Won't shift into drive, blinking 'D' in gear cluster

[jlstog]

Hey guys,

2012 Sonic LTZ w/ Turbo Automatic - 4 Door Sedan

Pretty much since I've had my sonic it's had numerous issues, but I've stuck it out because SO FAR everything has been covered under my power train warranty with Chevrolet. Now that I have 113k miles, I've been keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be fine.

Last night, I experience something that has never happened before. I reversed out of my long driveway into some loose sand (which I've done hundreds of times before) and when I selected 'Drive' with the gear selector, the 'D' in my gauge cluster began to blink & when the gas was pressed it just revved the engine. I'm assuming that means the gear selector is in the drive position, but my transmission is not. Upon shifting back into reverse there was a hard CLUNK which sounded like I'd just dropped a gear. Again I shifted into drive, the 'D' continued to flash and the engine would only rev upon pressing the gas pedal. Every time I shifted back into reverse (2 or 3 times) the CLUNK happened and my car was able to move in reverse. After trying a few more times, I shut the car off and turned it back on. After that, everything was working normally and it hasn't happened again.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? I could only find 1 thread for Chevy Cruze 1.4 liters.

Also, any suggestions on what could be the issue? I have read about low transmission oil maybe causing some issues, but the clunk was pretty loud.

I'm considering trading it in, but I really like the car despite all it's issues. I was going to buy a motorcycle tomorrow, but now I'm hoarding all my cash in case this baby decides to go. :sadbanana:

Thanks for any help!!!!

 

[Natesriv]

on a level surface with the car running, check your fluid level. Car off gives a false reading.

 

[Lockout]

Hey guys,

2012 Sonic LTZ w/ Turbo Automatic - 4 Door Sedan

Pretty much since I've had my sonic it's had numerous issues, but I've stuck it out because SO FAR everything has been covered under my power train warranty with Chevrolet. Now that I have 113k miles, I've been keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be fine.

Last night, I experience something that has never happened before. I reversed out of my long driveway into some loose sand (which I've done hundreds of times before) and when I selected 'Drive' with the gear selector, the 'D' in my gauge cluster began to blink & when the gas was pressed it just revved the engine. I'm assuming that means the gear selector is in the drive position, but my transmission is not. Upon shifting back into reverse there was a hard CLUNK which sounded like I'd just dropped a gear. Again I shifted into drive, the 'D' continued to flash and the engine would only rev upon pressing the gas pedal. Every time I shifted back into reverse (2 or 3 times) the CLUNK happened and my car was able to move in reverse. After trying a few more times, I shut the car off and turned it back on. After that, everything was working normally and it hasn't happened again.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? I could only find 1 thread for Chevy Cruze 1.4 liters.

Also, any suggestions on what could be the issue? I have read about low transmission oil maybe causing some issues, but the clunk was pretty loud.

I'm considering trading it in, but I really like the car despite all it's issues. I was going to buy a motorcycle tomorrow, but now I'm hoarding all my cash in case this baby decides to go. :sadbanana:

Thanks for any help!!!!

i know this is an old post but did you ever figure out what the problem was? Different car the same exact motor and transmission but my daughter has a 2012 Chevrolet Cruz LTZ 1.4 L turbo and her started doing this exact same thing which changed the transmission fluid. Thought it was doing better than started doing it again seems to get worse when it's cold outside until it warms up but sometimes you can just shut the car off. it's a push button, start ignition and start it right back up and it will be perfectly fine, but when it's doing it, it goes into reverse hard and then it doesn't want to pull forward hardly but like I said, sometimes you just shut it off and restart it and it's like there's nothing wrong at all and I cannot find anything anywhere or someone says they had this problem and how to fix it. I was wondering if maybe it was the TCM transmission control module, or one of the solenoid inside of it, which would be an expensive job. Like I said, I know this post is old but if you see this and did figure out what it was, please let me know. Thank you!