A second and more serious problem with my Volt

[faz]

i wanted to circle back on this issue and let everyone know that GM was extremely professional and considerate when it came to resolving my concerns on this problem. They asked me and my wife to come into the dealership and they explained, at a very detailed level, what happened with the car. It turns out that when the first repair was done a little more than a month ago, the service technician didn't follow the correct steps. The bolt that failed in this case was reused when it should have been replaced. We met the technician and he was extremely apologetic and so was everyone at the dealership. It was great to know that there was no design flaw in this situation so all you other Volt owners can relax. Unfortunately, the final chapter just closed on my poor Volt and that can be read about in my latest post here ==> http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....taled-Volt-187

[black88mx6]

Again thanks for coming back to close out this thread. Good information.

[solar_dave]

After all that it got totaled!!!! OMG how unfortunate. You were so glowing with your dealer you should check on a replacement.

[WopOnTour]

i wanted to circle back on this issue and let everyone know that GM was extremely professional and considerate when it came to resolving my concerns on this problem. They asked me and my wife to come into the dealership and they explained, at a very detailed level, what happened with the car. It turns out that when the first repair was done a little more than a month ago, the service technician didn't follow the correct steps. The bolt that failed in this case was reused when it should have been replaced. We met the technician and he was extremely apologetic and so was everyone at the dealership. It was great to know that there was no design flaw in this situation so all you other Volt owners can relax. Unfortunately, the final chapter just closed on my poor Volt and that can be read about in my latest post here ==> http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....taled-Volt-187

Well I'm still a little bit "shaky" concerning the details of this failure, as from what I can see from the photos about the only "fastener" that could have failed to permit the LF wheel to swing out as shown would be a tie rod end, which doesnt have a replaceable "bolt" at all as it's "fixed" within the end-fitting's socket. (see pic)

Yes, the tie-rod NUT (labled #1 in the photo) NOT a bolt is supposed to be replaced if ever removed (as it's not castellated but an interference self-locking design)
But WHY would have that nut been removed in the first place?
What exactly was done to this car previously?
As IIRC you had an electrical issue (bad ground?) that was triggering a lock-up during the the "Initializing" message.
Did they end up replacing your transaxle??

WopOnTour

[voltage692]

There's no way a tie rod coming off could have caused the car to fall down on it's tire -- beyond the normal level of wheel travel as shown in Faz's pics. The tire is bulging out the fender!

The tie rod just controls left/right movement of the wheel, not up and down. How could it control up and down while being such a weak looking rod that is horizontal not vertical?

It's got to be something with the strut bolts. Where's the rest of the diagram for the front suspension?

Well I'm still a little bit "shaky" concerning the details of this failure, as from what I can see from the photos about the only "fastener" that could have failed to permit the LF wheel to swing out as shown would be a tie rod end, which doesnt have a replaceable "bolt" at all as it's "fixed" within the end-fitting's socket. (see pic)

Yes, the tie-rod NUT (labled #1 in the photo) NOT a bolt is supposed to be replaced if ever removed (as it's not castellated but an interference self-locking design)
But WHY would have that nut been removed in the first place?
What exactly was done to this car previously?
As IIRC you had an electrical issue (bad ground?) that was triggering a lock-up during the the "Initializing" message.
Did they end up replacing your transaxle??

WopOnTour

[solar_dave]

Your right, it has to be an A arm/strut issue. Could be a ball joint. Something caused a vertical axis rotation/position failure.

[scottf200]

Yes, the tie-rod NUT (labled #1 in the photo) NOT a bolt is supposed to be replaced if ever removed (as it's not castellated but an interference self-locking design)WopOnTour

Castellated Nut:

[WopOnTour]

There's no way a tie rod coming off could have caused the car to fall down on it's tire -- beyond the normal level of wheel travel as shown in Faz's pics. The tire is bulging out the fender!

The tie rod just controls left/right movement of the wheel, not up and down. How could it control up and down while being such a weak looking rod that is horizontal not vertical?

It's got to be something with the strut bolts. Where's the rest of the diagram for the front suspension?

Your right, it has to be an A arm/strut issue. Could be a ball joint. Something caused a vertical axis rotation/position failure.

One would assume IF it were a total failure of the upper knuckle at the strut mount the knuckle and tire would be flopped over like the photo of the pickup in Bonairs post (#7) But perhaps the axle shaft /CV joint prevented that...
From the diagram I posted you can see how the strut is secured to the knuckle by TWO large horizontal bolts with nuts, (not ONE as Faz indicated was all that went loose/missing) so...
PLUS neither of those TWO strut to knuckle fasteners are designated for replacement during reassembly, just re-used and torqued to spec.

Then there's one of Faz's photos that clearly shows the LOWER control arm completely intact (at the cradle at least), by single horizontal bolt through bushing in the front mount and TWO vertical bolts (with nuts) securing the rear of the lower control arm to the cradle. PLUS that sway bar link going up to the strut (the plastic/nylon dog-bone looking thing the sway bar end is connected to) looks totally secure, perfectly vertical, and to me looks OK in that pic. If the strut itself was skewed off-plane so would be that link!

The very first photo shows the car TOE'D OUT about a foot! (But the tire is still appearing to be essentially vertical and "fixed" top and bottom.) The other photos seem to allude additional hoizontal movement that was either part of attempting to driving/move the car with the "dislocate" and/or from being winched/dragged back onto the flat bed (with the floor jack "helper"?)

So IMO either there would have to be TWO missng bolts, or the knuckle's broke at the strut or ?...
BUT HE SAID IT WAS JUST A SINGLE BOLT!!
So like I said the only single bolt that I am aware of that could toe the wheels outward like that in the very first photo would be the tie-rod end. (but admittedly that still doesnt make perfect sense)

Hence my frustration with the description and especially the photos.
Why isnt any photo showing thepoint of actual failure/damage as it always looks like what we need to see is "just" outta frame...
WOT

PS> Yuppers Scotty, that is a castellated nut. Typically a cottter key, roll pin, or tie-wire (aviation) is used to secure the nut from loosening.However a castellated nut was NOT designated in the case of the aforementioned tie-rod end.( and most all other fasteners shown here can be safely re-used)

[solar_dave]

The issues of detective work with insufficient evidence.