Rear Differential/Drive Shaft Issue
 

Well...today I ran into a huge problem. I'd noticed for the past week or so that the car had a popping coming from the rear end on moderate to hard acceleration. I just thought it was wheel hop from the bald rear tires. Last night, backing out of the driveway, the rear diff started grinding, poppiing, scraping...so badly it was shaking the floorboard. So this morning I went and dropped off the car at a local Chevrolet dealership. A few hours later I called back to get the scoop on what they had found. When I dropped it off, the service writer insisted that the differential was only in need of a clutch additive for the limited slip. I told him I didn't think that was the root of the problem, but to take a look and see. So when I called I wasn't surprised to hear the service writer tell me that the rear diff had extensive internal damage. I WAS, however, surprised when he told me that my car (with 36k miles) would not be covered under the powertrain warranty. "It's modified"...was his exact phraseology. The only mods I have are a cold air intake, muffler delete, lowering springs, and sway bars, nothing that impact the integrity of the driveshaft or differential. I tried to convince them over the phone, but they just wouldn't listen...they refuse to cover this differential problem.

Talking to them in person, they explained that the driveshaft was missing bolts on the back end. They think I've messed with it and somehow forgot to put the bolts back in....NOT! Again, we tried to tell them that it's a commonly known fact that the driveshaft bolts are weak, and known to sheer off and/or fall out. The dealer, however, cannot find a TSB on this issue, and thus their decision to not warrant the diff continues. I did figure out when the bolt came out though....it dawned on me this afternoon that during spring break, I was moving my car in the driveway when I thought I had just run over a large bolt. Couldn't find it's place...now I know. It was obviously the driveshaft bolt sheering off, not just me running over a random misplaced bolt from one of the other cars. So...I now sit waiting. I've put in a report with GM customer service, unfortunately they cannot do anything until Monday.

All that being said...who has had this happen and does anyone have a TSB for the driveshaft bolts?

:help::help::help::help:

I have seen posts somewhere of how lowering your car has caused issues with rear end.

Lowering the car cannot and will not have any effect on the rear differential. The body height is not a determining factor of the driveline angle. Solid mounted differential, solid mounted transmission. Not possible that one causes the other.

No and no.

Lowering your car DOES have an effect on your rear diff.

When you lower the car you are changing your wheel drive shaft angles and your suspension angles, now the suspension angle numbers may be/seem OK when they do the alignment, but they have changed from what GM designed them to be from factory and will obviously have an effect on something, good or bad, it all comes down to who and what is looking at your situation. Now as for your drive shaft angles how much this affects the rear diff might be minimal but it DOES/CAN affect the rear diff, I know the diff didn't move, the transmission didn't move but that's not the point, the point is your lowered the car and SOMETHING changed, did it affect the car diff in your case, who knows.

As for the TSB about the drive shaft bolts sheering, I just went onto my GM global connect account and browsed through all the TSB for the Camaro and did not find anything, it might be a TSB for the US Camaro's but i did not find anything regarding the issue in Canada.

No and no!

Perhaps you are misunderstanding.

By lowering the car, I have changed the angle of the CV shafts, not the "torque tube" driveshaft that goes from the transmission to differential. Lowering springs have nothing to do with the trans to diff connection, only the diff to tires (CV axles). Those haven't created the problem. The problem is sourced to driveshaft bolts becoming loose, sheering off, and the movement of the driveshaft has trashed the diffs internals.