[unluckyasshole]

So the hydraulic coupler on my 2013 V6 SFS broke down yet again this morning. This will be the third time I change this coupler and im not sure what is causing it to break. the part is not cheap and my car is out of warranty. I haven't done any off-roading with the latest coupler and it only lasted about a year. Is this a common issue or am I the only one going through that many couplers!

 

[santa06]

There have been reports of other people with early failures. A search on site will turn some up.

How are your tires ? It’s important they are all the same size and inflation is closely monitoured; minimizes wear.

I would be tempted to just switch to two wheel drive on the vehicle and not fix it.

 

[greysave]

Ditto on the tires. Unless you put on a LOT of miles.....Repeated failures "about" one year apart would lead me to be looking for a separate possible root cause....Mismatched tires could be the case. Remember that just because a replacement tire is the same size doe snot necessarily mean it has the same circumference.....If memory serves.....Best to mark them, drive about three revolutions, and see if the marks are still close or way off.....

 

[unluckyasshole]

Thank you guys for your input. Today I got some bad news from the dealership. It turns out that the transfer case is damaged, not the hudraulic coupler, and they want to charge me $3,000 for it and this is without labour cost! I definitly dont have that kind of money to repair it, and i dont think its worth it since the car is 5 years old, but just wanted your opinion if that cost is fair! Is this what a transfer case cost?
Further to you comments above, the last time i changed the AWD coupler I also installed brand new set of tires at the dealership, i even installed an aftermarket tpms to monitor the tire pressure.
Right now i feel like driving the car straight into the ocean and let it rot

 

[greysave]

I'll have to defer to someone who works at a Dealership or has paid for one to answer that question. Sounds high to me, but that is based upon the cost of a GM Transfer case for something like an Equinox.

You could look for a remanufactured with a warranty or a used TCase. Might be better than the beating you would take selling or trading it as is.

Other options.....If you have a relationship with the Dealer talk to the Service Manager and see if they will work with you. This time of the year the shops can be slower and they might cut you a nice break on the part and labor to get the job. Other option is to try another Dealer and see how they price it out.

 

[johnaauld]

I'll have to defer to someone who works at a Dealership or has paid for one to answer that question. Sounds high to me, but that is based upon the cost of a GM Transfer case for something like an Equinox.

You could look for a remanufactured with a warranty or a used TCase. Might be better than the beating you would take selling or trading it as is.

Other options.....If you have a relationship with the Dealer talk to the Service Manager and see if they will work with you. This time of the year the shops can be slower and they might cut you a nice break on the part and labor to get the job. Other option is to try another Dealer and see how they price it out.

I'd be tempted to look for local crashed front end cars in your years. And pull the transfer case out of one. Probably not one in the local pick/pulls yet for that year, but the local junk yards might. oops, just saw that you are from Qatar, might not have a source there.

 

[santa06]

Switch it to two wheel drive and stay away from the sand piles from now on.

Won’t cost anything. ?

 

[angelo]

Switch it to two wheel drive and stay away from the sand piles from now on.

Won’t cost anything. ?

If there is an easy way to switch to permanent FWD I would be interested. I am assuming the dealer will never do this modification.
What does it take?

 

[santa06]

Normally just removing driveshaft , then unplugging 4x4 controller(was under drivers seat) to hopefully get rid of any dash lights.

Worked on the older models, not sure about newer ones.

Start a new post and get an answer from the licensed mechanics on the site, for a definite answer.