meridock

I will try to get a statement, but i *think* given my oil consumption issues they felt the valve stem(s) leaking down was a a separate issue. I will confirm that though.

meridock

Motor arrived in the shop and shop is transfer the parts from the original longblock to the new one. (eg intake, damper, etc)






Note: I am installing an ATI dampener since it is not included on the new block.

mykream

So they are just replacing the short block then.

meridock

Long block without intake.

meridock

Got the call that the car was put back together. Final verdict. The Heads were shot and included one valve that had basically or no valve guide left in the head. It looked indeed like the motor was literally less than a few hundred miles from "boom." I asked why the GM adjuster approved the full swap, and was informed a couple of indicators looked like there was another issue. First was a minor scuff on the piston top on the worst cylinder where the valve seems to have lightly touched the piston, but not enough to cause a failure. Second indication was a groove in one of the cylinder walls that was deep enough to catch a finger nail. This may be what caused the oil consumption going back two years - meaning a ring issue.








Couple of things that I would like to note:

1. The dealership was NO help. had my independent shop not pulled the valve covers this motor would have died. Had the dealership actually done the compression test on the motor there is no way they would have missed those badly fouled plugs. I suspect GM instructed the dealer improperly to call this as an abuse problem.
2. The shop I took it to was GMPP certified. I would have paid for the diagnostic had nothing been found. As such the shop took its time. The first thing in this process was pulling the plugs and the first signs of trouble were ID'd. Once the plugs showed the brownie mix of fouling you see earlier in this thread. All worked stopped until the GM adjuster was available to observe the teardown. this was the key. The GM observer saw each part get pulled and either measured or inspected. The heads were in a garbage condition in at least 3 cylinders, and the bore was bad - as it was revealed GM was there to view.
3. During the reinstall of the new block, the shop asked to review the clutch/flywheel since it was out - it was worn. I authorized a "preventative" swap of the wear parts. Additionally, the clutch master cylinder was flushed and I authorised an ATI Harmonic Balancer install since the new block did not include one.
4. The new LS7 did NOT include spark plugs/wires and some bolts to reattach the transmission (I think these are torque to yield one time use items.) I had to pick those up on my dime.
5. While in shop a full review of the car yielded a recommendation to replace the tranny and diff fluid (10 years old.) . and lastly to replace the tires. It is in a different shop getting Pilot Sport 4S's tomorrow.

All in for the motor GM was in for 17k. the Preventative work, deductible, and the ATI set me back 10% or so of that. Tires will be another 1400 or so. Moral of the story is don't take no as an answer, expect to fight GM, take it to an independent GMPP place and agree to diagnostics on your dime unless they find faults. Finally - make sure the shop takes its time and stages the diagnosis with the GM adjuster.

Apocolipse

Thank you for the closure statement - very happy your car is in good hands now but sad about the gmpp issues.

Unreal

Only difference between a design flaw and machining flaw is if it meets the drawing/specification. You could have it speced for 1.00" +/- .10" and have everything machined within the specification, but ones that are more than +/- .05" fail. That is still a design flaw as it is being machined to the drawing/specification. Now if the machine shop made them at +/- .12 then that is a machining error. Part of a design is setting allowable tolerances. So saying a design flaw would have to impact all valves is incorrect. You can have a variation within the allowed design, which can cause some to fail, and others to not. Plenty of automotive design flaws that effect a smaller set of cars, and not all of them.