Ok, I have been doing my research and I'm not terribly worried, but I still need to ask..

Is everyone elses transmission fairly clunky? Seems like you need to really baby it to avoid knocking the gears around. Also, after 27,000 miles, I still have a fairly noisy differential/first gear. Mind you, I drove plenty of "machines" in my day that were equally unrefined and ran just fine, even when kicked around. It just seems like a common thing that I am making sure is just in this car's nature. After all, with a Saab transmission...

And also, the transmission in my late Z06 was just as clunky...maybe it got reincarnated from the junkyard somehow..

Other than that, everything works perfectly fine, besides some very sluggish door lock actuators that always work, but sometimes take their time.

It is still an awesome car, and beats the hell out of how boring my Explorer was.

 

This is my 3rd time around with this transmission. 2nd, with LSD. The 2 I had with the LSD were definitely noisy at low speeds and coast down. The gear type differential of the Quaife is just noisy and whines.

They also seem to be "clunky", it seems like they never slide into gear the same way. Some times its smooth as butter, some times it feels like the syncro wants to fight.

I will say though, the gearbox in this LNF feels a lot tighter than my previous two in LSJ Cobalt's.

 

I never feel the synchro fighting, but there's definite mechanical slop in there somewhere, also evident if you hit the sweet spot while barely on the throttle in 4th or 5th and the car kinda just rocks back and forth ever so slightly bouncing off of the two extremes of this "slop".

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.. I don't mind the noise at all, especially from the differential. I prefer driving machines. My father has a 2009 Cobalt LS (got it at a dealer for $8500.. yes... $8500.. with 6,000 miles on it.. in 2010).. and the 5 speed in that feels like it isn't even there with the soft clutch.

Anyway, thanks for the input. If the car is just loud by nature, no big deal.. my main curiosity is if anyone on here has a high-mileage SS so I know how they hold up over time.. I drive 15k-20k a year, and luckily still have some warranty left.

 

The SS and the 5 speed "slop" seem to be the norm. You might think about upgrading the mounts(front engine,trans). It seems to take out some of the loose slop by limiting the engine torque rocking that the stock mounts allow. They also help some with that dreaded torque steer.

 

I bought mine with 62k miles not too long ago. Previous owner kept nice care of it, bone stock, all highway miles.

Besides the rock chips all over the hood, you wouldn't think it had that many miles. I don't see a problem with these cars lasting well over 100k if taken care of.

 

My HHR is not an SS but is a 5sp, and it is noisy at times... Then again, I like to embarrass auto transmission vehicles.

 

If in the future, you feel concerned about this please, feel free to make an appointment for your local Chevrolet dealership's service department to take a look at this for you.

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

I had an issue that this sounds like, another member sent me this link: https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/showt...=hard+shifting

Mine was the intake solenoid, I noticed the problem long before it started throwing a code. Look like what's happening for you?

 

2 different issues. The link you refer to is about folks with automatic transmissions and hard shifting issues. The OP here is talking about an issue with the SS 5 speed.(also a different 5 speed than regular HHR's).
You don't want to send him off in the wrong direction on this one.
Happy13178, you might want to delete your post before he gets some wrong ideas on his issues.

 

My issue wasn't the transmission, if just felt like it when shifting. It was the intake solenoid on the engine itself. Not sure if the issue is the same regardless of transmission type.