synchro issues. Thought it was me but issue repeated. Took to local Chevy dealer/service dept and got the "cannot duplicate." Car was just outside of the 5yr powertrain warranty. Chevy was willing to fix it and work with me on the bill since it was only outside warranty by 3 months, but they refused to allow me to use Tremec's carbon hybrid synchros that I wanted.

Took it to a local performance shop and they initially said the same "cannot duplicate." Had the 3rd party warrantor's underwriter come to shop for a ride along with the mechanic. Same result. I insisted on the removal and tear down of the trans to show the underwriter the problems first hand. Though the car had really low miles, someone had been hard on it. I don't know if it was rough 1-2shifts from the beginning, trying to force through the skip shift, or they were just unusually hard on the trans. Results: Worn synchros, worn teeth on 2nd and 4th gears.

Replaced the worn gear sets and upgraded to Tremec's carbon hybrid synchros for 1st thru 4th. Went with bronze shift pads, new flywheel, Tilton clutch and Hurst short throw while trans was out. No issues since. ...11K mi later, reverse didn't work. Troubleshot skip shift eliminator, reverse lock-out solenoid and back up light switch. Turned out a magnet from trans case came apart and lodged itself to block shifting into reverse. I'd recommend removing the magnets and going with magnetic drain plugs if you ever open up one of these for any reason. Other posts have addressed this magnet issue before.

Note: the 1-2 shift feels worse if you pull it back from 1st to 2nd with side pressure towards you as the driver. The 5th to 6th shift with side pressure towards the pass seat can feel equally crappy. Learn the angle and pull straight from 1st-2nd and 5th-6th... smooth like butter.

[wintertopdown]

i like mine so much, i worry about a 10 speed if I “upgrade”

[Summit20171SS]

Just switched to the Royal Purple Syncromax and it shifts super smooth, no more stiff gearbox, feels great!

[Camfab]

Smoothest shifting trans under all conditions that I’ve ever driven. Absolutely amazing

[Ray3768]

Originally Posted by Camfab

Smoothest shifting trans under all conditions that I’ve ever driven. Absolutely amazing

Camfab, I agree. My 2024 shifts like butter once it's warmed up. When it's cold, you have to take it easy since it's slightly harder to shift. No fast shifts until it's up to temperature.

My old 2012 was definitely harder to shift and easier to grind on the 1-2 shift when cold compared to the 2024. When warmed up, the old trans was always much notchier than the new trans. A fluid swap to Redline D4 improved shifting but that trans was never as good as the new one.

I think it's the luck of the draw. These transmissions are mass produced and have tight tolerances. If your new car is not shifting properly certainly have your dealer take a look at it. Do not take "that is how it's supposed to shift" as an answer. It is supposed to be smooth shifting at proper operating temperature. Hound them until they make it right. If it's really bad, it certainly won't improve with time/miles.

-Ray

[speedyink1]

Just that damn skip shift...

[Nothing like an SS]

I have zero issues, I find this transmission to be quite excellent! As stated already, just let things warm up and it is good to go!

As for skip shift, just drive through it, hit 20 mph and it's gone, just a few extra hundred rpms is all it takes. I have yet to actually have it "gate" me in 4 years. I think I saw the notification once or twice, but was able to shift right through it as I kept accelerating. You don't need to be racing to do this, just a slight hesitation for it it to pass. 20 mph is the magic number folks!!!

[speedyink1]

Originally Posted by Nothing like an SS

I have zero issues, I find this transmission to be quite excellent! As stated already, just let things warm up and it is good to go!

As for skip shift, just drive through it, hit 20 mph and it's gone, just a few extra hundred rpms is all it takes. I have yet to actually have it "gate" me in 4 years. I think I saw the notification once or twice, but was able to shift right through it as I kept accelerating. You don't need to be racing to do this, just a slight hesitation for it it to pass. 20 mph is the magic number folks!!!

I get that, just sometimes I forget about it going slowly and make the shift when my senses tell me and...then I look like an idiot that can't shift from first to second within like 3 seconds, lol.
It always goes: First to second, what the hell, oh right, skip shift. Quickly to 4th then back to second, sometimes, we're good, other times, nope, still gated. Shit shit, ok, 3rd it is. Then I feel like I'm lugging the poor engine so I use veeeery little throttle until RPMs above 1000-1200 or so. I can't even imagine doing what it wants me to do, that can't be good for the engine.

To be fair, it is forgiving and this doesn't happen often, but man is it annoying when it does!