Broken Vette

[STEVOSVETTE]

I purchased my 2000 C5 Corvette in Aug of 2001. I have been very happy with the vehicle till TRAGEDY STRUCK!! I was on the freeway at about 90-95 mph and was exiting the freeway when all of a sudden the car completely shut down. I coasted to a complete stop and tried to restart the vehicle. I then tried to start the vehicle with some gas ( not needed as many of you already know) it started and ran like crap. I shut the vehicle down and called for a tow truck (flatbed ofcourse ) I took the vehicle to Michaels Chevrolet in Michigan where basicaly everyone was trying to explain to me that my cars engine failed somewhere and I was out of warranty by time not miles. The original owner of this vehicle purchased the car in Aug 31 of 99. Now that makes the vehicle out of warranty by time by 53 days from when the vehicle encountered my defect. Now the dealer has tried to figure out exactly what is wrong with the vehicle with now luck. Now a service guy from chevy (he comes to all the dealers and says yes or no on good faith claims) calls the dealer and says Gm is not going to perticipate with the repair until they know EXACTLY what the defect is. Here's the funny thing. The only way I can get them to warranty this engine is if I authorize them to pull the motor which will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 grand. I tried everything in my power for them (GM) to take responsibility for the repair but................I FAILED!! On Dec. 10th 2002 I authorized the dealer to do this tear down of the motor but........... if Gm doesnt warranty the engine then I am totally screwed because I got a motor thats out of a car that could be completely bad and not repairible.
Now the top of the motor is working just fine and holding for a compression test BUT ONE SIDE OF THE MOTOR IS NOT WORKING!!! (1 SIDE VALVE TRAIN I WORKING AND THE OTHER SIDE IS NOT AT ALL BUT HOLDS 175LBS IN EACH CYLINDER) So, the dealer said the top of the motor is fine and it has to be something let loose in the bottom end. I know absolutely nothing about the inside of the engine so I am speaking from what they have told me. I have talked to several people on this situation and everyone thinks it has something to do with the timing or cam chain or something.

I dunno why I am getting the run around but.......... I am definitly not a HAPPY CORVETTE OWNER. If I had done something to this vehicle that I would considered to be hard on this car then FINE......I would be more apt to pay for this problem but I did nothing wrong to this vehicle except drive it. I do all the maintaince to the vehicle and take very good care of this vehicle and find what GM wants me to do is TOTALLY LUDICRIS!!

Now I know there are alot of peeps on this board that can give me infomation or know someone that can help me because THIS COULD HAPPEN TO MANY MORE PEOPLE THAN ME......EVEN YOU. I bought this Corvette with the anticipation of it being the BEST VEHICLE I have ever bought but........ what makes me want to put $10,000-12000 into a car thats 53 days out of warranty. Sorry I forgot to mention the vehicle has 35,000 on it.

Any help would be appreciated,

Steve Schneider
(586) 709-8867

 

[TLY-BAMA]

Man this sounds likes lousey timing. I don't know if GM will step up to the plate on this one but i hope they do. Keep us informed. Good luck.

 

[COEX-PILOT]

c4c5, where are you? I had suggested this fellow post his story here so you might comment?

I would like to hear your comments as well!

 

[MoeJr]

To me something does not sound right. How can one side of the motor be not working yet have 175 PSI Compression. If something had let go in the motor you should have heard it when it happened. If something let go in the bottom end you should have no compression in whatever cylinder it occured. Even if you spun a rod bearing the car would still run but knock badly but would still keep you compression PSI at 175. However if you broke a rod then the cylinder to which it belonged would be dead with no compression. I think you may be getting a snow job here. Do not take no for an answer. if you get no satisfaction tell them you are gonna paste lemons on the side of your vehicle and parade around there block. That worked for a buddy of mine with a defective Ford pickup. Hope this works out for you.

 

[STEVOSVETTE]

Thanks Moe!!! I have no noises from the car anywhere!!!I would have thought if a timing chain or a cam chain would have broken I would have heard it or would still hear crap slapping around in the engine somewhere!! I dunno I just hope and pray I'm not getting HOSED HERE!!!!

Hopefully more people can give me more insight because I'm ready to

 

[MoeJr]

I would really like to know what the diagnosis is when you find out. being in the automotive field I hear these stories alot about dealers service departments. Please keep us posted and be firm with them and don't be afraid to stand up for what you believe in.

 

[c4c5specialist]

Hi there,
Unfortunately, things do not sound right here.
I am very hesitant to comment on this, as I am not the one taking apart the engine.
175 is high for compression in LS1, so that is the first thing I noticed. You have one camshaft, and I have a hard time believing that there is only one side working. That would entail every other lobe being broken, or the pushrod being broken, which would not happen. You will not see one side or the other.
As far as the GM warranty, that is the dealership, and your zone representative there, and I do not know what they see.
A few questions please, was the engine overrevved on the downshift from 90-95??????
Had you noticed any drivability conditions, like something didnt seem right before it failed?????
Did you hear any abnormal noises before the engine actually stalled??????
With that, I do not feel that I can make an accurate diagnosis from the information given here.
I would sit down with the manager, and talk.
See if you may be able to come to a resonable conclusion.
You will find, that for the most part, managers are only as good as the information they have as well.
Please keep us posted, c4c5

 

[STEVOSVETTE]

Hi there,
Unfortunately, things do not sound right here.
I am very hesitant to comment on this, as I am not the one taking apart the engine.
175 is high for compression in LS1, so that is the first thing I noticed. You have one camshaft, and I have a hard time believing that there is only one side working. That would entail every other lobe being broken, or the pushrod being broken, which would not happen. You will not see one side or the other.
As far as the GM warranty, that is the dealership, and your zone representative there, and I do not know what they see.
A few questions please, was the engine overrevved on the downshift from 90-95??????
Had you noticed any drivability conditions, like something didnt seem right before it failed?????
Did you hear any abnormal noises before the engine actually stalled??????
With that, I do not feel that I can make an accurate diagnosis from the information given here.
I would sit down with the manager, and talk.
See if you may be able to come to a resonable conclusion.
You will find, that for the most part, managers are only as good as the information they have as well.
Please keep us posted, c4c5

The vehicle in question is a automatic and don't think it was over reving but......I did put it into 3rd!! Do you think that had something to do with it???? I would have thought the car has a rev limiter. I dunno I don't know that much about cars.

Everything felt fine and strong acceleration and everything was working perfect.