[Santos Calibre]

I know I havent posted in a while and I know I should have as Ive had some serious "first time" issues with my R/T ... but the latest takes it all. I have about 40000KM on it now and at about the 15000KM mark I took the car in for a few other complaints but one of them was that I complained about a "whirring" sound comming from the car. I had to explain to the guy what whirring meant but he got it eventually. It varied depending wether or not I put load on the transmission, being either that it was durring acceleration, deceleration, or simply cruising with no throttle fluctuation. Well of course they said they didnt hear anything and nothing was done with it. Yesterday morning I was leaving my drive way when I heard a recurring clunking sound that increased and decreased with the speed of the road. Upon closer examination "I" decided it was a CV so no big deal.... I got a flat bed tow truck to take it back to the dealer and explained what the problem was. Well they didnt get a chance to look at it closely last night but they did say this morning that something was seriously wrong. The conversation with the service tech turned weird when he said that the service manager and a mechanic were going to take it for a test drive and then would have to call Chrysler and work "it" out with them... I was like o....k..... ??? I get a call back saying that there is a safety issue with the transmission and it would have to be replaced. Safety issue???? Huh? :wow:He was unable to explain exactly what that meant but said "not to worry Mr. Santos Calibre we will replace it for you in 7 to 10 days. . ."

Geez thanks... how about a loaner car? Not today maybe next week. Crap.... Well so from my understanding they have yet to have a bad CVT and never replaced one... so Im wondering why Chrysler was so eager to replace it for the safety isssue.... the guy even said at one point that "it is unsafe" like it was a balding tire or a cracked windshield obscurring your field of vision... Now I know we dont always get to hear EVERYTHING but some things make you wonder.

So now in the past year I have been without my car for over a month in total time... have had the rims machined due to rust.... had all four tires replaced... brand new transfer case... brand new front drive shafts... brand new throttle body... and now Ill be without it for 2 weeks and a brand new transmission.... almost a new car again! I know I should be thankful that Im getting a new CVT and that chrysler has one of the best warranties out there today but I miss my car sooo much....

I'll keep you all posted... :shakehead:

 

[Brendy]

Hi Santos, that sounds bad and you haven't had much luck with
your Caliber, its good that they are replacing rather than repairing, keep us up
to date with it as i'm sure members with CVT will be interested to know the out come
and if they tell you what the safety issue is..

 

[Rodentman]

I am sorry to hear of your troubles, and I hope you get it all sorted out to your satisfaction quickly.

 

[Quiet Lunatic]

This story along with a few others Ive read leave a bad taste in my mouth.....

 

[oybnrml]

Was this an early build? I see you were a member in Oct. 2006.

 

[300 Addict]

That really sucks! I hope this can be resolved asap! All the best!

 

[JOJOCHINTO]

I know I havent posted in a while and I know I should have as Ive had some serious "first time" issues with my R/T ... but the latest takes it all. I have about 40000KM on it now and at about the 15000KM mark I took the car in for a few other complaints but one of them was that I complained about a "whirring" sound comming from the car. I had to explain to the guy what whirring meant but he got it eventually. It varied depending wether or not I put load on the transmission, being either that it was durring acceleration, deceleration, or simply cruising with no throttle fluctuation. Well of course they said they didnt hear anything and nothing was done with it. Yesterday morning I was leaving my drive way when I heard a recurring clunking sound that increased and decreased with the speed of the road. Upon closer examination "I" decided it was a CV so no big deal.... I got a flat bed tow truck to take it back to the dealer and explained what the problem was. Well they didnt get a chance to look at it closely last night but they did say this morning that something was seriously wrong. The conversation with the service tech turned weird when he said that the service manager and a mechanic were going to take it for a test drive and then would have to call Chrysler and work "it" out with them... I was like o....k..... ??? I get a call back saying that there is a safety issue with the transmission and it would have to be replaced. Safety issue???? Huh? :wow:He was unable to explain exactly what that meant but said "not to worry Mr. Santos Calibre we will replace it for you in 7 to 10 days. . ."

Geez thanks... how about a loaner car? Not today maybe next week. Crap.... Well so from my understanding they have yet to have a bad CVT and never replaced one... so Im wondering why Chrysler was so eager to replace it for the safety isssue.... the guy even said at one point that "it is unsafe" like it was a balding tire or a cracked windshield obscurring your field of vision... Now I know we dont always get to hear EVERYTHING but some things make you wonder.

So now in the past year I have been without my car for over a month in total time... have had the rims machined due to rust.... had all four tires replaced... brand new transfer case... brand new front drive shafts... brand new throttle body... and now Ill be without it for 2 weeks and a brand new transmission.... almost a new car again! I know I should be thankful that Im getting a new CVT and that chrysler has one of the best warranties out there today but I miss my car sooo much....

I'll keep you all posted... :shakehead:

wierd stuff bud, sux to hear your not getting all you paid for with your car, but hopefully it'll be resolved in a good way soon.

BTW which dealer are you using? ive got a good friend who works at crosstown chrysler.. maybe he could help.

 

[Santos Calibre]

I got it in September of 06 and I got the car from Great west Chrysler... Everything aside I have nothing bad to say about Great West they are a top notch crew. They just seem to be a little too busy which in turn will delay me getting my car back but Im almost positive it will be done right. And Im hoping it gets rid of that annoying "whirring" sound from the trans... almost like back in the day when you had alternator noise comming from your speakers. Thats the best way I could describe it. And yes I will continue to update as new news comes in. :i_rolleyes:

 

[Guest]

tell em to put a manual tranny in there.

 

[JOJOCHINTO]

I got it in September of 06 and I got the car from Great west Chrysler... Everything aside I have nothing bad to say about Great West they are a top notch crew. They just seem to be a little too busy which in turn will delay me getting my car back but Im almost positive it will be done right. And Im hoping it gets rid of that annoying "whirring" sound from the trans... almost like back in the day when you had alternator noise comming from your speakers. Thats the best way I could describe it. And yes I will continue to update as new news comes in. :i_rolleyes:

no problemo dude... the sales and service managers from crosstown are good friends with my fam.. ive even referred a few customers to him from thousand of km's away. he says im his best salesman.lol

but if you like, just pm me nd ill give you more details.

 

[nebredsxt]

I had to have my CVT replaced at the 50,000 mark (49,820) when the overtemp light came on and it cooked the fluid....that was in January...just this past tuesday, the overtemp light again came on.....I had it towed and the dealer tells me it was the transmission cooler this time...I am at the 53,230 mark now...

 

[Prop1]

I had to have my CVT replaced at the 50,000 mark (49,820) when the overtemp light came on and it cooked the fluid....that was in January...just this past tuesday, the overtemp light again came on.....I had it towed and the dealer tells me it was the transmission cooler this time...I am at the 53,230 mark now...

I've been pondering this, and I'm inclined to believe the cooler was the original cause of the CVT failure. Your dealer failed by not verifying the cooler's operation, and changing it out when the CVT was replaced. Hopefully, your dealer's short comings won't come back to bite you with the new CVT.

 

[Santos Calibre]

Well first Id like to appoligize for not replying sooner but Ive been enjoying having my car back. :Racing: I got the car back 2 weeks and 1 day after it broke down. It has a brand new crate CVT and everything is fine. I had mentioned a long time ago to them at about 10,000 KM that there was a "whirring" sound comming from what I thought was the CVT. Well Im happy to say that with the new CVT that sound is gone. So If I were a betting man Id have to guess that my CVT was going from way back then. I'm at 35000 KM now. Being without your vehicle for two weeks is terrible to say the least but you sure appreciate it when you get it back. Besides the service industry in Alberta taking a big crap right now Id have to say the mechanics did a good job. However when my car went in there was 7 other cars before mine and they only have one trans tech. I know you dont need to be a trans tech to swap a CVT but thems the rules. :i_rolleyes: I guess if there are any people needing to get into a shop call first and ask what an estimated time frame is cause by my calculations they really only worked on my car for three days. The rest was waiting for the service bay and waiting for the trans to be shipped from across the country. Lesson learned for me which I wont duplicate. Then again.... fecal matter does happen.

 

[robmart]

My trans is being replaced too

Had the whirring sound for the past few weeks and they said the trans needed replacing.
Luckily, I am at 32k so had a a few more k's before warranty expires.

Any ways hopefully when they replace this It runs good for a little longer. this car I had bought used (at 23k) and it was a rental before I bought it so maybe it took a lot of abuse before?
will keep you all posted on how my "trans" plant works out.

 

[Flyinghigh]

Hey Robmart, if I were you, I'd ask the dealer to also replace the cooler. If not, you may run into the same problems as Santos did. You sure don't want to go thru that twice.

 

[robmart]

Hey awesome advice! :smileup::smiley_thumbs_up: They are open today (Saturday) and I left the service advisor a message with regards to the transmission cooler and if the failure was due to overheating. Not sure if they are almost done with the job or not. Or if they can do it afterwards.
(they had told me on thurs that by monday it would be done)

I recall my check engine coming on once in a while but I really don't recall seeing my temps abnormally high.

will call then again in the afternoon if I don't get a call back.

will keep you all posted.

Thanks!

And Rep points for Flyinghigh!

 

[robmart]

Talked to the service advisor and well he assured me that the mechanic is top notch and very knowledgeable with transmissions, and he recommends that we just go with his judgment and either way if I do have any issues I am still under warranty and they can take care of it.

Hopefully I should be fine, regardless my warranty is up in a few months and I am going for the 7/70k extended but not sure weather to go with

Maximum Care
Complete mechanical coverage on 5000+ components. "If it's mechanical, it's covered."

OR


Added Care Plus
Basic mechanical coverage for 800+ selected major components.



But maybe that will be a topic for a new post soon.

The car should be ready by tuesday.... will keep everyone posted.

 

[Santos Calibre]

Just wanted to let you know that I did not get my cooler changed and so far everything is fine. I just rolled over 50,000 Kms and I'm satisfied. There isnt anything on a car that cant be fixed.

 

[CaliberMan71]

Talked to the service advisor and well he assured me that the mechanic is top notch and very knowledgeable with transmissions, and he recommends that we just go with his judgment and either way if I do have any issues I am still under warranty and they can take care of it.

Hopefully I should be fine, regardless my warranty is up in a few months and I am going for the 7/70k extended but not sure weather to go with

Maximum Care
Complete mechanical coverage on 5000+ components. "If it's mechanical, it's covered."

OR


Added Care Plus
Basic mechanical coverage for 800+ selected major components.



But maybe that will be a topic for a new post soon.

The car should be ready by tuesday.... will keep everyone posted.

Go with Maxcare, you may not need it, but if you do it is there. I am paying for the life time maxcare through Chrysler they offered me a great deal last December with 0% interest payments over 36 months.

 

[Aleks]

If you still have a few months warranty I would wait to see where to buy a warranty. The government warranty guarantee only applies to new vehicle purchases.