I barely drove my Vette for the past year. I changed the spark plugs and wires a year ago. 2 months ago I got a new battery. Engine is stock, no mods whatsoever, 74k miles, mostly highway, 6-8 track days some 4-5 years ago, automatic tranny. Saturday evening I started driving on the highway and heard some squeaks. 10 minutes later I got a flashing CEL. Drove about 4 more miles towards the nearest Chevy dealership but didn't make it there as engine stalled. Towed it to the dealership but service dept was closed. Got a call from the service advisor today telling me that they think that camshaft is wiped and they recommend to get a new engine for only $12k. Replacing the camshaft would be $7.5k. I asked how did they determine it was the camshaft and was told that it misfires and backfires and the mechanic has 25 years of experience. I insisted to get any error codes, if they eliminated other possibilities and SA said he will call back later with details. 30 minutes later he calls back and says that they got P0300 cylinder misfires (he says on cyl 1,2,3). P0106 and says the lifters are squeaking and these are the reasons why they believe that the camshaft is wiped. Of course, they won't know for sure until they open it up.

I don't believe the camshaft is wiped until I see metal shavings in the oil pan, but I'm pretty sure they didn't bother to check that. I don't know of any good independent shop in northern VA to get a second opinion and I had bad experience with another dealership in the area in the past.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

If it was my car the first thing I would do is go get it from the dealership....

 

I agree with Vettepapaw. I would start by instructing the dealer not to do anything else to the car. There have to be a few good shops in your area. I recommend to search for a good/reputable shop. Use Google, contact local Corvette Clubs, ask friends with Vettes, start a thread asking for shops recommendations, yellow pages, whatever it takes, there has to be at least one, all you need is to find it and you'll be happy and will save a lot of money.

That dealer already smells fishy, you already noticed the red flags. Trust your instinct, you know the answer. Don't get caught in a worst situation. Swaping a cam doesn't cost that much and even if the engine is blown, you'll be better off dealing with a specialized shop. Just because you don't know one, doesn't mean that there aren't any. I never had a need for a good shop until recently. I needed a new clutch for a built/supercharged C6. Dealers were not an option and finding a reputable/honest shop took some time and effort but once I found it, it was a very good experience and I save a LOT of money.

I wish you the best and keep us posted.

 

7.5k to change cam? Parts and labor included? Holy Vette tax! I'm in the wrong business!

 

Needs a leak down test, and compression check.


If it is cam or valvetrain, heads need to come off to fully diagnose.


What was oil pressure before it stopped running ?

 

I agree that the first thing to do is to get your car back from the dealer. $7,500 should buy you an engine swap, not a cam swap.

 

If they charge $7500 for a cam swap then an engine swap is gonna cost you your first child.

 

not with that shop.you can buy a brand new LS3 engine from GM for around $4,700. plus core charge.your old engine is the core charge

 

You can simply pull the rocker covers and check cam lift at the rockers.

 

there are a couple other places. open up email in your acct. while I might doubt it's all-engine, I doubt the solution will be inexpensive.

 

Your dealership is a bloodsucker. Gene Culley will sell you an LS3 crate engine for only $5.2K.

 

Took the car to Tony's Corvette Shop in Gaithersburg, MD. Turns out it was a broken valve spring, no other damage whatsoever. $750 for diagnostic, parts, labor and oil change. And since I had it there, I also had him replace the harmonic balancer, put new belts, tranny fluid and rear diff fluid.
Lesson learned. Never ever take the car to the dealer once warranty runs out. Really happy with the work Tony's done to the car, I'll always take the car to his shop from now on.

Thank you all for the replies!

 

Glad to hear you got it repaired and serviced with both your arms and legs attached

 

That's awesome. Well, the ending was... the fact that the dealer would have basically thrown away an almost perfectly good engine and raped you for a new one.. well, that should almost be illegal

 

Not necessarily - the dealer might have simply repaired the old engine and said that he replaced it. If you're going to be dishonest, might as well go all the way.

 

I lived 2 miles from Tony's and had my vette serviced there. Excellent service and honest business. He has some excellent techs and also does great restorations.

Sure wish he was down here in Florida.

Glad to hear you were able to get it fixed at a reasonable price.

JB

 

That thought did cross my mind..

 

Another great shop is owned by Rick Kim in Frederick Md.. He did a full clutch install for me last year for less then the dealership wanted. He sends pictures of the install as it progresses and returns all used parts if you want them..He was done in one day...Highly recommended...WW

RKT Performance (http://rktperformance.com) in Frederick, MD

 

Swell!

 

Very Glad to hear that your car is running well, and your bank account wasn't assaulted.

I think ANY of the people on this forum that turn our own wrenches would have pulled valve covers and checked lift at valves before embarking on a cam swap due to a possible "wiped cam". If the dealership had requested 1 hour of labor to do that kind of diagnostic - I think most of us - if we found ourselves in your situation - would have said to go ahead and spend $100 or so to verify the need for a pretty major job.

The fact that the stealership didn't even attempt to do a decent diagnosis is unfortunately getting to be all too common. I realize that there are times that we have no choice to go to a stealership for warranty repairs etc. but it's stories like this that keep me going to independent shops (where at least the owner has a desire to stay in business) whenever I run into a job I can't handle myself.