Worries about local Chevrolet dealership...

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed May 04, 2005 6:27 am

As an avid fan and reader of the forum here I am constantly amazed at the great amount of information exchanged here and the help that can be got from members here. HenryJ is the best I've seen on giving helpful advice and information on "How to" things.
Well I have one for you guys. I took my truck in for just an oil change,I know, that's a simple task, and normally I do all my service work like that but in this case I had bought the truck used from a dealership from another town three hours away so I wanted to get into the system under my name here at the local place just for warranty work if needed. So a simple oil change and I'm thinking I'm in the computer and if anything goes wrong....then they have a record of my truck and can take care of it. Well I pay the girl up front for the oil,lube and 7 point check and go on my way.
I have a bad feeling about this place anyway since its the only Chevrolet dealership in this town (can you spell monopoly) and when I get home I just drop down underneath to look at the zerks to see if any new greese is evident....the only greese I see is about a half inch of greese all over the a-frame of the passenger side....I mean a pile of it...WTF....where did that come from....so I'm looking everywhere and can't see where that much greese could come from...the only thing I can come up with, is the idiot that was suppose to greese the thing let the end come off or never really got it on the zerk and blows greese all over the place.
Now I'm really pissed because I try to keep things clean so I can see if have problems at some point in time, but with this mess I can't tell if I have a problem or if they did just that....blow greese everywhere...
Anyone have any explanation for that?
The boot on the CV joint looks ok...the truck only has 28K on it I wouldn't thing the joints gone and if it was does all that greese come from in there?
I'm really wondering now if they even changed the oil filter or not....
Well if anyone is good enough to read all this I appreciate it and would love to hear any input or situations that you've had like that.
Thanks guys for a great place to come and learn about our trucks and ask questions....
Don

adrenalnjunky · Post by **adrenalnjunky** » Wed May 04, 2005 6:47 am

Yes - the stock CV boots can leak, without being torn - and they can get grease all over the place.

Another thing to look for - there are 11 points of lubing under the front end of the truck, not all of those points are a ball joint with the rubber "balloon" type seal, some appear to be just metal on metal, at plases like your idler arm and pittman arm - (Not 100% on those, but I know it's one of those) if they pushed a lot of lube into that fitting, a lot of old grease will be forced out.

I guess your biggest concern should be if that grease glob you found is fresh lube or old.

I recently went to using Mobil Synthetic lube for all my joints - it's red, so I can easily tell dirty lube from fresh.

barch97 · Post by **barch97** » Wed May 04, 2005 6:48 am

Don wrote:can you spell monopoly

I can now

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed May 04, 2005 8:40 am

If the boot can leak and still look good...where does all that greese come from....is there any way that you can keep it clean....I just went and looked under there again and there is greese all over the torsion bar and frame and everywhere some old some new looking...
Is there that much greese in those boots or where is it coming from?

adrenalnjunky · Post by **adrenalnjunky** » Wed May 04, 2005 8:49 am

I'm not 100% sure - HJ knows more about it, but the factory bands that clamp the boots on don't tighten very well.

I had one completely pop off on the inner boot.

the sign if the grease is coming out of the CV oint is that itwould be slung in a circular spray pattern above/around the area you see - everything on a 360 degree plane parallel to the cross section of the cv shaft would have grease on it.

If you just have a big gob in one spot, then it wasn't slung out of your CV joints.

the other thing is that it's the undercarraige of a 4x4 truck - dealer grease monkey may not care all that much about where he gets excess grease.

I would wipe everything down, drive it a few days, and come back and see if you have any new grease. The balljoints, and steering joints really don't contain all that much grease anyway - unless the dealership guy just kept pumping til the rubber sleeve was fully expanded like a basketball. In that case those seals are gonna weep grease as the steering moves and suspension moves through it's travel -- you aren't supposed to fill those zerks until the joints are ready to pop - just enough to make sure the internals have grease

Is it also possible that th gob of grease you see is actually on one of the a-arm pivot ponts? Maybe they are shooting some grease up in there to try to take care of the common thunking sound so many s-series 4x4's get?

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Wed May 04, 2005 9:00 am

If you are leaking grease from the boot, it will usually have a pattern to it. Both of my inboard boots have leaked without coming loose.

If you remove your front black plastic shield (the one with the oil filter door) you will really have a better view of the situation.

I would clean it up it up as best I could and then check it in a few days.

Check your filter and see if they changed it. Does your oil look clean?

Just some suggestions

Oh, and one more. GMC and chevrolet can do warranty work on each others product when it comes to light trucks.

Hopefully, this is a one time screw up on their part but, the tech should have let you known that you had a boot problem.

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed May 04, 2005 9:06 am

If it is the boot should that be a waranty thing or is that like the shocks they put on there....worthless

I'm going to do what you said "junky" clean the mess up and see what I've got and go from there....
Thanks man for the input....

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed May 04, 2005 9:18 am

F9 ya know that's strange that you mentioned that, about the GM and Chevrolet doing work....I've always had a bad feeling about the Chevy place and called the local GMC dealership and ask them if they do waranty work on Chevy's...now this is what the service manager told me....No sir...we can do all your service work, but if its a waranty thing we can't do waranty work on Chevrolet's.....I thought...that sounds crazy...am I the only one that thinks that way.....I mean GM is GM...I know if it was a Pontiac or something I could see but Chevy...GMC...the same I thought....
And you are right about the Tech should have mentioned if I had a problem boot or not...but you know I'm not so sure a Tech does the oil changes...somebody told me that they hire these greese monkeys from speedy oil or something at minimum wage to do the oil change duties and you know some of those guys don't know a CV joint from a strip joint

jeff024 · Post by **jeff024** » Wed May 04, 2005 11:56 am

check to see if maybe they put your milage on your oil filter .If not its a good practice to put the mileage on it with a sharpie.

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Wed May 04, 2005 12:07 pm

Don wrote:called the local GMC dealership and ask them if they do waranty work on Chevy's...now this is what the service manager told me....No sir...we can do all your service work, but if its a waranty thing we can't do waranty work on Chevrolet's.

Hey Dont Feel Bad Don......When My Local Chevy Dealer Started BSing Me Around I Called My Local GMC Dealer And Was Told The Same Thing, They Would Be Glad To Do My Service Work But Forget Doing Any Warranty Work........

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Wed May 04, 2005 12:08 pm

He may have a point there. I'll let you interpret the following for yourself

Warranty Admin. - Light and Medium Duty Truck Warranty and Crossline Warranty Eligibility and Guidelines for Chevrolet and GMC Dealers #02-00-89-007 - (May 22, 2002)
Table 1: Unique Warranty Coverage for Select Components on Light and Medium Duty Vehicles
Light and Medium Duty Truck Warranty and Crossline Warranty Eligibility and Guidelines for Chevrolet and GMC Dealers
2003 and Prior Chevrolet, GMC and Isuzu Light and Medium Duty Trucks

Important
'GM of Canada' dealers are not authorized to utilize this Service Bulletin. 'GM of Canada' dealers should refer to the 'GM of Canada' Service Policies and Procedures article 1.4.24 for policies regarding crossline warranty repairs.

The purpose of this bulletin is to clarify vehicle warranty eligibility and guidelines for all light and medium duty trucks, including the new GMC TopKick and Chevrolet Kodiak trucks (C4500-8500).

If the dealer is eligible to provide crossline warranty, one of the following guidelines must apply:

The customer requires EMERGENCY warranty service.
The vehicle was sold used by the servicing dealer, regardless of the dealer's new vehicle franchise.
Any commercial light duty truck may obtain warranty service at either a Chevrolet or GMC light duty commercial dealer.
Any medium duty truck may obtain warranty service at either a Chevrolet or GMC medium duty dealer.
Crossline warranty can be provided between Chevrolet and GMC dealers who have the appropriate light and/or medium duty franchise.

Light duty only dealers cannot perform crossline warranty on medium duty vehicles except for the C3500 HD and new C4500 series. Warranty repairs cannot be performed on any other medium duty products.

Likewise, medium duty only dealers cannot perform light duty crossline warranty except for the C3500 HD and C4500 series.

Warranty repairs can only be performed on W or T series trucks at medium duty dealers with that series franchise. Crossline warranty on W or T series trucks is only allowed between Chevrolet and GMC medium duty dealers with that series franchise.

Important
The primary crossline rule for both Chevrolet and GMC light and medium duty dealers is that they can only provide warranty repairs on the platforms they sell.

The following summarizes the crossline warranty eligibility on GMC and Chevrolet truck dealers by product.

Chevrolet Light Duty Dealer
All Chevrolet/GMC personal and commercial light duty trucks, Chevrolet/GMC C3500 HD and Chevrolet/GMC C4500 Kodiak and TopKick vehicles.

Chevrolet Light and Medium Duty Dealer
All Chevrolet/GMC personal and commercial light duty trucks, Chevrolet/GMC C3500 HD and Chevrolet/GMC C4500-C8500 Kodiak/TopKick vehicles, Chevrolet/GMC T-Series; and Chevrolet/GMC W-Series only with a W-Series Addendum

GMC Light Duty Dealer
All Chevrolet/GMC personal and commercial light duty trucks, Chevrolet/GMC C3500 HD and Chevrolet/GMC C4500 Kodiak and TopKick vehicles.

GMC Light and Medium Duty Dealer
All Chevrolet/GMC personal and commercial light duty trucks, Chevrolet/GMC C3500 HD and Chevrolet/GMC C4500-C8500 Kodiak/TopKick vehicles, Chevrolet/GMC T-Series; and Chevrolet/GMC W-Series only with a W-Series Addendum

GMC Medium Duty ONLY Dealer
GMC/Chevrolet C3500 HD, Chevrolet C4500-8500 TopKick vehicles, GMC/Chevrolet T-Series; and Chevrolet/GMC W-Series only with a W-Series Addendum

The following summarizes the franchised truck sales capabilities of Chevrolet and GMC dealers:

Chevrolet Light Duty Dealer
All Chevrolet light duty vehicles, Chevrolet C3500 HD and Kodiak C4500 trucks

Chevrolet Light and Medium Duty Dealer
All Chevrolet light duty vehicles, Chevrolet C3500 HD and Kodiak C4500-8500 medium duty trucks, Chevrolet T-Series with a T-Series agreement, Chevrolet W-Series with a W-Series Addendum

GMC Light Duty Dealer
All GMC light duty vehicles, GMC C3500 HD and TopKick C4500 trucks

GMC Light and Medium Duty Dealer
All GMC light duty vehicles, GMC C3500 HD and TopKick C4500-8500 medium duty trucks, GMC T-Series with a T-Series agreement, GMC W-Series with a W-Series Addendum

GMC Medium Duty ONLY Dealer
GMC C3500 HD and GMC C4500-8500 TopKick, GMC T-Series with a T-Series agreement, GMC W-Series only with a W-Series Addendum

I may have misinterpreted it but, will try to get you an answer tonight or tomorrow.

Don · Post by **Don** » Wed May 04, 2005 1:00 pm

Thanks f9 for the info...well I called the Service manager up after stewing on this all day and ask him couldn't the Tech see all that greese on the a-frame and he didn't know what to say, except, bring it in and we will check it out... well I thought as my waranty is fixing to run out..5/31/05, I better have this documented...so I going to carry it in and hope to God I don't have the hassle you did with all that "Z" height BS throwed at me....
Will keep you posted on what I find out tomorrow....
Wish me luck

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Wed May 04, 2005 1:31 pm

Good luck to you Don.

You may want to think about an extended warranty but, it may be to late for some of them. I know mine needed to be handled 30 days prior to the end of warranty but, my new dealer back dated the contract for me last Saturday. My warranty (original GM) expires tonight

Don · Post by **Don** » Thu May 05, 2005 11:14 am

Well guys I took the CC to the dealer this am and told them the story about bringing it in for the oil change and getting home and seeing all this greese all over the frame and all. I told him I had driven it to the race in Talladega last weekend and it was fine but when I got home from the oil change and was checking it out I found the lube everywhere....what a mess....

I told him to call me if if wasnt covered by waranty. I waited all morning and didn't hear anything so I call him because I have to line up a ride home if they aren't going to get it fixed. Well he has to check on it because he don't know anything about it....bad sign... so I wait and he comes back and tell's me, They ordered two axels for it and that they will be here in the morning....and that's when I said, " And that's covered under my waranty right?" and he says yeah!!!...Whewwww...a load off my mind, but then I'm thinking.....I bet the farging ball joints are bad too, but I didn't want to go there yet, I was just glad to hear that this was waranty work....
Now what do you guys think....if the axels are shot do ya think the ball joints are shot too, as it seems like they are in the bracket with our shocks that came on the truck needing replacing upon delivery....??

adrenalnjunky · Post by **adrenalnjunky** » Thu May 05, 2005 11:38 am

28K and the axles are shot?

I doubt your axles are in that kind of shape from normal use - did he say why they were replacing them?

If they are replacing the whole CV axle assemblies simply to fix a problem with the boots not sealing well, which many of us have seen - then I'm glad you're getting that out of them, but I bet the problem comes back - The short story is that the factory boots are too stiff - they don't flex well. The aftermarket boots I have on one side of my truck are 150% better than the factory ones. The GM tensioning bands are junk too.

Good job on getting them to fix something though - at least you'll have a papertrail/history now that could be used to have future warranty service done on any of the front drivetrain should a problem arise.

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu May 05, 2005 2:39 pm

Don wrote:...They ordered two axels for it ....if the axels are shot do ya think the ball joints are shot too?

I would bet that they are replacing the half shafts because of the leaky boots.
Replacing the whole half shaft is the best way to do it , since you will not have to worry about the other boots or any wear that may have occurred to the sealing surface. It is actually faster to just replace them.

I would say that you are in good hands and they are going above the minimum fix here.

Lets not worry about the ball joints until you see or feel a problem.

Who knows you may have been lucky and received the redesigned ball joints. If you are worried get an alignment. Any good shop checks those things before the alignment. If they do find bad ones , usually they will not align it until they have been repaired , and the dealership will then have to pay for the alignment under warranty after the parts have been replaced.

If you haven't had an alignment done...you're due.

HenryJ wrote:Talking with my "alignment guru" he said that you should rotate the tires three to four times and then have an alignment. This would be every 15-20 thousand miles. Probably close to annually for some. Some high mileage tire warranties require this maintainance.

Don · Post by **Don** » Fri May 06, 2005 5:23 am

Thanks HenryJ for the encouragement....I hope they are going to do a good job.... and I do keep up with the alignment in fact I've had it aligned just a while back but I'll probably go ahead and have it checked again and probably tell them to let off the TB's. I had taken it in after I put the Bilsteins on an told them the thing was setting cockeyed...and low in the front so they tweaked the bars and it set alot better. But now I'm concerned that coming up on the TB are bad on the CV's and with the new one's going in think I might need to just go back down and re-align and live with it....although it looks a little better up....but not at the cost of wear on the joints....Is there a better compromise??? I like you HenryJ wanted a ZR2 look but the inside of the CC with all the extras that come with that package....I couldn't find a ZR2 anywhere with the options that you can get with the s10 version...so I just settled for the ZR5 and thought I could eventually make it look close to the ZR2, but without spending thousands of bucks...that I don't have...I guess I'll have to settle for what I got

I'll let ya know what all they do to the truck though as soon as I get it back....who know's when...

Don · Post by **Don** » Fri May 06, 2005 9:10 am

Ok guys,just got back from the Chevy place with my truck....NO CHARGE....that's what I'm talking about....they replace both axels or as HenryJ calls em half shaft or something like that....I don't care what ya call em, but ya got to call em NEW....I hope the boots are the softer ones like you guys have been talking about...maybe they will last longer...I did ask him why would something like that happen in 28k....he just said, "Just one of those things".... well I guess I'll spend the weekend cleaning up all that greese that is everywhere....they didn't bother to clean that up

... Oh well...ya can't complain I guess that's the way they look at it...and I'm not... Just glad to get it fixed...

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:51 am

Glad it worked out for you

Other members have had similar experiences with getting complete axles replaced. I was hoping for similar experiences but, they just replaced my boots

ludwis · Post by **ludwis** » Fri May 06, 2005 3:16 pm

All they did was replace my boots too

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri May 06, 2005 3:32 pm

Don wrote:Ok guys,just got back from the Chevy place ...NO CHARGE....that's what I'm talking about...I did ask him why would something like that happen in 28k....he just said, "Just one of those things".... well I guess I'll spend the weekend cleaning up all that greese that is everywhere....they didn't bother to clean that up.

Cleaning up the grease is a tough one for them. If they do a good job , it removes the waxy greasy coating on the chassis and then your frame rusts. It may look bad for them to leave this mess, but it is protecting the coating that is more important here. They would have done you a real dis-service had they steam cleaned the mess under there.

Do us a favor and write a letter to this dealer complimenting the service that they did for you. They did not have to replace the entire shaft, but went ahead and took the initiative to prevent further problems and instill consumer confidence.
Send a carbon copy to GM, name names if you can they do deserve a pat on the back for a job well done!

Don · Post by **Don** » Fri May 06, 2005 5:41 pm

Yeah Henry, I meant to mention that the Service writer was quick to give me my keys and the invoice for the work that they did. But he was quicker to mention that I would probably get a letter from GM in a couple of days asking about my service and if I was satisfied, and that he would appreciate me giving him and the dealership good ratings on the survey sheet. I told him that I certainly would.
I will write to them though if ya think I should even though I was going to rate them excellent on the survey he talked about....

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri May 06, 2005 5:56 pm

Don wrote:... he was quicker to mention that I would probably get a letter from GM in a couple of days asking about my service and if I was satisfied, and that he would appreciate me giving him and the dealership good ratings on the survey sheet. I told him that I certainly would.
I will write to them though if ya think I should even though I was going to rate them excellent on the survey he talked about....

Send a letter too. Something that they can hang on the wall for all the employees to see. Be sure it shows that you sent a copy to GM corporate too.

Thank you! These little things that you are doing will help someone else some day. The world is a better place if we commend the good service. So many times we just take the good and fail to appreciate that they could have done much less.

Don · Post by **Don** » Fri May 06, 2005 6:05 pm

HenryJ, what I appreciate is you and this gang of guys here that not only share the wealth of knowledge you have, but you make everyone here feel welcomed and not like a dumbazz like I've seen on other forums....
The least I can do is send a letter commending them on a great job.
Thanks for your support and for all the work that you put into the greatest forum online....

Hats off to ya.....
Don

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri May 06, 2005 6:24 pm

Thank you , but as I have said before...it is a joint effort. All the members here to make it what it has become.

Lots of good people sharing information

S-10CREWCAB.NET

Worries about local Chevrolet dealership...

Worries about local Chevrolet dealership...

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