eggsnmilkctsv

I will start off by listing mods kooks headers, B&B exhaust, k&n intake, and EFI live tune. its a 2005 model. here is the story, i had a issue with a spot on my roof so i brought it to the body shop at my local chevy dealership.

About a week goes by, and today they call me to tell me my car is ready to pick up. they ended up repainting a spot on my roof that was scratched. So my wife brings drives me up there to pick it up. i walk into the body shop office, pay and then he tells me my car is in the back, keys are in it you can get it.


As im walking up to my car i notice my hood is popped, i thought that was strange because i was only there to have me roof looked at. i get in my car try to start it and the battery is dead. So we jumped it, and as soon as it starts it sounds like a diesel tractor running on 2 cylinders. and it says on the the display "engine power reduced" and my traction control light, brake light, check engine light were all on.

Car has been running great will no problems, until i brought it to them. I left the car there they said they have to let the service department look at it and they would give me a call back.

What would cause these problems, do you think that they could have been driving it and someone abused it? or could these issues have been caused by the battery dying?

Not sure how to handle this, car is out of warranty. it seems like to me that they should be responsible for anything that happens to the car while in there dealership. any thought or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

perfect777

I hope that you wrote how many miles were on the car before and after you returned it...

sounds to me like they drove it and broke something. If you suspect they did drive and abuse the car, I'd get a flatbed to take it to your nearest dealer that you DO trust (it's not like the car is drivable as it is) and then let them know that you'll be back with your lawyer. Start recording everything that you can on/around the car. Is the seat in the original position? Mirrors? There may be some signs that somebody drove the car. This is why I write the mileage down on a piece of paper to keep with me when I leave a car with people I don't really trust. I also write down the mileage on a sticky note and put it onto the dash covering the odometer so that any tech who even thinks about driving it will know that I'm paying attention to the miles. It might be a dick move but I feel that it's kept me out of trouble after one incidence where a shop did get busted hooning my V and had to pay for it.

Stepside

I think they reflashed your computer.
Do you still have the EFI tune?

jenks40

iTrader: (3)

If all else fails, big brother is watching. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe people with the right technology can tell you what your car was doing and when it was doing it. This thing is run by a computer... Kick their ***!

eggsnmilkctsv

Unfortunately i did not write down my miles, im kicking my self for not doing that. man i hope that this is not the case. and they are also the largest and are supposed to be the most "trusted" dealership in my area.

No i do not=( i purchased the car second hand. im trying to get into contact with him now to see if he still does.

This information is very helpful, does anyone know how i can get this off of my computer?

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

with his mods a stock tune would still be perfectly driveable.

STAGEUP

Open the fuse box in the engine compartment, take out the 10 amp ecm fuse for 2 minutes. Then plug the fuse back in. Start it up. This should clear the limp mode.

GhettoTy

iTrader: (2)

It really could just be a glitch from the dead battery and resetting the ecm like stageup said might do the trick. I've worked at a dealership and saw how the tech's treat cars, especially quick cars, so I always write down the mileage. So many horror stories out there.

eggsnmilkctsv

Would pulling this ECM fuse for 2 min cause me to lose my tune?

FRiCK

iTrader: (7)

^^ no

eggsnmilkctsv

This leaves me with my next question, should i just go up there and pull the fuse and when it clears the limp mode and "if" it goes back to normal take the car? or should i be concerned about why it went into limp mode and make them keep the car until they are sure it is back to normal. I just don't want to take the car back and be stuck with a problem that they caused.

thanks!

jenks40

iTrader: (3)

Document what happened, take a picture of the code, show the manager or owner the code that didn't exist before you left the car with his people, and try to get him or someone to sign it. If they refuse to sign, just put "Tom Scubernuvy" refused to sign. After/if you get the car working sen a copy of this document and a letter explaining the situation and saying that you expect them to pay for any costs incured repairing the problems they caused, etc by registered mail....

If pulling the fuse does not work, I would get it to another dealer asap. The more tinkering you do as an amateur the more they will say you screwed it up...

.Houdini.

iTrader: (1)

This is exactly why I always write down the mileage, reset the g-meter, and turn on the tracking feature on the NAV every single time I leave it at a dealership or with someone I don't know.

Hopefully the simple ecm reset will fix you right up.

98cobra

iTrader: (32)

Do a throttle body reset. That sometimes happens to me when I am working on my car. If you leave the key in the on position and the gas pedal gets hit, you can end up with that message. I usually reset it, or restart the car a few times and it disappears.

whisler151

I hate to be debbie downer but this just happened to me. I had the battery cable melt to the header and short out.

After a few days of being repaired the dealer (Sewell) drove the car around for me, and something wasn't right. Car was idling like crap and had a severe knock. He said they didnt test drive it at all and that because it was cammed it was probably just the ecm relearning tune. I bit.

Turns out cylindar 8 was not functioning. Took it to my shop and after hours of testing it was in the bottom end. Now I have to have the bottom end rebuilt. Dealer wouldn't help because they claim they didn't drive it plus it is modded.

Those effers took my car out and beat on it and something broke. Now i'm out $4000 having it rebuilt. I didn't write down the mileage either...kicking myself in the *** now.

vmapper

iTrader: (8)

Its a ton easier if you had EFI or HP to scan to see what is up...
Reduced Engine is triggered by several different threshold tables...
Simply pulling the MAP sensor when the car is idling would through you in that state. To Thottle position vs calculated airflow mismatch....
Unless they physically harmed the engine, your fine, depending on the Trigger or multiple trigger values, 3 good conditions would remove that mode. (worst case)(start / off / start of./.. some codes just take one.

throttle body relearn - could be... again, hard to tell without even knowing which codes were thrown...
(any scanner to see those...)

enavarrota

iTrader: (2)

mine did the same thing but i have a big cam installed in it. still trying to figure it out

siggyfreud

iTrader: (1)

Wait what? Our cars can track where its been and "play it back" to us or something?

whisler151

If you have the tracking function set on the nav it will leave bread crumbs letting you know where its been.

siggyfreud

iTrader: (1)

Wow. Okay I'll have to remember this. Valet's beware! I'll also start carrying the extra key and change that key's welcome message to "I'm watching you f'er, be nice to my car."