Transmision Output Shaft: Solution for GM

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

GM is aware and is working on this problem. Frankly, there's really not much more attention that can be attracted to this. The highest of officials on the matter knows we're asking for answers...And we will all have some sort of a statement on it, soon...I ask for patience in the meantime.

Thanks Dragoneye for making an appearance in this thread. You said, "There is not much more attention that can be attracted to this" To every body's credit and involvement, it has been one day's worth of people commenting so far in this thread, a few weeks worth in the other few combined, and four months in between the last comment about this issue from Fbodfather/GM. I would like GM to comment on my solution I pose in this thread as it would be an easy and quick solution that would solve all the problems and perhaps save a life or lives. An extended warranty on this issue beyond the original warranty would be nice, however I don't think it goes far enough because it is a safety issue as well. That is why I pose the solution I do in the first post where GM has us all take our cars in for a systematic replacement of the shafts so they can recycle the metal and or send it back to Tremec for recycling and testing for re-use. Yes it would be expensive, however if it saves a families lives and avoids a multi-million dollar law-suit which would lead to the same conclusions needed to be done...Then it would be far more costly to gamble on our lives..

I recommend each of us Camaro owners who stumble upon this thread to continue to post their vin's and their concerns over this issue. I have been patient on this issue as I was lead to believe i would get a phone call from GM months ago. I still am patient even though this call to action may seem like I am not. If we got some more answers from GM as to what they are doing to solve this problem, it would calm the issue down however after that something needs to be done if not it was all for nothing and just words.

Thanks for all who have contributed today.

And Happy Thanksgiving

P.S. I'm not saying Gm is doing the same thing as Toyota here since they have acknowledged the problem already instead of denying outright as Toyota did. However it took a few deaths and lawsuits to force them to resolve this issue that has gone on for years. How easy would it have been for Toyota to do a recall and replacement years ago..It would have saved lives and they would have only lost a fraction of the money not to mention the bad publicity to them..
http://jalopnik.com/5412585/toyota-t...yline=true&s=x

[JM10]

Since GM might have problems finding the "bad" output shafts using the VIN numbers, is there a way that they can verify that everything is fine during a regular service at the dealership?

Maybe by doing something like this process:
-We take the car to dealership (oil change)
-Dealership input the vin
-If VIN<25,000 and LS3 a message will appear saying to check trans
-If everything is fine, just include it in the report (so we can now)
-If something is wrong change it FREE OF CHARGE

By doing this GM will not have more "bad publicity", owners will feel safe and It shouldnt cost too much since they only replacing the ones with problems.

just my 2 cents...

JM

[metalaxe]

Definitely concerned here! SS 6spd Manual VIN#2G1FT1EW0A9121020

Supermans...... Thanks for doing this for all of us. Much appreciated!

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by JM10

Since GM might have problems finding the "bad" output shafts using the VIN numbers, is there a way that they can verify that everything is fine during a regular service at the dealership?

Maybe by doing something like this process:
-We take the car to dealership (oil change)
-Dealership input the vin
-If VIN<25,000 and LS3 a message will appear saying to check trans
-If everything is fine, just include it in the report (so we can now)
-If something is wrong change it FREE OF CHARGE

By doing this GM will not have more "bad publicity", owners will feel safe and It shouldnt cost too much since they only replacing the ones with problems.

just my 2 cents...

JM

While my Camaro was at the dealer for the HVAC update and bolt tightening, I asked the mechanic to take a look at the trans which he did. He mentioned that a friend of his had replaced one in another dealer and told him about the experience. However without knowing exactly what to look for, I doubt he would have been able to spot metalurgy issues which have yet to appear. If a crack or fissure occurs at some point before it snaps, then it would be possible for an early visible detection. Camarospike23 did say it has happened at the same spot every time which probably means the problem occured on one machine that was forging the metal together before the machining process.

Forging temperature is a temperature at which a metal becomes soft like clay or its shape can be changed by applying a relatively small force without creating cracks in metal.

I assume GM has worked with Tremec's shaft supplier to figure out which machine and got it fixed or replaced so this wouldn't happen again. The amount of machines used by this company would determine the percentage of shafts that are potentially forged wrongly (assuming only one machine has a problem) so GM could figure out how many Camaro's are affected and so forth. I'm guessing we will never find out any of this information but it would make sense if this were the case..

[3 SS's]

ttt

[Supermans]

Dragoneye,

Please sticky this thread since you remember that camarospike23 was saying his thread would be stickied however he is no longer posting about this issue while I am continuing the data gathering of concerned Camaro owners. They need to see this this thread, and they will not if it is buried deep down.... Help us out a bit here.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Supermans

Dragoneye,

Please sticky this thread since you remember that camarospike23 was saying his thread would be stickied however he is no longer posting about this issue while I am continuing the data gathering of concerned Camaro owners. They need to see this this thread, and they will not if it is buried deep down.... Help us out a bit here.

I assure you I am helping...perhaps more than you think.

To comment on one other thing...if GM even had a quarter of a thought that this was a serious safety concern -- there would have been an immediate recall notice or likewise. As it is, there is the drive-shaft bracket under there to keep the thing from falling and causing harm. Nobody's life is at risk...just some clean underwear if it happens.

They know. Sticking won't make this situation any more known, so therefore; I'd rather not clutter the sticky portion of this section.
Please trust me on this.

[fireresq157]

I'm concerned my vin falls in the range . My main thing is I keep my cars for a long time . So what will happen the day after my warranty runs out and it breaks , does GM really feel that was normal wear and tear? GM administration will turn the company around but they are going to need to take ownership of defects flaws and short comings of their vehicles to get the peoples trust back.

[camaro5]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

I assure you I am helping...perhaps more than you think.

To comment on one other thing..if GM even had a quarter of a thought that this was a serious safety concern -- there would have been an immediate recall notice or likewise. As it is, there is the drive-shaft bracket under there to keep the thing from falling and causing harm. Nobody's life is at risk...just some clean underwear if it happens.

Sudden drivetrain failure is a safety issue. That's why NHTSA is investigating Ford minivans, and probably the Camaro SS M6, soon.

We're not worried about fragments flying.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating hundreds of reports that 2004-2005 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans are

fitted with defective transmissions that could dangerously fail without warning.

Most alarming is that many of the transmissions reportedly fail at highway speeds. In a common complaint, the engine will suddenly surge and then all power is immediately lost.

The vehicle is forced to coast powerlessly to a safe spot out of the flow of traffic.

Angry owners have flooded message boards to report incidents of transmission failures which leave them stranded and stuck with $3,500 repair bills.

To date, there have been 654 customer complaints and 2,791 warranty claims. However, according to NHTSA, as many as 205,000 vehicles may be affected. The investigation, expected to take a year, will focus on the torque converter output shaft which drives the wheels. Ford Motor Co. has not yet released an official statement regarding the investigation.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/24/n...erey-transmis/

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

I assure you I am helping...perhaps more than you think.

To comment on one other thing...if GM even had a quarter of a thought that this was a serious safety concern -- there would have been an immediate recall notice or likewise. As it is, there is the drive-shaft bracket under there to keep the thing from falling and causing harm. Nobody's life is at risk...just some clean underwear if it happens.

They know. Sticking won't make this situation any more known, so therefore; I'd rather not clutter the sticky portion of this section.
Please trust me on this.

If you are new to this thread, please read the first post as it explains what the purpose is how you can help.

Dragoneye,
Thank you again for joining this thread. I just have one question for you. Is Gm thinking this is not a "serious safety concern" the official GM stance as well as yours, because I would like to hear it from them?

You'd rather not "clutter the sticky"? I hardly think giving this a sticky would clutter it at all. If you want to help us out, then sticky this and support my attempt to get something done that has yet to be done which is to gather concerned Camaro owners into one thread. I don't doubt that you are helping behind the scenes, however in the meantime we have waited long enough without answers. You have a sticky saying that Camaro5 is on facebook and twitter which has 20 replies and 522 views. I feel this is just as important an issue as that to make aware to forum members who bought Camaro's as early adopters and have their support in this to get a solution from GM.

Your reasoning for not wanting to sticky this is perhaps you assume most Camaro owners already know about this issue that bought a Camaro M6 and the main reason is not to "clutter" the sticky area. However as far as I know, nobody has received a call or gotten any warning from GM about a potential total drive train failure of any kind to its customers so I would not assume the majority know. I want to get awareness of this issue out and see no other way to do it at this point since GM has failed to do so on their own.

The point of making a sticky out of this thread is to show GM how those people that do happen to read about this issue are worried and would like to know what is going on. The more people that sign on here the better for all of us as it will get GM to act more quickly on our behalf.

I may have to take the next step and file with the NHTSA so they get involved as they already have done with the Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey. And I would encourage everyone here to also do the same since apparently it takes 4 to 5 years for even them to do anything about this. At least we can start the ball rolling as early as possible about this.

So if your take on this "not being a safety" issue is GM's official stance, I want to hear it from GM. If not, then it's meaningless words since you do not work for GM and they would not be held accountable for your statements if an accident does occur because of this that causes injury or death. Which is precisely why I don't believe we will ever hear them say it isn't a safety issue officially. Also if the NHTSA is already acknowledging that in a minivan with a similar issue is a safety concern, why would they say anything different about a high horse power muscle car that can fail?

So I ask you again to sticky this thread until we get an answer from GM about this then unsticky it as it would have done its job. I don't think that is too much to ask and I'm quite sure all of us who have posted in here concerned would agree with me. If you are concerned about your Camaro then you can join in and post your VIN as we have. Remember this thread is two days old now with lots of views and posts. Give it a few weeks stickied and see how many concerned owners we get in here with their vins. I'm positive it will be a higher number as more would see it.

[HzMajesty]

vin... 00795

this is

[flyby]

I agree with Supermans, people that join this forum seem mostly to have already purchased Camaros this is an issue that people who own Camaros will be interested in finding out about. It could also bring a little more indirect pressure on a government controlled entity to make something happen. I say sticky it!!!!!!!

[FirstLSK]

My vin is under 25K and I am concerned about this issue.


.

[Speedfreak]

Originally Posted by Supermans

While my Camaro was at the dealer for the HVAC update and bolt tightening, I asked the mechanic to take a look at the trans which he did. He mentioned that a friend of his had replaced one in another dealer and told him about the experience. However without knowing exactly what to look for, I doubt he would have been able to spot metalurgy issues which have yet to appear. If a crack or fissure occurs at some point before it snaps, then it would be possible for an early visible detection. Camarospike23 did say it has happened at the same spot every time which probably means the problem occured on one machine that was forging the metal together before the machining process.

Forging temperature is a temperature at which a metal becomes soft like clay or its shape can be changed by applying a relatively small force without creating cracks in metal.

I assume GM has worked with Tremec's shaft supplier to figure out which machine and got it fixed or replaced so this wouldn't happen again. The amount of machines used by this company would determine the percentage of shafts that are potentially forged wrongly (assuming only one machine has a problem) so GM could figure out how many Camaro's are affected and so forth. I'm guessing we will never find out any of this information but it would make sense if this were the case..

Great QC by the shaft supplier and Tremec