Chevy Sonic recall -- missing brake pad

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"Chevrolet Sonic recall: Brake pads missing?

"Chevrolet Sonic recall will begin officially on Jan. 14. GM is recalling nearly 4,300 Chevrolet Sonics to check for missing brake pads."

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How can something like this not always be quickly noticed, from the time the cars leave the factory until delivery to the customers?

What does it feel like to drive without one of the brake pads in place?

Reply to
larry moe 'n curly
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you still get braking, it's just metal-to-metal contact. and even that doesn't necessarily make too much noise until there's some protracted heating.

Reply to
jim beam

....and we wonder why Detroit has had such a hard time lately.

Seriously. I know that 'stuff' happens when you're assembling something as complex as an automobile, but surely someone along the way might have noticed this during assembly.

But I don't live in their world, so maybe I'm completely off base.

-J

Reply to
phaeton

gm doesn't empower its workers to stop the line like japanese manufacturers do. thus you can guarantee that although this was indeed "noticed", no one who was seeing it was trusted with any responsibility, and so the attitude was "f*ck 'em, it's not my problem".

Reply to
jim beam

Don't project your own attitude onto others. The pads dropped off the sub-assemblies into their shipping crates on the way from Korea. QC was the sub-assember's responsibility and there's no evidence that a GM line worker would have any reason to notice a missing pad. That's all your in your imagination, and what you want to believe. The problem was quickly addressed and possible affected cars identified. Nobody got hurt. A far cry from the poor souls screaming into their cell phones on their way to fiery death in that carpet jammed out-of-control Lexus. I won't bother comparing Japanese car recalls to GM or Ford. It's enough to say, "You lose."

--Vic

Reply to
Vic Smith

You don't know what you are talking about.

Reply to
tnom

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Oddly enough, it's fairly easy to perceive a missing brake pad. Those not mechanically inclined might not be able to understand what they're hearing but I'm confident that they would know that something is majorly wrong.

Now, what the hell is a Chevy Sonic? :-)

Reply to
dsi1

no kidding...

get the f*ck out. you've just said they shipped it assembled. they did their job.

except that the line worker is in the unique position to notice such things!

here's a cutesy dumbed-down version of what you can read elsewhere in the financial press.

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they'd never have gotten out of the door and had the expense of a recall if management knew what they were doing.

saying "nobody got hurt" is symptomatic of exactly why gm's management gets itself into this kind of situation in the first place. take freakin responsibility and pay attention so you don't /have/ to worry about whether anyone got hurt!!!

wow, you really need to have the anal probe removed there guy. that whole toyota thing was nothing but a whitehouse orchestrated rort - read nhtsa's own report.

Reply to
jim beam

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but apparently it's not something that gm's q.c. people have considered checking for. and woe betide anyone suggest gm should let the line operatives point out anything like this out.

Reply to
jim beam

Don't know about when the pad is completely missing but when the pad is completely worn down and it's just metal to metal it may not seem like there is anything wrong in normal driving. My son wore his pads on one side down to the metal and it didn't make any funny noises or stop funny for quite a while. Eventually he mentioned his brakes were starting to sound a little funny but not alarmingly so.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

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Some drivers can ignore quite a lot of noise:

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Reply to
AMuzi

Assessment number 1: It's management's fault and responsibility

Assessment number 2: The exact opposite, it's the slothful, non-conscientious line-worker's fault (and accordingly implicit responsibility).

Cervical fracture can result from such instantaneous, diametrically opposed motions (and notions).

Reply to
Hoof Hearted

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The first thing noticed would be excessive pedal travel. If it were the outside pad and a single phenolic piston, there would be no characteristic metal to metal screeching.

Reply to
Hoof Hearted

It's undoubtedly his actual stock in trade.

Reply to
Hoof Hearted

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um, no, hydraulics self-adjust.

um, the outside pad would be the caliper claw.

but you have a point on the phenolic - all except the fact that they offer almost no braking effect, which most people would notice immediately.

Reply to
jim beam

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Wrong yet again. There would be excessive pedal travel on the first brake application. In fact with that much travel to take up, there would likely be no braking at all for the first few pedal depressions. Simply amazing that anyone who has so much as done a single pad R&R wouldn't understand the obvious connotation of my remarks.

And your point? Oh, that's right, as always, you don't have one with the sole exception of pretention.

Not much on the affected wheel(s). See if you can deduce the obvious implication No help from the peanut gallery now.

Reply to
Hoof Hearted

If the car was just assembled, ALL the pads will have too much clearance, so your "excessive pedal travel" would be a perfectly normal feeling... AT THE FACTORY. Pump the pedal a few times to take up the slack and verify a "firm" pedal, carefully drive it out and park it with the other 20,000 cars on the lot. Everyone else down the line (delivery, dealer, buyer) will also have a firm pedal.

Reply to
Sanity Clause

Not necessarily. A caliper and can just as easily as not be installed onto its mount with as little clearance between the pads and rotor as when it's removed.

Having never stepped foot in a passenger car production factory, I'm unfamilar with the protocols and procedures in each or any. I was only relating what could occur if only one of two pads were not installed with all other conditions being normal.

Oh and btw, Virgina, "there aint no sanity clause".

Reply to
Hoof Hearted

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Mr. Beam aside, the first person to press that brake pedal would be someone at the factory. by the time it got to a porter at the dealership the piston should be fully extended or poped out of the caliper and if it wasn't the porter might not care.

Reply to
Brent

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