2010 camaro seems to be a lemon. A/C problems again

[streetjudge79]

I have a 2010 2LT/RS Transformers package camaro.
This is the Second time now that I'm having A/C problems in a few months. First time I took it to Tropical Chevy in Miami Shores, Florida after the car was doing the following.
1. A/C making a loud whining noise when I accelerated or decelerated. It would stop when I turned off the A/C. Very annoying noise.
2. Smoke or mist would come out of the vents numerous times while driving. Now it's got a funky smell. My wife was getting a headache from it today
3. A/C would stop working after 30-45 minutes of driving. Sounded like a defroster kicked on and A/C turned off. Barely blowing out the vents even on high and not cold.

First time I took it to Tropical Chevy in Miami, Service writer Paul Celestin told me he could not have the car test driven for 30-45 minutes so obviously they weren't duplicating that problem. They gave the car back to me after having it all day saying nothing was wrong. (I was really pissed now)
I took it to my mechanic weeks later and he thought the compressor went bad since it appeared the noise was coming from it. He had it on a lift while I was accelerating, so He replaced it. All seemed okay for 2 weeks. The other day it started with the same problems again as stated above. I'm really upset and frustrated with the 2010 camaro. What seemed like my dream car is turning out to be a lemon. I'm just out of warranty too. I didn't even have 36,000 miles on it when it first ocurred, but I had the car for 3 years and 2 months when it happened so Tropical Chevy told me I was out of luck for warranty work. Luckly my Insurance has an extended warranty. I had to pay a $250 deductible for the first repair that did no good.
WHAT CAN I DO??????

Oh and in addition to this, my rear differential was having an issue with a lot of metal shavings in it. My mechanic took off one of the bolts and thick silver goop was all over it. He said, This is bad! I took it to Tropical Chevy and they said there was a recall on the differential and fixed it. HERE IS MY QUESTION. Why did I NOT get a recall notice from GM??????

Steve

[TheHorse13]

The reason you did not get a recall notice is because there is not a recall for the problem. A TSB (technical service bulletin) was issued for the differential. This means that unless you come in with the specific problem, you will not be notified.

[motorhead]

My 2010 was junk too. My 2013 isn't. Get out while you can.

[streetjudge79]

Actually, there was a recall. That is what the service writer told me and I was not charged for that repair.

Originally Posted by TheHorse13

The reason you did not get a recall notice is because there is not a recall for the problem. A TSB (technical service bulletin) was issued for the differential. This means that unless you come in with the specific problem, you will not be notified.

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Originally Posted by streetjudge79

I have a 2010 2LT/RS Transformers package camaro.
This is the Second time now that I'm having A/C problems in a few months. First time I took it to Tropical Chevy in Miami Shores, Florida after the car was doing the following.
1. A/C making a loud whining noise when I accelerated or decelerated. It would stop when I turned off the A/C. Very annoying noise.
2. Smoke or mist would come out of the vents numerous times while driving. Now it's got a funky smell. My wife was getting a headache from it today
3. A/C would stop working after 30-45 minutes of driving. Sounded like a defroster kicked on and A/C turned off. Barely blowing out the vents even on high and not cold.

First time I took it to Tropical Chevy in Miami, Service writer Paul Celestin told me he could not have the car test driven for 30-45 minutes so obviously they weren't duplicating that problem. They gave the car back to me after having it all day saying nothing was wrong. (I was really pissed now)
I took it to my mechanic weeks later and he thought the compressor went bad since it appeared the noise was coming from it. He had it on a lift while I was accelerating, so He replaced it. All seemed okay for 2 weeks. The other day it started with the same problems again as stated above. I'm really upset and frustrated with the 2010 camaro. What seemed like my dream car is turning out to be a lemon. I'm just out of warranty too. I didn't even have 36,000 miles on it when it first ocurred, but I had the car for 3 years and 2 months when it happened so Tropical Chevy told me I was out of luck for warranty work. Luckly my Insurance has an extended warranty. I had to pay a $250 deductible for the first repair that did no good.
WHAT CAN I DO??????

Oh and in addition to this, my rear differential was having an issue with a lot of metal shavings in it. My mechanic took off one of the bolts and thick silver goop was all over it. He said, This is bad! I took it to Tropical Chevy and they said there was a recall on the differential and fixed it. HERE IS MY QUESTION. Why did I NOT get a recall notice from GM??????

Steve

Hello streetjudge79,

We apologize for the reoccurring A/C issue your experiencing. I understand the frustration you must have and I would like to get involved to assist you with this issue. Could you please private message me your VIN, current mileage, name, number and address please? I will investigate this further and update you via private message.

Reggie B.
Chevrolet Customer Care

[TheHorse13]

Originally Posted by streetjudge79

Actually, there was a recall. That is what the service writer told me and I was not charged for that repair.

Your service writer is wrong. There is only one recall for your car (early production). The rest are TSBs (you will find your issue listed in the TSB section btw) and you will never be notified about them. Again, this is why you were not notified.

A simple search confirms this.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/...Lp!-1976499440

In case you don't want to go look on your own, see here:

RECALLS: Displaying 1 - 1 out of 1 Filtering Results.
RECALL Subject : POSITIVE BATTERY CABLE ROUTING -REROUTE

Report Receipt Date: MAY 06, 2009
NHTSA Campaign Number: 09V155000
Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

[streetjudge79]

Well, I took the car in last week and they replaced the expansion valve and said the A/C was working now. Two days later, it's back to the same. Smoke coming out my vents, a/c shutting down after 20 minutes and the annoying whine noise . Tropical Chevy did not fix the problem yet again. This will be my 4th time taking the car in for the same problem.
GM customer service has not been any help other than doing the same thing I'm doing. Calling the service guy and finding updates. The woman from GM who kept calling me sounded like a robot and sounded like she really didn't give a crap about me. You can tell she was reading her responses off a screen and didn't even sound human.
I'm giving up. I guess I have to realize my car is just a lemon and I'm stuck with this problem. SO FRUSTRATED!

[Eddie376]

Looks like I will be getting that extra warranty on mine after reading some of these. Hope it works outs out for you.

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Originally Posted by streetjudge79

Well, I took the car in last week and they replaced the expansion valve and said the A/C was working now. Two days later, it's back to the same. Smoke coming out my vents, a/c shutting down after 20 minutes and the annoying whine noise . Tropical Chevy did not fix the problem yet again. This will be my 4th time taking the car in for the same problem.
GM customer service has not been any help other than doing the same thing I'm doing. Calling the service guy and finding updates. The woman from GM who kept calling me sounded like a robot and sounded like she really didn't give a crap about me. You can tell she was reading her responses off a screen and didn't even sound human.
I'm giving up. I guess I have to realize my car is just a lemon and I'm stuck with this problem. SO FRUSTRATED!

streetjudge79,

I apologize and regret that this issue was not resolved for you after your last dealer visit. I have responded to your private message with next steps.

Reggie B.
Chevrolet Customer Care

[TommyLee]

Im having some serious issues with my 2010 Camaro 2ss A/C. At first I thought it was freon. However my AC clutch is only engaging at a variable rate and as soon as it kicks on it kicks right back off.....This sounds more electical to me than anything else, but thats just a guess. Anybody had issues similar? Its too freaking hot not to have AC....oh yeah, cold air blows when it decides to kick on, then quickly turns to hot air when clutch disengages.....split seconds.......

[el ess A]

Originally Posted by TommyLee

Im having some serious issues with my 2010 Camaro 2ss A/C. At first I thought it was freon. However my AC clutch is only engaging at a variable rate and as soon as it kicks on it kicks right back off.....This sounds more electical to me than anything else, but thats just a guess. Anybody had issues similar? Its too freaking hot not to have AC....oh yeah, cold air blows when it decides to kick on, then quickly turns to hot air when clutch disengages.....split seconds.......

It SOUNDS like, with everything still being in working order, you have a low Freon condition, in which it will kick in, then kick out on low suction pressure.

If you don't feel like messing with it, take it to a reputable A/C mechanic and let them look at it. Very likely you MAY have a slight leak somewhere, such as the Schrader valves or need other service. Anyway, it certainly smells like a low Freon condition to me. It's 5 years old. It likely needs a little TLC.

[Nor Cal ZL1]

refrigerant...... the gas is refrigerant. Freon is a name brand like Pepsi.

[DJ_BigC]

Why is it that everyone on this site seems to think their 4-5 yr old cars are lemons after having 1 re occurring problem that a totally incompetent dealer cannot seem to handle or fix properly. The biggest and most obvious problem is your dealer, they clearly cannot fix or diagnose this problem/condition and you keep going back to them..? I know this dealer might be your only option but spending countless amounts of money/time at this dealer is getting you no where and unfortunately now you think your car is a lemon.

There is 1 simple solution to all of this, bring the car back to that dealer since you deal with them on what seems to be a regular basis, or bring it to another reputable GM dealer, not a back yard guy. Go to the dealer, WAIT, road test and CONFIRM the condition with the service advisor/service manager and/or technician. Once/if the condition is confirmed, leave the car there and have them diagnose it and fix it properly, or at least provide you with a proper estimate for the repairs.

An AC system is very easy to diagnose, sometimes just by looking at your pressures on a GM approved AC diagnostic machine you can easily pinpoint the source of your problems. Now you mentioned someone has already replaced the compressor and the TXV valve. Why did the compressor fail? A failed/failing/noisy compressor can cause metal filling to flow through your AC system, plug your AC system, prematurely fail components (desiccant bags, plug condensers/lines etc) and damage critical components, most often when the compressor is noisy due to a bad bearing this noise is very different then a failing compressor due to a blown desiccant bag, metal fillings etc... Was the compressor balanced properly when it was replaced? Did they overfill the system with PAG oil? Are they recharging your system to factory specs?

I'm going for a shot in the dark here, but I'm guessing they replaced your TXV because when the AC system was ON, they had their AC machine installed on the car monitoring the pressures the noticed your high side pressure was through the roof and figured your TXV wasn't working properly so they decided to replace it. In the passed few years I've worked on countless amounts of different AC systems for different problems and I never had a customer saying their vehicle was blowing AC smoke through the vents, the only thing I can think of is your AC pressures are getting too high and your compressor is blowing off and then your sucking it back in through your HVAC system, or you have a massive refrigerant leak that only surfaces itself after 30 minutes of driving which is highly unlikely.

On a side note, the thick silver goop on the diff plug is not a sign of a failed or failing rear diff, its mostly wear and tear from small/tiny tiny metal fillings mixed with clutch material, if your plug had huge chunks of metal on it, then I would definitely say you have a problem. Like others have said, and like I'm going to tell you right now there is NO recall on your differential, there are only TSB's.

[pickwithaustin]

1. Keep working with the Chevrolet Customer Svc who is posting here - they sound like they do care about your issue and can help you continue to pursue solution.

2. Why do you keep taking it back to the Chevrolet dealer, especially as you are not satisfied with their service? Being a car enthusiast myself (which you may or may not be also), I have learned over the years that establishing a relationship with a good, independent, repair person or shop is vital for those things that go beyond our own fix abilities. Do you have a shop and mechanic that you trust? If not, start looking for one. If you do, that is where you should be going.