Some Q's before dealer trip

[Wolfe1978nm]

I have an '05 TB LS that I just picked up a few weeks ago. Right now it only has 450 miles. I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow to get them to fix the washer fluid pump (not pumping) and also to take alook at the tires, looks and feels like one has an uneven sidewall.

Apart from that there are a few other things I have noticed in the past fews days that I wanted to ask about before taking it in:

1) Engine vibration at idle - When the truck is in gear and sitting at idle there seems to be alot of vibration. Vibration isn't exactly the word for it, feels more like the engine is just out of balance and I'm feeling the pull of one cylinder (like a slight shaking from side to side). Is this normal in these trucks or should idle be smooth?

2) Down****ing - I didn't notice it too much at first, but now that I have a few miles on the truck I am noticing that the downshifts while coming to a stop are rough, I can feel every gear on the way to first. 3-2 and 2-1 I actually have to ajust the brakes a bit because of the engine torque pushing the car forward. Again, is this just how the TB's are or should I have them check it out?

[MoJoe]

My 03 idles very smooth, and shifting is very smooth also. I would have them look at it, and be persistant, make sure they see the problem...

[Envoy Fan]

If you have a 4.2L I-6, it should idle very smoothly. You should not even know it is running. Trans problem may be related to engine idle problem :undecided

Service may say engine still too new, but I think that the idle should be smooth, even at this stage of newness. Ask them to road force balance the tire(s). This will eliminate or identify any wheel or tire defects. :m2:

[Wolfe1978nm]

Thanks for the info. I noticed at a drive thru the other day that the tranny was surging while I was inching up in the line (no gas, just idle). Drove back to work and tried in the parking lot and it was still doing it... pulled to the end of the lot and put it in reverse to try again and it was gone after putting it back in drive. Haven't noticed the issue since but it is all prob centered around the tranny like you said. On a funny note... the reason I got a new suv was because my previous one had bad balance/ride issues and an engine that ran horrible at low rpm :duh:

I'll update with what they come up with.

[Taff67]

Hi,

I have a new Envoy EXT V8, and have the same issues as you have reported - Slight surge, or judder type feeling when inching along, and the engine vibration at idle.
The truck is just up to 1100mi, and I figure I'll wait until the first service and drop it off at the dealer with a detailed list of complaints :mad:
I also have what appears to be a slightly warped windshield, and A/C that's useless at idle in hot weather. How about yours? Is it the V8 also?


edited twice due to bad spelling ;-)

[Wolfe1978nm]

I have the LS regular size, I6 cylinder, although I think they use the same tranny. My AC actually works pretty good (in FL). The dealer gave an '04 EXT Trailblazer for a few days as a loaner and the AC did seem weaker than in mine.

[Jman423]

......My AC actually works pretty good (in FL). The dealer gave an '04 EXT Trailblazer for a few days as a loaner and the AC did seem weaker than in mine.
What part of Florida, and what dealer gave you a loaner? :eek: I didn't even get a comfortable chair for the four hours I had to wait for them to tell me there was nothing wrong with my truck!! :mad:

[Envoy Fan]

What part of Florida, and what dealer gave you a loaner? :eek: I didn't even get a comfortable chair for the four hours I had to wait for them to tell me there was nothing wrong with my truck!! :mad:

There are several dealers' service departments in Ohio that don't offer comfortable chairs while waiting also. I guess they don't want us to stay any longer than absolutely necessary :laugh:

[Envoy Fan]

Hi,

I have a new Envoy EXT V8, and have the same issues as you have reported - Slight surge, or judder type feeling when inching along, and the engine vibration at idle.
The truck is just up to 1100mi, and I figure I'll wait until the first service and drop it off at the dealer with a detailed list of complaints :mad:
I also have what appears to be a slightly warped windshield, and A/C that's useless at idle in hot weather. How about yours? Is it the V8 also?


edited twice due to bad spelling ;-)

Engine vibration at idle is a common complaint with the V8, I think. It is not as smooth as my 4.2L I-6 was. I just tell myself it is because of the high performance camshaft I now have with the V8 :laugh:
Also, I think you may have the DOD engine that is supposed to shut down 4 cylinders when at a slow speed. You can tell if you have a DOD engine by looking in the glove box at the label on the lid. If it says DOD in the codes you have it. This may contribute to the studder or vibration :undecided
The acustocal (sp) lamination in the windshield has made for some distortion. Mine has it on the passenger side to a mild degree. As far as the A/C, I read on Edmunds that there is now a fix for that, but I don't remember (since I have a SWB) what it was. :duh:

[Wolfe1978nm]

I'm in Jacksonville FL. The loaner I had was while I was buying the truck, it took them a few days to bring it in to the dealer and rather than let me drive around in my trade (and possibly reconsider the sale) they just gave me a loaner to drive till they got the new one in. They did say that they would provide a loaner if any warranty work would take more than a day (This is at Bennett Chevy in Kingsland GA).

The dealers in Jax (where I am having it serviced) could care less about a loaner, all they do is a shuttle that will take you a few miles if you need a ride. The reason I went to GA to buy my car was because I had 3 dealers try to scam me on the GM emp. pricing. One added 2k to the price, one tried to negotiate the price from a higher starting price and the third gave me the right price up front but wanted (and this still cracks me up) $507
/month for 6 years for a $21k truck @ 9%. Tell me something isn't wrong with that math. :rotfl:

When I dropped mine off this morning they tried to tell me the engine vibration is normal when the AC is on.... I'm not buying that and told her it needs to be checked. She also seemed like she didn't want to write anything on the service order about the tranny. When I told her about the surging in idle while in gear she immediately wrote "Engine surging" on the slip even though I told her the RPM were not changing and that it was not the engine.

I'll update this afternoon when I hear back. Honestly, I expect them to:

Fix:
Washer fluid

Look at but do nothing:
The tires and balancing

Do nothing at all:
Engine vibration and shifting

Anything beyond that and I will be suprised

[02EnvoySLE Guy]

The acustocal (sp) lamination in the windshield has made for some distortion.

I'm getting the accoustical glass put on my '02 on Friday; we'll see how bad the distortion is, if there is any at all. :m2:

[Envoy Fan]

I'm getting the accoustical glass put on my '02 on Friday; we'll see how bad the distortion is, if there is any at all. :m2:

Looking forward to hearing about your results. :undecided

[Jman423]

Fix:
Washer fluid

Look at but do nothing:
The tires and balancing

Do nothing at all:
Engine vibration and shifting

Anything beyond that and I will be suprised
Sounds like a typical dealer horror story... :rolleyes:

[Wolfe1978nm]

Well, the dealer visit actually went pretty well. They did force balance all of the tires and after trying to rotate one tire on the rim to balance it they ended up replacing the tire, tech said he couldn't get it fully balanced. They would not have found the issue if they had not force balanced the tires so if you're having issues with wheel balace have a shop or the dealer do a force test (the issue is generally in the sidewall if balace and out-of-round checks are ok).

They followed a TSB for noise/vibration and put weights/mounts along the exhaust to keep it from touching the body at any point. This did not fix the vibration issue though. They tried to say it was normal when the AC is on, but when I turned it off and it was still there they admitted there was noticable vibration. Since it's still new I'm just going to wait till the first 3k mile checkup to see how it is doing at that time.

Overall not a bad visit. Only issues I really had were that they didn't even work on it till about 3pm after making an appt and taking it in at 8am, and they left 3 big oil/grease handprints on the outside paint and a big dirt mark where the tech put his arm on the armrest with oil on it... :duh:

[Jman423]

................and they left 3 big oil/grease handprints on the outside paint and a big dirt mark where the tech put his arm on the armrest with oil on it... :duh:
Take it back and make them detail it!!

I'm glad that most of the visit went well for ya, I hope that vibration either goes away or is cured on future visit. :)

[sallen]

heck yea take it back and make them clean it,
i complained to the dealer the first week and got all kinds of freebe's, bill heard gave me like 10 free fill ups and free bug guard, installed the xm, all because i told them i was going to rate them bad on the gm new car survey,
shay

[OurZoo]

I have an '04 V8 and get the vibration as well. With my exhaust it purrrrrrrrrs. :yes:

[02EnvoySLE Guy]

Take it back and make them detail it!!

:eek::x:x:x NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Having a dealership detail your ride is like saying "please, put a bunch of oils and fillers on my paint and tons of silicone dressing on my interior just to make it look good for about 3 days!"

Take it to a real detailer if you want it clean. Dealerships cheat you bigtime on detailing. Most leave more defects/scratches/swirls behind than they "remove" :no:

[Envoy Fan]

:eek::x:x:x NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Having a dealership detail your ride is like saying "please, put a bunch of oils and fillers on my paint and tons of silicone dressing on my interior just to make it look good for about 3 days!"

Take it to a real detailer if you want it clean. Dealerships cheat you bigtime on detailing. Most leave more defects/scratches/swirls behind than they "remove" :no:

:yes: My new '05 had sooo much tire shine stuff on it when I got it. Well the shine is gone, it is on the finish now :eek: I hate that stuff they use that flings off while you are driving. One of the downsides to owning White, you see all that stuff right away. :m2:

[jimmyjam]

:yes: My new '05 had sooo much tire shine stuff on it when I got it. Well the shine is gone, it is on the finish now :eek: I hate that stuff they use that flings off while you are driving. One of the downsides to owning White, you see all that stuff right away. :m2:nice gallery pics btw :yes:

[02EnvoySLE Guy]

:yes: My new '05 had sooo much tire shine stuff on it when I got it. Well the shine is gone, it is on the finish now :eek: I hate that stuff they use that flings off while you are driving. One of the downsides to owning White, you see all that stuff right away. :m2:

I'm not suprised. I told the dealership not to touch my truck when I got it. Since it went to Ziebart for rustproofing the day before delivery, it turns out that they did the detailing. I wasn't too impressed with them either. :m2:

I have seen everything from cavaliers to porsches that have been mis-treated this same way. It's truly a shame in my opinion; but no wonder so many people don't know what a well-detailed new car is SUPPOSED to look like. :duh: