Yes. AI=Always Incorrect

As I mentioned, as an example, the "cradle" is dropped to remove the oil pan. The oil pump can also be replaced that way. Probably other things. Here are the first three steps of the oil pan replacement. Step 3 is the cradle removal. The engine stays in place.


A bunch more stuff must also be remove - a bunch - but not the engine. Here is step 21, removing the oil pan - it is quite a task but you can see the engine remains in place.


Now if replacing the oil pump as an example, the first step is to remove the oil pan and it calls out the removal procedure I just described above. But then you can remove the oil pump components. Again, the engine is not dropped. The point is just that there are components that can be replaced on the engine that require removal of the cradle but not the engine. I really dont see how AI could ever get this right unless it actually reads the service procedures. It would be ok if AI said it did not know, but AI is perfectly willing to fabricate answers (when humans do it we call it BSing, which is a very human trait.) Very scary.

 

OP, sorry to hear your car is out of service at 150 miles. Hopefully, it's a straightforward repair and the repair doesn't take too long.

 

Heard back from the dealer today and it's the engine oil pump they are replacing. The service tech did say they are dropping the cradle and they did use the words "engine out" to me earlier this week, so hopefully it's the above procedure and not something more... invasive?

Thank you Andybump for the details - that makes me hopeful I'll see my car again in a reasonable amount of time.

 

Looks like I was wrong though - my apologies. You can take back the "likes" ......

Since you were specifically told that the engine had to be removed, I looked into this further, following the hyperlinks in the manual for the oil pump replacement, which I should have done in the first place. While the oil pan can be removed by removing the rear suspension cradle without removing the engine, and I re-verified that, it turns out that in the oil pump replacement procedure the hyperlink for removal of the cradle goes to a different cradle removal procedure that sounds the same but is very very different.........

The procedure for cradle removal for the oil pan replacement is called
"Rear Suspension Cradle Replacement (North America) (LT2) and it does not require removal of the engine, but does remove the cradle. That was the image I posted previously.

Unfortunately the procedure for cradle removal called out when the oil pump is to be replaced is different:
Step 1: "Rear Suspension Cradle Removal and Installation (Coupe) (LT2) and that procedure shows removal of the powertrain on a "propulsion system lift tray".
It does still require removal of the oil pan and that is called out in the procedure in the oil pump replacement procedure.

So, while the cradle can be removed without removing the engine, it appears that replacement of the oil pump does require engine removal. I was wrong ....my apologies.

 

You have been dealing with this dealer inefficiency now 4 or 5 days. Clock is ticking especially since your seasonal driving days and this being a new C8 are a big factor.

Let's hope the dealer has solid evidence that the oil pump is absolutely your C8's problem. I'm sure you know whether a Certified Corvette Tech is involved. I'm pulling for you!

 

Tell me about it. I don't want to throw MacMulkin under the bus but my whole experience with them has been less than awesome. My sales guy was great and the service dept has been friendly, but at the risk of being a turbo Karen I feel like with 150 miles on the car the least they could have done was overnight the part and get the car going versus "it'll be here on Friday".

It's a small thing compared to everything else but I'm also losing weeks of the trial for OnStar and SiriusXM too. When I asked about some kind of compensation for it they haven't exactly come out and said "we'll take care of you", but I am hoping that the car comes back with PPF or ceramic, or something for all the aggravation. It really sucks.

I appreciate you all letting the new guy complain about it anyway, it helps in some small way, haha.

 

All good! We've all been confidently incorrect more than once in our lives. I think you owe Google AI an apology though.

You can keep the likes all the same, I appreciate the effort to help out either way.

 

Exactly.

The Chevrolet experience with the newer and more advanced Corvette demonstrates the need for the Corvette to become a separate division that creates a far better experience than what one experiences with Chevrolet. Hope your dealer picks it up, but I can guarantee you, what you have experienced from the last 5 days will continue.

 

While I'm at it - my dry sump scavenge oil pump knowledge is non-existent. The car didn't behave differently as though it was oil starved, it just threw the code. it's still under the break-in period so I didn't hammer it, but it didn't feel down on power even though I was driving it around in tour mode.

If the pump failed, there may be debris in the lines, correct? And there are pickup lines for the scavenge side that may be full of that debris if the pump did fail? I'm wondering if I should ping them and request that they flush the lines just in case, to avoid a follow-up visit if any debris in the lines will just nuke the new pump too.

I may just be overthinking it but it's hard not to in this situation. I'm also worried about this being on the Carfax and devaluing my brand new car, because no matter how good the techs are, humans are human. (I am working on my PhD in engineering and I still **** **** up at work all the time, and I'm pretty damn good at what I do.) If I'm given the choice between buying two cars and one of them is factory and the other has had the major repair that mine is undergoing, I know which one I'm picking. Ugh.

 

Because this is a first world problem and comedy is how I deal with frustration... It's high comedy that I actually traded in a a Land Rover, the world's most unreliable brand, for this thing with the thought of "Well it's two years old and things will probably start breaking now..."

 

Thanks.

I was wrong when I said the oil pump can be replaced without dropping the engine. When I said that, I did not yet know that they were actually replacing your oil pump, but I used that (incorrectly) as an example of a component that I thought could be replaced while the engine is in the car. But it can be used to remove the oil pan.

But AI was still wrong:

"As I understand it via Google:

• Cradle Drop (Powertrain Removal): The standard factory procedure. The engine, Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT), rear suspension, and exhaust are unbolted from the chassis and lowered as a single complete assembly onto a lift table. This is used for major transmission repairs, heavy frame damage, or separating the engine and transmission blocks.
• Engine Out (Engine Only): This entails separating the engine from the transmission while the vehicle is raised. The engine alone is then dropped from the bottom. This is more common for internal engine rebuilds (e.g., swapping a blown engine for a new block) where the DCT does not need to be serviced"

First Bullet: As I have now discovered, there are two different cradle removal procedures (at least two). One of them removes the cradle without removal of the powertrain. The other one does in fact remove the entire powertrain. So, was AI half right or "almost incorrect"? I have noticed that AI mixes facts with fabrication (which I also did in this case).

Second Bullet: I also checked the engine removal procedure. That appears to require removal of the entire powertrain. It does look like there are steps to remove the "transmission bolts" while the powertrain is rasied, but they are still lowered as a unit and separated on the ground. So that bullet is not correct for the C8 - at least according to the procedure. The engine cannot be lowered leaving the transmission in the car per the procedure.

And in addition, the transmission actually can be removed while leaving the engine in the car. See last clip. But ya can't remove the engine and leave the transmission in the car.

Here is the cradle removal without removing the powertrain. This one can be used to remove the oil pan with the engine in the car still.




Here are the last few steps of the Engine Replacement (Coupe, North America)>>Removal Procedure. Notice that the entire powertrain is removed and lowered and then, in step 57, the engine and transmission are separated.




Here is the last few step of the transmission removal procedure which leaves the engine in the car:

 

It's missing the step where I drown my sorrows in cheap beer for my brand new car being laid up after 3 days...

Thanks again dude.

 

Have you heard of Arrowsmith - "Dream On"

 

Aye you're probably not wrong. There's no incentive for the dealer to do anything other than to avoid a bad review from someone who already bought a car from them.

 

Aaand the circus music continues.

The new oil pump arrived today (Friday), buy according to service "came in broken and in pieces, and the parts dept is working on sourcing one from another dealer via special purpose acquisition".

So my C8 experience so far:

Buy car 5/25
Take delivery 5/26
CEL on 5/29, roughly 150 miles on ODO
Service tells they're busy, but will schedule me in for 6/1
Drop car off 6/1, am told the code is a fluke later in the day and they reset it
Drive back to get car 6/1, CEL immediately comes back on after I drive less than a mile.
Am told it's engine/cradle out and they're ordering parts
Reach out 6/5 to see if parts are in, am told they're broken and trying to find replacements.

It's now 4:30 Friday afternoon and that's been my first week as a GM customer.

 

While it is no consolation, just know that for each day in the shop beyond the first day for a warranty repair, your warranty period is extended a day. This info appears in the warranty manual on the chevy website.

 

I know it’s not going to help but I’ve heard much much worse months to get parts and months to get the dealer to work on the car.

 

Also worth noting that the service manager is out of the office until Monday, so other than just commiserate with my sales guy (who has been awesome), there's not a hell of a lot I can do about it.

I called GM customer care to try to get them involved to perhaps expedite the parts and couldn't get past the level 1 phone person giving me boilerplate responses. "Well that's unfortunate, we'll have an advisor follow up". I don't know what I expected, but I can't say I was surprised.

 

They are for sale on ebay (at least one new one) and appear to be in stock at gmpartsnow.com. But don't you find it odd that cast part like that, an engine part, came in pieces......did someone roll over it with fork lift......

Anyway, I'm just noting that it appears they are available. Not suggesting you obtain one yourself - I think that could be another warranty issue if it failed. Here's what it look likes (assuming its the lower pump) - looks like a sturdy beast:

 

More fun updates!


- GM CS called me last night (they are super polite every time, nicest CS people ever) to say they shipped a new oil pump for Monday delivery.
- Dealer emails me this morning to say they do have a **** case open, but nothing is shipped and there is no ETA on the part because **** decisions can take a few days.
- Called GM CS again who confirmed the **** case and that the part is shipped, but they couldn't give me a tracking number or even the **** case number.
- Circled back to the dealer to tell them to please re-check things because apparently nobody is on the same page.

The part they are replacing is 12707324. It appears to be in stock all over the place online, so I'm not sure why the dealer is having trouble sourcing one from GM directly without opening special cases.

https://parts.gmparts.com/product/gm...-pump-12707324