2010 GMC Sierra with Front Paint Hood Issue
All, I am original owner of a 2010 GMC Sierra 1500 purchased in April 2010 built in the Fort Wayne Assembly Plant with the 5.3L and only 49k miles as of this posting.
I too have had an issue with paint chipping on the front rolled edge of the hood of my Sierra. I too took my vehicle to the dealer where they explained away the issue as a result of paint chips from rocks and such. WRONG ANSWER.
The PROCESS failure mode deals with one of two issues:
* Either GM's metal substrate preparation ahead of their powder primer and liquid paint (often referred to as their pre-treat / etching process) was not operating correctly. And there are two aspects to this process: chemical parameters - think concentration OR mechanical application - think sprayers and the dispersion of the pre-treat to the surface intended.
* Or it is a function of how the hood spot welding parameters are set to attach multiple layers of material together for body structure.
Based upon my particular failure mode, I'm leaning towards the body spot welding parameters being out of control. Why you might inquire?
If there was an issue with the pre-treat chemical concentration or mechanical application, I would have massive issues with paint peeling across this hood in multiple locations and all over the hood. The reality is my failure mode is specific to the front curl / edge of the hood only.
This leads me to the conclusion / root cause that the robotic spot welding of panels in this area is likely tricky due to their geometry and tool access. So I'm bettting the amperage is turned up to ensure panels are held together (creating excessive burn through / slag) at this location at a minimum. When you have excessive burn through / slag during welding, the pre-treat is unable to properly clean / etch these heat effected zones from the welding process properly. And I know this to be the case, because I see the origination point of the failure is at the spot welds. And further, I can see an additional paint failure (paint is just starting to bubble) occurring literally 4 inches away from this initial failure site. Curious? Not me.
What sealed the deal for me was I saw another customer with the same failure mode the other day driving the prior model GMC Sierra (say a 2008MY). He too must have had the issue because he had sanded a spot (same exact location as my failure) and then primed the spot black with a flat primer even though his truck was red in color.
What I don't get is why GM doesn't take ownership of their own processing issues within their plant. And I took this issue to GM corporate and indicated my dissatisfaction and expectation for correction of the issue including repainting of my hood at their expense. And I informed them their action or lack there of would influence my future purchases of GM manufactured vehicles including the new
Cadillac ATS-V.
Needless to say, my garage has a BMW in it, and not an ATS-V. Thanks GM!
Rick