Another Victim

[oneton]

Got the news today that my truck is a victim of GM poor design on the transfer case. The first leak I had on it was from the bolts loosening on the back half of the transfer case and now it's the pump shaft hole. At least I found out before my trek out West in a couple of weeks.


As anybody heard anything if GM is going to do anything about it? BTW the 02 has 128,000 her now.






Thanks
David

[DmaxMaverick]

All dealers haven't been totally cold hearted about this. Many dealers recognize this as a known issue, and meet with customers about it to some degree. The usual accommodation has been covering either parts or labor on a vehicle that is out of warranty. This, IMO, is not a bad response. They could just say, "Sorry. It's out of warranty. You're on your own."

If you are mechanically competent, the repair can be made relatively inexpensive. Parts can be had from outside the GM circle at reasonable prices, and the labor isn't too intensive (an afternoon in the driveway). If you've been inside a gearbox, or done an engine overhaul, you qualify to do your own labor.

[oneton]

I wish I had the time to take care of it myself but I don't. Business is good right now and I don't even have time to take care of the stuff here at the house. I am lucky, however, to have a friend that manages a transmission shop here in town. He's done three or four of these now and has found a way to beef it up so it won't happen again. (If it does, I'll be on his a$$) What are friends for...:) The back half of the case will be here Tuesday so it'll be fixed before anything else can happen.






Thanks
David

[oneton]

Well, got the truck back last night and I'll I can say is WOW! I always had what seemed to be a rear brake lagging when releasing the brake or a very bad u-joint. Turns out it was the transfer case all along. It's tough to describe but it felt like thud but with no noise whenever I stop or took off from a dead stop. So I'm assuming that was the pump(?) rotating in the slots on the case. My hole wasn't very big either. It just beat the metal until it broke and started in on the case. So if anybody else is wondering what that weird thing your truck is doing when your taking off, this is probably your answer.






David

[DmaxMaverick]

It's great to here you got fixed up, but....

The "bump" on takeoff is almost always the driveshaft yoke. It's an inconvenience or annoyance, but not harmful. My guess is during the repair, it got either cleaned up or lubed up. This will temporarily make the issue go away. If they lubed it with the correct lithium grease, it may be gone for longer.

[KenR]

The dealer that fixed mine didn't offer anything up in the way of a discount on parts or labor. I wrote a letter to GMC expressing my displeasure with having to pay for an obvious design defect and asked for full or partial reimbursement of the cost of the repair. Haven't heard anything yet and really don't expect to but it was worth a shot.

Shortly after paying the $900.00 or so for that repair I traded it in on an 07. The 02 turned into a complete pile of crap after about 120,000 miles. Hope the new one lasts but I'm resigned to replacing these trucks before they run out of warranty at 100k. Kinda sucks.

[oneton]

Ken, my repair wasn't nearly as costly. Parts and labor w/ tranny service and top off both front and rear axles ran $535 with tax. I'm sure if I went to the dealer it would have been around what you paid.


BTW, when I call the GM parts dept and inquired on the price of the case I mentioned that this was a known problem, it was news to him. Go figure.





David

[Junior 03]

I just ran into the metal clip/pin hole leak problem and my "connection" at the dealer is gonna get the new case half and put some sort of spacer in to prevent the wearing on the case and says they have done this before and it has solved the problem.... anyone heard of this? Also he's giving an estimate of $1300 sound appropriate?