hello, my name is John McDaniel. i live in in the Houston, Texas area, around Highway 6 and 290.

on Monday night, i became the proud new owner of a 2006 Spice Red Metallic M6 GTO. i absolutely love the car - i can't really find anything that i don't love.

but...there are a few things i'm weary about.

first, there's a sort-of clunk noise that i hear when i press in the clutch and start to shift to the next gear - usually coming out of first and second, sometimes third. is this noise normal, or could i possibly be doing something wrong?

second, the DIC (which i LOVE!) seems to be acting funny. the digital speedo hangs a little (for instance, if i come to a stop, it'll say i'm going at some speed for a second or two before it reads zero). this doesn't bother me too much, it's not that big of a deal. but what does bother me are the other two displays on the cluster. when viewing the odometer or the trip A info in the center display, the smaller displays on the left and right (displaying average speed and average fuel consumption/gallons per hour) don't seem to work. if i'm at a steady speed for a few minutes, they work brilliantly, and display single values for a minute or so. but if i wait longer than that, or change speeds, rather than adjusting the number displayed, the numbers get all weird. the display on the left shows only partial numbers, like the top-right half of a digit, or the bottom side, etc., and the display on the left shows three lines and a dot in the middle. this funky display happens more times than not.

at first, i thought the car needed more time to get averages and stuff, and that once it gathered enough data it could play the stuff correctly. (and, like i said, if you wait awhile it will show up for a little bit). but i have 310 miles on the odometer or so, and i figured it would have learned by now.

weird thing is, if i turn on the trip B computer, the displays seem to work fine when i view that. but i'd rather the mpg display than the miles per hour - and the instant mpg display never works.

is the intermittance normal, or should i just take it in for warranty work?

also, i need some reassurance on one thing - i know that the manual states that to break the car in you need to cary the speed, but remain below 55mph...i haven't come close to redlining it (i think the most i revved it to was 5 grand, and i wasn't in gear), but i have gone faster (like 60 or 70 on the highway) - will this really affect the life of my engine? i would really hope not...i need this car to last me a while. i'm not doing anything to abuse the engine, but it is the first new car i've ever owned, so i'm hoping that i'm not messing up the break-in.

thanks a bunch in advance for reading such a long post...and thanks even more if you can help me out. i've searched other forums (as well as this one) and haven't found much on erratic displays, only on fule guages (and i think mine is fine).

i look forward to my long relationship with the most amazing car i've ever come in contact with, and i just want to get things figured out and (possibly) made right ASAP! :)

hello, my name is John McDaniel. i live in in the Houston, Texas area, around Highway 6 and 290.

on Monday night, i became the proud new owner of a 2006 Spice Red Metallic M6 GTO. i absolutely love the car - i can't really find anything that i don't love.

but...there are a few things i'm weary about.

first, there's a sort-of clunk noise that i hear when i press in the clutch and start to shift to the next gear - usually coming out of first and second, sometimes third. is this noise normal, or could i possibly be doing something wrong?

second, the DIC (which i LOVE!) seems to be acting funny. the digital speedo hangs a little (for instance, if i come to a stop, it'll say i'm going at some speed for a second or two before it reads zero). this doesn't bother me too much, it's not that big of a deal. but what does bother me are the other two displays on the cluster. when viewing the odometer or the trip A info in the center display, the smaller displays on the left and right (displaying average speed and average fuel consumption/gallons per hour) don't seem to work. if i'm at a steady speed for a few minutes, they work brilliantly, and display single values for a minute or so. but if i wait longer than that, or change speeds, rather than adjusting the number displayed, the numbers get all weird. the display on the left shows only partial numbers, like the top-right half of a digit, or the bottom side, etc., and the display on the left shows three lines and a dot in the middle. this funky display happens more times than not.

at first, i thought the car needed more time to get averages and stuff, and that once it gathered enough data it could play the stuff correctly. (and, like i said, if you wait awhile it will show up for a little bit). but i have 310 miles on the odometer or so, and i figured it would have learned by now.

weird thing is, if i turn on the trip B computer, the displays seem to work fine when i view that. but i'd rather the mpg display than the miles per hour - and the instant mpg display never works.

is the intermittance normal, or should i just take it in for warranty work?

also, i need some reassurance on one thing - i know that the manual states that to break the car in you need to cary the speed, but remain below 55mph...i haven't come close to redlining it (i think the most i revved it to was 5 grand, and i wasn't in gear), but i have gone faster (like 60 or 70 on the highway) - will this really affect the life of my engine? i would really hope not...i need this car to last me a while. i'm not doing anything to abuse the engine, but it is the first new car i've ever owned, so i'm hoping that i'm not messing up the break-in.

thanks a bunch in advance for reading such a long post...and thanks even more if you can help me out. i've searched other forums (as well as this one) and haven't found much on erratic displays, only on fule guages (and i think mine is fine).

i look forward to my long relationship with the most amazing car i've ever come in contact with, and i just want to get things figured out and (possibly) made right ASAP! :)

You shouldn't be hurting anything as long as you don't rag it out untill its broken in.

As for the DIC, sounds like you should take it in, as I don't think thats normal.

The clunk should have a TSB and should be fixed if you take it in, it's a known problem and I believe has been fixed on most GTOs.

My clutch makes the same noise, but not constant. Only everyonce in awhile, so if you take in let me know what they say, so I may have to drop mine off also.

thanks for the replies! i'll definately be taking my car in for the DIC and the clunk, then, hopefully sometime soon. i may wait until i'm at 1500 miles, which is when i plan to first change the oil, and get everything taken care of at once. that way, i can get a loaner car and not have to take the Goat in more than i have to. i know the DIC will be fine, but will waiting cause any ill-effects from the clunk? (and do you know a TSB number, or what specifically causes that?)

thanks again! you guys are great!

thanks for the replies! i'll definately be taking my car in for the DIC and the clunk, then, hopefully sometime soon. i may wait until i'm at 1500 miles, which is when i plan to first change the oil, and get everything taken care of at once. that way, i can get a loaner car and not have to take the Goat in more than i have to. i know the DIC will be fine, but will waiting cause any ill-effects from the clunk? (and do you know a TSB number, or what specifically causes that?)

thanks again! you guys are great!

I don't know of the number off the top of my head, but its not a problem, just annoying.

I just realized that my intermittent wipers don't work properly, this week is the first time in two years that my car has been in the rain, first time I've ever used the wipers. lol. But it'll just have to be that way cause I'll be D@MNED if I'm takin it into a dealer and lettin some monkey gom it up for me. I'd rather vomit a coat hanger.

I just realized that my intermittent wipers don't work properly

Remember they are speed sensitive. They are also a pain in the A$$. The settings have a mind of their own. It's like they change speeds depending on where the intermittent switch was set when you turn the wipers on. Downright a pain in the @$$.

But hey, I didn't buy the car to drive in the rain. I'm so quick I dodge the drops. ;)