dealerships suck
dealerships suck: clunking noise in rear end Okay it seems that the dealership has screwed up my car. About 2 weeks ago and sent in my car for an oil change and after changing the oil the dealership said my rear pinion seal is leaking. I said okay to go ahead and fix it since its still under warranty. Well supposedly they fixed it but ever since they worked on it I keep hearing this clunking noise coming from my rear end. I took it to my dads mechanic and he said the noise is definately coming from the rear end.
Whever I drive it and let the clutch out it makes this clunking noise under me like something is dragging. Also when I take off while releasing the clutch, the car makes the bump feel.
Could it be my pinion angle is not set right or my u-joints or dry yokes are going out? If anyone knows please help me out because it seems to be getting worse.
Oh yeah im never taking it back to that dealer ever again.
Whever I drive it and let the clutch out it makes this clunking noise under me like something is dragging. Also when I take off while releasing the clutch, the car makes the bump feel.
Could it be my pinion angle is not set right or my u-joints or dry yokes are going out? If anyone knows please help me out because it seems to be getting worse.
Oh yeah im never taking it back to that dealer ever again.
Last edited by sscamaroburn02; Jan 30, 2007 at 07:19 PM.
On the tree
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more than likely it is something in how they put the pinion back in. Some shade tree mechanics will not replace the crush bushing in the front of the rear end being cheap. My guess is that the rear end needs to be reset to specs again.
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I've had the pinion seal changed twice, once on each of my cars. When done correctly, you can get away with only the seal being changed. My 88 car has had no issues and plenty of track runs since that time and the driveway's been clean since. I had the 98 car's pinion seal changed by the same mechanic that worked on the 88 car and he followed the same procedure. Plenty of hard runs since then and no leak, no sounds etc.
Unfortunately not all mechanics are good at this and if done incorrectly will end up messing the pinion angle. This can easilly cause a whine in the rear that changes with loads/speeds to a clunk from the preload being too much/too little. Either way, I'd drive it very carefully not to abuse it until you get it sorted out as that's basically asking for a grenade to happen on next hard street launch, let alone a strip launch.
Unfortunately not all mechanics are good at this and if done incorrectly will end up messing the pinion angle. This can easilly cause a whine in the rear that changes with loads/speeds to a clunk from the preload being too much/too little. Either way, I'd drive it very carefully not to abuse it until you get it sorted out as that's basically asking for a grenade to happen on next hard street launch, let alone a strip launch.
On the tree
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I think I may differ some on your answer. Pinion angle is not even a factor when changing the pinion seal as the rear end is not removed from the car so the pinion angle should not move or change.
To change the seal you remove the drive shaft, remove the diff cover, remove the axels and the center section. Then you remove the nut on the pinion and remove the rear end yoke adn replace the seal. Then put it all back together. This is where I think the problem comes in. If a mechanic is doing it right he will measure the play in the rear end and if not to spec will shim it back into spec. I can almost garuntee you that a dealership mechanic that works by the job hour is not going to do this, they are going to assume that it is in spec and just throw it back together as fast as possible in order to get the job done and move onto the next job.
I hate to say that, but it is a fact of life when dealing with dealers. The mechanics just dont care about quality, only quantity.
To change the seal you remove the drive shaft, remove the diff cover, remove the axels and the center section. Then you remove the nut on the pinion and remove the rear end yoke adn replace the seal. Then put it all back together. This is where I think the problem comes in. If a mechanic is doing it right he will measure the play in the rear end and if not to spec will shim it back into spec. I can almost garuntee you that a dealership mechanic that works by the job hour is not going to do this, they are going to assume that it is in spec and just throw it back together as fast as possible in order to get the job done and move onto the next job.
I hate to say that, but it is a fact of life when dealing with dealers. The mechanics just dont care about quality, only quantity.
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Pinion seal can't be changed correctly unless pinion is removed. The dealer usually just pops the old seal out and puts a new one in all of 5 minutes work. All f-body pinion seals will eventually leak. Sounds to me you may have something loose in the back being a nut or bolt. I had a friend that had a clunking turned out to be the tq arm bolts on the rear working loose.
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Verdad Gallardo the sounds seems to do it more when Im reversing slow and it makes this dragging or clunking noise right under the rear seats. I am takin it back to the dealer and tell them to check all the nuts and bolts and makes sure they torque it back to spec again.
I would definitely take it back, and don't wait too long. There are several things that have been mentioned that could cause the noise. Torque arm bolts, overtorqueing or undertorqueing of the pinion nut and so on. I had a similar thing happen in my shop the other day. I'm a service manager. I had a tech notice a bad pinion seal leak on a Jeep and recomended replacing it. The customer agreed after showing it to him. Long story short the Jeep came back 3 days later with a whine. My guy overtorqued the pinion nut and trashed the pinion bearing. I ended up paying my best tech 6 hours to rebuild the rear end on the Jeep. Bottom line is that they should take very good care of you. Do shops hate comebacks. Yes. But Good shops handle them promptly and courteously because it's the right thing to do. Every shop has comebacks and every tech makes a mistake now and then, it's all in how you handle it. Some get mad and throw tools, but I've seen most of my guys walk out and apologize to the customer for their inconvenience. I would give your dealer the chance to make it right and if they don't, then go after them.
Originally Posted by SilverSierra
You sure about that?
Originally Posted by Sneakyws6
Some shade tree mechanics will not replace the crush bushing in the front of the rear end being cheap. My guess is that the rear end needs to be reset to specs again.
Unfortunately, with a warranty deal you have to go to the dealer or a dealer certified shop.
Originally Posted by Billy_B4C
For example, GM may have set the pay for a rear-end at 1.5 hours. If it takes longer than that, too bad. You're only getting paid for 1.5 hours. Sucks, huh?
Originally Posted by jimbo98z
Most shops have a set time to do jobs, and you pay more if they go over.
Maybe so, but the *manufacturer* is not going to pay more when you go over the set time. That's why the techs don't get paid well for warranty work. Also, the manufacturer typically sets the time limits WAY low...I mean, impossibly low.
Former tech and service manager here. Yes, manufacturers set their own flat rate times for jobs. I wouldn't say it is half, but it is probably 70-80 percent of the aftermarket times that you see in Mitchell or such. For instance, a rear end job that is customer pay of 5.0 flat rate hours may only pay 3.8 warranty time. Fyi, on most jobs, a good tech will beat both times. So yes, as a tech it is preferable to have customer pay work. There are upsides to warranty work too, you just have to know how to work the system without breaking the rules.
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thats why I only go to techs I know(one being a poker bud, the other being my uncle) and they are the only 2 i trust. If I ever take my car in for ANY other service, im either in the bay or at the bay door watching his every move. I know the techs hate it, but its the only way to be sure your car isnt being butchered....and I gaurantee it happens A TON more than you think, and its no matter where you take it. Ive only had to take it to guys i dont know twice(the TA) and usually if you give em a coffee, it gets things headed in the right direction. As for long jobs, only those 2 guys get near it