PLEASE help and give me advice

[TXH3T]

BACKSTORY
Hey guys I am really in need of advice on this. So two weeks back my front diff seals blew driving on the highway from Prescott AZ to Phoenix. It was 11 at night and all I saw was oil draining underneath the truck. Not having time to inspect it with class at 745 the next day I left it at a dealer in phoenix and got a ride back to Prescott. Next day I talk to dealer who paints a picture of the front diff being ruined the rear end being damaged and possibly more. They didn't give me specifics and assured it would be under warranty and gave me a rental car. Well two weeks go by still no truck. Saturday I get a call that its done. I drove an hour and a half down to phoenix and pick up the truck. Service people are all rude and after trying to make me pay 360 for a rental car that they had warrantied finally gave me the truck. Since we had friends with dirt bikes in Phoenix we went to meet them to ride. We drove maybe 20 miles to a dirt road where we were riding.

PROBLEM

Not wanting to leave the truck right in plain view of the road unattended we drove over the first hill which was muddy so I shifted on the fly to 4high. The truck immediately lurched throwing me forward hard enough to lock all the seat belts. Screeching grinding sounds came from under the truck which refused to shift back into regular 4. Not wanting to mess with it I got out and inspected everything. I hopped in and tried rolling forward with the button on normal 4. I heard a loud bang and the truck was driving normal again. The dealer in Phoenix said my service guy wasn't in today so i shouldn't bother coming back! I was beyond upset and drove it back to the only dealer I trust here in Prescott.

Diagnosis
So after tearing into the truck they quickly realized the dealer in phoenix installed a 4.10 gear ratio in the back and left the 4.56 up front...... Now the dealers rehearing it here but what damage should i expect to find? My warranty is up in 8000 miles and I REALLY don't want things to start breaking as warranty comes up just because of this ridiculously stupid screw up. What do I ask them to check and replace? They won't do anything extra unless I specifically ask. Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[08H3]

Wow...you get the prize for most incompetent service department on the planet. Without inspection, anything anyone here says is only a guess as to what damage may or may not have been done. If you weren't going too fast and the truck otherwise drives fine now, I would guess no damage, BUT it's only a guess. Hope this gets worked out for the best.

 

[jakesz28]

How far did you drive it? The transfer case would be what I think they should inspect. Not sure how the differential is built in these. But the transfer case would have been real unhappy.

 

[H32NV]

you should get them to give you an extended warranty on the driveline. I'd say transfer case, transmission, driveshafts, and diffs. everything at and past your CV's should be fine. I actually heard of this happening once before on a Blazer that a friend had. They put mis-matched gears in the front when they replaced it. Get them to put 4:56 in the rear!!

Also, I am up in Flagstaff. I'd like to wheel together sometime, maybe down in the superstitions or in Sedona. I go with a few Jeeps up here, but, they are always mouthing off. Lets show them what H3's can do.

 

[06 H3]

What ****in idiots!!!! I would contact GM and get an extended warranty at no charge, I would fight tooth and nail for that. I would tell GM about your ****ty experience at that dealership.
Sometimes I feel like I know more then these dumbass dealership employees.

 

[TXH3T]

Thanks for the quick response everyone. Yes the dealer here will be putting the right 4.56 gearing back in today I believe or tomorrow but like you guys were saying there could be other problems.
It was driven almost 100 miles is my guess but in normal drive it didn't seem to have a problem...... That I noticed at least. In 4 high mode it was driven probably a few miles. When I first switched it was whining some but it sounded like the whine when in 4 low so I figured I had forgotten the sound. When it had that major lurch however it was all of about .5 miles before I had it shifted back out of that gear maybe less. It's the fact that it drove that way at all I'm concerned about.

Now my current dealer has been nothing but helpful always and even gives me special deals and discounts or does work for free! I don't want to chew my service guy out and ask for an extended warranty but I feel somewhat entitled to one if they won't replace the parts in the drivetrain that would have taken damage. Who would I contact about this problem?

 

[JohnnySpikesH3]

I would think the part's guy and mechanic working on your rig . Should have a size #10 and up ! Shoved you know where . Zero common sense to check even the #Vin to make sure they were using the right parts . I be on the phone with the owner of the dealer . How rookie can you get ? That's up there with doing a tire rotation and only hand tightening the nuts . My cosh the Mechanic only had to check the dash to see what set up it had and check the part just in case the parts guys were watching porn on their computers most of the day . Hope all is well now .

 

[3Hummers]

You could contact the regional GM rep. Your dealer can give you the number. I don't think that asking for an extra year/12,000 miles on your drivetrain warranty is unreasonable.

 

[yellowh3]

What dealer did you take it to in Phoenix??

 

[f5moab]

GM probably won't extend a warranty for a mistake they did not make; dealers are independent companies. The dealer who hired the technician who installed the incorrect differential should be forced to issue a statement that they will cover the driveline for a minimum of 12K miles (forget the days or months; nothing will happen while it sits). GM is probably already questioning the new diff so soon after a new diff was installed.

 

[TXH3T]

Thanks guys I will see about forcing that dealer to cover. Who would actually enforce that? It seems like unless I got GM or a lawyer involved there will be no incentive for them to agree.

Also for everyone in the AZ area the dealer is power chevrolet of superstition springs
http://powerchevysuperstitionsprings.net/

 

[06 H3]

Alright next time I go that way I will make sure to throw a ring gear through the showroom window

 

[abearden]

Sounds like your local dealer is on your side. They might be able to convince GM to force the other dealership to pay for the extended warranty. What you get out of the situation will depend on what your dealer tells GM and how the regional manager reacts. They have a lot of sway over the dealerships.

Instead of 4high I assume you meant 4-locked. Basically, the reason it worked fine in 4-unlocked is because the transfer case's internal differential was allowing the front and rear axle differentials to spin at different rates. The moment you put it into locked, the physical link between the front and rear drivetrain via the ground caused it to bind up. Couldn't have been THAT muddy if it bound up. But regardless, it no doubt put stress on everything from the transfer case onward (transfer case, drive shafts, diffs, and half-shafts).

 

[TXH3T]

Yes 4 locked thank you. I thought I was saying it wrong because every time I said it people said why were your lockers on...... they werent. Anyway ya it was on and off really slick mud. I had just gotten into a slick patch when I turned it on but it wouldn't come out of it again.
Also I talked to my dealer and they are going to see what they can do they said. They have always fought to get warranty claims and help me out in situations other dealers would tell me too bad on. This dealer I think is also more inclined to try to argue for me as the other dealer attempted to blame THEM for the problem saying it was a result of the 90,000 service done there. Because fluid changes definitely mess things up. Anyway I will post an update as soon as I hear

 

[Bigunit]

Chris, let me know if I can help. i can always write and send a certified return-receipt nasty-gram to the Phoenix dealer. You may want to do that anyways, to put them on notice about your potential claim to give them the first opportunity and to see how they offer to take care of the issue. We can also get Royal here in Tucson involved if you have any issues with any of the affected components. Just let me kow if i can help. I would also second Dave's advice about contacting the regional GM rep., that way, you will have the incident well-documented in GM's records.

 

[4speedfunk]

Wow. I'm speechless. I already have very little faith in GM dealerships...but this takes the cake. Let this be a reminder to everybody getting service, that you should do a test drive with the mechanic on-board before leaving the dealer. Tell the service manager to jump in the shot-gun seat. Run the T-case thru all modes...turn some tight corners...stab the throttle a few times...cycle the lockers, etc. That guy is there for you, the customer! This is his job, and he should not complain or hesitate to go for a quick test ride with you. MkMcgreg just had a similar experience with his head replacement. Hopefully they will take care of you.

BTW I don't think driving in 4HI-street mode did much damage...the difference in axle-rpm would be very equivalent to driving on a slick, snow-covered road for a hundred miles. If anything you gave the t-case and computer a work-out...nothing more. However, its a totally different situation in 4HI-Lock mode and matching gears is absolutely a requirement. That slick mud may have actually saved you some carnage, allowing some slip at the tires.Keep us updated on the repair.

 

[TXH3T]

Thanks guys I'm hoping the mud helped but based on how long it took to shift out and the sounds I heard I don't think I escaped unscathed. Bigunit if you could help me set up a letter to them I would really appreciate it. I am afraid I am a little inexperienced with this. I will be PMing you

 

[Bigunit]

Will do. Always happy to help one of my friends.

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[TXH3T]

Alright so here's an update that all h3/h3t owners should probably hear about. I will probably make a separate post just to notify people of this issue.

So after talking to the dealer their plan was to record the incident what happened to the truck effected parts etc and state that if within 112,000 miles any of those parts failed it would be warrantied. Cool sounds great. Today my parts came in to fix the differential. As the service team took the parts out to install them they double checked them and thank god they did because what were they? 4:10. Turns out if you order a 4:56 from GM they send a 4:10 instead due to some ordering glitch. So now I'm thinking ok at least they caught it so lets order the 4:56 and get the truck going again. Turns out the parts are back ordered and no one can get them right now........ :gaah: Looks like I will be spending even longer than the already THREE WEEKS without my truck. I can't really express how frustrated I am at the moment all I can say is I'm glad Lamb Chevy in Prescott is on top of everything and has THE BEST customer service I have ever seen.

Anyway for anyone that has an issue with 09 h3/h3t MAKE SURE THE DEALER DOUBLE CHECKS THE PARTS THEY GET. It could be mixed up. From what they were saying its not just the diff but multiple parts for this model year

 

[08H3]

Other than the wait, sounds like you got a pretty sweet deal with another 100K warranty.

 

[alrock]

I'm thinking typo and it's a 12,000 mile warranty . . .

 

[abearden]

That sucks that you're down for a bit, but it sounds like it's getting taken care of! ...eventually.

 

[jakesz28]

I think the dealer can get a set of 4.56 gears for the rear from jegs, summit, ect. They shouldn't make you wait to long. Hope you get it back soon and with any luck you won't have any problems.

 

[TXH3T]

Sorry I should have clarified. I bought an extended warranty with the truck up to 100,000 bumper to bumper. They will add 12,000 for a total of 112,000 of coverage

 

[Scarsman]

I think the dealer can get a set of 4.56 gears for the rear from jegs, summit, ect. They shouldn't make you wait to long. Hope you get it back soon and with any luck you won't have any problems.

When I broke my rear axle they were backordered and I had to wait and wait! I found several places that had them in stock, but they would only use a genuine GM part under the warranty. I literally could have picked one up and had it to them in 30 minutes, but instead I had to wait almost two weeks.

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