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Took the car back to Carmax because it was pulling slightly to the right.
They called and said they could not do an alignment on it because the left rear eccentric bolt was bent and needs replaced.
Not one bolt was found at any nearby dealerships. Wait time is 3 weeks.
The kicker is while they were fooling with it, they made the alignment worse. I would call the car not drivable at the moment. The steering wheel has to be at about 11 o'clock to make the car go straight.
I brought it home and parked it until they call in 3 weeks but I let them know I was not happy they made it worse. At least it was drivable before with a slight pull.
What bends these things? No wrecks were reported on the car's CarFax, and the car underneath looks great. No signs of anything out of sort.
Perhaps a good guy in the "parts for sale" section that is parting out a car would be willing to toss one in a padded envelope with your address on it for you?
Can you jack the car up and get some pictures of the LR eccentrics for us. I find it almost impossible to believe one of those bolts is bent.
I can't see it bent either after I crawled under the car this afternoon. I don't know how they can tell unless they pulled it completely out.
I scheduled an appointment with a tire shop tomorrow morning to get a second opinion. Maybe they can align it. They seem to think they can.
The tire shop guy thinks CarMax tech is full of doodoo.
I'll report back. Appointment is at 9am.
The bolt is called a cam bolt and has two cams on it. One in front of the mount and one at the rear (shown in your picture). To adjust you loosen the nut and turn the bolt which turns the cams. It would take one hell of an impact to bend those bolts so I suspect the bolt isn't bent. Based on your comment that you need to turn the steering to 11 o clock to make the car go straight I suspect the rear toe and thrust angle are screwed up. Thrust angle is the direction in which your rear wheels are pushing the car. If the thrust angle is pointing toward 11 o'clock you will need to turn the steering wheel to compensate. This means the car is driving down the road sideways (dog walking). All it takes is for the rear toe on one wheel to be messed up and the thrust angle is messed up. To compensate for the thrust angle some mechanics will adjust the front toe to set the steering wheel angle so the wheel will appear straight while the car is driving sideways. This can result in weird behavior when going over different surfaces.
There are two cam bolts for each lower control arm, to get the proper adjustment both bolts may need to be adjusted. Once finished the bolts need to be tightened to 125 lb ft to prevent them from coming loose. If they come loose then the camber, rear caster and rear toe/thrust can all change while you are driving. The C5 and C6 only had one adjustable point for the lower rear control arms, the other mount was not adjustable. If the person adjusting the rear suspension isn't familiar with C7s they may not know that both control arm mounts have cam bolts Vs the one bolt that C5 and C6 had. The rear toe link also has a cam bolt adjustment and it needs to be tightened to 52 lb ft. If it isn't adjusted correctly that can cause a thrust issue.
Who did they take it to? Or, you think they have an inhouse C7 expert standing about? Get it to someone who knows what they are working on. All the best.
Who did they take it to? Or, you think they have an inhouse C7 expert standing about? Get it to someone who knows what they are working on. All the best.
It was done in house.
I would have taken it somewhere else to begin with, but the car is less than a month old and still covered under their 90 day initial warranty.
I did buy MaxCare for the next 60 months. For that I can take it anywhere.
Took the car to a tire store today, so here is the update:
- The bolt is not bent. It's just out of place.
- right rear wheel was cracked and repaired at some point on the inside lip. They told me to reject it and have CarMax replace the wheel.
- The left rear axle had been replaced and done poorly. there is play in the wheel/ axle. They think the whole left rear axle will need replaced again.
- The axle will need replaced before an alignment is attempted on the car.
I am going to talk to the sales person on Monday. It may be that this car just needs to go back to CarMax for good. Seems like it was tracked or abused somewhere along the way.
Tech said it was definitely fixable but it depended on whether I was willing to give CarMax a chance to make it right, or if they are willing to do so or just say " bring it back". We'll see.
If you do keep it, I took the Carmax Warranty Paperwork, over to my trusted Chevrolet Dealership, not local, and registered it with them.
If there is a problem with the car, I can take it to them, with a $100 deductible.
Not planning on having them do any more work on the car if I end up keeping it.
I just need to find out if my MaxCare is already kicked in or their 90 day warranty supersedes it.
The plan I picked has a $300 deductible. I just wanted coverage for the catastrophic stuff. I typically only drive cars like it about 3k or 4k miles a year.
Now with the car being 2 weeks old to me, they should cover all this mess with no out of pocket to me. they obviously did not do the thorough inspection they claim they do on this car.
I had planned to take the car back because my 30 day return window expires on the 27th and the part they ordered won't be in until the end of the month.
Then they called and said the eccentric bolt has come in early and they wanted to fix the car.
I took it back for them to fix it.
The next day, the car was fixed and wow! drove like a different car. No noises, no rattles, and drove as straight as an arrow. Love it!
I am happy with the outcome and the car will be staying now.
All the repairs were done free of charge.
I had planned to take the car back because my 30 day return window expires on the 27th and the part they ordered won't be in until the end of the month.
Then they called and said the eccentric bolt has come in early and they wanted to fix the car.
I took it back for them to fix it.
The next day, the car was fixed and wow! drove like a different car. No noises, no rattles, and drove as straight as an arrow. Love it!
I am happy with the outcome and the car will be staying now.
All the repairs were done free of charge.
Great news; glad they got it sorted out for you! Time now for some enjoyable rides!
But, did they replace the left rear axle identified as requiring replacement by the other shop? Or did you get two bad assessments from two different places only to have the first place (Carmax) come through in the end?
But, did they replace the left rear axle identified as requiring replacement by the other shop? Or did you get two bad assessments from two different places only to have the first place (Carmax) come through in the end?
Carmax was correct at the end. The axle was fine it appears. The car has no issues now with any noises or thumping and it tracks very straight.
Rear Eccentric bolt. Thoughts?
