Engine support cradle detached from my car !!

I got my 2008 Grand Prix back from a body shop last week. I had to have the engine cradle replaced, because I damaged it by accidentally driving off a curb. (Long, embarrassing story).

The cradle is a large, heavy duty aluminum frame that supports the engine & transmission, & the control arms attach to it. Well, the shop screwed up royal!!! When installing the frame, they forgot to include two retaining washers over the rear bushings.

I drove almost 150 miles after picking the car up, 70mph on the interstate. The next day, things came crashing to a halt. Three passengers and I had just pulled into a driveway, I put the car in park, and the engine cradle drops off the car!!!!! The two rear bushings slid right off the bolts, and the engine is sagging 3" off the ground. And get this - THERE'S NO STEERING !!!! The steering wheel is spinning free and not turning the front wheels.

Thank God I had just come to a stop when this happened. If it happened on the highway, we're talking funeral here.

The shop picked it up with their flatbed, and figured out pretty quickly their screwup. They inspected the aftermath and determined that the steering went because the slip joint just slipped apart. They didn't find any other damage. The engine was held from falling too far because of the two top engine struts on the front. The cradle was partially held up by some of the suspension, as well as two additional bolts/bushings on the front of the cradle.

Here's what it looked like when it failed:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y183/guitarfish/Other/CradleDetached.jpg

Well, now, a week later, the car is back together. They installed a new steering u-joint, and another shop did a 4 wheel alignment. However, they said the airbag light is on. So they are sending it to the local GM dealer after the holiday weekend.

Questions -

Anyone have any thoughts on what would've tripped the airbag light? I'm hoping it's not a damaged harness, otherwise there will be more delays.

Anyone have any thoughts on what other parts of the car may have gotten damaged from this event?

I'm pretty calm now, but last week I was EXTREMELY upset. FWIW, I've been driving around a gorgeous 2009 Malibu with a leather interior, a rental that the shop provided me with. They are also giving me a 1 year warranty should anything go wrong that is related to their collosal mistake.

First off....glad no one got hurt!

And Kudos for the shop owning up to the mistake/omission and taking responsibility. Gotta respect them for that anyways.

First off....glad no one got hurt!

And Kudos for the shop owning up to the mistake/omission and taking responsibility. Gotta respect them for that anyways.

Yes, I'm happy with their desire to correct their mistakes and make things right. I'm still very disappointed this happened, and I do have some concerns about any damage that might not show up until later on down the line. This is a $27,000 car, and I intend to keep it for another 8 years. But I don't know if it'll ever feel the same, if that makes any sense.

Those dumb mechanics lol Glad no body got hurt though

OMG!! Thank goodness no one was hurt...The shop is prolly terribly afraid of a lawsuit. They have no choice but to make it right. We're talking about three lives here that could have ended because of their negligence.

Your car will be just fine. The airbag light is on because when you spun the steeringwheel around in circles you messed up the clock spring. I'll bet if you have steering wheel controlls that they no longer work also. The clock spring isnt a very hard part to replace, but I'm not sure about the price. I think they can be quite spendy depending on how many steering wheel controlls you have.

This happened to a guy I went to college with. He had a gorgous monte carlo ss. One day it was in the shop and he said he was replacing the cradle busings because he was driving and said he lost steering followed by a loud sraping noise. He said it just drifted towards the shoulder where he parked, got out and realized that the back of the subframe fell like yours. Same deal, whoever owned the car before him did not put the steel washers back in. He actually was able to cram the steering splines back into the shaft and he had some ratchit straps which he used to ratchit the motor and cradle back into place to help him limp it to the auto shop. 4 new poly cradle bushings and he was back in business.

I'm glad to hear all went well and no one was hurt with your isseus. Its too bad your beautiful car needed body work so soon, but it happens to the best of us. Good luck! I'm sure you'll get it all figured out.

tblake, thanks so, SO much for the response. Your reassurance that the car will be OK set me at ease somewhat. I've had nightmares of nothing but problems in my future with this.

I spoke with the body shop, they were familiar with the clock spring. The car is at the dealer, they ordered the spring, so the wait continues. It was surprising to hear someone else had this experience, but I guess not too surprising.

I can't wait until this is wrapped up.

tblake, thanks so, SO much for the response. Your reassurance that the car will be OK set me at ease somewhat. I've had nightmares of nothing but problems in my future with this.

I spoke with the body shop, they were familiar with the clock spring. The car is at the dealer, they ordered the spring, so the wait continues. It was surprising to hear someone else had this experience, but I guess not too surprising.

I can't wait until this is wrapped up.

Ha ha, just somewhat? Your car will be perfect again, and the only ones who will know about the dropped frame will be us. Same for the bodywork for that matter. No one will ever know unless you point it out to them.

I'm sure a dropped cradle happens more often than you would think. I just dont understand how anyone who is working on a car, could have two large washers left over, and not even question where they would go.:eek7:

When you get it back, it might not be a bad idea to climb under and just check to make sure everything looks good and all 4 subframe washers are back in place.

I actually feel a lot better, lol. The body shop is a small family-owned place. The owner's son did the cradle job. The shop monkey was sweeping up one night and swept up the two washers thinking they were scrap. (Not good to leave parts on the ground people!!) When the mechanic reassembled the car, he paused for a moment realizing there weren't any washers for the back bushings, however, he said the bushings had some metal in the core that the bolts went through, and he just assumed that was that. OOPS!!!

A different shop did the wheel alignment last week. I hope the steering wheel is still straight when they get done doing the clock spring.

It's been 12 days since the cradle fall (old nursery rhymes anyone?), and I just wanna get this over with.

Thanks for the valuable insights.

The splines will only slip in the shaft in one direction, so the wheels shouldnt be any different. If they are, a simply toe adjustment on the alignment rack will correct an off center steering wheel.

I did a tech write-up and posted it in the tips and maintenance subforum where I replaced the Intermediate Steering Shaft in my car. (the same splines that got yanked out of yours). If you want to have a look at it.

I had my back subframe down recently too for some power steering lines. My metal washers did not come off the subframe bushings, I think they were rusted together. Then while I was putting it all back together, one washer fell off out of nowhere. I was thinking maybe thats what happened with your car. They stayed on the car with the bolts removed, then the shop closed for the night, and overnight, the washers fell off, and the tech didnt realize it. I dont know. I suppose its possible.

I'm anctious for you to get your car back so you can test drive it and let us know that everything is OK.

Well, I picked up my car tonight. Good news - it's as smooth as butter. The first thing I did was hit the pavement and make sure the washers were on, lol! The car feels nice and solid. The alignment feels great, at 75mph it feels like it did when it was new.

Under the hood, I saw no signs of any damage to heater hoses or anything else back by the firewall. This weekend I'm going to put it up on ramps and give everything a good look over.

The shop cut me a check for my 12 days of rental car usage ($515), and they're faxing me the warranty Monday. They were very good to deal with, despite their COLOSSAL mistake.

The inside of the car's a bit dirty, it was at three different shops over the last 2 weeks, so I'm going to give it the TLC treatment. Looks like all involved really dodged a bullet with this one.

Thanks to all here for the support in my hour of gloom!

No problem! I told you everything would be perfect once again! I'll bet you cant even tell anything happened. But I'm glad everything turned out fine. Thanks for the follow-up.

Well I've got one lingering issue with my car, there's a new noise that I'm hearing, mostly at slower speeds, when turning the car right and left, as the weight shifts from side to side. The sound is hard to pinpoint, but it's coming from the passenger side, down below the pulley/belt, possibly where the engine sits on the cradle. There's some
kind of rubber mount that the engine appears to rest on down there.

If I pop the hood, and put my hands on each of the support struts that run from fender to front of car, and I shake the car back and forth from side to side, you can hear it. It sounds like something sliding in and out of position, so to speak. Not a metallic sound, but hard to describe.

I'm going to stop by the body shop this week (they aren't gonna want to see me coming), and they can listen and maybe I'll just leave it with them for the day, and hope they figure it out. I've already determined there's no way I'm listening to that sound for the next 8 years every time I turn.

Oh, when looking around, I saw there's a plastic shield under the pulley that is connected over by under the battery - there's a night piece chewed right through it - when the cradle fell, the pulley landed on it and ground right through.

Could the motor mount be bad?

Could the motor mount be bad?

That's what I'm wondering. Something's definitely outta whack. It took them 9 hours to replace the cradle. I hope swapping a motor mount isn't as hard!

That's what I'm wondering. Something's definitely outta whack. It took them 9 hours to replace the cradle. I hope swapping a motor mount isn't as hard!

Ahhh, no comment.

When they replaced the frame, was it a used or new replacement?

If used, did they use your original motor mounts, or install different ones?

Used frame, and I have no idea on the motor mounts. If I had to guess, I'd say they took the path of least resistance! They probably used what was on there.

would you be able to get us a sound clip or youtube video of the issue?

Possibly. I'm going to swing by the shop and see what they say when they see/hear it. The more I think about it, the more probable it seems to be that mount. That's where it sounds like it's coming from. When the car's in park, I can turn the wheel fully from side to side - no noise. I can push down on the struts on each side & get it bouncing - no noise. But when the car's inertia shifts from one side to another, the noise (and feel of the noise, if that makes sense), is consistent with the engine moving a millimeter or two.

Just got back from the body shop. I think we've ruled out the engine mount. The sound is coming from the inside right wheel area. Doesn't happen bouncing up & down, only when moving more laterally. I'm going to leave the car for the day and they're going to attempt to find it.

Strut mount?

You could have them swap the left and right front struts and see if the noise follows the strut.

(that is of both sides are identical like on 97-03 GP's).

Strut mount?

You could have them swap the left and right front struts and see if the noise follows the strut.

(that is of both sides are identical like on 97-03 GP's).

either that, or a lower control arm bushing?

either that, or a lower control arm bushing?


Good thought! (Since the subframe was replaced). Why didnt I think of that duh!

Since the subframe was replaced

that was my train of thought :smile: