I thought this might be of interest due to all the complaints I see on the boards about piston slap and other engine issues.

I purchased my 02' WS6 from Bill Kay Pontiac(stay away) 9/03. I was told the car was a trade in. A week later I take the car to the Grossinger Autoplex to have the car looked over and was told they would not work on the car due to the nature of the previous work done on the vehicle(rear end replaced-engine replaced,etc..); I was also informed at this time that the car was a GM buyback. Needless to say I was a little pissed at the news. I proceed to complain to Bill Kay about their shady tactics and blatant lies and request them to buy the car back. After snapping on them they agree to give me a 3yr/40,000mi extended warranty for free (this pretty much admits guilt)
I then call Pontiac customer care and complain that Grossinger is refusing to work on the vehicle. Customer care calls Grossinger and had a little chat, and shortly after that Grossinger calls me back to inform me that they would be happy to work on my vehicle. Now that they looked at the vehicle they inform me that they are suggesting engine replacement due to the grooves on the tops of 5 pistons. GM wants to send a rep to cofirm that this is really needed, this takes 3 weeks, meanwhile I'm stuck driving a Pontiac Vibe
The GM rep finally arrive only to instruct them to do a total tear down. He would then take another look at the situation. 1 week later they all come to the same conclusion; replace the engine. Unfortunately there aren't any engines available due to a new part design that is not available according to Pontiac customer care. All the while I am bitching to customer care every day; i even used the threat of legal action. After 50 days at the dealer I take the case to GM arbitration to look into compensation for my trouble. I finally get my car back after 61 days of shop time, GM's arbitrator called to offer me one month car payment for my inconvienence, I responded with "how bout two?" She accepted my offer. One week later I received a check for $1000+.
Moral of this (long)story is stick with the fight and don't be afraid to threaten with legal action and to ask for compensation.

Free extended warranty
New engine
Cash

 

Glad it all turned out well. Two years ago when I was having probs with GM and their lack of service, every attempt I made was shot down, and I basically got screwed out of the last year of my warranty.

 

Same here. NADA.

 

Congrats on winning the fight. How is the new motor?

 

Thanks.
So far so good. I've put about 1000mi on it and it's starting to loosen up a bit

 

I did the same thing 3 years ago and got several months plus insurance paid back to me, but my car was new when I bought it and it spent close to 3 months total in the shop.

 

Way to stick to guns

 

Way to go! I am still in the later stages of getting this done. Talked to the DSM from GM and he states he has to talk to GM Quality Engineering Department to get a figure on the % of these LS1 & LS6's that have had bad piston slap and had to get a new engine after the piston change did not remedy the slap.

He is supposed to get back with me by Friday. We'll see.

What was the date of manufacture for your new engine? I hear that in order to be sure you get one that had the updated fix it has to me late 2003 or current.

I also have been told that they all come with LS6 blocks (not that there is any big difference) but I hear the block is a little more solid.

Anyway...Congrats with hanging in there. I know I have been and will continue to fight for what is right.

Thanks for your informative post.

 

I have to assume that the engine I have is recently manufactured. At the time of the complaint there were'nt any engines available. I believe I have the latest version available
Good luck with your case, keep us posted on the outcome.

 

Well I guess legal action is all that I am left with on this issue of Piston Slap.
Although the dealership and the DSM agree that mine is severe they will only do the recommended replacement of the rings and pistons because he states GM Quality Department states this works and there have not been many LS1's that have had to have new engines. (Several online I talked to state they got new replacement engines.)

I talked to him in detail as to what they intend to do and here is what he said:

1) The dealership will completely tear down my engine.

2) They will send the block out to a machine shop (He couldn't tell me who)

3) They will measure the cylinders and if the bores are different they will custom fit pistons for those cylinders that are different. (does this mean I will have different odd sized pistons in the cylinders that are out of spec?

4) He states the new ring design will have the rings wear down after time and fit the cylinders that are different. Tight fitting I guess?

5) He will only write a letter covering the parts they replaced ie...pistons and rings.

This is totally unacceptable to me since I have had this in the shop 3 times for this since 11,500 miles and now at 18,000 I am going to have it torn completely down to the bare block and pieced back together with several odd sized pistons?

What will that do to my performance? Is that the correct way to do it?

No extended warranty like anyone else got, no new engine. So I am going to pursue legal action but still let them do what they say they have to do to cover my a$$.

I feel that it might be best to at least have them attempt the repair rather than them saying I did not allow them the opportunity to fix the problem. I do not really like the idea of someone tearing my fairly new engine all the way down just to replace a few parts as I fought for a new replacement engine due to the fact that the car is under it’s original warranty but the District Service Manager for GM states they will not do that.

So armed with the fact that it has been addressed over 3 times and now I may end up with what I feel is a bandaged engine in a nice $33, 000 car they don't make anymore I will call the attorney back that has been emailing me after reading my issues I have posted here and in other forums on this subject.

Any help you can give me is appriciated. I am not a pro mechanic so please let me know if I am wrong in my concerns

What would you think about them doing this in this mannor to you car?

Are they doing it right or are they trying to get off cheap and send me out the door?

Thanks for your opinion.

 

XuhQshinR, FWIW I read a post a year or two ago from a guy who had his block machined and fitted with new different sized pistons and he said it sounded and ran bad ***. No more slap and good power. I still don't think I'd want it done to my car tho. Chitown LS1, I'm confused as to how you took your car somewhere else to get looked over and they found scored pistons. Sounds like more than a routine examination?

 

There's no way I would go for that. I would pursue the legal action avenue.
To answer INMY01TA's question, I complained about a noise from the engine (not thinking it was that serious). When they ran their standard test, it came up out of spec. One thing led to another. I have pics that I took of the grooves on the pistons, nasty stuff.

 

INMY01TA- Thanks for your reply. I really do not want the "root canal" approach done to my car, but at this point I have little choice (for now)

Chitown- Thanks...I am going to take it further by legal action. Hell, they can't even tell who the machine shop is that will be doing the work!?!?!

Now how are they supposed to make sure it comes back and how are they going to pay for the work if they don't know who they are sending it too?

Pure GM BS.

 

LOL LOL LOL LOLOLOLOL I got my Chevy Z28 from Bill Kay Chevrolet and will never ever buy a vehicle from them again. They harrased me for 2 months after the sale wanting more money for a Vender promotion. I work for AT&T and was garenteed to pay only 5% over invoice. The Deal was made and i later gave them the papers for the Vendor promotion. Then comes the phone calls, the threats of leans and court battles. All it took to get them to stop was a call to GM corprate and Bill Kay backed off and was civil again.

 

Did you buy the car new. If so call the arbitration department at GM. If you have your in the shop 3 times for the same problem and they don't fix it after 3 attemps. GM has to buy it back from you under the Lemon Law. If you didn't buy it new your at their mercy.

 

Well here in CA we've got this thing called the lemon law, look it up, maybe your state has the same thing

 

Dont forget that even if you bought a pre-owned still under the manufactures warranty it still qualifies under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act US Code - Title 15, Chapter 50, Sections 2301-2312

http://autopedia.com/html/HotLinks_LemonMM2.html (long but very informative)