NHTSA Complaint #10733138 — 2012 CHEVROLET SONIC

I TOOK MY 2012 CHEVY SONIC LT 6 SPEED MANUAL TO REPAIR SHOP TO HAVE MULTIPLE REPAIRS DONE. WHEN SHOP INSTALLED CLUTCH ASSEMBLY THEY USED ALL NEW OEM CLUTCH PARTS AND HAD A CLUTCH HYDRAULIC SLAVE CYLINDER, OVER EXTEND AND BLOW OUT SEAL, LEAKING BRAKE FLUID. ( ABOUT MARCH 26TH 2015.) ISSUE WAS NARROWED DOWN TO POSSIBLE BINDING OR BLOCKAGE OF SLAVE CYLINDER FUNCTION, DURING INSTALL OR AFTER. AFTER SEVERAL SLAVE CYLINDER FAILURES I CONTACTED GENERAL MANAGER AT DEALERSHIP WHO PAST MATTER TO SERVICE MANAGER AND HE LOOKED UP IN SYSTEM FOR BLEEDING INSTRUCTIONS AND FOUND THEM TO BE AS GM REPAIR MANUAL STATED, CORRECTLY BEING DONE. HE THEN SAID HE WOULD CHECK THE PI OR ENGINEERING SERVICE BULLETINS. HE FOUND EXACT BULLETIN #PI0421D EXPLAINING SAME EVENTS AND GAVE ME A COPY TO PASS ON TO SHOP. NOW AFTER READING REPORT, THE PROBLEM IS CLEAR BUT OUT OF DATE SLAVE CYLINDERS WERE STILL BEING SOLD AS REPLACEMENT PART. AFTER I RECEIVED ORIGINAL BLEEDER VALVE FROM SHOP I CUT TOP IN TWO PIECES TO INSPECT AND VERIFY ISSUE. I FOUND THAT THE ORIGINAL SLAVE CYLINDER LEFT BEHIND IN BLEEDER VALVE, A RUBBER SEAL "AS DESCRIBED IN BULLETIN". NEWEST UPDATED SLAVE CYLINDER AVAILABLE HAS A HARD PLASTIC SEAL THAT DOESN'T SEEM REMOVABLE. CURRENTLY, IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS COVERED UNDER A BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY BUT MY CAR IS FAR FROM COVERAGE. COVERAGE NOT LIKELY UNLESS, CAR CAME IN WITH RELATED SYMPTOMS THAT LEAD TO ISSUE. MY BIGGEST CONCERN IS THAT THIS BULLETIN IS NOT BEING UPDATED TO A RECALL. BULLETIN STATES CLEARLY THAT SLAVE CAN AND HAS FAILED (AS IT DID ON SHOPS, 3RD ATTEMPT) AFTER INSTALL, WITHIN 1,000 MILES. SAFETY ISSUE: IS THAT IF CLUTCH SLAVE FAILS DURING OPERATION, CLUTCH FAILURE WILL CAUSE CAR TO BE STUCK IN CURRENT GEAR OR UNABLE TO BE PUT BACK IN GEAR. THIS CAN CAUSE AN ACCIDENT AND COST, LOSS OF LIFE. THIS MAY HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED BUT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED.