Hello everyone.

Earlier this summer, my air cleaner bracket broke on my engine-only had 39,000 miles on it then. It snapped just above the bolt hole where it meets the back of the head on the passenger side.

I was annoyed...

I don't bangshift or anything like that. I drive at the speed limit and never horse around. I like to get as good of fuel economy as I possibly can so I mind my inputs with great care.

I welded it up and put it back on. I was good until this past weekend.

At 43,000 miles, it snapped again, ABOVE the weld I made.

I am furious. I called and ordered the part through the dealership and am currently waiting on them to come in.

Then, I contacted GM Customer support.

They couldn't help me.

I have found other people to have had this issue-even members of this forum. I am wondering if it has to do with the fact that our HHRs are manual transmissions.

I can make my own bracket if I need to... but I shouldn't HAVE to. This should be covered under my powertrain warranty. But it isn't. I am quite annoyed by this.

How would we go about letting GM know about this?

 

Welcome to GM. Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
[You are now chatting with Miranda.]


14:15:19
Miranda:
Hi! How may I help you?

14:15:37
Customer:
Hello Miranda. I am having an issue with my 2010 Chevrolet HHR LS.

14:16:07
Customer:
It only has 43,000 miles on it and has snapped its airbox bracket twice since I've owned it.

14:16:26
Miranda:
Thanks for being part of the Chevrolet family. I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with your 2010 Chevrolet HHR.

14:16:35
Customer:
This has caused the airbox to rattle around loosely in my engine bay.

14:16:51
Customer:
Thank you Miranda. I've only ever owned GM vehicles.

14:17:04
Miranda:
I would like to transfer you to our customer assistance team, this will take just a moment please.

14:17:09
Customer:
Thank you.
[You have been transferred to department: Customer Assistance Center]
[You are now chatting with Stacie.]

14:17:33
Stacie:
Thank you for contacting GM customer service. My name is Stacie. Please allow me a few moments to look over your previous chat.

14:17:38
Customer:
ok

14:18:48
Customer:
The part that has broken is 15784193. If that helps.

14:19:03
Stacie:
Thank you for allowing me to review your previous chat. I am sorry to see that you are having this issue with your vehicle. Do you mind if I gather a bit of information. May I have your first and last name and the VIN to this vehicle?

14:19:48
Customer:
Sure. MY NAME-MY VIN

14:20:09
Stacie:
Thank you for that information. May I take a few moments just to look into your vehicle?

14:20:27
Customer:
Sure.

14:20:40
Stacie:
Thank you.

14:24:32
Stacie:
Thank you for allowing me a few moments to look into your vehicle. I do apologize that you are having this concern again with your vehicle. I do see that you are still within the powertrain warranty for this issue, which kind of softens the blow to having to repair this again. I did also check to see if there were any recalls or bulletins in regards to a known issue with this, and I was unable to find any.

14:24:44
Customer:
Here are 4 other cases where that same exact bracket has failed.

I don't have that many miles on my car. I feel really bad about having to spend money on something that simply shouldn't be an issue.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/deleted-threads-41/air-box-bracket-37542/

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/deleted-threads-41/rear-air-box-bracket-39538/

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/problems-service-repairs-42/theres-loose-bracket-jiggling-around-under-my-hood-39011/

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/problems-service-repairs-42/rattling-under-hood-33923/

14:26:34
Stacie:
Chatting in with us today also helps with creating this as a known issue as well. The cases that are created with us at GM customer assistance also get reviewed by the higher ups and the technicians which then helps for them to create bulletins, if needed.

14:27:23
Customer:
Ok. I already put a call into a dealership to buy this part. Can I get it replaced under my warranty and have them reverse my charges? I just called literally within the hour.

14:28:00
Stacie:
Yes, they should diagnose the issue and be able to replace it under the powertrain warranty.

14:28:18
Customer:
I talked to their service department and they told me it was not covered.

14:28:24
Stacie:
Were you intending on having the dealership repair it or did you plan on doing it?

14:29:07
Customer:
I will do whatever I can to NOT have to pay for this issue. My car only has 43000 miles on it. Can we get the dealership to replace the part under warranty?

14:29:38
Stacie:
Give me a moment to double check into some things. Is it the wiring harness that needs repair?

14:29:38
Customer:
This is who I called.

Joe Firment Chevrolet
37995 Chester Rd, Avon, OH 44011
Phone440) 934-4600

14:30:14
Customer:
No. The bracket that holds my airbox to the top of my engine has broken. Now my airbox slides around in my engine bay.

14:31:20
Stacie:
Okay. Will you give me a moment to look into a few things. Since it is part of the engine, it should be covered under the powertrain, but let me just make sure, I would not want to give you false information.

14:31:58
Customer:
Ok. Thank you. It is part number 15784193 that has broken.

14:37:49
Stacie:
Thank you for patiently waiting while I looked into this a bit further. With warranty items, it is very particular as far as what the repair is, and unfortunately the bracket portion is part of the engine that is covered under the bumper to bumper warranty instead of the powertrain.

14:39:58
Customer:
Is there anyone that can over-ride this? I do nothing out of the ordinary with my car. This is the second time I've had to address this issue. I have found numerous other people who have had this exact same issue. In the photos, where it shows where their brackets broke-mine looks the exact same. I think this is a much larger issue, here.

14:42:16
Stacie:
I would be able to speak with the service manager to see if he would be willing to provide some cost assistance with this repair, however, the repair would have to be done there. But, I am unable to guarantee that he would be able to provide any assistance, so right now I can speak with him and see, but can not confirm on this chat if they would be willing to cover any part of the cost of repair.

14:43:42
Customer:
I already ordered these parts. I doubt there would be any cost savings over me putting this on myself, versus paying their labor rate. I guess I'll just fix it and move on. I don't know if I'll be able to buy another GM product after this.

14:44:20
Customer:
Thank you for your time, Stacie.

14:44:29
Stacie:
I do apologize that you are having this issue once again.

14:45:14
Customer:
You have nothing to be sorry for. This is absolutely not your fault.

END

 

Welcome to the broken bracket club. It is just 2 easily accessible nuts holding it on, BTW.

 

I have replaced one on my 08 5 speed car at 43000 miles. I just check my 07 automatic car with 50000 mile and it's hasn't broke yet

 

I know its easy to get to. I've already welded it up once before.

It just annoys the piss out of me that this part is so damn unreliable.

 

This seems to be a problem with manuals only, no?

 

It does seem to affect manuals almost exclusively, maybe the additional fore/aft movement of the engine when changing gears, combined with the weight of the airbox, causes that bracket to fatigue and break.

 

The bracket on my 2008 Automatic broke.

 

Forgive me Don, forgot you had a bracket failure, someday I'll remember Rule #267...No Blanket Statements.

 

Yes, my 2010 with 45,000 has just broken the same bracket, just above the passenger side attachment point to the engine. Yes, mine too is a manual.

Odd...thought I'd try here before going and claiming warranty...in reading the warranty I see there are many exclusions, so from my perspective it isn't worth the fight.

Guess I'll go buy a new one, take the old one off, and see if I can have my buddy fabricate one out of Stainless Steel. That should solve it.