I FINALLY GOT MY H3 BACK! WOOHOO!

I took my H3 to the dealer today, AGAIN, for maybe the 5th time in the 16 months I have had it. 

1.  The alternator/tensioner pully squeeks every morning, sometimes never stopping until I shut the car off.

2.  The brake pedal goes to the floor every morning now the first time I use it.

3. The infmaous problem with the car bouncing back and forth when taking my foot off the accelerator has gotten worse.

Now, they said they can't find any problems with the belt, the alternator seems fine, and the mechanic checked the tension and all of that, he said its ok.  FINE.  I understand it's not making the noise right now so you can diagnose it.  They are going to have it sit overnight in the 0 degree weather so it will make noise tomorrow morning.

They said they can't find anything wrong with the brakes because they couldnt reproduce the problem after letting it sit.  Since it only happens first thing in the morning, they will also check this tomorrow morning.  That's understandable also.

NOW, I get the same thing as before about the differential problem "well, we kinda know what you mean with the jerkiness and bouncing but it's kinda hard to compare it since nobody has driven the manual H3"  This is the second time I got this answer.  He said he would see if they have a 5-speed the mechanic can drive around, then tomorrow morning drive mine and feel the differences.  I told him look, I know I have a rare transmission apparently, but I can tell you it's not supposed to bounce around 2 or 3 times every time i let up on the accelerator pedal.  Everybody that rides in my car comments about it, and it was fine before it broke.  IF they STILL can't find after driving a manual H3 that htere is a problem, I have to go to the dealer tomorrow afternoon and take both of them for a ride to show them what is going on.

I mean, it's a freakin' Hummer, you THINK there would be more people with Manual tranny's out there.  I'm not upset with the service guys cuz obviously they are trying, and they said they are friends with the dealer I bought my H3 from so if they need to they can get some help, but still, I'm getting so frustrated that every time I want this thing fixed I hear about how nobody knows anything about the manual transmission H3's.  I don't blame anybody because people are trying to resolve the problems, but I'm tired of all the time it's taking me, all the running around. etc.   If I didn't love this truck so much I would have already got rid of it.  I love my H3,  but this is getting old really fast.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, but manual transmissions around here are not uncommon.  Doesnt make any sense.
 

Well, the only dealer that has really dealt with them from a repair perspective is the dealer I bought it from, but they are now 50 miles away since I moved and it's such a pain to get there.  This is the closest dealer to my new home, and the second I have tried other then going back to my original which I may have to do.  Obviously as I said, it's not really their faults that nobody has any experience with them, but still frustrating.  I'll never get rid of this truck but I will definitely purchase whatever extended warranty GM offers me after I buy out the lease.  I just put too much time and sweat into this car to get rid of it.  Honestly, I'd go and trade it in for a H2 if I had the chance, but then I couldn't get it in my parking garage at work
 
Oh well.  We'll just have to see what happens I guess.  I still love the truck though.  It's hard not to!

I like your thought process here Mike .. just go trade in the 3 for a deuce and you're set :-) 
In all seriousness, it sucks to hear about the never ending problems .. hopefully they can figure out wtf is going on and get you repaired and back on the road .. did they at least do you good on a loaner while it's in the shop!?!? 

call gm direct and have them send out a regional mechanic to look at your truck....thats the best you can do if the dealer can't help you. Thats why GM employs these guys...they are the experts.

quote:

ORIGINAL: importkiller

call gm direct and have them send out a regional mechanic to look at your truck....thats the best you can do if the dealer can't help you. Thats why GM employs these guys...they are the experts.

 
Mike, that's exactly what they did the last time this happened, at the dealer I bought it from.  They had it for 3 days and finally had someone come out.  It took him all of 10 minutes to figure it out.  I just hope this is the last time. 
 
Nick: They gave me a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW '07 Chevy Impala, and I must say, I love this car.  It's comfy, fast, QUIET as a mouse, and the dash is nice and simple, with a very functional and practical information center display.  It has excellent visibility also.  With all the GM loaners I have had in the last year, I'm really starting to become a fan of Chevy.  I may actually look into getting one of these as my second car.  I like it that much.

Sorry to hear that Mike
But you know you love that truck stick to your guns and let them fix it.
Did all of this happen when you installed the kitt lights maybe the truck is taking over

LOL no actually it happened before that, but I'm sure they found them already and are thinking WTF are those things? 
 
I wouldn't get rid of it.  I put way too much time, thought and effort into getting it exactly the way I want it, and now after putting the KITT lights on? Forget about it, that baby is going to have a million miles on it before it retires. 
 
I just have to have a dealer that actually opens on Saturdays that is close to me, which doesn't exist unfortunately.  The only ONE of them is in Indiana, but luckily good people, as are most of the Hummer dealers.

go ahead and sell it and buy yourself a hybrid prius

http://priuschat.com/

See, now THAT was a low blow.

Trade yours in for an auto.  Driving a stick shift H3 just doesn't sound like fun to me.  Of course your also talking to a guy who owns a Hummer and doesn't take it off road....blasphemous!

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

3. The infmaous problem with the car bouncing back and forth when taking my foot off the accelerator has gotten worse.

What do you mean by bouncing back and fourth? I drive a 5-speed but I don't think I have that problem. I can hear a squeek though when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear.

HummieGuy ... That doesn't sound good!! Sorry you're having such troubles!!! Go ahead trade in for a bigger model!!

Exactly! You don't have th eproblem because you aren't supposed to have it lol.  It happened because twice I forgot to take it out of Locked mode and was driving/turning on pavement which fried something in the differential.  It was wet but apparently the tires on a H3 just don't slip in the rain when making turns   It's the second time I've had to get this fixed, and the second time dumb me did it. 
 
And I know and learned my lesson from everybody here, do NOT lock the wheels unless A) you are off-roading or B) you are on snow and ice.  Hopefully it will be fixed.
 
I can't ever bring myself to trade this baby in.  Too much invested into it.

Could the jerking be a clutch adjustment? I'm just trying to think of every possible scenario for you. I wonder if you refused to pick the truck up until they confirm the problem? I mean, they told you that they feel what it is doing but can't verify if it is normal, etc. So tell them until they can positively tell you there is nothign wring you are keeping the Whimpala. :)

This is frustrating. I wish they would just bust open the diff and trans for you and inspect them real close rather than just checking the fluid.

Tell me about it dude.  I might just take it back to your friends at Schepel.  TODAY they are going to take the ONE manual transmission H3 out that they MIGHT have on the lot out and drive it, then get in mine and drive it, so they can feel the difference.  I mean I know the differential isn't the easist thing to take out, but it's better then putzing around trying to figure it out.  They said they are friends with all the service guys at the dealer I bought it from, so I told them just have them fax you the repair order from when it happened the first time. 

And RutDog, it's actually fun driving the stick.  I had my PCM tuned with PCMforLess and that sucker hauls, faster then the 3.7 '07 H3 that they gave me as a loaner last time.  I love the stick and can't really picture myself having the Auto.  It's just not me. 
 
Oh, and I doubt it's the clutch since it's hydrolic, but anything is possible.  The reason why I don't think so is when you LOCK the 4x4, it doesnt do it, so I'm 99% sure it's the front differential

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

I had my PCM tuned with PCMforLess

 
Just a thought...  Is there a chance there's something worng with the tune..??  Something that make the engine respond with a jerk on deaccel.??

I usually try to put a sarcastic twist on my posts.  I guess that's the inner Azzhole in me, but I just can't do it here.  I feel bad for ya man. Are there other dealer's in the area that you could take it to?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Crash

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

I had my PCM tuned with PCMforLess

Just a thought...  Is there a chance there's something worng with the tune..??  Something that make the engine respond with a jerk on deaccel.??

 
I thought about that, but you can hear a sort-of chatter noise coming from the differential when you let up on the gas, and this was doing this way before the PCM was reprogrammed.  I just never had time to bring it in.
 
SG: The dealers are great in working with me, but since they haven't really seen it, it's something they really have to play around with since they haven't had much experience with the Manual trannys, but I hear Dennis and Dilo have PLENTY of experience with Trannies......

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

3. The infmaous problem with the car bouncing back and forth when taking my foot off the accelerator has gotten worse.

 
For your item #3 above:
 
I would have them check the brake system.  If I understand things correctly, the StabiliTrak / Dynamic Rear Proportioning functionality of the brake system is supposed to keep the thing from doing the bouncing you are describing.  If may have failed.

The manual transmission doesn't have Stabilitrak, only the automatics do.  They don't even offer it in a stick.  That's a good idea though!

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

The manual transmission doesn't have Stabilitrak, only the automatics do.  They don't even offer it in a stick.  That's a good idea though!

 
That's what I initially thought from something I read before.  But I noticed that the H3 web site states that StabiliTrak is standard on all H3s.  Is this not the case?

Wow.  They told me it's only offered on the Automatic's.  Maybe it's standard on all '07 models now, OR, maybe I do have it and the salesguy didn't know what he was talking about.  He told me Manual's don't have it.  That would explain why I'm having the braking problem as well.  This is interesting.  I'm going to look into this.

I believe in 07 stabilitrac is standard an both auto's and manuals. In 06 it was only available on autos.
 
 

Here is what the specs for the '06 says:
 
Drivetrain
Transmission: 4-speed automatic with Stabilitrak stability control standard. Manual available.
4-wheel drive: full-time two speed with manual locking center differential, electronic fully locking rear differential; brake-assisted traction control; with optional Adventure Package, crawl ratio is 69:1 with transfer case’s 4.03:1 low range gear reduction and lower 4.56:1 final drive axle ratio.

I can't find anything that officially says it does not come with it.  The dealer told me Stabilitrak is not offered on Manual transmissions because it doesn't need it since it has a clutch.