Camaro team's response to concern about Transmission Output Shaft Failure

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by TAG UR IT

First,

John...I thank you very much for bringing this to light as we've all been wondering what GM's stance was on the issue. I DO appreciate the clarification, the reassurance that any problems would get fixed, and informing us of the FACT that the issue "of a customer experiencing an output shaft failure under normal driving conditions are very low (or - if you are into engineer speak, "below tolerance").

I honestly DO feel safe driving my 2010 Camaro SS and am NOT concerned about pulling out into traffic having a lingering fear of a part breaking thus causing me to get T-boned....because, technically (and I'm just saying), ANY part could fail on the car (not that it's going to)causing the car to stop dead in its tracks....heck...it's a MANUAL...and I could technically STALL the car when pulling out causing me to get T-boned (or even maybe struck from behind)...but, I know that the chances of that happening are minimal...and maybe even "under normal driving conditions are very low (or - if you are into engineer speak, "below tolerance"). No need to worry...I won't ask to have my manual transmission replaced by a brand new automatic...



And all at once, we take a deep breath......( take that deep breath now...)......let it out....and say, "wooooo sahhhhhhhhhhh."


Very good.


Now...let's all go back to our regularly scheduled programming.



....yes....hit the "new posts" button, please. NOW!!!

I'm not worried about those things as much anymore either. I was just responding to mtcwby's demeaning post that diminished all of our efforts in getting this response from GM.

[67ss&99ss]

It would be nice to know how the broken shafts failed. Whether they failed in fatigue or if there were stress concentrations in the shaft due to metallurgical or machining issues that caused a premature failure.

[shockandawe]

Hate to have it brake when you trying to put a woop-ass on a Mustang! Just another reason to get L99!

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

And I do wonder how many had been using or had used launch control before. To me reving up to 4K and dumping the clutching and hoping the computer controls it is scary. I do not think you should ever go over 2500-3000 and dump the clutch.

[Trailbreaker77]

Dragoneye,

Thanks for the e-mail I was not aware of this I don't see this happening to my car. It's always better to know what is going on.

TB77

[Allentown]

In defense, redline clutch dumping in first gear is just the kind of bone head move that could damage ANY car, not just a camaro. Having said that, i can "redline clutch dump" when shifting from first to second gear in my Mustang GT all day long (i too have a 100,000 mile warranty)..lol

Joking aside though, i think asking about saftey is a fair concern. My 05 Mustang used to stall out FOR NO REASON, when casually and slowly to moderately taking off from a dead stop, it was an automatic. The dealership service department was NEVER able to replicate this and they said there was NO infromation from Ford on the issue.

Yet, it happend to me on 4 occassions, once in the middle of rush hour traffic when i got stopped on the freeway with other cars running up my a$$, and on one occassion i was left dead in the road pulling out from a stop sign with a Full Semi -tractor & trailer bearing down on my drivers side door.....LUCKILY...i had plenty of room (as i didnt just pull out in front of the guy) and fortunately the car had JUST enough inertia to coast out the way...other wise, id have been a dead driver and they probably would have just assumed "driver error"... I eventually got it fixed visa someone putting disel in the car and a $900.00 gas tank, fuel line, and spark plug cleaning....it never happened again and i was actually glad my sister found a way to get it fixed as i was VERY concerned about being t boned. (note this was the ONLY issue i ever had with that car and since it was technically a screw up that fixed an "undiagnosed" problem i never counted it as a repair technically).

Now, imagine some kid pulling out in front OF TRAFFIC visa a HARD launch and then..boom no power....THAT IS A VALID SAFTEY CONCERN i dont care WHAT YOU SAY. Take from someone who knows the feeling..it is not good.

Ok so back on topic, if they say its not a concern its not a concern. However, my "stalling" problem would have been "not a concern" by Ford also (as they denied there was even an issue..it didn't even send a signal to the on board diagnostic computer when it happened)...but i can tell you from personal experience...when THE POOR SOB WHO HAPPENS TO BE THE ONE IT HAPPENS TO IS YOU....IT IS A HUGE "CONCERN". I don't think trashing the guy who brought this up is good edicate but then again, you have to look at the source of the trashing as well.

[3 SS's]

Well, it seems they are saying it's not as big an issue as earlier thought...but still may be a minor problem, and if so will be covered under warranty..... which is ok for most, but what about us low mileage/ nice weather drivers.
In all honesty, I would've liked to see an extended warranty applied in this case...as I am one of those guys who'll have maybe, 15-20k miles on my car by the end of the 5 yr period.
It is nice to hear that it isn't as bad as earlier thought...but it's still there.

[Marc NY]

Originally Posted by Supermans

I'm not worried about those things as much anymore either ...

After a while these continued "repetitive" rants and explainations of "why" become over kill!

[advfire]

my question is this following:

With myself pushing for the 650hp point and knowing i won't have a warrenty to fall back on to. what part of the drive shaft is failing. What point should i be looking at knowing that i may need to put some attetion towards it.

I think very highly of GM and understand there stand and completely aggree with it.

[Camaro_hx]

Dragoneye, thank you for your technical observation and recommendation regarding the subject matter. I hope camaro5.com will live forever!

[Txturbo]

Originally Posted by advfire

my question is this following:

With myself pushing for the 650hp point and knowing i won't have a warrenty to fall back on to. what part of the drive shaft is failing. What point should i be looking at knowing that i may need to put some attetion towards it.

I think very highly of GM and understand there stand and completely aggree with it.

Its not the driveshaft. Its the tailshaft of the transmission....the shaft that the driveshaft connects to.

[Txturbo]

Originally Posted by Supermans

I understand, what John means is the probability of it happening under normal driving conditions are low for it occurring if you have a defective one. He even furthers it by saying it stays the same under extreme driving conditions. So Woot, what you are saying is that even if there was a way to test it, they wouldn't bother? I think that if somebody does get hurt because of this, and there was a way to test it out, then they might step in and do more than their current position if the NHTSA gets involved like they did with the Ford suffering total drivetrain failures and such. It would be nice for the dealers to know about John's message as they still can deny the claim in fear that GM won't cover the repairs. A post in a forum is not official to the dealers as much as we would like it to be.

If you are doing redline clutch dumps into traffic, then I think you are the safety concern....not the tailshaft. Don't do it and there won't be a problem.

[HashimAzzouz]

Guys!! this is very relaxing for the US customers!! What about customers outside the US!! If the transmission breaks down it gonna take months and months until they fix it!! I don't find this answer helpful by anyway!!!! :(

[chipsf16]

I can't find the vin range for this issue, or is it now all LS3's?