# Right Half Shaft is Cracked



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

This makes me feel like I'm not driving my car hard enough to break 2 recalled axles...


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Now the better question is did GM change suppliers of these parts? My 2012 was not recalled for this and have not heard of any issues wit the 2011-2012 cars. I know the domestic content is lower every year, does that reflect on the overall quality? Kinda seems that way


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## ChevyMgr (Oct 27, 2010)

Is it cracked or does it need to be replaced due to the inspection? I suspect it did not pass the inspection because if it was cracked you would know it.


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## CW_ (Jan 31, 2013)

Is your car a manual or an auto? It's pretty common knowledge there's a recall on the MT right half shaft but it'd be interesting if someone with an auto had one.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The current recall is on the automatics as well as the previously recalled manuals.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

My Car is a A/T 14. In answer to the Managers question it did not crack yet failed inspection.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Eddy Cruze said:


> My Car is a A/T 14. In answer to the Managers question it did not crack yet failed inspection.


What this means is that the inspection identified the half-shaft in your car as one of the ones that needs to be replaced but that there were no visible indications of imminent failure. Some members have reported that their dealerships have refused to allow them to take their Cruze after the inspection; instead they're getting loaners and rentals. I suspect these Cruzen have half-shafts that are showing visible signs of imminent failure. I assume your Service Manager has ordered a new half shaft for you.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Oh, snap! 

Chill out, your half-shaft isn't cracked since they gave the car back. It's one of the ones that needs replacing due to being in a bad batch, but that's all. Have the recall done when your new dealer has the part in and enjoy the car. If you can.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

Yes I read here parts are back ordered and does not show any sign of imminent failure! I read there is another reason GM needs this fixed is not just for motion and driver safety. When the Car is parked on an Incline w/o the ebrake applied if the part fails the Car can take an unwanted trip. Oh well I didn't know others had already been taking them in, glad I did, wanted to report some news even expected a reply from Brian V except I now use the ignore feature, works wonderful!


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

It's not cracked and they didn't seize your vehicle like a hostile takeover? You are in the same boat with the rest of us then and should just go about life as normal. You only have to deal with this one time( hopefully) I will be on my 2nd go around. I would check my emails frequently if I was you as my dealership emailed me instead of calling to tell me the shaft came in and that I needed to make a 2nd appointment to get it put on. I sat around waiting like I was waiting for a pardon from the governor on death row.


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## Zach.K (Apr 17, 2014)

Any pictures of the damage?

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## jcihos (Jun 9, 2013)

Same thing with the wifes 2013 LTZ. No problem found but it was path of the defective batch that was found. Dealer will order it and call when they have it. On another note the 2014 sonic they gave me as a loaner doesn't begin to compare with the cruze.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

Eddy Cruze said:


> Yes I read here parts are back ordered and does not show any sign of imminent failure! I read there is another reason GM needs this fixed is not just for motion and driver safety. When the Car is parked on an Incline w/o the ebrake applied if the part fails the Car can take an unwanted trip. Oh well I didn't know others had already been taking them in, glad I did, wanted to report some news even expected a reply from Brian V except I now use the ignore feature, works wonderful!


That's nice Eddy for you to review your itinerary !


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## jandree22 (Sep 19, 2011)

obermd said:


> Some members have reported that their dealerships have refused to allow them to take their Cruze after the inspection; instead they're getting loaners and rentals.


That's *crazy*. What authority do dealerships have to refuse owners their Cruze? Meanwhile, Cobalt owners are instructed to declutter their keychains.

Mine is getting inspected tomorrow. I'm expecting doom and despair. Don't panic, but this is what happens when your outsourced GM axle cracks:


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

So that is what a wrecked Corvette looks like after 3 spins and a whoopdie doo That's Nice !


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

jcihos said:


> Same thing with the wifes 2013 LTZ. No problem found but it was path of the defective batch that was found. Dealer will order it and call when they have it. On another note the 2014 sonic they gave me as a loaner doesn't begin to compare with the cruze.


LTZ I hope but most likely not. I could stomach the LTZ I had, just not the pull me over orange it was in.


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## ChevyMgr (Oct 27, 2010)

obermd said:


> What this means is that the inspection identified the half-shaft in your car as one of the ones that needs to be replaced but that there were no visible indications of imminent failure. Some members have reported that their dealerships have refused to allow them to take their Cruze after the inspection; instead they're getting loaners and rentals. I suspect these Cruzen have half-shafts that are showing visible signs of imminent failure. I assume your Service Manager has ordered a new half shaft for you.


The recall instructions specifically state to not let the vehicle leave if it needs a new shaft. They are to be put into a loaner/rental at GMs expense.


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## ChevyMgr (Oct 27, 2010)

Eddy Cruze said:


> My Car is a A/T 14. In answer to the Managers question it did not crack yet failed inspection.


So your thread title was just a lot of drama?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

jandree22 said:


> That's *crazy*. What authority do dealerships have to refuse owners their Cruze? Meanwhile, Cobalt owners are instructed to declutter their keychains.


This is an interesting discrepancy, but decluttering your key chain is definitely a work around since the extra weight will torque the key and cylinder, potentially causing it to spin back to the off position. The car will restart - you just have to not panic if it shuts off. The half-shaft cracking will strand you where ever you are. Personally I only carry one extra key on my ignition key ring. It's the small key to my roof rack locks.

I suspect the difference is that every single Cruze being recalled is still under warranty and the dealerships can charge the loaner back to GM as a warranty repair, but I think anyone with a Cobalt should be able to ask for a loaner on GM's dime if their dealership isn't able to fix their Colbalt on the day it's taken in (assuming a morning drop off).


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

ChevyMgr said:


> So your thread title was just a lot of drama?


Eddy's practicing to be a journalist.


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## jandree22 (Sep 19, 2011)

Re: the confiscating of one's Cruze... I guess for me it's odd in that the Cobalt failure disables safety systems and has killed people. The Cruze failure is akin to running out of gas. Taking mine in for a look at noon, maybe I'll be showing up to Lordstown in an Equinox.


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## turbocruiser (Sep 10, 2011)

Will GM EVER build a car without some sort of major problem? I have always been a loyal GM buyer, but these recent issues, and the company's "hiding" the problem, (ignition switch for 10 years) Ford and the imports are starting to look better and better. C'mon Chevy, get your heads outa your asses.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

ChevyMgr said:


> So your thread title was just a lot of drama?


That is why I would never come to your shop and give you the lowest survey numbers possible if I did! The Dealer told me new parts need to be ordered as mine needed to be replaced. Whether it was just a crack was not brought up with me, nor did I see the defective axle, nor did they consult with me? Are you defending GM for these sub standard parts?


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## jandree22 (Sep 19, 2011)

turbocruiser said:


> Ford and the imports are starting to look better and better. C'mon Chevy, get your heads outa your asses.


Toyota just recalled 1.9M Priuses in February. That's over 10x the amount of Cruzen involved with this recall. Honda recalled 10k '14 Civics like 2 weeks ago. Ford recalled 435k SUV's one week ago. 

Just sayin.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Relax Eddy. Your thread title and what you posted in the first post didn't match. That's all. The thread title did get people to look, however, which is the point of a good thread title. The fact that a new half shaft needed to be ordered simply means that you have a right front axle half shaft that is known to have come from a defective batch of parts. Whether or not they will all break is currently unknown (my guess is they will all fail at some point) but GM is replacing them all just in case.

I agree that this is a serious issue and if you're not comfortable driving your Cruze while your dealer gets the replacement part in, contact the dealer and ask them to authorize a loaner car. GM specifically told dealerships to do this with this recall.

What we don't know and will probably ever know is what exactly happened with the half-shafts being replaced. It could range anywhere from being too thin to contaminated raw materiel, thus weakening the final part, used to make them. I doubt this is a GM engineering issue or every single Cruze would be getting recalled for this. This is a supplier issue. I just hope that GM has a clause in their supplier contracts that require the supplier to eat some or all of the costs GM incurs replacing faulty parts.


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## CruzeTech (Mar 23, 2012)

This dude is a trip. 


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

turbocruiser said:


> Will GM EVER build a car without some sort of major problem? I have always been a loyal GM buyer, but these recent issues, and the company's "hiding" the problem, (ignition switch for 10 years) Ford and the imports are starting to look better and better. C'mon Chevy, get your heads outa your asses.


Even the Cobalt ignition switch recall doesn't crack the top 10 in total number of cars being recalled. Over the past decade we have seen recalls for everything from faulty air bag deployment sensors (impacted just about every single car manufacturer), power window switches that would short out and possibly start fires in the doors (GM and Toyota SUVs), unintended acceleration in some Toyotas, bad batteries in the Prius, etc. We even watched Hyundai/Kia being forced to pay original purchasers "gas" money for false advertising of fuel economy numbers. The Cobalt ignition switch should have been recalled years ago by the pre-bankruptcy GM. Post-bankruptcy GM is attempting to deal with this one even though Mary Barra could legally have washed GM's hands of this issue. Even so-called high end brands like BMW and Audi have had major recalls in the past decade. I think what we're really seeing here isn't so much a single company but an industry being forced to clean up its collective act.

Stay tuned for more large recalls to come, and not just from GM.


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## ChevyMgr (Oct 27, 2010)

Eddy Cruze said:


> That is why I would never come to your shop and give you the lowest survey numbers possible if I did! The Dealer told me new parts need to be ordered as mine needed to be replaced. Whether it was just a crack was not brought up with me, nor did I see the defective axle, nor did they consult with me? Are you defending GM for these sub standard parts?


The dealer never told you that your axle was cracked and you just proved once again that you are a drama queen. Please put me on ignore too so you won't get your panties in a wad about my questions to you.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

obermd said:


> Relax Eddy. Your thread title and what you posted in the first post didn't match. That's all. The thread title did get people to look, however, which is the point of a good thread title.


 Thank you its my years in Broadcasting. Since posting this topic I have learned even more here, weeding out the snooty posts! The shop told me I need parts replaced, I didn't ask if they saw cracks or where they were located, I just asked if it was safe to drive while we wait for replacement parts?


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## GeoHawk (Jan 24, 2014)

My Cruze has one of the potentially faulty half shafts too. The dealer ordered the part (and doesn't know when it will get in), but I elected to take the car home anyway. I'm not planning on taking any long trips with it until it gets fixed as I don't want to get stranded too far away from home, but it's fine for just running around my small town.

Funny thing, 3 of the 4 vehicles in my stable are under recall. Guess it's just bad timing, but I'm not going to get my panties in a wad about it.


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## brian v (Dec 25, 2011)

GeoHawk said:


> My Cruze has one of the potentially faulty half shafts too. The dealer ordered the part (and doesn't know when it will get in), but I elected to take the car home anyway. I'm not planning on taking any long trips with it until it gets fixed as I don't want to get stranded too far away from home, but it's fine for just running around my small town.
> 
> Funny thing, 3 of the 4 vehicles in my stable are under recall. Guess it's just bad timing, but I'm not going to get my panties in a wad about it.



That's Nice that you don't get yer panties in a wad ! Hmm is that like when your wife drops her panties and they the panties get wadded into an uproar and she screams . 
Dang sounds nasty . We really hated that we had to have the front underbelly pan cut off like a dude with long hair on a bad hair day . 

That has been over 2 years now or so and we all got over it and are all still hanging out . So Eddy keep em coming even if you do not want to read this rant ..


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