3.4 blew/ be warned, long and boring

[chevysmallblock]

yes i did just get the car and with only 60k. well i got it about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but didnt pick it up and fill out paper work till last friday, the 19th. about 730 friday night all paper work was finished, i gave it a final look over and test drive ect. then i left the dealer to go home with my new car. i had the damn thing a total of 20 minutes maybe and i got it home(home is 3-4 miles away) and soon as i pulled the sob into my spot it started knocking like crazy. called the dealer immediately and said come get your shit. 20 minutes later a truck was there to pick it up. monday came around and the dealer called me to say my assumptions of a rod bearing/s were correct. he didnt tear it down so this is a guess. he gave me two options. 1-let his mechanic fix it. or 2-put 20-50 oil in it and drive it. i took option #2. stupid i know but let me explain. option 2 in detail... he wanted me to put some miles on the vehicle before making a claim to the warranty company so not to look suspicious. 4 miles between time of sale and occuring problem would give the dealler reason to think there was a pre-existing problem-these are not covered, those problems are the dealers. not the warranty folks. so i drained the oil swapped the filter and put in some 20w50 oil and a bottle of lucas. that hid the problem well. but hidden is simply that, hidden, not fixed. i drove it the rest of monday and all of today. didnt beat on it once. about 745 again, tonight started knocking again. this time louder and it shut off. didnt even bother to attempt restartin it. called the dealer up again and said its done, come get it. tow truck came with a limo behind it. dealer also has limo service. nice thing to do, i guess because i had my girlfriend with me. the dealer is telling me that the warranty company will fix the motor. they will pay parts and labor. and the dealer offered to pay my deductible and fluids. but im getting true stories that if 1 or 2 bearings goes out. that is all that will be repaired. so to wrap it i bought a 4000$ 13 year old mint condition piece of shit that is going to be full of future engine problems because of improper repairs. dont get me wrong i like the car. funny how my 206k mile s-10 just refuses to give up the battle and i beat it hard. but this thing goes after 60k. its seems the dealer is trying to take care of me so i'll see how it goes. im sure the above is full off errors and i read this tomorrow realize that along with other details i left out. but o well. i tired. comments, suugestions, flames are all welcomed, goodnight.

[NOHC_WBody]

Congrats on getting out of it without paying an arm and a leg.

[White93z34]

well look on the bright side, since you did run it on thick ass oil and drove it even more, the likely hood of damage occouring increased alot.

[Brian P]

how long is the warranty for?

[gp90se]

i wouldnt made sure it was knockin pretty hard before they towed it, if they rebuild the motor, they will rebuild the motor and thats that, wouldnt surprise me if they toss a junkyard motor in it, detail it and send ya on your way.

[pitzel]

Consider yourself lucky that the warranty company/insurer involved didn't nail your ass for running an improper oil and additives despite the clear admonishments of the owners manual not to use anything but 5W30/10W30 and no additives.

 

Trust me, I've dealt with insurance companies, they will use any excuse possible to try and get out of paying a claim. I'd be reluctant to deal with the dealer again in the future -- the situation you describe is essentially bordering on insurance fraud.

 

Having said that, this might be a good opportunity to swap on a new timing belt and the associated hardware. Or if they are going the crate engine route, swapping in a 3.1 instead.

[HokemBokem]

I know how you feel, I blew a rod in my 3800 last week at 93K. The only thing thats different is I have to pay 2 grand out of pocket for it :x

[z34_nut]

sorry that you got an obviously bad motor. considering mines running at 233,500 miles right now...

 

and yes, i have a 93 lumina z34.

 

anyway, i would get it fixed and try and find something else. hell if you want sell the car, low miles, new motor, you could get a very good amount of money for it, and hell that can go towards a lumina z34 that runs good and has been taken care of.

 

but i wouldn't buy another z34 personally.

[Crimson Fury Z]

could always buy mine 164,xxx mi and still going good

[WhiteOut]

Sorry to hear about the troubles. At least your getting out of it for next to nothing aside from a headache.

 

On a less positive note, if they're just going to rebuild the engine I don't think I'd let them use the same block after blowing a rod or bearing. There's a good chance the block was damaged in the process and thats only going to lead to more problems down the road.

[chevysmallblock]

no offense pitzel, but you kinda sound to me like you'd nark on me if you had more info on me. lol. im just gonna guess here but im sure all owners manuals say not to use additives and only use correct oils. and the fraud thing. maybe, maybe not. i dont see anything wrong with a small thing such as sneaking around a cheapskate low rate warranty company and insurance when i already pay outrageuos premiums. it was the dealers idea my story and im stickin to it well anyway the dealer said today i would get a new motor out of the deal. i said ok, but before any reinstallation occurs i want to say the old, and the new. and keep the bad one if at all possible.

[93CutlassSupreme]

if you want sell the car, low miles, new motor, you could get a very good amount of money for it

 

 

[z34_nut]

if you want sell the car, low miles, new motor, you could get a very good amount of money for it

 

 

:gone2far:

[chevysmallblock]

are you suggesting i sell the car? from this point its a waste of my time and money any route i go. o yeah i just remembered this. the other night when i changed the oil(first time doing so on this car) i found that the damn drain plug had stripped threads. fishy eh.

[93CutlassSupreme]

if you want sell the car, low miles, new motor, you could get a very good amount of money for it

 

 

:gone2far:

 

 

i got offered 10 grand for my car today....

[terryk2003]

if you want sell the car, low miles, new motor, you could get a very good amount of money for it

 

 

:gone2far:

 

 

i got offered 10 grand for my car today....

 

[93CutlassSupreme]

if you want sell the car, low miles, new motor, you could get a very good amount of money for it

 

 

:gone2far:

 

 

i got offered 10 grand for my car today....

 

 

Z34Nut said a w-body is worth a lot of money. i made the laughing face. he then made the rolling eyes face. i then said i got offered 10 grand for my car as a scarastic comment because it isn't worth a quarter of that.

[Brian P]

are you suggesting i sell the car? from this point its a waste of my time and money any route i go. o yeah i just remembered this. the other night when i changed the oil(first time doing so on this car) i found that the damn drain plug had stripped threads. fishy eh.

 

well for what it's worth, something fishy must have happened since engines don't just wear enough to spin a bearing at 65k.

[Camper]

sorry that you got an obviously bad motor. considering mines running at 233,500 miles right now...

 

and yes, i have a 93 lumina z34.

 

anyway, i would get it fixed and try and find something else. hell if you want sell the car, low miles, new motor, you could get a very good amount of money for it, and hell that can go towards a lumina z34 that runs good and has been taken care of.

 

but i wouldn't buy another z34 personally.

 

Yep, 225K on my z right now, and it hardly leaks any oil at all now....

 

Btw nut, is that a factory hood ornament in your sig? Mine must not have had that option. CD player, A/C, Elec windows and locks, yes. Hood ornament, no. :dammit:

[93CutlassSupreme]

are you suggesting i sell the car? from this point its a waste of my time and money any route i go. o yeah i just remembered this. the other night when i changed the oil(first time doing so on this car) i found that the damn drain plug had stripped threads. fishy eh.

 

well for what it's worth, something fishy must have happened since engines don't just wear enough to spin a bearing at 65k.

 

shit does happen. my parents had a '89 Astro spin a bearing at 12K

[Brian P]

are you suggesting i sell the car? from this point its a waste of my time and money any route i go. o yeah i just remembered this. the other night when i changed the oil(first time doing so on this car) i found that the damn drain plug had stripped threads. fishy eh.

 

well for what it's worth, something fishy must have happened since engines don't just wear enough to spin a bearing at 65k.

 

shit does happen. my parents had a '89 Astro spin a bearing at 12K

 

That sounds like a flaw from the factory. The cap might not have been tightened, too much clearance from bad/incorrect/deformed bearing, something to that effect.

 

If the motor just decides to crap out at 65,000 miles I think any defects from the factory would be weeded out before 30k. It is possible, but there's also a stronger possibility that in its 12 years of existence, someone fucked up an oil change or something to that extent.

[93CutlassSupreme]

are you suggesting i sell the car? from this point its a waste of my time and money any route i go. o yeah i just remembered this. the other night when i changed the oil(first time doing so on this car) i found that the damn drain plug had stripped threads. fishy eh.

 

well for what it's worth, something fishy must have happened since engines don't just wear enough to spin a bearing at 65k.

 

shit does happen. my parents had a '89 Astro spin a bearing at 12K

 

That sounds like a flaw from the factory. The cap might not have been tightened, too much clearance from bad/incorrect/deformed bearing, something to that effect.

 

it was a factory flaw. one UAW worker was responsible for the damage of 200 something engines.