Gto Dead, Attn M6 Owners!!!!
sxty8goats said:
I haven't had a chance to look at the part in question, you may be right. But plastic parts that are well designed are often superiror to steal. Always lighter. It could be that the molds were running too cold or hot when the part was formed, this would affect the way they formed and the streignth of the finished part. It could be a resin (type of plastic) subsutution that caused this. It may even be a poorly designed part..
My clutch would occasionally 'pop' ever since delivery. Last week I took her in to analyze the source. New linkage was ordered and arrived Wednesday (6/23). I made an appt to get it fixed for Friday (6/25). Dropped the goat off at 8:30 AM. Got a call around 1PM that the work was done. Everything was fine and dandy at this point...
I chatted briefly with the service manager about the stupid plastic part and he aslo gave me info about my leaking freeze plug. I then got in the car and drove off the lot. I remember thinking that the 'fixed' clutch felt way too easy to push and about 2/3 of travel was just play and would only catch about the last 2" of travel. I told myself that I would be returning to get this adjusted because I didnt like the feel at all and wanted more pressure returned from the pedal.
So I take it down the highway to return to work and decide to take a little 'extended drive' to test the fix. It was hot as hell yesterday so I decide to stop at a Sunoco (5 miles from the dealer) to get an Arizona tea. As I pull into the turning lane and push in the clutch to take it out of gear the pedal makes a final pop about where the clutch would catch and the pedal falls flat to the floor!!!!
FIVE FRIGGIN MILES!!!!
Now I am MAD!!!! I manuever the unpowered vehicle into the lot on a side where the flatbed can get in front of me and call my service manager. I get a recording.
I AM MADDER!!! I call back and ask the operator to connect me with the person in charge of the service dept and get another recording.
NOW I AM MAD AS HELL!!!! I call back again and tell the operator to connect me with whoever is in charge of the service dept and to not connect me to a machine because I demand to speak with a human being immediately!!! She complies and shortly I am talking with a service manager. Being that the car is the GTO everyone on the lot is aware when one is present and he knew I just left the dealer. I told him what happened and he gives me the number to Roadside Assistance.
I call assistance and get a flatbed dispatched. About 1.5 HOURS later the truck arrives and the driver has a perplexed look and makes a remark about "they still cant build them things right." Whatever dude, get me on the truck. Item to note here: Flatbedding a GTO must be done on a FLAT surface and even then the bumpers olny have about a 1/4 inch clearance, literally!!!
We get the goat on the truck and head back to the dealer. Have you ever seen that Staples commercial where the truck is going down the highway and is surrounded by cars circling around it? Well that was the situation on the return trip to the dealer. Having a GTO lifted up about 5 feet going down the highway in traffic can really draw some attention and is
NOT GOOD ADVERTISING PONTIAC!!!
We get back to the dealer and unload the car. The SM asks for a detailed description of what happened when it broke. I describe the situation while their top tech is under the dash inspecting. He popped the plastic piece back on the clutch pedal stud and is able to get it moving and pulls it in the garage. We walk in the garage and the tech shows me my previous linkage. There is a cylinder with a plastic plunger that has a round eye that mounts over the stud on the pedal lever and has 2 little plastic tabs to hold on to the stud. The tabs are similar to the ones that hold plastic cased together on radios and such. I have never seen these tabs on moving components before and now I know why. The tech remarks that "this is a shitty desing".
NO SHIT HUH??
They then place a call to GM engineering to figure out how to fix this permanently and order me a rental. F*&K MAN!!! I have been waiting all week for the weekend to enjoy my goat and NOW I HAVE A NISSAN ALTIMA IN MY GARAGE!!!
I highly recommend that all M6 owners bring their rides in to have this inspected!!! I brought mine in because of the occasional clicking and the fix for that BROKE MY CAR. The removed (original) piece had signs of wear already where the hole for the stud had changed from a circle to an oval. Keep in mind I only have 2000 miles on the car!!!
This design needs to be fixed quick like otherwise you will start seeing many (maybe yours) goats riding on flatbeds.
_DM