2013 GMC Sierra Transmission Cooler Damage

Driving down a Texas Hwy yesterday, I took a rock into the Transmission cooler. Didn’t realize it until I turned off the highway and the truck stopped and wouldn’t go forward. I got out to look and there was a puddle of red fluid in front of the truck. There’s an opening above the license plate & below the grill, the cooler sits right inside there. Seems strange that there’s no protection in front of it.

Had it towed to the dealer, but we won’t know if the transmission is damaged until the replacement cooler arrives.

Does anyone know if the the transmission has some kind of safety shut off that caused it to stop moving? Has anyone experienced this kind of damage…is it a design flaw?

The transmission does not have a “safety shutoff.” If I owned the Sierra…I would fabricate a rock shield post haste. It is a “design flaw” in my opinion since it’s a common sense thing.

Chances are that your transmission will function normally after the cooler is replaced. It may have shortened its life a few thousand miles, however. I was returning from a rehearsal and one of my fellow musicians was stopped in the road with the blinkers on. The engine ran, but the car wouldn’t move. There was transmission fluid all over the place. A line to the cooler was broken. She had the line repaired and has driven the car for at least three years since that incident including long trips. The car is a 1996 Ford Taurus.

Several comments on the board recently where the axle shaft seals failed and trans drained all the fluid and ruined trans. The issue was is the mechanic partially to blame for not mentioning trans leak? But the end result was, trans is ruined from fluid loss. So why wouldn’t your new trans also be subject to failure due to major fluid loss? The point is can trans be damaged by loosing almost all it’s fluid?

The transmission is probably damaged and this will be something that you should have to pay for out of pocket.
Rocks are road debris and warranty does not cover that.

There is no safety device and this is not a design flaw. It’s simply bad luck and you might consider bringing your insurance carrier into this situation.
It’s no different than if you ran over a piece of scrap metal or concrete on the highway and slashed a tire; it’s an unfortunate accident.

While this may not be covered under warranty as well it should not. However you insurance might cover it. So look into that.