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warranty work


RJSUS

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I took my 98 in for my final extended warranty saga....The levelers seemed to fizzle out...We had another couple in the car , it was bottoming out...Took it to the dealer this a.m... I was told that the compressor wasn't working...That is covered.. However both air bags on the shocks are ruined now and they tell me that's not covered...Anyone else besides me think that due to the failure of the compressor, that the shocks should be covered also ?? The car is still sitting at the dealer waiting for an inspector to come out sometime tomorrow morning..The shocks at $600.00 a piece is quite a bit to chew at this point...Any thoughts on how i can get this thru to them?? Thanx in advance...Russ

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I would take the car back and check the shocks myself to see if they hold pressure. If they do I would take it back and have them install the compressor. I would NOT let them check the shocks for their ability to hold pressure as they could possibly puncture them. I would manually connect the shocks and fill them with air and bring the car in like that SHOWING them that the shocks/bladders hold air pressure. I would KNOW if they can hold pressure and that they can raise the car BEFORE I bring it back. Or I would take it to another dealer. Mike

By the way the price of $600 each is a good one

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I doubt that both rear struts are failed but most of the time, the struts are replaced in pairs...

Usually, the air portion of the rear struts lasts for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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I doubt that both rear struts are failed but most of the time, the struts are replaced in pairs...

Usually, the air portion of the rear struts lasts for the lifetime of the vehicle.

This is what I was getting at with my long circuitous message above, I also doubt that they need replacing. This could be their way of extracting the 'warranty' work from you, they could be bad, its just unlikely. Your message implied that they said 'because' your compressor went bad, 'now' you need new struts. No air in the shocks in my experience will not damage the air bladders, it will tend to damage the electronics and valving as they are banging hard as the wheel goes up. My 91 was down for about a month and the bladders filled right up when I replaced the compressor head... Mike

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Most of the time, the failure mode is a chafed air line rubbing on moving suspension components. The air leak causes the compressor to run continuously until the relay contacts weld together and blow the fuse. There is a repair kit for the line that is available from the dealer for $2.

The the green, "LEVEL RIDE" indicator would illuminate whenever the compressor was operating. If the "LEVEL RIDE" indicator illuminated constantly, it would alert the owner that something was wrong. Unfortunately, the light was eliminated a few years back on the FWD platforms.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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RJSUS,

I had the same problem. Soon after I purchased my 98 Deville last March I noticed that I would bottom out when I carried passengers. I took a road trip

from Colorado to Arkansas and back with my caddy that way. Along the trip

I noticed other Devilles on the highway and I could see their whole back tire yet on

mine you couldn't see the top portion of my back tire as the wheel well had them

covered. When I had my towncar my message board would tell you to check

air ride suspension. So I figured my caddy would do the same if something was

wrong. The previous post explains why not now. The compressor ran continuously

and eventually fried itself out. The dealership replaced the compressor as it was

under warranty but they hit me for about $100.00 to replace the air line.

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My first question is.....is this a GMPP extended warranty?

If not then good luck as from what I can tell it appears something is amiss if the dealer is not trusted to make their own diagnosis and need a rep to come out.....sounds somewhat suspect......If they truly have a rep come out find out who he is and request a sit down as to why the shocks have failed if they have failed.

Non-factory backed warranties are the lauging stock of the biz and are set up to encourage dealers to say NO given the pricing structures on the back end.

GMWA

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Well...first things first....if the rear had struts, they would be covered..however the rears are shocks which are not covered...( a small print exclusion) They are picking up the bill for the compressor...Tech feels that the air bladders are damaged ..they show some significant cord...Service rep called me with this info this afternoon.... I asked the service mgr if it's feasible to hook up compressor and see if they hold air before I make my decision to part with 1300.00 replace the 2 shocks...He said they will give it a try...While talking to him i mentioned that I've seen a few web dealers Rock Auto etc. offering these at $100 to $150 less than the price the parts dept quoted... He said he'll talk with parts mgr and see if they can match or get closer.... Anyway I just may be closer to that 05 STS a bit sooner than I thought <grin> Oh yeah....no it's not a GM extended.. A few more days driving a rental Cadavelier....gawd they suck....I even had to roll up windows by hand LOL

Russ

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Why don't you have the dealer fix the compressor and turn the key to ON and listen. If the compressor runs for more than 10-15 seconds, go over the lines and the shock boots with soapy water and look for leaks.

What does the tech mean when he says the shock bladders show "significant cord"?

Before I spent $1300, I would want to be absolutely positive that the shocks were bad. By the way, one of the tests in the service manual is to pressurize the system to see if the rear shocks hold air.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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That is very expensive for air shocks since we are not talking about the struts now. You could do a lot better if they are bad. Check www.gmotors.com for a price quote. I keep forgetting that at some point they changed the rear suspension. Mike

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The high cost is most likely due to the electronics in the shock. Usually, the air portion of the shock lasts the life of the vehicle - the electronics fail long before the air portion fails.

Asking the service manager if spending the $1300 is necessary is sort of asking a barber if you need a haircut...

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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The high cost is most likely due to the electronics in the shock. Usually, the air portion of the shock lasts the life of the vehicle - the electronics fail long before the air portion fails.

Asking the service manager if spending the $1300 is necessary is sort of asking a barber if you need a haircut...

OH I did not realize that there was electronics in the shock similar to the strut, so I guess its similar to the strut with its variable controlled valving... Then it is more expensive than a simple air shock.. Kevin, when did they move to coil springs in the rear instead of struts? Mike

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The high cost is most likely due to the electronics in the shock.  Usually, the air portion of the shock lasts the life of the vehicle - the electronics fail long before the air portion fails.

Asking the service manager if spending the $1300 is necessary is sort of asking a barber if you need a haircut...

.. Kevin, when did they move to coil springs in the rear instead of struts? Mike

It's possible that they did not switch - they have been shocks all along... My '86 Park Avenue has leveling shocks on the rear and struts in the front.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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