dispute over t-case fluid

[damien]

sorry for the length of this but i am lost

Ok a little biut of back story first ,
I took my tb to the dealership because of a whine coming from the input of transfer case with 4k km's left on my powerttrain warranty, the service manager tells me thier is notable wear more than likely in the bearing race for the noise to be so loud (heard while driving at city speeds) but tells me that it is not bad enough yet to change under warranty yet so tough luck.

issue,
With 4k left i figure they are betting on the fact it will last untill warranty is up so i figure to swap my tcase fluid and check for any filings and top up with new fluid hoping that maybe some fresh lube will atleast postpone a rebuild untill i can prepare for it.
i purchased the fluid from the dealership same day and specifyed that i needed the sensitrac II fluid and the salesman says yes the blue stuff. that being said i payed for it and carried on without checking the bottle. Upon going throwing the rig on the hoist at work and draining the tcase i grab the bottle and realize that he gave me two bottles of stabillitrac fluid (part# 88901045) so with it being my only vehicle i had to put the wrong fluid in to get me home and i am now bummin my buddys second vehicle off of him untill i can sort it out.

current situation,
i contacted dealership and told them of the wrong fluid and what has been done and so on , they respond with , "we can give you a discount of $7 on the total cost of new fluid (drops price to $75.94 for two litres) and also tells me that they will no longer accept warranty on the tcase because i put the wrong fluid in.

so i guess after all this rant i am asking if i have any grounds to stand on with a complaint to the general manager of the dealership or higher if need be andf as well just how much damage am i causing to the tcase running this fluid .
any help or responses are greatly appreciated

[navigator]

I would expect they should provide it free of charge, especially if the receipt says autotrac II.
I think I only paid about $12 a quart for the AT II here and it only takes 2 qts.

Also, did you notice any filings or anything odd when you drained the old fluid?

[damien]

no thier was no filings or anything to take note of other than the fact the fluid was very thin (shout a good two feet when i removed the drain plug) allthough i dont know what the normal vescosity of the fluid is as this is the first time i changed since buying the vehicle second hand . the dealer here in New Brunswick charged me $83.94 with the millitary discount , looks like i should order fluid from the states and have it shipped

[Trail X]

Never heard of stabilitrack fluid. That's the GM name for their brake stability system. So if you actually put brake fluid in your TC, that could be a bad thing.

It's possible that GM uses the different name in Canada though. Something you should look up.

The way I see it, if you asked for transfer case fluid for the TB, and they gave you something else, then you may have a case. If you asked for "stabilitrac" then you may be out of luck.

[damien]

i have read into it and the stabillitrac is the diff fluid (basically renamed 75w90 synthetic ) and no i asked for the tcase fluid because i couldnt remember the exact name and had the parts guy look it up for me.
I should add as well that when i was speaking with them to notify them of the mix up the part guy said he remembered me and realized he had given me the wrong fluid but didnt have my phone # on file to notify me, but i imagine that memory would change if somebody was to be put at fault

[navigator]

maybe the 07 was different but mine used autotrac II, about 2qts and it is kind of like oil but blue.
It was ~$25 US for all of it.

[The Roadie]

AutotrakII is auto transmission fluid with some additives for the clutch plates. ATF would do in a pinch for 2HI mode. Nothing else is suitable, and may have gotten permanently into the clutch plates. Good luck!

[bartonmd]

Just to MMQB this whole situation, the thing to have done after the dealer told you that the bearing was shot, but basically that it would last past warranty, would have been to go over his head and call GM customer service, who would have had him replace the bearing, and at the same time, would have changed the fluid in the T-case, free of charge, as it's part of the repair...

Mike

[fishsticks]

Just to MMQB this whole situation, the thing to have done after the dealer told you that the bearing was shot, but basically that it would last past warranty, would have been to go over his head and call GM customer service, who would have had him replace the bearing, and at the same time, would have changed the fluid in the T-case, free of charge, as it's part of the repair...

Mike

If some service manager told me "not bad enough to change under warranty" I'd have started a string of "let me talk to YOUR boss"'s until I had a new transfer case.


I hate to say it, but the minute you made the decision to put that fluid in knowing it was the wrong kind, you gave them a get out of jail free card.

[bartonmd]

Just to MMQB this whole situation, the thing to have done after the dealer told you that the bearing was shot, but basically that it would last past warranty, would have been to go over his head and call GM customer service, who would have had him replace the bearing, and at the same time, would have changed the fluid in the T-case, free of charge, as it's part of the repair...

Mike

If some service manager told me "not bad enough to change under warranty" I'd have started a string of "let me talk to YOUR boss"'s until I had a new transfer case.


I hate to say it, but the minute you made the decision to put that fluid in knowing it was the wrong kind, you gave them a get out of jail free card.

Yep...

[navigator]

I'm not one to normally be dishonest but do they know you noticed it before you changed the fluid? I would go buy the fluid and change it back ASAP then worry about getting them to re-imburse you and replace the TCase.

At least if you go ahead and get the right stuff you are likely to extend the life of the tcase as long as possible.

[Gordinho80]

but do they know you noticed it before you changed the fluid?

Yes... they do

i contacted dealership and told them of the wrong fluid and what has been done and so on , they respond with , "we can give you a discount of $7 on the total cost of new fluid (drops price to $75.94 for two litres) and also tells me that they will no longer accept warranty on the tcase because i put the wrong fluid in.

[chevycrew]

I think you are just going to have to put in the right fluid and run it till it breaks.

unless, you can get another dealer to warranty the case once it has correct fluid in it.

[bartonmd]

Stop right now. Don't talk to the dealer any more. Don't buy the correct fluid for a HORRIBLE price. Don't drive the TB with the wrong fluid in it.

CALL GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TELL THEM EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED UP TO THIS POINT!

[navigator]

Stop right now. Don't talk to the dealer any more. Don't buy the correct fluid for a HORRIBLE price. Don't drive the TB with the wrong fluid in it.

CALL GM CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TELL THEM EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED UP TO THIS POINT!

yeah, maybe they will honor their word better than Ford did with me.