Due to popular demand, we will do a new poll specifically related to rear differential issues on the Solstice. Please select the option that best describes YOUR situation (you can only vote once).
PS, I am out of poll options and cannot include anything else, but I think these options will relate to most. It includes options for those with single issues, and/or multiple issues.
Thanks!
Last edited by Fformula88 : 08-15-2007 at 08:10 PM.
12,000 miles and not a single problem. (With anything)
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Vin# 2082 Sly with sand/steel leather, everything including rubber floor mats and wheel locks, but
no smokers or onstar. Her name is Summer.
My 06 Solstice w/Manual Trans has a problem not shown on your list: Excessive Pinion and Ring Gear howl noise only on the steady pull side, not on decel or coast side. The noise is loudest at a steady throttle range of 35-45 mph which generally means 3rd or 4th gear, but I can also duplicate the noise in the other gear ranges when the engine is under a steady throttle. Since I have had no fluid leaks from the rear diff, I am choosing to take a wait and see approach for now to see if it get worse with more problems than just this excessive howl noise. At some point in the near future I will ask the dealer to fix this noise problem as it is both annoying and embarassing to hear this ugly noise while driving an otherwise beautiful looking and running car. I have 5900 miles on the car and it was put in service on 12-2-05. I first noticed the gear howl noise at about 2000 miles, but the noise has gotten louder this year. /Bob W
The last day I owned my '06, I had the pinion seal replaced. That is what was going on when I found my mean GXP. When the service department came back to tell me my car was ready, I told them it was their car, now.
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JimmyO
Enjoying my retirement and soaking up the sun!
Sorry about the limited choices. I tried to get as many combinations as I could into the poll that were the most common situations encountered. I think the most common complaints/problems have centered around the clunk issue, the pinion leak, the vent leak, and overall carrier failures. So I included them and combinations of them.
certainly wish there was a way to determine the overall size of the issue with the diff, meaning how many cases have been actually reported.....big GM knows the answer, but will probably never release it unless there is an engineering design safety directive from the NHTSA...that requires the carmaker to report/document the problem, number of occurrences, actions taken by the automaker to remedy the issue or make repairs...etc....
33 responses....and probably close to 45K or more cars on the road now.....so probably not a good statistical sample.......
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33 responses....and probably close to 45K or more cars on the road now.....so probably not a good statistical sample.......
I am certainly not a statistician but I don't think you have to poll the whole 45K to get a good measure.
__________________ Mysterious GXP, dark-side, ebony w/gray stitched leather, manual 5-speed, loaded
Additions: "J" stubby antenna, custom rubber floor mats, tinted windows (35%), Evolution car cover
Solstice - sol (sun) and sistere (stand still) as we drive off into the sun!
certainly wish there was a way to determine the overall size of the issue with the diff, meaning how many cases have been actually reported.....big GM knows the answer, but will probably never release it unless there is an engineering design safety directive from the NHTSA...that requires the carmaker to report/document the problem, number of occurrences, actions taken by the automaker to remedy the issue or make repairs...etc....
33 responses....and probably close to 45K or more cars on the road now.....so probably not a good statistical sample.......
Oh, this is in no way a poll that will give us a reliable statistical sample. There are WAY too many variables in the equation. Right down to the forum demographic. If ONLY the very active members posted, you might be able to consider it a good sample size, but that is not the case. Everyone can respond, and among casual forum users, you tend to have a larger representation of owners with problems than actually exist in the community. Many owners will never seek out a forum for simple social/community enjoyment, but many of them will if they experience a problem to research it and get a solution. As a result, the percentage of owners with problems on a forum is higher than the percentage of owners with problems overall.
Then the poll is flawed in other ways. Do you consider the vent leak really a "problem?" Some work fine, but weep fluid during aggressive driving. Maybe it is a design shortcoming, but it isn't a mechanical problem or build quality problem either. Also, someone might have had a weeping vent, but the dealer mis-daignosed it leading the person to believe they had a bigger issue.
Then there is the issue of the clunk. Some are worse than others. GM tends to maintain it is not a problem that will result in a component failure. It is more of an annoyance (in their estimation) and they have developed a partial cure in the torque bar. Yet, the poll only asks if you have a clunk. So you have a bias by the respondant to determine if they have a "clunk" and there is no way to tell if they are diagnosing the right clunk or not, or whether whatever their car is doing qualifies as the clunk. Then there is the question as to whether this clunk is really a problem, just an annoyance, or somewhere in between.
Regardless, between the clunk and the vent leak, we could have a lot of respondents with either or both problems, who really do NOT have a mechanical issue whatsoever and own a car that will not need any rear end repair over it's lifespan, and only have the inconvenience and annoyance caused by the design of the rear carrier and mounting assembly.
The poll is mainly for the fun of it, to see how it turns out, and to satisfy those who want to know. But as you point out it is by no means a definitive figure to be relied upon either. There is no scientific basis to this poll.
Last edited by Fformula88 : 08-16-2007 at 10:22 AM.
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