fishpole

Have 2006 Trailblazer LS Ext. now has 38K miles on it (2K out of warranty). 4 months ago, check engine light came on and I took it to the dealer - it was still under warranty then (33K). Dealer said bad exh cam solenoid due to lack of maintenance. He also said there was a lot of sludge built up in the engine. I've been changing it every 5 to 7K since I bought it with 9K miles on it. I bought it from aChevrolet dealer as a program car. He changed the solenoid, not the oil, and gave it back to me. That night, it came back on again. I took it to another dealer and left it at the early bird drop with instructions to find out what was wrong with the Check Engine light and change the oil. They told me bad exh cam solenoid. They changed it and the oil and all was okay till yesterday when the light came on again. Now it's out of warranty and I took it to a local mechanic that I trust very much. He told me something serious is wrong with this truck. The sludge buildup looks like a vehicle that's been driven for over 100K without an oil change and he felt like something is going on in the engine. I saw the sludge on the oil cap myself and it is very bad. He said that a vehicle this new should not have sludge this bad even if I had never changed the oil and to take it back to the dealer. My question, how do I convince the dealer that this issue should be looked at as a warranty issue? I certainly can't afford a new motor and from the sound of my mechanic, this is potentially serious. I'm sure this was going on back when I had it in the dealers shop at 33K.
BTW, how can the first dealer tell me that it was due to lack of maintenance? How does he know? I've always changed the oil before the oil change indicator tells me so. Matter of fact, the oil change indicator has never told meit's time for an oil change. What other engine maintenance am I supposed to do in the first 33K?

EvansBlue

Well first things first, NEVER go by the oil change indicator. Always change your oil ever 3 months or 3000 miles whichever comes first. Synthetic oils can be run up to 6000 miles or six months as long as you change the oil filter every 3000 miles. (this is because the oil filter simply cant hold that much foreign matter.)
I recommend buying a can of Seafoam to help clear up some of the sludge. It sounds like the previous owner of the vehicle may have added oil stabilizer or STP additive carelessly. That will cause a major sludge buildup.
Seafoming is straitforward. Just do what it says on the can. It will smoke a lot when you start it up, but thats a sign that its doing what it is supposed to do.