# Could have been killed, need advice.



## Gunrunr (May 9, 2011)

Let me start at the beginning. 

Five weeks ago I took my 2011 Eco Cruze in for transmission issues. My problem was that 3rd gear would make a nasty grinding sound when I try to shift at high speeds. The dealer kept the car then called me the next day to tell me they were putting a new transmission in because 3rd gear was coming apart. The car only has 86k miles on it so they told me not to worry because warranty would cover it all. Car drove fine and I even made a road trip from the Houston area to Dallas. I put lots of miles on this car and my average mileage used to be 100 a day on weekdays but now is about 90.....you get the idea. 

Now for the event.

This Friday I was returning home from work which was a 90mile round trip through Houston's very bad Highway 225, Beltway 8 and 45 South. As I was pulling into my driveway I feel and hear a very loud clanking and smoke starts to pour out of the bottom of my car. I then turn the car off and jump out to see what the ****. Now outside I see tranny fluid pouring out of the bottom of my car and feel that it is another issue with the tranny. I then walk around to the other side and find what the real issue is. It appears that the control arm has come free from the wheel assembly and that that caused one of the drive shafts to pull free from the transmission. This in return caused the fluid to pour out onto the hot exhaust pipes causing the smoke. The wheel was at a very bad angle and not much was holing it in place. If I had been still on the highway it would have come off for sure and the tranny fluid would have caused some issues with cars behind me. Having lost all steering, I would have been in a very very bad situation. I then called the dealership and they sent a flatbed over to pick it up. 

What to do?

I am sure that this incident was caused by a bad installation of the transmission. Either something was not tightened up all the way or a pin or something was left off. The pictures below show you the damage. Now thinking about it, I'm not sure I feel safe having the same dealership work on my car. I called the original dealership that I bought it from and they said they would be happy to pick it up but that they would have to charge me for towing and all repairs because another dealership may have been the cause of the damage. They said that I would then have to fight the other dealership to try to get my money out of them. Thank God this happened on my driveway and not on the highway. The dealership that has my car set me up in a rental car so at least I have transportation. 

Advice? 

Should I just be happy that the dealership is fixing it because I'm not? Would you guys feel safe letting your son or daughter drive the car afterwords? Have any of you had this same issue with the wheel almost coming off like this?


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## TR-6060 (Mar 17, 2011)

The bolt that retains the ball joint in the steering knuckle either was not installed or was improperly installed/torqued and it fell out. Going over a large enough bump was likely enough to let the knuckle hop off the ball joint post. This would have been catastrophic at high speed. Along with installing a new ball joint retaining bolt and determining if there is any damage to the axle (e.g. inner tripot joint pulled apart) or transmission oil seal, you will need a new stabilizer bar end link (yours is snapped off) and a new front brake rubber line as yours has been significantly stretched. Car should be safe going forward if they assemble it properly!


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## Zach.K (Apr 17, 2014)

If I were you I would get in contact with GM Customer Care on here asap and let them assist you. In no way should you be liable for anything, towing included. 

Edit: to add to the above parts include a new spindle assembly. Looks like the control arm mount point is sheared away. The brake line looks extremely stretched and you could possibly stretch into a set of front tires due to driving with it so far out of alignment. 
Delivered from my pigeon


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## Gunrunr (May 9, 2011)

Thanks TR-6060. I was thinking the same thing about a bump knocking something loose. My driveway has a large rise that acts like a bump and the fact that the wheels are already at a sharp angle may have been the right combination. Lucky for me that none of the bumps on Highway 225 caused this or I would have gotten face to face with an 18 wheeler. They make up like 50% of the traffic there. Now I have to trust that they get this installation right because next time I may not be so lucky. My plan is to have the second dealership do an inspection of the first dealerships work.


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## Gunrunr (May 9, 2011)

Thanks Zack.K, doing that right now.


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## N8zdad (Mar 23, 2014)

I'm glad no one was hurt. You were very lucky. 

An uneasy feeling about this dealer performing your repairs is probably natural. If you feel this strongly then ask the 2nd dealership if they would check the car after the repair is complete at dealer 1. I doubt you'd recoup that money, but it may be worth it for the peace of mind. Of course dealer 2 may not wish to get involved or take on the liability for a hundred bucks or so.

A better approach might be to take the service manager aside and tell him you are somewhat forced to bring your car back to them, but are very reluctant. Voice your concerns rationally. Run him through the scenario that a lot of people could have been hurt. And then ask him to please take a personal interest to see that the repairs are done thoroughly and correctly. Tell him you wish to have him personally walk you through the repairs when complete and do a test drive with him. "Politely" put him on the hot seat. He'll follow through on his end because his name will be on the finished work. 

I think you'll get top notch repairs and come off looking like a cool headed guy. It will be refreshing for him not to have someone bite his head off when clearly they're wrong and don't have a leg to stand on. 

Just my 2 cents!


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## BowtieGuy (Jan 4, 2013)

Personally, I would demand that every part affected by that failure was replaced with brand new parts. Brake line, control arm, axle shaft, other suspension/brake parts, sway bar link, etc. As a side note, isn't the manual transmission fluid supposed to be more of a light brown instead of a red?

+1 on everything N8z said. I would do his better approach as well.


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## Gunrunr (May 9, 2011)

BowtieGuy said:


> Personally, I would demand that every part affected by that failure was replaced with brand new parts. Brake line, control arm, axle shaft, other suspension/brake parts, sway bar link, etc. As a side note, isn't the manual transmission fluid supposed to be more of a light brown instead of a red?
> 
> +1 on everything N8z said. I would do his better approach as well.




Not sure about the color of the fluid but remember, the fluid you are seeing is only a month old.


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## The_Madcat (Oct 6, 2012)

For sure this is human error. The ball joint is normally held in place with a castle nut and kotter pin so it should never do what yours did. Pretty pathetic really. The mechanic that put that back together was not paying attention.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Gunrunr said:


> Not sure about the color of the fluid but remember, the fluid you are seeing is only a month old.


The OE stuff has a red tint to it if I remember correctly. 

When did you last change your transmission fluid?


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## danhr (Apr 19, 2014)

As tr6060 mentioned, the cross bolt for the ball joint was not properly reinstalled.

Unfortunately, technician error isn't really covered under warranty... it is covered by the dealership. Remember, that the dealership(s), although bear the GM logo, are still just a franchise. It would be the original dealership's responsibility to either fix the damage themselves or pay for someone else to repair it. As long as they bear the GM franchise logo, they are deemed competent enough by GM, which means they can do the repairs on your vehicle (because it is going to cost the dealership less to do the repairs themselves than to have another dealer do it), which is why your second dealer is refusing to pay for the tow.

Instead of taking the pessimistic route, because I assure you, the situation as big of a nightmare for the dealer as it is for you. Have you tried talking to the first dealer yet? I mean, we are all human.... sometimes people do make mistakes. Instead of playing victim, talk to them and explain what happened. As long as you are nice to them, most dealers treat you well. It's when you start telling them how to do their own job and that you know more than them, is when they get difficult. Not only that, but since they already made a mistake on your car once, you can bet that the supervisor is going to have them go over your car with a fine tooth comb, if you take it back to get fixed, as so it doesn't happen again.


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## Zach.K (Apr 17, 2014)

danhr said:


> Instead of taking the pessimistic route, because I assure you, the situation as big of a nightmare for the dealer as it is for you. Have you tried talking to the first dealer yet? I mean, we are all human.... sometimes people do make mistakes. Instead of playing victim, talk to them and explain what happened. As long as you are nice to them, most dealers treat you well. It's when you start telling them how to do their own job and that you know more than them, is when they get difficult. Not only that, but since they already made a mistake on your car once, you can bet that the supervisor is going to have them go over your car with a fine tooth comb, if you take it back to get fixed, as so it doesn't happen again.


D makes a good point here. This is a very valid approach to this situation. Worth doing. 

Delivered from my pigeon


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

If there have been no subsequent services since the trans repair, that would have required disturbing the ball joint stud pinch bolt, it can be safely assumed that dealer is responsible for the oversight.

To remove the trans, the engine is supported from above and the cradle with lower control arms disengaged from the spindles is dropped as an assembly.....hence my directing blame.
Since the car was repaired at a dealer, you can invoke the G.M. part and service warranty at dealer #2 if they will set up the claim.

If the ball joint had broken, it would be a separate, unrelated failure.
Since the stud is undamaged and present and the pinch bolt is gone it is rather safe to assume that you should bear no financial responsiblity for any repairs and consequental body damage related to this incident.

If the dealer it is now at cares not to get involved with GM on this one, haul it over to the original dealer and don't be shy about placing blame.....this is a caused failure.

Rob


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## weimerrj (Dec 4, 2011)

Looks like the pinch bolt wasn't installed or torqued down properly.

Same thing happened to me with a 1995 Protege. I replaced the ball joints with the wrong ones - they were too small. Mid-year change and I chose....poorly. Went a block and had to be towed back. Pulled a CV joint apart, so I had to replace the axle on that side. I'd already replaced the axle from the other side, and didn't install the retaining clip so that axle just pulled out of the transmission. I got it all back together eventually and it ran fine for years.


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## Gunrunr (May 9, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> The OE stuff has a red tint to it if I remember correctly.
> 
> When did you last change your transmission fluid?


I'm the guy you just opened an Amsoil account for a few weeks ago. The tranny in the car was only about 5 weeks old so the fluid is fresh. I had not had a chance to have it changed out to the Amsoil yet. Now it appears it was a good thing or I would be buying it again and the dealership would have said they won't replace it because it's not stock fluid.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Gunrunr said:


> I'm the guy you just opened an Amsoil account for a few weeks ago. The tranny in the car was only about 5 weeks old so the fluid is fresh. I had not had a chance to have it changed out to the Amsoil yet. Now it appears it was a good thing or I would be buying it again and the dealership would have said they won't replace it because it's not stock fluid.


Ah, I remember now. 

I'd like to note, we haven't had any fluid related issues where the warranty was denied. A few of our guys had their transmissions replaced for non-fluid related issues with an aftermarket fluid in the transmission. 

Reports like yours are making me think that GM used far too thin of a fluid for fuel economy purposes, and far too little of it for cost purposes. These new transmissions are being shipped with 1.3 quarts of fluid, and the rapid decline in shift quality leads me to believe that the thin OE fluid is just far too weak. 

Sent from AutoGuide.com App


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## Gunrunr (May 9, 2011)

The sad thing is (not that this isn't sad enough) that when I first went to pick up my car after having the transmission replaced, I had to point out to them that the check engine light was on. They then took the car back in and ran some tests. My first guess turned out to be correct . They had forgot to plug in one of the sensors. When I questioned them about it they told me that the light wasn't on when they turned it over to me and that it must have just then turned on. Yeah, go figure.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Gunrunr said:


> The sad thing is (not that this isn't sad enough) that when I first went to pick up my car after having the transmission replaced, I had to point out to them that the check engine light was on. They then took the car back in and ran some tests. My first guess turned out to be correct . They had forgot to plug in one of the sensors. When I questioned them about it they told me that the light wasn't on when they turned it over to me and that it must have just then turned on. Yeah, go figure.


Same thing happened when we picked up a car after some timing chain work.

Ok, you missed the check engine light, or it just popped on...but you didn't notice the horribly rough idle or bother to drive the car around the block after that kind of work? I sure did...

Nonetheless, I would expect the dealership to put their best tech on your car when you take it back, and they will absolutely make sure to check it up and down before they give the car back to you - they, as well as you, are very lucky that this didn't result in a crash and a giant lawsuit against them.


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

If you really want to feel comfortable you could always get your repairs done, as I'm going to assume you are, and then take it else where and have them look over the whole job and give you their two cents. 

PS - this was bull ****!! Glad you're safe


Sent from iFail Mobile


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