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

[camaro5]

Thanks for commenting. We appreciate it.

[coolman]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

John says after review, the probability of failure is very low -- even during performance driving. And they will cover any failures as outlined in the Powertrain Warranty:

http://www.gm.com/experience/warrant....html?page=faq

Just bear in mind that there is a difference between performance driving...and abuse. Try to refrain from those redline clutch-dumps....

That's why it's not even a thought in my mind. I have a great car, with a great warranty, with a great dealership to keep me running.

Thank's for the input.
On a side note just to show how well gm cars and trucks hold up. My wifes uncle has a 1997 chevy truck that just turned over 500,000miles on the factory motor, trans and drive train. He just turn it over to his son and bought himself a new chevy. I wouldn't worry guys.

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

True but what it boils down to is GM is banking that we will mod our cars within the 5 year/100k miles period (which is highly likely to happen) so at that point, if we break the shaft, the power is on their side to deny the warranty claim. GM loses nothing with this current approach and decision on this issue.
Nice statement but I call it

That's my .02 cents

FWIW.

For the situation you describe, they could deny you (assuming the mods directly affect the tranny) whether you had output shaft break or a shifter fork fail.

My point is if your mod directly affects a given component you run the risk of getting a warranty claim denied no matter what...

It sounds to me like GM isn't looking for a way out of fixing it. And if, for some reason, they don't want to fix your car, I'll bet this quote from John will help your case.

In my opinion this is kind of a get out of jail free card for output shaft failures..... Kinda...

[UCF w00t]

Thanks Dragon for working this and thanks John for the response. I'm sure some people won't be satisfied with the answer but it's what I was looking for. Let's just hope that the amount breaking remains within spec and this isn't a bigger problem afterall.

My only suggestion/gripe... this should've been posted on their own back in August or whenever they figured out that there wasn't a problem afterall. Be proactive!

And as someone pointed out above, it looks like the output shaft is probably the "weakest link" in the Camaro. Good to know especially for people looking to do upgrades!

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

Thanks Dragon for working this and thanks John for the response. I'm sure some people won't be satisfied with the answer but it's what I was looking for. Let's just hope that the amount breaking remains within spec and this isn't a bigger problem afterall.

My only suggestion/gripe... this should've been posted on their own back in August or whenever they figured out that there wasn't a problem afterall. Be proactive!

And as someone pointed out above, it looks like the output shaft is probably the "weakest link" in the Camaro. Good to know especially for people looking to do upgrades!

Maybe the silver lining is that there is a very small number of truly "bad" tranny's and moving forward we can mod and drive with confidence...

Hence the below tollerance comment by John... Just thinking out loud.

[speedster]

Thank You John. Nice to see that GM will stand by the Camaro.

Just remember, if you MODIFY the car it should NOT be covered. GM has zero control over the millions of ways cars can be modified. Who is to say what's an "acceptable" modification and what isn't.

If you leave it stock, it will be covered. If you choose to modify it, then there is a cost risk associated with doing that.

Think what would happen if aircraft manufacturers decided to "modify" their jets... The FAA would have a cow. Couldn't even imagine the lawsuits.

[Partick]

Thanks for the response, reaffirms my faith in GM

[Milk 1027]

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

True but what it boils down to is GM is banking that we will mod our cars within the 5 year/100k miles period (which is highly likely to happen) so at that point, if we break the shaft, the power is on their side to deny the warranty claim. GM loses nothing with this current approach and decision on this issue.
Nice statement but I call it

That's my .02 cents

Well you gotta pay to play

[KJS]

Not sure how much more John could have said. And I give him credit coming on this forum and saying what he did. I'm not sure how many other executives at his level in a major corporation would have the guts to do so.

Maybe this is the new GM.

He said the engineers identified a potential problem, did their analysis and said the problems if they occured would be covered under warrantee. Although I'm not a metallurgical engineer my understanding is that in these types of situations if it hasn't failed earlier on in the product life due to a manufacturing defect, it is unlikely to do so later on. Of course there are always exceptions. The main exception is continued abuse. And almost no stock product is going to be able to withstand continued abuse.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by BackinBlackSS/RS

Seems pretty straight forward to me. If it breaks GM will fix it. As it should be. Chances are your not gonna break.

I agree sounds good to me.

It seems that there was a mixed batch that had a low (maybe one or two out of 100) group of defective shafts. Its just not worth a recall when its not a true safety issue (we have not yet heard of one snapping on the highway at 55mph, or "just driving along"), replacing all those transmissions would cost billions when there is a very remote possibility of it actually breaking.

IMO its unreasonable to expect otherwise, this response is fine....

[ffrcobra_65]

Originally Posted by GTAHVIT

FWIW.

For the situation you describe, they could deny you (assuming the mods directly affect the tranny) whether you had output shaft break or a shifter fork fail.

My point is if your mod directly affects a given component you run the risk of getting a warranty claim denied no matter what...

It sounds to me like GM isn't looking for a way out of fixing it. And if, for some reason, they don't want to fix your car, I'll bet this quote from John will help your case.

In my opinion this is kind of a get out of jail free card for output shaft failures..... Kinda...

Mod wisdom.

Not too worried. I slapped the Maggie on and I am pretty much on my own.

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

Mod wisdom.

Not too worried. I slapped the Maggie on and I am pretty much on my own.

LOL

You, and soon to be, me also.

[Supermans]

The only thing I would like John Fitzpatrick to do is make it official and send the dealers this message as well. A printout from a forum is hardly a "get out of jail free" card. I pray a shaft doesn't break and cause a death or deaths, that would be a shame. I take it there is no way to test the current shafts by the dealer or an engineer during the warranty period if the owner falls within the vin range of affected vehicles? Those two are my only concerns.. And thanks John for chiming in, this type of statement is better served early than having to resort to thread after thread month after month of asking questions and getting little to nothing back. Merry Christmas

[UCF w00t]

Originally Posted by Supermans

The only thing I would like John Fitzpatrick to do is make it official and send the dealers this message as well. A printout from a forum is hardly a "get out of jail free" card. I pray a shaft doesn't break and cause a death or deaths, that would be a shame. I take it there is no way to test the current shafts by the dealer or an engineer during the warranty period if the owner falls within the vin range of affected vehicles? Those two are my only concerns..

He's saying they determined that the failures are within spec so there would be no reason for any special consideration.