Dead Tahoe

My patience and persistence paid off. GM agreed to cover the majority of the new engine replacement. My my warranty expired 60 days prior to the engine failure but I was under the 100,000 miles. 60% GM/40% Me on the replacement cost .This is maximum amount the GM decision matrix will cover in this type of situation which as confirmed by an GM dealer not associated with this case. It was determined the engine failure was not due to maintenance but due to an original manufacturing issue. The cause of the engine failure was due to a dropped valve. The dropped valve in cylinder #7 shattered the piston, bending the rod, causing the rod to throw the bearing. I was not required to front a $1,000 to tear down the engine like I read in a earlier post. The most updated engine will be installed so hopefully no more AFM related issues. I only get a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty which I think is shady but it is a new engine.

Overall, General Motors did a good job in the whole process. I will be a repeat customer.

crewcab_09

Hey guys, I'm new to the Forum. Just bought a "preowned certified" 09 silverado crewcab LT 4x4 5.3 aluminum block 6 speed trans at the beginning of Dec 2012. It had 38k on it, I had to take it in last week because it had oil line and trany lines that were leaking also had the dealer change the oil while it was there. I picked it up on Thursday march 13th, everything got fix and I was happy with the work. Saturday march 16th my dad, brother and I all went down to Indy to watch the supercross race from MI about 450 miles round trip. On the way home while going down the highway I noticed a tick coming from the motor pulled over and nothing was out of the ordinary other then it was a little low on oil. Mind you it was about 1:30 am and I was still about 150 miles from home. So I filled it up and off I went on regular 2 lane roads at 55 mph. About 20 miles later the motor completely granaded, oil pouring out so im sure it threw a rod through the block. Still 110 miles from home a dead on the side of the road. This was all with out much warning, all 3 of us are pretty mechanically smart guys. The check engine light did not come on at all until about a min till it blew, the light flashed on and off about 4 times so I started to pull over and that is when it blew. And to top it all off the oil pressure gauge never dropped pressure even after it puked all the oil out and was struggling to get it off the road. So now I had it towed to the dealer were I bought it (100 miles away) and will go pay them a visit first thing Mon morn. And it only has 44k on it!

Chevrolet Customer Service

crewcab_09,
We're sorry to hear that this happened out on the road. How did your visit go this morning? Let us know if there is anything we can check into for you!
Sarah (Assisting Louis), Chevrolet Customer Service

crewcab_09

Went in today and they had not got it in yet. So I just talked to the service manager and let him know what happened. They called me back and told me they put it up on the hoist and found a 3 inch hole just below the starter on the passenger side and that none of the techs there have ever seen something like that with that motor. So most likely it threw a rod but that is as far as they got into it today. So far no problems and no out of pocket cost, was even told they would reimburse me for the 250 dollar tow bill to get it to the dealer. Keeping fingers crossed that it all goes smooth.

crewcab_09

Dead Tahoe did they replace it with a new 5.3 crate motor or a rebuilt one? Did they give you a choice

Mykc2

I also have driven a chevy for going 25 years. Always have had good luck with them! Until now!! I have a 08 silverado ltz 4x4 with active fuel management. I started having problems at 100,000 miles. Dropped a lifter! The dealership fixed it no problem. I was very pleased and I got a 12,000 mike warranty on the repairs!! We are now going on the fourth time having the lifters replaced. The last time I had to pay for half because I went over the 12000. Now it's only been 4000 miles since the last repair! I am told "there is no problem with the lifters but we will put updated lifters in it for you". My question is if there is no problem why the updated lifters? I am so frustrated. I have always paid the higher prices to drive a "better vehicle" this is third time in Aprox a year I have to go two weeks without my vehicle. Not to mention I work in the oilfield and travel, and it cost me 500 plus dollars to have truck towed back to dealership. Short of dropping the almost fifty thousand dollars to get a new vehicle comparable to what I have does anyone have any advise???

Mykc2

I am going on my 4th attempt to repair. They have replaced all the lifters 3 times and the cam once. But beware if you drive 2000 miles past the 12000 mile warranty on the repairs you will be footing at least half of the bill

Silver7

I drive a ton of miles & exceed warranty quick.

My 2 cents (what I did) - Buy a RAM 1500. I grabbed the 5.7L Hemi 4x4 Crew, then ADDED the insurance program. Luckily, the dealer provided it at their cost at closing. Yes, it costs a couple grand more, but you can spread it out over the life of your loan.

The Silverado was a nice truck. If GM and/or my dealer would have offered even a small amount of assistance I probably would have remained a customer. Out of warranty is what it is. The experience left a bad taste in my mouth. It would take something significant to bring me back to GM.

I have nearly 12K miles on the new RAM and so far so good. Additional power of the 5.7L Hemi over the 5.3L AFM is really something.

Silverados still have good resell values. Swap it off before everyone else discovers what we did.

08Suburban

It is sad to see the state of GM "Customer Service". After months of fighting, calls being ignored, and stonewalling, GM decided not to assist with my claim. They said that because I did not have the rear differential serviced on time (I did it a few thousand miles after the recommended service interval), they said they were unable to offer more than 10% discount. Not quite sure how the rear diff can cause multiple lifter failures. I sold the Suburban broken, right out of the repair bay it was sitting in. I still had to pay the $800 teardown fee out of my pocket.

Having been a multi-generational GM loyal customer, with 6 GM family purchases in the past few years, I am leaving GM.

No, there is nothing on the market with the versatility of the Suburban, but I have replaced it with a Ram 3500 quad cab diesel and a loaded Chrysler Town and Country. Would have bought a Chevy 3500 diesel and another Suburban if it had not been for this unbelievably poor experience.

Goodbye Chevrolet.

crewcab_09

Ok so I got a new crate motor in the truck gonna be all finished with it tomorrow. All in all could not complain about much but the warranty. Got told that because the motor was replaced under the factory power train warranty that it is only covered until that is up which is only a year. I would think it would at least come with a 2 year 24k warranty. Any thoughts?