Damage under car in front of left rear tire. Jacking puck upper left.

I went to my local dealer to get an oil change and the suspension upgrade for my 2017 GS. When service was completed I drove the car off the lot and whenever I stopped, or accelerated from a stop I noticed a rattle that appeared to be coming from the rear of the car. It sounded like someone shaking something in a can. I thought that maybe it had something to do with the suspension upgrade "settling in". After letting the car set for a few days I resumed driving and I, and my passengers, noticed the rattle, although it was now intermittent. I crawled under the car to try and find the source of the rattle and saw the damage to the "bracket" or "crossmember" in the photo. The damage is adjacent to the left rear jacking puck, about 6" in. I couldn't see any other damage under the car, but I did not jack the car up. Just a side note: after the service I checked my oil and found that the dealer had over filled the car by about 3/4 qt.. I drained out the extra oil and it is now at the proper level. Also, since the service, the car has an intermittent very rough idle and exhaust sound, in sport or track mode. There are no dash warnings or codes.

I have never hit any road hazards that would have damaged the underside of the car and I'm sure the car was not damaged when I took it to the dealer. A couple of questions, is the damaged bracket a critical component to the structure of the car? It appears to just hold the pan up. It looks to me like the damage may have occurred when the car was raised on a two post lift and the arm, or saddle, caught on the bracket. Something appears to have caught under the lip of the bracket and pulled it down. I called my dealer and they are cooperative, the car is going in Monday for an examination of the undercarriage by the tech. Of course there may be more damage that I could not see. If the exhaust was also damaged could that be causing the rough idle/exhaust? I don't know any other reason why these seemingly unrelated things would happen at once. Thanks for your help!

 

I would take a look under your car again to see if there is any paint transfer from the dealer's lift on your damaged part. It may point towards the dealer causing damage. Your picture shows a yellow flake on the damaged part....or is that just the lighting.

 

Take it back to the dealer and say what happened to my car?

 

Very interesting - hope you get it worked out - i was on my way to work few months ago - heard a bang then something scraping couldnt figure it out - thought it was wheel or something - looked under car and pruning shear went right thru the floor under where I was sitting - nobody to blame not sure how the hell it happened only going 5mph in morning traffic on highway weird

 

Wow !

 

When you checked your oil level was the oil temperature up to 175 degrees as required? Did you wait 5 minutes after turning off the engine before checking the level? Was the oil level above the top dot on the dipstick?

Bill

 

Are you sure that damaged spot is what is actually making the rattle ? Its hard to see how this would happen with hoist arms, unless maybe if they tried to move the car, and the hoist arm was still underneath it. Obviously it needs to be inspected closer, but from the picture, it does not look like serious damage.

 

Sorry for your bad luck, if the dealer sheared the metal like that, a yet undiscovered but popped weld might be causing the rattle as the previously joined parts now flex. Good luck with the dealer!

 

BTW, try a dealer that operates an oil change like Jiffy Lube where they have you drive over a pit and then change the oil from there, never having to lift the car.

 

 

The way its bent it looks like it rolled over something low then bent it - not from the actual jacking up of the car - thats what it looks like to me

 

To put this one to bed. Dealer is taking care of undercarriage damage. The rattle was "a bad bearing in the torque tube". Torque tube being replaced, rental car, all at no charge, so I guess I can't complain. Not happy about the torque tube at 8,000 mi., and not being able to use the car, but apparently I'm not alone.

 

I was wondering the same. I guess it could have slipped while jacked, but then I would think there would be marks in more than just that spot.

 

No, you are not alone re torque tube issues, but it is not common. It is relatively rare. Good luck with it, and the rest!

 

The unfortunate thing is that messing up the torque tube installation can lead to serious engine problems. Let's hope they know what they're doing.

 

The dealer is a high volume Corvette dealer so they do see a lot of them. The only other thing I have had them do, where their Corvette tech was involved, was the MRC upgrade and that turned out okay. The tech was able to make a quick, and apparently accurate, diagnosis of the torque tube issue so I hope he is as skilled replacing it! According to the service writer, they have replaced several torque tubes on C7's at this dealership.