Rear Axle Replacement Today

[richk]

I dropped off my H3 to have the rear axle replaced today. Dealer says I may have it back by the end of the day (I doubt it). For those of you who haven't followed my problems, this replacement is in response to my continued issues with vibration/clunking noises/etc. It ended up taking about 10 days for the replacemnt axle to arrive after I got the regional sales manager involved.

The dealer gave me a Cadillac STS as a loaner. Nice car, talk about loaded with goodies, remote start, digitial everything, wow. Cadillac has come a long way since my grandfather drove one. I got the loaner because I don't think the H3 will be ready today. I added a bunch of extra work to the axle swap including oil change, lots of squeaks/rattles, TPM messages every day, marker lights still whistle. The H3 is just full of little issues that they need to investigate. Hummer better fix all these things if they want their new customers to be happy with their initial purchase. I got the J.D. Powers initial quality survey in the mail last week, boy did I let em have it! Initial quality on my H3 was in the toilet.

[richk]

I dropped off my H3 to have the rear axle replaced today. Dealer says I may have it back by the end of the day (I doubt it). For those of you who haven't followed my problems, this replacement is in response to my continued issues with vibration/clunking noises/etc. It ended up taking about 10 days for the replacemnt axle to arrive after I got the regional sales manager involved.

The dealer gave me a Cadillac STS as a loaner. Nice car, talk about loaded with goodies, remote start, digitial everything, wow. Cadillac has come a long way since my grandfather drove one. I got the loaner because I don't think the H3 will be ready today. I added a bunch of extra work to the axle swap including oil change, lots of squeaks/rattles, TPM messages every day, marker lights still whistle. The H3 is just full of little issues that they need to investigate. Hummer better fix all these things if they want their new customers to be happy with their initial purchase. I got the J.D. Powers initial quality survey in the mail last week, boy did I let em have it! Initial quality on my H3 was in the toilet.

[oneworld]

Hey Rick sorry to hear about all the problems. I thought I would ask how many miles you have on it when the problems started.

Mine is just reaching 2000miles and everything is ok, no rattles or nioses to mention, most of my driving has been on the road with some quick power line trails for fun.

Hope they get you all fixed up

[jp's-h3]

Sorry about your probs!
After 1175 miles I'm happy to say I have only had one minor prob w/ the passenger seat. When the seat was sewn together the batting was not trimed, so it was trying to poke up through the seat. I took it in at 10:00 am, they gave me a Caddy Escilade to drive, picked up my H3 at 12:00 pm.
The dealership has done a great job of taking care of me and my H3!

[richk]

I started noticing problems with vibration around 500 miles. And it got worse as the miles continued to climb. The dealer didn't figure out that it was the rear differential until around 2k miles. I currently have 2.5k.

[richk]

Got my H3 back yesterday. Ended up taking 2 days as I expected. Glad I got the loaner. Here is the status of the repair work that was done:

1. Rear axle replacement: Tech says the entire rear axle assembly was replaced. Said this was the first one they had ever done on the H3 (MedVed West in Denver). For that reason they took their time to make sure it was done right. Result: seems like this has cured all of the vibration issues I was having. My gas pedal no longer seems to transmit vibration thru the firewall. The H3 drives like I remember it during the first week of ownership. The world is in harmony again!

UPDATE: After driving for 4 days, this did not fix the problem. Read later posts for more detais.

2. Roof marker light noise. Nothing can be done to improve the wind noise at this time. The dealer had already previously done the foam strip fix, and they have nothing else they can do. Result: waiting for Hummer to come up with a permanent solution.

3. Rear passenger door panel was squeaking. The tech says that they have been getting alot of H3s in with this problem. In some cases the door panels are practically falling off. In my case the entire rear portion was pulling loose from the door. He said the clips that Hummer are using are crap. He replaced them with clips from the H2 and they hold much better. Result: seems like its fixed.

4. Squeak in drivers door. They said they made an adjustment to the door, but I still hear the squeaking. Result: I am putting this minor issue on the back burner until my next service.

5. TPM System. The tech spent alot of time on this including setting all the tire pressures, resetting the sensors, wiggling the connectors, etc. Said "I think you will be ok now". Result: I drove out of the parking lot and the tire pressue low message came on after I got about 2 blocks away. I called them this morning and requested that the entire TPM system be turned off until Hummer can come up with a proper fix. The service tech is investigating the feasability of my request.

Overall the service department at MedVed West Hummer in Denver did a great job. They sent the tech out to walk over the H3 with me and explain everything that was done in great detail. They genuinely seem to care about getting the vehicles fixed right. To bad they have to deal with vehicles like my H3 that is full of initial quality problems.

[timgco]

Rich, glad to hear you got the rig back. I'm also glad to hear you were taken care of over there. After getting things stolen out of my truck, I gave up on their service dept. Although they always treated me well, I wasn't the only one getting things taken out of my truck.

[richk]

Thanks for the tip, in the future I will make sure I don't leave anything valuable inside.

[richk]

Well after driving around for a few days I have determined that replacing the rear axle did not fix any of my original issues. I am still getting the cluncking noise in the front end and the gas pedal vibrations. I stopped by the dealership this afternoon and reproduced the cluncking noise in their parking lot. Now they think it is the steering column. They offered to order a replacement steering shaft. I told the tech to hold off and I am going to contact my salesman and attempt to arrange a trade-in. Sorry but I had enough with this lemon. I told the salesman "I am done". I want to trade this H3 in for another H3. To be honest I am skeptical whether to trust the H3 at all anymore. But if I attempted to switch to another brand I would lose a ton on the trade.

The salesman is going to speak with management and see what they can do. So now I will find out just how much the dealer really cares about me being satisfied. The salesman asked me to fax him all the service tickets. He told me they are going to contact Hummer and see what can be done.

[h3\'er]

This is all kind of strange. Some people having issues all the time and others having none. at all. I seem to be in the latter camp. Have not had any issues at all with mine. hmmmm.

[H3OwnerDiz]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by h3'er:
This is all kind of strange. Some people having issues all the time and others having none. at all. I seem to be in the latter camp. Have not had any issues at all with mine. hmmmm. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Hmmmm could it be that it's only the ones that were built on a Friday after lunch?

[richk]

Update since my last post above: After 2 weeks of my repeated phone calls I finally got to speak with a GM regional manager on Monday. The conversation with him was tense. I told him that my H3 was a lemon and I wanted a new one. Thru the entire talk all he kept saying was "GM will stand behind their warranty and fix your H3". He said that he had no authority to authorize anything other than for me to continue bringing in the H3 for repairs. We went round and round for several mintues with me yelling and getting nowhere. This guy was not about to offer me any solutions. Finally I suggested that I would like to try having the service dept at White's Mountain in Casper, WY, where I bought my H3, fix the problems. (I live in Denver and MedVed has been trying to fix my H3 for months). The guy immediately said "I can authorize that, GM will pay the cost of getting your H3 to Casper and provide you with a rental/loaner". Well at least that was something.

I have been dealing with my salesman in Casper and their general manager who have been very accomodating and understanding. Today White's Mountain sent one of their drivers to my office with a loaner H3 on a flat-bed and took mine back for repair. I can only hope that the tech's up there can figure out what is wrong. Otherwise I am just going to continue building my paper trail of repair tickets. The regional manager said I would have to speak with GM's legal dept for any remedies other than repairs. He did say several times "GM will compensate you for all your trouble". I don't know what that means, perhaps money, extended warranty, we'll see. My trouble has not ended so it's not appropriate for me to settle up yet...

The saga still continues, meanwhile I am driving a yellow H3. By the way, this one has the same gas pedal vibrations as mine. That is very dissaponting because it seems to indicate that its normal.

[First Hummer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by richk:
Update since my last post above: After 2 weeks of my repeated phone calls I finally got to speak with a GM regional manager on Monday. The conversation with him was tense. I told him that my H3 was a lemon and I wanted a new one. Thru the entire talk all he kept saying was "GM will stand behind their warranty and fix your H3". He said that he had no authority to authorize anything other than for me to continue bringing in the H3 for repairs. We went round and round for several mintues with me yelling and getting nowhere. This guy was not about to offer me any solutions. Finally I suggested that I would like to try having the service dept at White's Mountain in Casper, WY, where I bought my H3, fix the problems. (I live in Denver and MedVed has been trying to fix my H3 for months). The guy immediately said "I can authorize that, GM will pay the cost of getting your H3 to Casper and provide you with a rental/loaner". Well at least that was something.

I have been dealing with my salesman in Casper and their general manager who have been very accomodating and understanding. Today White's Mountain sent one of their drivers to my office with a loaner H3 on a flat-bed and took mine back for repair. I can only hope that the tech's up there can figure out what is wrong. Otherwise I am just going to continue building my paper trail of repair tickets. The regional manager said I would have to speak with GM's legal dept for any remedies other than repairs. He did say several times "GM will compensate you for all your trouble". I don't know what that means, perhaps money, extended warranty, we'll see. My trouble has not ended so it's not appropriate for me to settle up yet...

The saga still continues, meanwhile I am driving a yellow H3. By the way, this one has the same gas pedal vibrations as mine. That is very dissaponting because it seems to indicate that its normal. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Heres an idea trade it in for another one.

[trebor]

Well I have had my H3 for about 6 weeks so far, and about 2100 miles, about 200 off road and not a single issue with any vibration or clunking. Not sure how sensitive your foot is but the gas peddle is actually connected to an electric sensor that in turn opperates the throttle on the engine. You may be feeling the actuator built into the sensor for feedback. At least this is how the system is described in all of the technical reviews I have read. This system is actually to blame for the lack of perseved acceleration, when in actualality the system is programed to increase the speed at a slow steady rate to not only improve offroad ability but to also aid in the fuel mileage.

Supposedly they have a fix for the top side marker lamp noise and installation problems, as I have seen posts that others have had that problem fixed.

[richk]

I already posed the question of trading mine in for another one to the dealer in Casper. They said "there is no way the dealership can make it right". In order words, they told me the dealership was not willing to make a trade without me losing alot of money in the deal. Why should I have to lose thousands of dollars because I was unlucky and got an H3 that is full of problems.

Regarding the marker lights, MedVed in Denver already did their fix. They still whistle.

[kacyk]

If these are anything like the initial H2's, it'll be all over the board. Both my H2's were 2003 models (one '02 and the other '03 production dates). I got lucky as both were reliable and trouble free until the day I sold them (35K and 21K miles). JD Powers ranked it among the worst in initial quality.

My H3 is a later production model and so far so good!

[FLYINGBADGER2006]

Man, what a bummer richk. I got 12550 miles on my H3 and so far no problems. I hope this mess get resolved to your liking. If not, do what you are doing and keep up the paper trail and perhaps you can go into arbitration if your state has a Lemon law.

[DarthKarl]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by richk:
The saga still continues, meanwhile I am driving a yellow H3. By the way, this one has the same gas pedal vibrations as mine. That is very dissaponting because it seems to indicate that its normal. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The guys at White's Mt (both sales and service) are great to deal with. If your problems are fixable, they are the ones that can do it.

I may have driven your yellow loaner about three or four weeks ago (I know they usually use a yellow adventure H3 for customers) and I have to say that I never noticed any vibrations in the pedal. But then again you may have a different rig than I used.

I sure hope you can get everything fixed to your satisfaction.

[Hummertech]

Brand new vehicle like the H3 will always have problems that need to be worked out of them. And anyone who thinks they have a lot of problems with a new H3 should have seen the H2's when they first came out. Many, many more problems, and problems that affected virtually every vehicle. It sounds to me like your problems are more with a service department that can't fix your problems. I've seen all the problems you talk about, but we've been able to fix these problems. I'm sorry, but because you've had a vehicle with multiple problems doesn't entitle you to a new truck. That's what a warranty is for.

[f5fstop]

guys, i had a first year Chevy citation...talk about problems. i even got hit in the head with a trim screw once when slamming the door closed. my mailman went on disability for having to deliver all the recall notices.
(screw was true, mailman slipped and fell but i like to say it was due to all the recall notices.)