My truck is no longer with me...

[xtreme80]

... that's because it's actually at the Chevy dealership right now getting WARRANTY work done. That's right, I said WARRANTY!

In the past week, the truck has started blowing a puff of smoke on startup after it's been sitting for a while. It's also half a quart low. This past saturday, I took the plugs out, and it turns out cylinder 2 plug is covered in oil. I replaced the plugs, ran it 100 miles, pulled the plugs again, and the same thing. I figured it was time to take it in.

After about 30 minutes of arguing with a moron service adviser about the meaning of the word WARRANTY, he finally agreed not to charge me for the diagnostic. You see, I have a GMPP crate motor with about 2000 miles on it. I got it from Jegs, but it has a factory warranty with GM. The ****ty part, is that because I installed it myself, they won't warranty labor, only parts. So if I had, say, a bad piston ring in number 2, they would hand me a $5.00 set of rings for it, and say good luck! I sure hope it's something like a cracked head, so I can still replace it myself fairly easily.

[71SWBChevy]

That sucks man, hope its something that isn't to hard to fix.
That is BS that they only warranty parts not labor if you do the install, how many people can even AFFORD the rates that a dealer would charge for an install!

[xtreme80]

Originally Posted by 71SWBChevy

That sucks man, hope its something that isn't to hard to fix.
That is BS that they only warranty parts not labor if you do the install, how many people can even AFFORD the rates that a dealer would charge for an install!

Exactly! I mean I had to pay the sky high price just to have the warranty on the engine... I can't imagine what my total cost would be if I had to have them install it.

Besides, what the hell does my installation have to do with an engine burning oil?!

[Zoomad75]

Thats a standard GM parts warranty. They only cover labor if a GM dealer does the install. Otherwise they only warranty the part that failed. It's got nothing to do with you installing the engine for the oil burning. It sucks that an engine with 2000 miles is burning oil.

If it were me I would have spent the time before taking it to the dealer and made sure I had a decent understanding of what was wrong. Some time with a compression tester and a leakdown tester would have at least told you if the oily plug cylinder was loosing compression through the rings or if you had a leaking valve that might be letting oil get in.

Good luck though!

[garysouthlake]

Don't give up yet. Take your case to the dealer General manager. If he can't help, ask for the Regional Chevrolet Manager. Be prepared with a 'resume' or 'qualifications recap' to show/prove that you know how to install engines. If the Regional manager can't help, ask him/her who you can contact. (The squeaky wheel gets the grease). Even if you don't get anything, think of all the nice people you'll meet !!!

[xtreme80]

Zoomad75, I was going to go ahead and run a compression test on it, but my compression tester wasn't working right. I think the last guy I let borrow it broke the guage. Damn kids...

I'm not too worried. I could have spent the time to figure out what it was, but what's the point when I can have GM do it for free anyways.

And gary, I have plenty of ways to show them how qualified we were to install it, seeing as I work in a shop myself, and my dad, who helped with the project, was an ASE certified master technician for 30 years. I'll have no problem proving those!

[68Stepbed]

What engine do you have? The only GM engine with a parts and labor warranty is the stock 260hp GMGoodwrench engine (part # 10067353). All GMPP engines only have a limited (parts only) 12 month warranty.

[xtreme80]

It's the 290 horse engine. The warranty card that I got with it says they will warranty this engine if it was installed by a GM tech.

[boatpuller]

that was probably in the"ol fine print" by the time you pay the chevy garage to install it...it probably about doubles...hope it works out for you.man.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Damn, that really suxs. I can't believe 2,000 miles and its burning oil. Thats bs about the warranty too. Hope it all works out good!