Are you as unhappy as me?

[spospolita]

I have a 2007 Hummer H3 Tactical Edition with 83,500 miles and I have owned it since it was new. I have never taken my car off road and still I am replacing stuff like I have sent my car to hell and back. I have had to replace everything after the warranty period. To date I have replaced my exhaust manifold pipe, wiper motors, radiator and accessories, a/c condenser and accessories, gas cap, purge vent valve, vent solenoid. My radiator had the cracking at the top by the fill cap but the reason why I had to have mine replaced was because the transmission cooling lines that run through it broke and pumped my overflow container full of transmission fluid. When I had the radiator replaced they drained my tranny and told me some of the radiator fluid had made its way in to the tranny and could cause problems later down the road. I still can't get my car to pass inspection because of evap issues and it looks like I will have to also replace my evap canister and/or my evap pressure sensor. I also have the intermittent problem that others have spoke of when braking at a light it feels like my car is going to stall out and then it comes back to life. I emailed the hummer customer service website and surprisingly they responded back very quickly. They questioned why I did not have the repairs done through a GM dealership and I explained to them that I was out of warranty at the time and I did not want to pay dealership prices for out of pocket repairs. I asked them if they would cover the cost of the repairs if I took it to a dealership even though my vehicle was out of warranty and they said no but it would help document the problems and if it was determined to be manufacturer defects and not just normal wear and tear they may be able to do something. They also harped on the fact that I have not taken my car in yet for the hood louver safety recall and wanted to know when I was going to do so. I explained to them that I wanted to fix all the things that make my car drive first before I fix my hood louvers. I further explained that I installed hood handles and I did not pay a dealership $200 to install them so even if I did have the recall done they would blame that the hood louvers flew off because of my hood handles and I would not be covered anyways. I wish there was an easy way to make GM own up to the fact that they put out a product with defective parts and then just washed their hands of it by dropping the entire line. Sorry for being long winded.....I just needed to vent just like my evap system.

[HummerJim]

"the transmission cooling lines that run through it broke and pumped my overflow container full of transmission fluid. When I had the radiator replaced they drained my tranny and told me some of the radiator fluid had made its way in to the tranny and could cause problems later down the road."

This seems to be an issue on the H2 too as well as other GM trucks made in the 2000s. My neighbor had that same radiator issue on his Chevy half-ton pickup. I feel your pain and need to vent! My son has my old 2005 H3 I bought new, and he just had to replace the compressor, condensor and all the lines on the AC as well as the water pump on the engine. It does have 144,000 miles on it now though. He replaced his entire exhaust two years ago. The interior though has held up remarkably well, inspite of his two black labs!

[wpage]

Oh man that just sucks!

The GM mark of excellence is tarnished...

Seems like all these car manufacturers have the warranties timed just right for thier needs. Maybe Consumers Reports is correct on GM

[iwillnc]

Who the f@#$ would pay someone $200 to install hood handles, you need to talk to a different representative, I've had some people with GM that I would talk to and they would end up dumping me to some other phone line that had NOTHING to do with my problem, but at the same time I've had people that would go out of their way updating me on every bit of information that they found or everybit of the debate over my issue being had, kept me informed and solved my problem 200%, you just have to look for these people.

I don't know where the help support offices are for GM, but if it's in detroit, chicago or the likes, then God bless you, because I probably had the one good guy, and knowing how unions work in detroit if your good at your job, your not going to last long

[DRTYFN]

Uhm... that's somewhat normal.

[jersey]

I've been unhappy the last few months too and yesterday sealed the deal. First in early December my blower motor relay went. This happened twice before during summer months, but now its doing it in winter too! Late December there goes my water pump! Then in January my tensioner stopped tensioning, replaced that and a belt. February came and top of my radiator cracked, replaced that. Car felt a little shaky last Wednesday, Thursday I took it for tire balance & rotation. Seemed shakiness went away. Saturday no noticeable difference on short ride to the market and back. Yesterday left for work at 3pm Sunday and shakiness returned at 62MPH, 3:58 pm.
At 4:03pm I'm on the side of the Parkway waiting for an Onstar tow truck because my Transmission failed miserably and briefly caught fire which forced me to the side of the road.
"I should have sold it when the water pump broke!" was what I said when the Tensioner later went and again when the Radiator went. And after I pay for an out of warranty repaired trans I'll likely say it again. But I wont follow through...truth is, I just like my H3, we've had 143K miles of fun and I can't see a few dollars here or there that'd make sense in me getting rid of it.

Good luck with yours too! I hope things turn out better for you moving forward.

[stagger_lee]

Spospolita, sounds like you've had some bad luck. I have 98k on my 06 and just had to replace radiator and water pump. I did notice a leaky CV joint when I changed the oil last, so thats coming up soon. Overall I have been very happy with my H3. I feel safe in the car and feel the wife and kids are safe in it. The wife and I have looked at other cars thinking about the trade in but we haven't found anything we would consider. I'm a Toyota guy and I know I cant expect 200k trouble free miles like my 99 4runner, but since we don't have a car payment, we just started putting $250 a month into a savings account just for vehicle maintenance. I love my H3 and don't think I could ever sell it. I am starting to see less and less of them on the road and I kind of like that. I'll rebuild it as many times as it takes. We do off road the crap out it and put it through the tests, so shes definitely not a road queen, but we keep her pretty.

Just recently invested in a scangaugeII to monitor engine temps and other vitals. I have been running Waterwetter by Redline and purchased a tranny cooler to take heat away from radiator and help with efficiency. To be installed in the next couple weeks. Cheers all!

[stagger_lee]

The stalling out when braking is an easy fix. Clean your intake manifold with carb cleaner. Sounds stupid. I do it every 25k miles or so. No issues since.