Does anyone know if this poses a danger with continued driving. My wife will be taking a long trip next week and I am not sure I will be able to get to the dealer before then.

 

Just had mine fixed yesterday at Sunrise Hummer in Memphis, TN and so far everything is great, no rattles or lose feeling under my foot. I was told by the service writer at Sunrise that the batch of shaft that they just got in were the redesigned shafts. It's 100+ here in Memphis today. Hopefully all of the Hummer dealerships will start getting the new shafts very soon.

Regards,
Mark

 

I wish there was a uniformed answer to this problem. Mark great news for you. I hope everything works out. I was just told by a dealer that they will not have new shafts ready until late September. What is going on here?

Whododat, I do not think there is any real danger. At least that is what I have been told and mine has been doing it for several weeks and I have had no other issues.

 

I have been told by several people that there should not be a concern in terms of any damage resulting from this issue, andlikewise, there is noserious concern or danger posed by this issue while driving.It seems as though the clunking is a direct result of parts "softening" up as the vehicle gets hot. Obviously, the hotter the outside temp in conjunction with the reg vehicle heat, the worse the problem. I don't know much about the lower steering shaft assembly in terms of the exact components, butI suppose this could be a result of a type of bushing or other material used that is affected by the heat. Or maybe just a bad design that allows the metal components themselves to loosen up when hot.

Personally, when it's clunking really bad, it sounds and feels a bit scary to me. Like the whole shaft is just going to drop out. Me thinks the sooner the fix the better. Just to be safe. It wouldn't be unlike GM (or dealer service techs) to say it's not a danger, only to find out later that there is a secondary concern as a result of the problem.

Don't know how far your wife is going, but I drove 5 hrs each way from Va Beach to central MD andbackthis past weekend, and while the clunking was making me crazy, everything went smooth and I did not feel like anything else in the ride was being compromised.

If she is going to be so nervous that she will be stressed, just have her drive another vehicle or rent one. I know thatseems like a pain, but at least she'd be more comfortable not worrying about something going wrong.

 

Quickie update.
As some members have already indicated, theNEW redesigned part hasbeen completed and they've started to ship to dealers. A few dealers have already replaced a few, but most dealersare still waiting for the newlower shaftsto start arriving. As the problem is so widespread (i.e. all H3s), the part is already on backorder and most dealersshould start seeing them sometime in the next couple of weeks. For some, it could be longer. This is also contingenton how quickly they're beingproduced.

If you have this issue and are not on a list with your dealer service for the replacement, I'd call them asap, as the longer you wait, the futher down the list you'll be.

The newpart # is 25900714- Shaft - Lower Steering

GM Bulletin #07-02-45-006

 

I picked up my H3 last week. Within a few days I noticed thefront endproblem[:@]. I called the dealer today and he said the parts needed should be in within a week. They didn't take my name to call me when the part comes in. After reading all the treads I will be calling them to be put on a list. I wish I read this tread before buying the H3.

 

I took my H3 in today and the service man indicated that the new lower shaft of the steering column did come out a couple of weeks ago. He said that this is the third design of the shaft and that they are on backorder. He did not believe that it would take that long to come in. They are all obviously aware of the issues, and Bob Moore Hummer in OKC seems to be working with their people well. Good luck to everyone else that are having problems with their dealers.

 

Any idea how complex is the procedure to replace the new shaft ? Is it a day long or week(s) long ? Do they have to remove lot of parts and re-assemble again ? Reason I'm asking if they need to remove everything lot of parts during re-assembly they might miss something & that might lead to other issues.

- Pardon my limited auto repair knowledge.

 

I believe it is a 4 to 5 hour procedure in the manual. They said that they could get it in and out in a day once they had it.

 

This is similar to what I was told. A few hrs minimum and most likely a bit longer. It should be the standard drop off in the morn and p/u late afternoon routine. And I don't believe they need to remove much, if anything, to get to the lower shaft. Should be fairly straight-forward.