06' RL trans lugging at lower speeds;

[Vue6]

...Anybody have a problem with their trans starting to lugg at lower speeds around 40-45mph , at around 1200 to 1400 rpm , vibrating badly ? Even at 65 mph at 1800 rpm 's I feel a vibration in the driveline,barely keeping pressure on the gas pedal, not as bad though , all this at 32,000 miles on my Vue RL , any insight , also calling my dealer Mon. ,thanx, DC

[BobbyP]

Possibly a bad torque converter. This is a common problem with the earlier Honda automatic. Except I never seen a 06 with this problem.

Do you notice the rpms bounching up and down with the lugging?

The transmission locks up around 45-48mph and the rpms drop to ~1200. If you don't drive a steady speed at this range the transmission could be locking up and unlocking the torque converter.

Do you have AWD? The vibration at higher speeds can be the tires out of balance, or the AWD drivetrain.

[Vue6]

The car feels like it is stick shift car and in a higher gear than it should be , it vibrates pretty good til you step down a little further with the gas pedal and the converter unlocks or down shifts to raise the rpm's , DC

[burnout]

Sounds normal to me... it's called 5th gear and you're getting about 30mpg at that speed in it.

[Taipans]

I have the exact same thing happening! But really didn't know how to describe it. I usually notice it around 50mph and the RPMS are stuck at 1400 or so. It makes a noticable vibration, kind of a low freq noise. It seems to want to stay at this RPM and settles into this unless you press down on the gas. I was worried that the tranny was starting to go out.

You guys really think this is normal?

[1saxman]

I would change the trans fluid and get the tires inspected and balanced.

[Vue6]

...Tires are fine ,vehicle is smooth riding ,only issue is at converter lock up at 1200 [ at about 45to 48 mph]and 1800 rpm [ 65] , DC

[1saxman]

I think the tires are not fine and you have two conditions - one is called 'freeway hop' and is caused by the tires and/or wheels. The other is the transmission staying in gear too long before downshifting and lugging the engine. There is no gear on any VUE that can lug the engine at 65 mph.

[Vue6]

...Like I said ,the tires are fine ,I know my vehicle,does it on both sets of tires I have ,exactly. When the converter ends up locking up at 65 or possibly shifting into final gear and settling down ,it vibrates at 1800 rpm Only, Period, more rpm it does not , less rpm it does not , I can vary the rpm at the same speed [ by having it downshift] and the vibration goes away at that same speed .Also when the pedal is constant at lower speeds ,about 45 ,it luggs like it is in a higher gear than it should be until i step on the pedal and it unlocks the converter and/or downshifts,then the vibration goes away also, hope that's clear , DC

[newbievueowner]

Sounds like the front right intermediate shaft carrier bearing or possibly a CV joint to me. I have a vibration in on my AWD but I removed the drive shaft completely and it was still there (if not a little more pronounced) so I know it has nothing to do with the drive shaft running to the rear wheels. It seems to be getting worse so I'm sure it will be able to be diagnosed easier in the future. I also see oil and such coming from this bearing in the front so this is why I'm suspicious that it's on it's way out.

[nativue]

I've got a 2005 vue with the V6 with 60K miles which has had problems similar to yours for about a year, gradually worsening. It's been out of warranty since 30K miles. I took it to Saturn a couple times and they couldn't replicate the problem or figure it out. Took it to a transmission shop last week and they suspected the torque converter, but possibly the computer. Took it back to Saturn and they confirmed it was the torque converter. Quoted a price of $3500. Ouch. Called the transmission shop and they said $2000. Called Saturn and they agreed to do it for labor ($1200). I'm hopeful this will return the car to its prior excellent performance. After reading Honda Odyssey forums (same power train), I'm not so hopeful that the fix will work. Looks like these torque converters have been failing by the truckload. I may look into selling it once it's fixed. Good luck.

[Vue6]

......Okay results so far , dealership found a code p0762 shift solenoid stuck on , they cleared it and it returned after driving ,45mph and 12 to 1300 rpms when converter locks up vibration occurs. Sooo, Fri. I have an appointment to have my torque converter replaced as per Saturn Dealership , I'll keep an update after that ,32,000 miles on my 06' RL, DC

[xternal]

Not sure how I missed this thread, but I am sort of feeling the same type of thing in my 05 Redline. I thought it was in my head and reading some other threads I was convinced its just normal, but lately it seems to almost feel like refuses to switch gears almost like I was driving in 2 or 1 gear. I am thinking of stopping in tomorrow maybe they can at the very least see if its throwing codes.

[Vue6]

....UPDATE.. Got my RL back and it feels like a new car again , they put in 7 quarts of tranny fluid with the converter change ,no more vibration , nice and smooth, BUT , on the way home ,it threw a code , drove back and they have to order a sensor for the trans . That will be changed out MON. , SOOO, if anyone has the problem described , get it checked out for codes, it does drive ALOT better at all speeds, DC

[newbievueowner]

That's good to hear that the issue may have actually been fixed. What was the final damage ($$$)??

[Vue6]

...Freebie , still under warranty , they don't have any price listings on the paperwork, Fluid, converter, lubricant, some pin thing/plug?, and a rental car for 2 days,Mon. they have to replace a sensor in the trans. Originally when i brought it in the 1st time they gave me a new aura to drive , that thing drove worse than my 79 camaro ,the aura drove like a go cart ,clunky trans and all, LOL, then later ,another day ,they gave me a colorado. Everytime I drive something newer and different, it makes me appreciate what a Very good ,all around vehicle my 06' Vue RL is ,handling ,acceleration , gas mileage,I notice now also ,how bad it really was before they replaced the converter, before ,it hesitated to down shift at a stoplight also, and felt really loose, now it's like new again , solid and smooth , no vibration, DC

[Taipans]

I took mine in today and dropped it off, nothing stood out to much but I had many of the same problems.

I noticed when I would try and take off it would hesitate, I also noticed when rolling if you tap the gas sometimes it would take off smoothly, other times it would slam into gear and jar everyone in the vehicle. I tried to explain the crap as much as I could, but my biggest problem seems to be how random everything is. On a long 1 hour drive you notice everything, but sometimes I can make it and it "not" duplicate the issues. If my torque converter is shot, will they get a code or anything on it?

[Vue6]

...They should be able to hook up their scanner to pick up codes, if the solenoids aren't functioning correctly or the converter, on mine you could tell the diff. from being cold versus driving it a while to warm it up ,then the vibration and such was pronounced, DC

[Skyler]

My 06 Vue is at the shop right now for the same symptoms. It has about 88000 k on it, dealer advise me that it has the GM extended powertrain warranty of 160000 k, which I was not aware of. Will advise on the out come.

[Esonn33046]

I have the same problem. That is what my car does to the T I am taking it in this weekend to see if they are put the car on the computer and see if any codes come up. It has been doing it for at least 10k and I only have 33k on the car. Everytime I take the car in I say something to them but they say that the car is just like that. I do not not trust them. I went to one dealship and I asked them to sheck out my front end because it looked like one of my tires we piched in at the top of the tire. They said that it was fine and that it was the tires not the strut. I went to a different dealership and they said that my strut was bent and had to replace it. I will stay on then till they do something about this problem there is no reason that the car should act like this. I am bring them the things that I have found on here and will make them do the test in front of me. This is my first car that i have had new I got me 06 RL with 6 miles three which I put on test driving it and it still looks like new and I am going to make sure that it drives the same. I have a extened 100k warranty and will get every repair that I can get out of it. I have a k&n air fliter and will be putting ebc roters and there red or yellow pads on as well. Other then needing breaks the car is spotless and runs great. Dont back down from the dealership the all suck and dot what to do any big job that they are not going to make good money on. I will let you know what happend this saturday. I hope that they find someing and get this problem fixed:no::no::upset:

[Ritz]

Mine was lugging a bit around 40mph. When I changed the transmission fluid recently (at 32k miles), it stopped.

Cheers,

[Vue6]

...Even though your trans seems fine from changing the fluid , you might want to see if it is throwing any codes ,just to be sure,especially if still under warranty[ can't be too sure] mine did for solenoids and thus the converter change. Also my vue feels like brand new again , response is right there ,when pedal is pushed no lag , before the converter change it felt really loose,and vibrated, 33,000mi on my RL, just my .02 , DC

[Skyler]

Update: 06 VUE AWD

Dealer just phoned & confirmed that they have to replace the torque converter, they ordered the parts.

They have a problem, HD Mechanic by trade, I knew that something was not right a while back, just the way it was shifting at that speed. Next time, I will not wait as long before getting it check, could have saved the torque.