[jblackburn]

I'm not sure if this should go under service issues or powertrain. It was a horrible experience on both counts. But hey, you've now got a long rant from a moderator!

As some of you may remember, I've been fighting with this car since ~40,000 miles with an intermittently-knocking flywheel. I have made a number of dealer trips and wasted many hours of my time.

Videos here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKYkN_ezqAU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FQjZWAEkng

That gradually got worse, and was replaced around 2 months ago when the entire car began to shake at times and I was finally able to duplicate the noise for the dealer.

Flywheel was changed after a few days, and the car was given back to me with a leaky axle seal and still rattling, albeit a different rattle this time, but still quite obvious once the car was warmed up.

After driving it for about a week, it was back to the shop (which, by the way, is 45 minutes away - the only one that has hours that really work for me, and that I can get it into and actually talk to someone.

They put me in a 2016 Cruze loaner for about 3 weeks in all, which was about the only positive part of my experience. After stalling for a few days trying to duplicate the noise first for the foreman, then the transmission tech, and then consulting with GM, they finally decided to replace the flywheel (again), as well as the entire transmission under warranty. I also asked them to install a pressure plate and new clutch disc at my own expense while they were in there.

When I got the car back, once again I knew something was off right away. The engine was whistling to itself there at idle, and I smelled oil burning. Without ever leaving the dealer lot, I pulled back into the service bay. I suspected a leaky valve cover again (this one lasted a whole 10,000 miles). The foreman was pulled into the case again, and I was put back into the same rental car while they diagnosed and ordered parts. In the end, they replaced the valve cover and repaired "a gasket" leaking (I have no idea which one, and neither does the service advisor) Another couple hours of my time wasted.

I finally got the car back Friday, and I am happy to report that the new transmission/clutch/flywheel drives very well, and I no longer have a vacuum/massive oil leak (and still can't figure out how that was missed - there was oil all over the back of the motor). This time the shop foreman personally drove the car to make sure everything was in working order after I gave him an earful about the mechanics not checking their work and wasting my time to come all the way across town in heavy traffic. I put about 600 miles on it this weekend, some of it in heavy traffic, and it seems to be driving well.

While I absolutely loved the new Cruze and was impressed with it in many ways compared to mine and other cars that I've driven, I think that between the dealer network in my area (I have been to 4 in my area and have yet to have a very positive experience with one) and the myriad of issues I've had with this car, I would have a VERY hard time staying with GM in the future. A freaking transmission should definitely last more than 52,000 miles. Thank goodness this car came with a good powertrain warranty.

Shiny new transmission

 

[sparkman]

I would have a VERY hard time staying with GM in the future. A freaking transmission should definitely last more than 52,000 miles. Thank goodness this car came with a good powertrain warranty.

Exactly. I'm in the same boat bud. Love/hate relationship with this car.

I think the main reason people are getting PO'd is their dealer experience. Take Terryk2003 for example, his rebuild job by his dealer was CRAP. Take my car for example, I had mine rebuilt and it still has the same issue. I was told to drive it till it blows up! Look at BrandoFisher, his dealer is giving him the runaround as well. If I remember correctly, joshuab had a crappy dealer experience as well. And these users are just off the top of my head...

Glad your car is fixed, the shiny transmission looks great! You plan on keeping the car still?

 

[MP81]

A freaking transmission should definitely last more than 52,000 miles. Thank goodness this car came with a good powertrain warranty.

I'd blame the transmission manufacturer (which I believe is Getrag), rather than GM.

As for your service experience...that's another story...

 

[jblackburn]

You plan on keeping the car still?

I am undecided. Love/hate relationship like you said. If any big issues come up in the next few months, it's getting sold immediately. Or left in a ditch and set on fire, either one works.

This year alone, it has been transmission issues, a dead throttle body, a water pump in the middle of a trip, and fighting with the dealer to replace the intake manifold for the missing check valve. My parents have owned their Accord TEN YEARS and not a single thing has ever broken.

I don't mind working on my own car, but major expense stuff like that isn't something I should have to go into with a car this new. And I do like driving the little thing.

I would really consider a new Cruze (it feels like it's a very well built and designed car), or possibly a Malibu. I would like to hope that my past couple experiences with this dealer and becoming personally acquainted with the shop foreman and manager would lead to better quality of work and experiences for me and other customers in the future, but I just don't know. My experience with Toyota dealers around my area has not been very positive, either. They do shoddy workmanship and don't check their work. The Toyota was picked up after a timing chain replacement with the check engine light on and idling like a tractor. Really?

I'd blame the transmission manufacturer (which I believe is Getrag), rather than GM.

I'm sure the flywheel itself (not sure if that's a GM design itself?) was actually to blame for the input shaft bearing failing, but several others here have had internal bearing failures that result in a loud whine. Either way, both manufacturers have been making transmissions for many, many years. Stop building crap.

 

[Tomko]

Curious to know if it is a new transmission or a SRTA. Also curious what the customer pay would have been.

 

[jblackburn]

M32 transmission saga finally over

Curious to know if it is a new transmission or a SRTA. Also curious what the customer pay would have been.

This one is new. That's what took them so long to get one. M32s are on "national backorder". It looks to be an updated design which has no level port like mind had, and is supposed to have "beefier bearings" according to the transmission tech.

Bill - dunno - didn't see the paperwork on that; just the parts replaced. Probably well over $2000 at dealer rates.

 

[beaurrr]

Help me understand...Was it the flywheel or the transmission? Or did a faulty flywheel cause the transmission to fail? It kind of sounds like the latter but it's hard to tell.

 

[jblackburn]

M32 transmission saga finally over

Help me understand...Was it the flywheel or the transmission? Or did a faulty flywheel cause the transmission to fail? It kind of sounds like the latter but it's hard to tell.

Initially JUST the flywheel. However, it was extremely intermittent when it would jam and make knocking noises. 95% of the time it worked as it should. It would normally show up after a long highway trip or when the motor had been under a heavy load, like a mountain trip.

It became very bad about a month or two ago - knocking more consistently at idle and at one point on a trip, it began to shake the whole car at idle, and then I noticed that it subsided somewhat when the clutch was pushed in. I took it in the next day, making the noise and left it idling for them. (Of course, it wasn't doing it when they got someone to look at it, so I had to go out and duplicate for them).

Anyway, I believe that massive amount of shaking did a number on the input shaft bearing for the transmission.

 

[beaurrr]

I can totally see how a bad flywheel can hose the transmission over time.

 

[Tomko]

Curious to know if you ever changed the transmission oil?

 

[IndyDiesel]

I'd blame the transmission manufacturer (which I believe is Getrag), rather than GM.

As for your service experience...that's another story...

there are multiple folks at fault, first the manufacturer and then the dealer, giving a car back only to have issues before you leave the lot is careless and just plain sloppy by the dealer, why would anyone want an experience like that? Doesn't the tech drive the car prior to releasing it?

 

[jblackburn]

Curious to know if you ever changed the transmission oil?

Twice. Switched to Amsoil Synchromesh for a few months, then 75w-90 because I wasn't happy with it. Night and day difference.

Haven't yet driven it hard enough to test the 2nd gear grind, but the new one is shifting ok on the GM fluid, and I will probably leave it in there until it doesn't.

Wouldn't have anything to do with the flywheel failure though.

 

[jblackburn]

I'd blame the transmission manufacturer (which I believe is Getrag), rather than GM.

As for your service experience...that's another story...

there are multiple folks at fault, first the manufacturer and then the dealer, giving a car back only to have issues before you leave the lot is careless and just plain sloppy by the dealer, why would anyone want an experience like that? Doesn't the tech drive the car prior to releasing it?

If he'd even started the engine the last time, this was pretty blatantly obvious.

 

[jblackburn]

Update. About 500 miles on the car since, I now have a creak and sort of a 'pop' feeling when taking off from a dead stop.

If you hear about a Virginia man crashing a Chevy through a dealer service bay, it was probably me.

Transmission guy with "30 years of experience", my butt.

 

[sparkman]

Update. About 500 miles on the car since, I now have a creak and sort of a 'pop' feeling when taking off from a dead stop.

If you hear about a Virginia man crashing a Chevy through a dealer service bay, it was probably me.

Transmission guy with "30 years of experience", my butt.

:lol: Dude I won't blame you if you did. I'd be right behind you in mine too.

 

[jblackburn]

Bad transmission mount; undertorqued or something.

Hopefully THIS is the end of the story. Drives fine now.

 

[jblackburn]

Update:

Still rattling. Thinking throw-out bearing...only part not replaced, and rattles when clutch is out/engaged. Not sure if it's covered under PT warranty, but if they'd told me it needed to be replaced while they were in there, well, I wouldn't still be in this situation...

GM Customer Care got a long, detailed email. This will be the 5th time it has gone into the dealer for this/dealer screwups related to this.

This has greatly soured me to the GM dealer experience/brand.

 

[MP81]

Update:

Still rattling. Thinking throw-out bearing...only part not replaced, and rattles when clutch is out/engaged. Not sure if it's covered under PT warranty, but if they'd told me it needed to be replaced while they were in there, well, I wouldn't still be in this situation...

GM Customer Care got a long, detailed email. This will be the 5th time it has gone into the dealer for this/dealer screwups related to this.

This has greatly soured me to the GM dealer experience/brand.

If they had the trans out, that's just due diligence...

Sounds like an absolutely awful dealer.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

****, what a **** experience. I'd be in exactly the same situation as you if that happened to me. Fortunately, my flywheel issue was resolved effectively and no issues have returned since. It has been 6,500 miles since they replaced my flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate and with 65,500 miles on the car, I'm happy to report that it doesn't have any issues.

It really seems like everything you're going through is the dealer's inability to diagnose and repair your vehicle correctly. Had this been resolved the right way the first time, and everything replaced that needed to be, you'd be happy with your car and would have saved yourself a great deal of headache.

I hope you end up better than I did with the customer service; GM doesn't seem to be so willing to help its loyal customers as they were a year or two ago, let alone their social media advocates. I've owned nothing but GM vehicles my entire life, but that dealer experience I had, where they REFUSED to do warranty work on my vehicle unless I agreed to let them hack up my engine shield, only so they could sell me another one from them at dealer cost (and leave it in the back seat for me), pissed me the **** off and made me take some very hard looks at Honda's latest offerings.

GM, if you're reading this, you screwed up with two social media moderators that have for quite some time supported the community that talks up and brings exposure to your brand and products. This is not how you do business, and you may very well have lost two big customers for life because of how you handled these issues. I did not appreciate my vehicle behind held hostage by GM and practically strong-armed into letting them perform a recall I very specifically did not want done.

 

[sparkman]

Make that another forum member and the rest of his family (3) that will not be buying GM either. After how I was treated with my transmission issue by dealer (but Customer care came to the rescue, but still, they shouldn't have to get involved) and the latest epidemic with my mother's 2015 Tahoe with bad catalytic converters, we are done.

All we owned was GM products as far as I remember. We still are a GM family, but when the company truck is a 2013 Ford and has drove 118k TROUBLE FREE miles, when the rest of our GM fleet can't even make it 10k miles with some major issue, we are seriously thinking on trading it in on something else.

I realize all vehicles have their issues as well, but if the dealer's treated us nicer I would be glad to stay with GM.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk