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My 2005 with 80K just burned up all the wiring in the dash. Di buick help you our with the costs. I am in contact with Buick customer service right now. The dealer in Illinois is charging me $2500 and that is a lot of repair for a 7 year old car. Please let me know
David
Take your RDV to a local, trusted mechanic. Tell GM to take a hike.
And remember my $1500+ oil leaks? I poured a can of gasket seal in the engine over a month ago. No more leaks. I checked yesterday. Undercarriage dry as the day I got the RDV. Anything suspect there?
Thanks.
Andykay
Dave
So I went to O'Reilly's automart and bought a bottle of gasket seal,softener. Put in in. Its been about 4000 miles so far. Zero leaks. I just checked under the car. Oil pan and tran pans are as dry as they were when they were steamed 3 - 4 months ago. I can't explain why, it just is.
I would not pay another PENNY. You are being taken. $1500 to run a diagnostic? I would go back in there and ask to speak to a manager. Have him explain what they did that earned $1500 in one day of work. Most shops do not have a $187 per hour shop rate!!! Assuming they have not put any parts into it and have only spent 1 day troubleshooting and have charged you $1500 -- I would very calmly but confidently STATE that you are being taken advantage of, that you have paid plenty already, and that you expect your Rendezvous repaired with no further bills. If he tells you they are throwing parts at it (we couldn't figure it out, so we started replacing things), I would get nervous. If he sounds like they still have no clue what's wrong, take the car elsewhere, a better dealer. Then seek a refund from the first dealer and if they turn you down, then hopefully you paid via credit card and can try to get your money back via charge back. Good luck!!
I have one local mechanic who I trust. I wouldn't trust a dealership garage if they were attached to lie detectors. I could give several instances of differences between dealers and indepents. Here's just a couple;
The radio volume control button on my RDV quit working. A dealer wanted $75.00 labor and $15.00 parts. I went to the indy guy. He ordered a button, $6.95. He used a thin-blade screwdriver, popped the old button out, put the new one in. No labor. Total price, $6.95 plus tax.
The left rear window fell into the window well. Dealer charged $910.00 and kept the car for a day. I complained to Buick and got a refund. Another window, left driver's side, fell in. Took the car to the local guy. He put a new unit in, $240.00, 30 minutes.
One more: My keyless remote quit. Dealer wanted $85.00 for a new one. I pried it open and replaced the button battery. $2.95. A second remote broke where the key ring went through the loop. It was under warranty so I got a new one. Dealer wanted $40 to program it. I took the chip out of the old one and put it in the new one. Dealer said it wouldn't work. It did.
If its at all possible, I stay away from dealer garages.
Thanks! C
For the wet carpet on the other one, assuming it water (not coolant) the usual suspect would be clogged drain line but first I would check on the condition of the cabin filter(s) as they could create this type of thing if they are clogged up.
"Condition
Some owners may comment that the carpet in the passenger foot well of the vehicle is wet and the interior of the vehicle has an odor.
Cause
This condition may be caused by a plugged evaporator case drain or a leaking evaporator case drain to cowl seal leak.
Correction
Make a simple tool to clean the evaporator case drain following these steps:
1. Obtain a fixed antenna mast (new or used).
2. Measure from the tip of the antenna a distance of 121 mm (4.75 in) and make a paint line or tape line completely around the antenna mast. This will be the depth stop reference.
This antenna tool is to be reused.
2001 Aztek and 2002 Rendezvous Vehicles Only:
1. Place the vehicle in the service stall over a hoist.
2. Open the hood.
3. With a light (a flashlight works best), look over the top of the engine between the back of the generator and the power brake vacuum hose attachment to the intake plenum. Look down to the base of the cowl to locate the evaporator case drain outlet.
4. Insert the antenna mast tool described above into the evaporator case drain to the depth stop reference line on the antenna mast. Some force may be required the last 6.35 mm (.25 in) as you break away the flashing on the inside of the HVAC case covering the drain tube.
Also i would find a different mechanic than the one that sold you that transmission part for $100, as i have never heard of a "due for replacement" trans part - If they just changed your trans filter that would be OK.
It looks like you've worked with your dealership on this but without any results in getting your primary concern diagnosed. If we can follow up on this with your dealer, please send us more details (including your name and Edmunds username, phone and address, the last 8 of your VIN and current mileage, and the name of your involved dealership) to socialmedia@gm.com
Sarah, GM Customer Service
I have a 2006 Buick Rendezvous and I sometimes have the same issue. I have found that when I park on an incline with the front of the car higher than the back, put the hand brake on and leave it parked for an hour or so, it usually goes off by it's self. As far as the root cause....the verdict is still out on that
I see you're still searching for the root of the concern; had you already had this diagnosed by a dealership? If so, and if you would like for us to follow up on that with them, please contact us at socialmedia@gm.com (include your name, contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN, and the name of your dealer).
Sarah, GM Customer Service
We're sorry to hear about this noise concern you're having with your Rainier and see that you have been to visit the Buick dealership on this. If you wanted for us to check in with them at all, please contact us at socialmedia@gm.com (include your name and contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN, and the name of your involved dealership).
Sarah, GM Customer Service
Dave
Yes all Ultra's had the 3.6L DOHC.
First off, sorry to hear this is happening. We've had 7 Buicks over the years and none have had engine or trans failure, so as a fellow Buick owner you have my sympathies.
Secondly, have either of you opened a case with GM consumer support? You both need to. I believe the email address is cac.buick@gm.com. I had a case for a Pontiac, and they treated me well, were very prompt. I would explain what's happening and ask for financial assistance and in the case of malott57 explain that the fix isn't good and you don't have faith in that dealer. In both of your cases, this isn't just a normal repair, this is unusual, and not normal for your mileage if you have done maintenance all along.
Spending $4000 on fixing one of these is not reasonable unless GM kicks in some assistance. There's way too many of these in salvage yards. You can pick up a good engine that's never been opened up for probably $1000 and have a QUALITY independent shop put it in for you and be at $2000.
#1- keep at the dealer. If you've used the dealer for maintenance and other repairs, make it clear to them that you've been loyal and want some help.
#2- open a case with GM.
#3- if all else fails, find an independent mechanic that is well regarded and swap the entire engine. That used engine will last a lot longer than one that gets rebuilt usually, because too many times the person doing the internal engine work doesn't have the experience to get it exactly right and you could end up with 'gremlins' a couple years later.
Poster can check car-parts.com and search for whichever engine his is 3.4 or 3.6. I searched and found 3.6's with under 100000 mi in the 800-1200$ range in this area for a used engine.
I would seriously consider a GM remanufactured engine installed by a good independent if the car is otherwise in good shape and you wish to keep it.
If you check around some independent shops who often rebuild engines themselves, they may know what the flaw is and may be able to help you without a replacement engine.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
There's also "piston slap", or a collapsing piston, but that's less likely.
Thanks alot
This is not a simple problem unfortunately. Possible causes include:
- Either heating element in the seat open (seat cushion or back)
- The heating-control module on the seat frame under the seat cushion
- The PTC circuit breaker in the wiring harness under the seat
- The power wiring to the seat
- The ground wiring to the seat
- Poor connection in the connector under the seat or elsewhere in the circuit
If you have someone familiar with electrical trouble-shooting, I can send you the wiring diagram for this function and a GM trouble-shooting chart.
I read that about 90% of the time, this problem is caused by the heating elements in the seat itself. To replace those requires hog-ring pliers and some familiarity with removing and installing upholstery because you have to disassemble the whole seat to get to them.
One shotgun possibility would be to check with your local wrecking yards to see if they have a fairly low-mileage Rendezvous to get the seat out of. Make sure that if your RDV has memory seats, the donor car does too....... and vice-versa. If your problem IS in the seat, this should take car of it, assuming the heating function is good in the replacement seat (try to check it at the yard before it's removed from the vehicle)
To remove the seat, use the adjusting button to move it all the way forward, then remove the two large nuts under the back of the seat. Then run the seat all the way back and remove the two large nuts under the front of the seat. Then you can tilt the whole seat back and disconnect all the electrical connectors underneath and carefully lift the seat out. Reverse the directions to install the new seat.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you want the other info Nick
hope this can shed some light.
I added a fuel additive to a full tank. No change. I added half a tank of "hi-test." No change. The only thing I can think of is that here in the land of fruits and nuts, refineries are required to make a "summer blend" of gas to reduce emissions. Maybe there's ethanol added. I don't have a clue. So what's up with this?
The gauge cluster in the dash, outside temperature and fuel seem to be o.k. I did do a manual mileage check - miles divided by gallons, BTW and the result confirmed the gauge reading. But . . . the temp gauge is goofy. Temps here have been in the 100's of late. The gauge would show 87 for a long while, then jump to say, 100, then jump back to 75 then, eventually back to 100. Something is goofy there. I don't know where the sensor input for the temp gauge is so can't check it. But as I said earlier, I cleaned out the intake filter area (and the filter is installed correctly and the right one, too.)
So, there's a couple more things wrong with the car. I posted, earlier, my adventures with oil pan and front crank leaks that stopped when I added a gasket leak stopper. It worked even though some here thought it wouldn't. I'm not a big additive guy but I remember Marvel Mystery Oil and Rislone from way back when. I don't know what they did or why they worked, but they did. Maybe I'll try some MMO next. Can't hurt.
Don't know as I'd be expecting good MPG's with that kind of temp, even without thinking about the A/C being on constantly.