Took my 06 to the dealer yesterday to have the rear diff fluid changed (the dreaded chatter problem). Dealer didn’t have correct oil can you come back tomorrow? Yes, I’ll see you in the morning. Get there at 8:30 this morning. At 10:00 my car is still sitting, told service writer I had an 11:30 meeting, not a problem will be done in an hour. At 10:30 service writer finds me and says let me show you something. We walk out, he shows me the fill plug they can’t get out because it’s too tight .Tech tells me a lot of them come thru too tight and we destroy them taking them out. I get a rental car and service writer says he’ll call later. About 2:30 I get a call my car is done. Dropped off rental and picked up mine. Receipt shows some fluid, labor and a plug (89059038) all warranty. So a job listed as .6 hrs in the TSB, it took 2 trips and 6+ hours to complete. But I did get to drive a G6 Pontiac with 12k miles today!

 

Aren't you Lucky

 

Seems that someone's computerized torque wrench on the assembly line has an error and runs that sucker in too tight. This stuff is not done by hand any more to try to eliminate too loose or too tight fastening.

 

I haven't worked on any car where I didn't find something that wasn't put on too tight...it's the nature of the beast. It sounds like the dealership did their best...short term loaner car and all.

 

MINE WAS THE SAME WAY. getrag the manufacturer installs the plug at their factory. like to never got mine out.................

 

I'm very happy with the dealers response (other than not having the right oil),
Did not expect a rental car.

 

 

Did mine a couple of weeks ago at my friend's shop.

Removed the drain plug with no problem. The autoparts store down the street had the correct fluid in stock too.

What does that say when a GM Dealership doesn't even stock what they need to do common jobs.

I know I could have had it done free under warrantee but the piece of mind knowing it was done right................................... ...priceless.

 

The day after I got my car I tried and moved all the drain/fill plugs, just ot make sure everything was full and the plugs would move when I wanted them to.

That plug should have ben removed before you got that car as the dealer got the car ready to go, just to amke sure it was full, but none of them do it.

When I checked my new truck it was low by 4 pints, and then later I saw a TSB about bad rears on those trucks, caused by low fluid levels.

 

That's the guy that put my filter on.
LJ

 

This reminds me of a carpenter I once employed whose approach was that if one nail was good, six nails are better. Same logic as "run 'er down tight, boy."

 

I checked the torque on my wheel nuts the day after I bought my car. Roughly half were loose by a half turn. I'll be checking my trans and diff fluid levels in a week.

 

 

 

Everything considered, you did good.

 

 

 

Funny if it weren't so true. He must have put my filter on as well! My filter was torqued on so tight from the factory that it actually had a twist indentation through it--that's right, it was twisted in the middle. I had to improvise removing it because neither of my filter wrenches could grasp it On the other hand, the drain plug came off fairly easily.

 

Yea, right, computerized torque wrenches.

Ok, my trip thru Bowling Green was about 1991, but at that time about all I saw was hand tightening or power electric drills to drive screws and small nuts. I don't remember seeing a slip clutch on any power tool. The tire power driver probably did have a torque stick on it, but that was about all I saw.

I lagged behind and talked to one guy on the line. He was putting brake parts on. You know, the parts in the service manual that have all those 'critical' warnings and 'failure to follow these procedures may cause loss of life' warnings. This guy had a line wrench where the head (wrench) part had been cut off and re-welded onto a straight handle a couple of inches longer than you would get on a store bought line wrench and wrapped with some kind of cushioning tape. He was putting the brake lines on the calipers. He just tightened down by hand. No measuring tool at all.

In trying to talk to him, his only comment was how the bosses had cut back on overtime shifts. Not letting anyone make any money. I didn't try to tell him if no one was buying the cars, those 'bosses' sure didn't need to be running overtime making even more of them.

Overall, during this time, I thought the line was very scary. People smoking all over the place, except where they were using flamible adhesives, radios blaring at many workstations, and as I said, hand tools or 'regular' power tools putting things together.

I saw the 'first start' of a car. The car was still in the air, and a guy put his but into the car and plugged an electronic box into the electronics test plug and proceeded to run a few tests. The lights came on and off and he started the car. He put it into gear, an automatic, and of course the tires turned since it was in the air. Did a few other tests or whatever. Then, while the car was probably running at least 800rpm or so, he moved the shift from drive into park. The park powl (sp) screamed as it tried to lock the transmission. I really don't think this was a test, I think the guy was just too lazy to pull his foot into the car and push the brake to stop the rear tire spin, he just jammed it into park.

I've read other peoples description of current visits on the assembly line where they talked about the care taken in building the car. I just hope it's true. From my trip in 1991, there was room for huge improvements in how they put these cars together, and the attitude of the workers.

 

Sorry to read about your experience with the assembly plant. I can assure you a lot has changed in 18 years, a lot.