I have read about the brake issues with the HHR SS autos since I got my car new back in 08 but never had a reason to take it to the shop until recently for an over heating issue. The dealership which is Tom Benson Chevrolet in San Antonio says that they can't duplicate the issue. Today is the second day that they have had the car and they are going to have it for at least one more day. They now want me to go down there to show them what it does.

Does anyone in the San Antonio area know of a dealership that is familiar with this problem and how to properly fix it? Does this effect all 08 SS HHRs or only some?

And just so I make sure that I am thinking of the proper issue that almost all 08 autos have here is what is happening:

If i just hop in the car from a cold start and go the brakes just seem very weak and require extra distance and pressure to stop. I pretty much always use the remote start so it doesn't effect me.

 

There's a TSB on this issue, should come up on their computer (If they even thought to look) I don't think they need to replicate the issue in this case.

 

Give them this TSB #: 09-05-22-001 .

 

I gave them that TSB this morning because they said they couldn't find a TSB that applied to my issue and they said that TSB doesn't apply to my issue either.

 

Ask them how it could not apply and let them know that when you wreck because of this there will be hell to pay and that you will be contacting GM Customer Service and letting them know of their response to your problem.

Condition
Some customers may comment that extra effort may be needed to depress the brake pedal on cold start-up.

Correction
Add an auxiliary vacuum booster pump to the brake system using the procedure listed below.

Pretty simplistic.

 

Find another dealer. I took mine in and they said they would have to check it out. Well I came in later in the day not only did they check it out but had it fixed. They did not even reproduce the issue. I gave them the TSB and they got the parts same day and I have not had an issue since.

Look in the TSB sticky under the problems section and copy it off. Take it to a better dealer and let them fix it. If they will not do it call GM and they will get it done. This part is OE on all mid year and later 09 SS Autromatics for a reason.

The best way to deal with dealer in getting repairs or even buying a car is being better informed. It gives you the upper hand.

There are too many good dealers to waste your time and money at the bad ones.

Never let a bad service writer BS you!

 

You said you took it in for an overheating issue. Is that the issue they can't duplicate? They might be thinking that the TSB you gave them was supposed to be related to that. It isn't. You need to tell them you also want the brakes checked in accordance with the TSB, and make sure you make it clear this is a separate issue from the overheating.

 

I was told, at the dealer, yes, the technician needs to verify the concern. It's a TSB, not a recall. I had to go back a second time, turn the car off. Pump the brakes until the vacuum in the brake booster was gone, restart the car and then the tech was able to "verify the concern" and they did the job.

 

They are aware of multiple unrelated issues. It just started overheating within the last week in stop and go driving, they are telling me it is a electronic module that needs to be replaced. The ac is also very warm in stop and go driving, not sure if it is related to overheating issue, they both started around the same time. The air flow buttons on the dash are cracked, the brake issue, and one TPMS sensor went bad. The buttons on the dash have very small cracks that are only visible at night when the back lights are on, I would think this would be a common issue I don't hit the buttons very hard or often.

 

I picked up my SS earlier today and the brake problem still isn't fixed. The car had been sitting for at least 5 hours when I got there so I tried showing a mechanic what it was doing. So I started it up and I told him the brakes also make an unusual noise if the brakes are pumped at start up, so I pumped the brakes and he heard the noise. Unfortunately I pumped the brakes too much and the brakes worked fine when i came to a stop. His explanation for the noise was that I hit the brakes too hard and all vehicles will do that. And the mechanic and service manager said that they have fixed other cars with that TSB and my car isn't experiencing the issue described in the TSB.

I also tried "Pump the brakes until the vacuum in the brake booster was gone, restart the car". This had no effect. Not sure if I was doing it wrong but I turned off the car and pumped the brakes until they got hard and could not be pumped any more, turned the car back on and the brakes were still working fine. Should I be doing this a different way? I plan on calling GM tomorrow after I get out of work to see if I can get them to basically tell a dealer to fix the issue.