Anniversary....... August, 2009.... fuse pull month..........

[PQ]

Yup. It's August 1st and it was August last year that the whole episode came to a head. I thought it would be cool to revisit the month of August, 2009 where it concerns the fuse pull.

Here is my story, if you have yours, please post it up.

If it benefited you, please post it up.

Though I don't mind a little technical banter or conversation, I would prefer to keep this thread about experiences of our members and their cars where it has to do with the topic.

GMRULZ was the first person to pull the fuses and report a benefit. Scott noticed it though I read it and overlooked it. Even later found that I had posted in the thread and STILL got passed me. The rest is history.

THANK YOU GMRULZ.......


Ok. I don't think there is a 'Quick' summary for this. But let me try.

See, there was this guy, Sangyup Lee, well he ..................................



Ok, THAT would be the long version..............

I got my car on June 1st 2009 and obviously it was an exciting day. .............. Damn..... still too long..........

I went to visit Scott Sherman (Scott@Bjorne3D) when Bonnie did Stephanies hair. When I pulled up he asked me if I thought the car was slow. He was complaining that hewanted to spin the tires. I did actually think it seemed a tad sluggish but it was still powerful so I said no. Well, I got to thinking about it and decided to time the car. 0-60 mph and see what it would get. Supposed to get 4.7 right? Ok, so I figured, it's an automatic tranny, and barring spinning the tires, I shold be able to get 5.0 or there about.

My first try, (I was taking video of the IP and timing it on the computer) I began reporting my findings. Asking people if they were experiencing the same problems. I got around 6.4 to 6.8 on three runs. W...T...F...???

So, I called Scott and asked him what he thougt. His issue was couldn't spin the tires. So he thought the car was slugish.

Well, I was pretty pissed. I mean, it's an automatic tranny right? Doesn't take Mario freakin' Andretti to make it go straight. So I start asking questions. Right here on Camaro5 and I'm actually starting to get really pissed that people are telling me there is no problem and I just need to learn how to drive it, and the heat and humidity is slowing it down, and my 21 inch wheels are causing it to be slow, and the earths gravitational pull is stronger in Alabama, blah blah blah..................

(and yes, the 'need to learn to drive it' thing lit a fire)

So I time my car again and again and again. I'm averaging around 6.3 or so. I'm getting times as bad as 6.7 and the best was 5.9 on one run, the second best during all of this was 6.1, never a 6.0 but 5.9 was the best. Over all this time I probably timed it over 150 times.

I was pissed. This was 1.6 seconds off the advertised mark of 4.7 seconds. My best time was 1.2 secs off the mark. Then there are a few other guys who join me and Scott with the issue. (It did seem coincidental, or convenient if you were a skeptic, that me and Scott were freinds and the only ones who were bitching) But there were not a lot of cars even built at that point who were on the site here and members were getting cars delivered every day so now there were others. Got REALLY frustrating when guys were telling us there was nothing wrong and we were crazy. REALLY REALLY, frustrating. And even my forum freinds were starting to make excuses for the car. (You know who you are, A-Holes, lol)

I continued to throw a fit, and Scott was sending messages to some GM people that he knew. I even took my car to the dealer about 5 different times to have them look at it. They got really sick of me coming in and I could see the look of disgust on their faces when I'd show up. At one point, one of the guys in the shop said "Sir, if you wanted a Corvette, you should have bought one" I was nearing the end of my rope. And I was about to get myself in trouble on camaro5 because I was about to go super duper 'OFF' on the boards.

I was instructed by one of the GM employees here on the boards to open up a TAC. Scott had already istructed us to open one. That is a Technical Assistance Case. Fbodfather also told me to open a TAC. Well, I did so. Just as Scott had done a while before and got nowhere. But I did it. I had to eliminate any excuses they could have come back on me with. No way was I gonna here, "Sir, if you had done a TAC you woud have been fixed", no way. So I opened the case. KNOWING it would do no good. But Fbodfather advised me that without it, there would be no record of my complaint and case in the GM database.

All the while the few others on here (and I mean VERY few) were still having a problem too, and it seemed as if they were leaning on me to find us some help. It is extremely frustrating to Experience and verify the problem and still get doubters. In fact I got in several argument with a few guys that were basically telling me to shut up and quit bitching about it. I was closer and closer to a sploshun.

Now, at this point in time, Scott had gotten the GM engineers to bring a Camaro down to test against, and check out, Scotts car. They spent the whole day timing, testing, figuring, etc...... And when they left, Scott called me and with the great news that his car had just done 0-60 mph in 5.1 seconds. SAWEEEEEETTTTTTT right? That's right on for the heat and humidity, so it's all good. It's finaly done right?........ Not so fast.

Wait..............That didn't help the rest of us.

WTF??? - A week went by....... Then two.......... Then 3.... No update.

I'm now making small anti GM tid-bits in various places on the forums, and it's obvious I'm gonna explode at any time. Like the begging blasts of a volcano, in the weeks and months before the big eruption.

Well, I get a PM from GTAHVIT. He says he wants to talk to me. Gives me his phone number. So I call him later that evening. I'm thinking he may want to tell me to cool it or just try to help in whatever way.
I'm HOPING that he has some info for me. It was the first two basically. He says he can see I'm frustrated and assure me that I was not alone. I think if nothing else, he wanted to let me know that there were those who believe us. (Ya, I may have been feeling a little like Fox Mulder) That there is a problem and just kinda calm me down a bit. This was the first time me and him ever spoke verbaly. And it worked. I had calmed down for the moment. Reluctantly, and ONLY out of respect for my new freind. But, I'm still steaming.

So then................. I get the call about my TAC.


And just at the point where I was so amped up pissed that I didn't even want to LOOK at this slow 'peice of crap' car. Much less drive it. Boiling and boiling. Phone rings. GM engineering division (or something like that) and the voice on the other end of the line sounded very pleasing and excited, she said "Sir, I'm happy to inform you that we are finished with your technical assistance case. We reviewed the diagnostic information on your Camaro and are glad to say that we found///// (I wish I could see the change in my face from this very moment of the phone call , to just after her next words were spoken because I was sure that Scotts car and what the engineers learned would be the good news)/////your car is running perfectly normal and there is nothing wrong with the car" ............................. ................................... Uh,,,,, excuse me. I must have heard you wrong. See, I'm Randall PeQueen, and it's the TAC with the 2010 black Camaro. .... "Yes, sir. There is nothing wrong with your car."............... ......Then why is it slow. I'm not getting the acceleration it's supposed to get. There is something wrong with my car dammit. Why don't you guys have someone drive it? You'll see that it's a second and a half slow. ......................... 'Sir, we don't drag test passenger vehicles'........................ ................... THEN WHY DO YOU USE DRAG TIMES WHEN ADVERTIZING THEM??????? And what the ***k happened to the engineers findings on the L99 in Eufala, AL? :upset:


Basically, she finaly just said "Sir, I'm sorry you are upset but your TAC is closed and your car is runing fine".

Now...........I'm ............ livid...........




I had typed up a big post and was saving it for 'The last straw' and actually still have it saved. Read it the other day. It was pretty good I must say, but I never got the chance to post it. But I was at my wits end. I had already sent an e-mail to someone at GM who I won't name here. Someone I met through the forum here after I got to know everyone. I basicaly told them what was in my post I wanted to post and this person said that they would have their team get my TAC and personaly take a look at it. He asked if I could give him some time and he'd get back to me. After the really crappy e-mail I'd just sent to him, I felt I could give him some time. So I was gonna wait for a response and was ready to drive my car to the dealer and park it front of the door and leave it.


But


Something happened.


Something that has to be told and heard.


On August 11th, member GMRULZ made a thread about pulling his PCM fuses just after a few Dyno runs and gained HP by doing so. I even posted in the thread. I overlooked it. It was only 8 HP, so I overlooked what he'd done.

So Scott calls me up one Sunday morning and says, hey, pull the 5 and 20 fuses out of your car and wait a while and put them back in. I asked why. He said he read a thread where GMRULZ had done it while on the dyno and gained HP.

NO!!!!!! I say. I'm done fooling around with this car. He insists that I do it. So I do it. I pulled those two fuses and went about doing the work around the house that I was already doing. I get a call about 3 hours later, It's Scott. He asks me what happened. I said, nothing, I haven't put them back in yet. So I say, I'll call you back.

I put the fuses in, close the lid, shut the trunk, open my driver door, put the key in it, turn the key............................................... ......wait a minute................... did...... that ......sound differe............ am I just........... I could swear that jus.................

I didn't even go in the house and tell Bonnie I was leaving. I just got in and went straight to where I do my 1/4 mile times at.

*Keep in mind, that earlier I told you, in the nearly 3 months I had this car my best time was 5.9 and my average was around 6.3 seconds.*

I stage up. Set my timer. Cross my fingers. GO!!!!!!!!!!! OMMFG!!!!!!!!!! It felt much better. (I SPUN THE TIRES. ) Not so much that I would take a bullet having to guess if it really was better or not, but better. The clock would tell me. So I get up to around 110 mph, back it down, and as I'm turning around, I pick up the timer............................... scared to look...........................

5.1 0-60 mph
13.26 Quarter Mile

My previous best 1/4 mile time was 13.9 and I was averaging about 14.1 so I was amazed.

Could this really be true. My heart was pumping and I wanted to call someone. BUT.......... I had to make sure. So I set up and ran again. I was so excited I was almost shaking. My tires were squeeling for the first time in 3 months. I'd listened to all the 'The tires are made to hook up to the road, and that's why they don't spin' talk on the boards from the talking heads. I had just done a burnout AND got 5.1 secs 0-60.

So I set up to go again. Set the timer, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!! WooooooHoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get to the end, ...............

4.9 0-60 mph
13.39 Quarter Mile

Ya, I know the 0-60 was faster and the quarter was slower. Maybe a Dynolicous glitch, but the timer was ALWAYS acurate against it's self so I knew I was a full second faster.

Then I verified it by taking video and comparing it against the timer.

So I call Scott first to tell him. Scott is pretty happy for me. I mean, I had tried the battery pull the night after we left their house and I got home. It didn't change anything but the radio and windows reset. So I never thought about it. But my car was fast now.

I called Chris and told him and he was obviously happy. (To this day he regrets not getting an L99) (Ok, maybe not)

So I post up my findings after I shoot the video in this thread and the fuse pull is blown out of the water. Everyone starts pulling their fuses. And benefitting. To this point, every car out there is still an early car so EVERY automatic is effected if they had any low octane gas in it.

I got so many PMs after that to tell me thank you it was unreal. I always replied to make sure they thank GMRULZ for posting it first. And Scott for noticing it and calling me and telling me....... no..... MAKING me do it.

But the most satisfying PM of all was a member who had sent me a time slip from North Carolina of him running a 13.8 quarter mile and telling me to shit the hell up and learn how to drive my car. Talked about the 21" wheels on my car, heat and humidity and how my times weren't even at an official track. He was tired of reading about my whinny ass slow car problem that he didn't belive existed. THAT guy sent me a time slip that read 12.9? can't remember the hundredth, but didn't matter, he sent it to me and just said "Sorry sir" with one of these.

Many people were benefitting. L99s mainly.

So there's a breif summary of the fuse pull from my perspective.

It was about a week later that my dealer called me. She had heard my car was fixed and asked me what I did to fix it. Said she had just got a TSB about it. I told her about the fuses and she said, well that's basically what we were gonna do so just keep an eye on it.

That was the last I have even dealt with it since then. My car has been running fine. Well,,,,,, as far as this goes anyway.

[1camaro70]

the Fuse Pull is the only reason I decided to keep my car, otherwise it would have been sold.

[Inspector 17]

The short of it is if you would have bought the manual (like a real man) you wouldn't have had that problem.

[v6sonoma]

Ahh memories.... lol I remember reading your posts and saying to myself "Thank god I ordered the manual!" lol Then we had the episode of Tremec output shafts self destructing! (I still have yet to try launch control)

[PieNsky]

I can't believe you didn't post anything about Bonnie's car or the girl at work's Mustang.
BTW, I never read your posts
Oh yeah, it was the dry heat affecting it wasn't it?

[RipperFox]

I am still new here, and no I dont even have my car yet. But i am trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can about my coming car. I am averaging 72 hours a week at work so I can pay for my new girl. So I dont have a huge amount of time to search and read everything I wish I could. So....the question is...

does the fuse pull have any warranty implications?

I know, search is your friend, and all that crap....I dont have enough hours to sleep, let alone search and read for hours.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by RipperFox

I am still new here, and no I dont even have my car yet. But i am trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can about my coming car. I am averaging 72 hours a week at work so I can pay for my new girl. So I dont have a huge amount of time to search and read everything I wish I could. So....the question is...

does the fuse pull have any warranty implications?

I know, search is your friend, and all that crap....I dont have enough hours to sleep, let alone search and read for hours.

Does not affect warranty at all.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by PQ

...snoorrrrrre......

Have you ever written a book?
JK, very good recap. You guys played a big part in that saga.

I remember all that....I remember distinctly that I tried to stay out of it...see what happens. (Frankly, I didn't know what to think.) But I was VERY happy to see it get resolved...for you, and everyone else. The Camaro experience should be a positive one.

and I was tired of reading all your whiny posts........

**runs away**

[Jimbabwe]

Does anyone know it there was a fix from GM during the production year?

[PQ]

Originally Posted by 1camaro70

the Fuse Pull is the only reason I decided to keep my car, otherwise it would have been sold.

Originally Posted by camaropete

The short of it is if you would have bought the manual (like a real man) you wouldn't have had that problem.

Originally Posted by v6sonoma

Ahh memories.... lol I remember reading your posts and saying to myself "Thank god I ordered the manual!" lol Then we had the episode of Tremec output shafts self destructing! (I still have yet to try launch control)

Originally Posted by PieNsky

I can't believe you didn't post anything about Bonnie's car or the girl at work's Mustang.

I'm still looking for the Yellow GT that beat me at the light that one night. lol
BTW, I never read your posts
Oh yeah, it was the dry heat affecting it wasn't it?

Thought about those. But was already getting long. lol

Originally Posted by RipperFox

I am still new here, and no I dont even have my car yet. But i am trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can about my coming car. I am averaging 72 hours a week at work so I can pay for my new girl. So I dont have a huge amount of time to search and read everything I wish I could. So....the question is...

does the fuse pull have any warranty implications?

I know, search is your friend, and all that crap....I dont have enough hours to sleep, let alone search and read for hours.

No, warranty inplications, and if you are buying a new one now you will not have to worry about it. The GM team at the Fest in April confirmed to me that it has been taken care of on all cars built after I believe November 2009.

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Have you ever written a book?
JK, very good recap. You guys played a big part in that saga.

I remember all that....I remember distinctly that I tried to stay out of it...see what happens. (Frankly, I didn't know what to think.) But I was VERY happy to see it get resolved...for you, and everyone else. The Camaro experience should be a positive one.

and I was tired of reading all your whiny posts........

**runs away**

Believe me, I was getting tired of posting them. lol

Cheers to the GM team for taking care of the problem. I just wish we could get a final word on it. As of now, I don't know if there is a permanent fix for us early guys.

Originally Posted by Jimbabwe

Does anyone know it there was a fix from GM during the production year?

Yes. Read my response to the other member above.

[Bonemaro]

Originally Posted by v6sonoma

Ahh memories.... lol I remember reading your posts and saying to myself "Thank god I ordered the manual!" lol Then we had the episode of Tremec output shafts self destructing! (I still have yet to try launch control)

Come to think of it i never did the launch control either. So much speculation going on with these 2 issues. These should go down in C5 lore. I do have the LS3 and did do the fuse pull, and did notice a positive change. Bought mine last June, wow time flies.

All in all glad you got your issue resolved PQ

[1camaro70]

Originally Posted by camaropete

The short of it is if you would have bought the manual (like a real man) you wouldn't have had that problem.

Well I drove manuals for 25 years before my first automatic and now 18 years with automatics, never going back to manauls unless I buy a TOY, like a ZR1.

Chevrolet only made Impalla SS in 94 and 95 as automatics, so my 94 had to be automatic, and my 76 Monza Spyder had a POS clutch as did my 83 S-10, never to buy a GM manual after those losers.

[mlee]

Pretty sure this was all just a figment of your imagination...

I'll need some proof sir...










:emoticon7:

[x626xBlack]

I have a 2011 2SS L99..... Did some handy work at my wife's store this weekend and decided to pull the fuses while I did the work (45 mins)... After I put them back in and drove around for 20-30 minutes I had to go back to look for manure in the parking lot. There is no way someone snuck those horses under my hood with out leaving a little evidence.

And yes it even SOUNDS different. No I do not have before and after Dyno's or track times. I know how my car.... how it sounds and feels. There is definitely a difference.