R&L's C6

It almost seems like it's a way to protect them from lawsuits in case someone gets hurt. Lets them be able to say " we told them if they thought there was a problem to bring it in"

Boomer111

Yes and by the time the problem rears its head it just might be to late for someone.

I enjoy my C6 but I gotta say it is the first car I have ever owned that I have worried so much about things breaking from cheap or poorly designed parts.

I treat it accordingly too, no abuse if possible. Like an egg in a carton.

psp6158

From the wording of the letter, this could explain some of the cars lurching forward I've read about on here..

weathermaker

Well the 05s will be off the list since most/all are over 10 years old. Except anyone that had it done prior to their 10 year anniversary and after Sept. 1, which is impossible.

ruxvette

That's too bad. I don't think about stuff like that when I drive my vette.
As far as recalls/safety issues...my wife's 2 year old Escape has been worse than my 4 year old vette.

Dano523

Short version, the Master cylinder has always had a major problem, being that it can have the end plunger pop off of it.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-pressure.html

So with enough Master cylinders having this problem and needed to be replaced, GM has issued a 10 year TSB to replace the master cylinder if needed, instead of a Class action law suit from people being charged to replace the master cylinder out of warranty for a design flaw to begin with instead.

Also, since the seals in the new master cylinder are designed for dot 4 fluid, the fluid is changed out to Dot 4 from the older Dot 3 that was used before.

Jcbarr25

I feel thou as if they should replace them regardless of malfunction or no. They clearly have identified the parts are faulty. Isn't this somewhat a safety concern? What happens if the clucht is stuck while driving?

Dano523

Yes, no, maybe.

Keep in mind that the Vet was built with product obsolescence from the start.

Being that if nothing ever wore out, you there would be no reason to buy a newer model, or even to have to repair the car to begin with.

So with product obsolescence in mind, warranty parts are designed to last a given amount of time (to at least last through the warranty period) before they need to be replaced.

Case and point of this, take the NPP Vacuum solenoid, which the system was designed for it to be powder up to work to hold the muffler gates closed, instead of the other way around with it only needing power to close the open for brief periods instead (and it lasting decades longer instead).

And no, it not just GM, and product obsolescence goes well back to first light bulbs, with the times before fail was well over 3K hours and higher, and was pulled back to the cureent 1K hours so they can sell more light bulbs.

So we know that there is product obsolescence designed in the vet to sell more parts/new models to begin with, but where this does not fly is when such designs involve public safety instead.

So like Toyota design where their fly by wire accelerates could stick wide out to cause crashed, GM now has a problem that they have to deal with, being that the master cylinders can fail at a stop light to engage the clutch , which will cause the car to surge forward in gear.

So now we have to look at the severity of the problem for total amount of wreck cases, how it relates to pubic safety over all, and if such just warrants a TSB, or a full recall instead.

At this point, with the limited amount off cases that has ended in low speed wrecks when the unit did fail at a stop light with the clutch pedal pressed in, GM sees the TSB as the cost effective way of dealing with the problem when the unit does fail, then a total all out recall to replace all the units now that would be greatly more costly instead.

CrvtBB

This approach is one of the reasons my '11 GS will be my last GM vehicle, and I've owned 8 GM cars and trucks over my lifetime so I've been a fairly loyal customer.

I have an '08 Cadillac CTS that has a known timing chain design flaw. It stretches over time and the links are too big. As a result, it can skip on the cam and/or crank sprocket. This obviously messes up the cam-to-crank timing. Many owners experienced this problem in as little as 10K to 20K miles in '08 and '09 CTS and other GM models running the 3.6L V6.

Rather than fix the known problem through a proper recall, they did a recall that just reprograms the ECM to change the oil change interval notification. Then they extended the warranty on these components to 2018 or 120K miles. Well guess what just happened to my CTS at 120,800 miles? Yep - and neither my dealership nor GM will cover any portion of the $3K repair.

Since the car still runs (like crap but still gets me where I need to go), it is only worth $8K, and I was planning on buying a new truck in a year or so anyway, I'm going to save the money to put toward the new truck and just run the CTS until it dies.

Because of the way they handled this issue (and the whole ignition thing for the Cobalt - which I also owned), GM will no longer get anymore of my business. I feel bad for the assembly line workers and other employees who will ultimately suffer from GM's poor management and failure to properly address these kinds of issues. I generally like the products, but it is the overall ownership experience where GM is really failing miserably.

Cars are extremely complex and I can understand some design flaws, cost-cutting considerations and even some quality missteps in the production process. What I can't understand is the lack of focus on customer service and satisfaction, and the cavalier attitude GM continues to exhibit toward safety and design issues that clearly should be addressed through aggressive recall campaigns rather than this "wait and see and hopefully we'll save a few bucks" approach.

icntdrv55

I'm hopefully not gonna sound unsympathetic here and I'm not trying to be an a-s, but as an old shade-tree mechanic, isn't the "expected" lifetime of a timing chain about 120-150,000 miles? Again, I'm sorry you had an expensive repair, but at that mileage, I'd guess that pretty much falls under normal wear-and-tear.

CrvtBB

I consider myself a shade tree mechanic as well, but modern, direct injection engines are an entirely different animal than when I was wrenching on small block 350's and air-cooled VW engines.

That being said, I would tend to agree if it wasn't a known problem from the beginning with this specific engine and/or it was identified as a mileage-specific, required service item in the owner's manual. There is no mention of servicing the timing chain in the car at any mileage in the owners manual, so clearly Cadillac did not consider this important engine component a wear-and-tear item. I will also note my Honda specifically recommended changing out the timing belt at a specific mileage, which I would expect for any well-structured service program.

The fact they are charging $3K for the repair, which is ridiculous even for a dealership, only exacerbates my frustration. The same service on my Honda at the dealership was what I would consider a reasonable $800.

If this was a one-off occurrence or I had chosen to ignore servicing recommendations from Cadillac/GM and experienced the failure, then I would fully accept the consequences and wouldn't have a beef with GM. But given the entirety of the facts and the history, I feel perfectly justified to hold GM accountable and I'll act accordingly.

Hameister

Outstanding! Nice to see a win once in a while!

I went to the GM recall/VIN website, ( https://recalls.gm.com/#/ ), and it shows nothing for my '13 GS except the low beam headlamp issue.

Filiatrault9

I just received this letter in the mail as well. Mine is an 07 Z06. They specify not to visit the dealer unless your clutch pedal no longer depresses and they will fix the whole system. Also specify that they will cover up to 10 years after vehicle's build date, which only gives me 2 more years. Almost makes me want to fake the symptoms to get it fixed before they dump the problem onto me.

R&L's C6

Well, the letter says if you "believe you have this problem".

Take it in and say you believe you have this problem because the clutch pedal feels funny. Can't hurt to try.

Filiatrault9

Yup, worse case they'll tell me to leave haha.

ruxvette

Try a VW...diesel.

69L79

I just got done adding/changing clutch fluid via the "Ranger" method. At 38K I don't have a problem. But, its good to know that there is recourse if I do develop the problem. Great Forum.

Gary '09 C6

good info to know !

petsur

I have both!

timd38

I replaced mine with a Tick when it stuck a couple years ago. Wonder how they will respond when I request reimbursement.