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Chevrolet Avalanche Engine Problems

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Comments

  • gtrottier109gtrottier109 Member Posts: 5
    Hi there Wheel61.

    Your experience comes in handy in this case. While I understand your points, I am hoping that they will cover it even if I cannot produce all the receipts. After all, the truck was brand new when I bought it (56K sticker price) and has only 26K miles over 3.5 years... warranty is 5 years/100k miles on the powertrain. If I had been at the 70-80 K mark with it and could not reproduce all receipts, I would understand. but at 26K, I shouldn't have to when it is tracked. You are right that OnStar doesn't prove anything though but at 56K $, I am not someone who will cheap out on an oil change. I thought this truck would last me at least 10 years... guess I was wrong.

    :cry:
  • gmcustsvcgmcustsvc Member Posts: 4,252
    Great to hear from you! if you should ever wish to speak with customer service, GM of Canada can be reached at 800-263-3777 (Hours: M-F 7:30am - 11:30pm, Sat 7:30am - 6:00 EST). Unfortunately, my social media counterparts and I are only able to work with US customers at this point. Hopefully all turns out well in this situation!
    Sarah, GM Customer Service
  • gtrottier109gtrottier109 Member Posts: 5
    edited March 2013
    Hi there Wheel61.

    This is what's happening now. My engine is in pieces at the dealership. I went at the garage and asked to see the engine on the table... Sure enough, cam shaft has a gouge in it, lifter is scratched. the service tech told me they will change the camshaft, and all lifters. He also mentioned they come in a kit, this is why they change them all. Might as well, engine is in pieces...

    plugs seemed fine. No oil accumulation whatsoever on them

    I was surprised, but they rented me a car. They had no loaner on the lot, so GM pays for the rental. Everything under warranty. Can't ask for more I guess. They rented me a Cruze... pretty good little car. I want my wife to try it but after the engine problem on my Av, she says no Chevy for her...

    Should have it back tomorrow or Friday and will let you guys know how it feels after.
  • gtrottier109gtrottier109 Member Posts: 5
    Got my truck back on Friday.

    Engine running smoothly, seems more powerful a bit, but it might just the fact that I was in a Cruze all week.... :P

    Had the dealer show me the invoice... 3200+ $$$

    Powertrain warranty covered it all... cannot be more pleased with the service I had at the dealer. Surprisingly enough, I had not bought the truck at that dealership, so I thought it could be a problem, but not at all.

    Hopefully, the fix will last for good.
  • bopper425bopper425 Member Posts: 1
    JUST BOUGHT THIS TRUCK WITH JUST 2,500 MILES ON IT. NOW I KNOW WHY. WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF BUYING IT, IT WAS IN SHOP FOR 4 DAYS GETTING LIFTERS REPLACED BECAUSE I HEARD ENGINE TAPPING. GM DEALER SAYS THERE IS A BULLENTIN OUT ABOUT THIS ISSUE. SO I GOT TRUCK BACK AND ITS STILL MAKING TAPPING NOISE.DEALER SAYS ITS "NORMAL". YEAH RIGHT. SO I TOOK IT TO THREE OTHER CHEVY DEALERS AND GUESS WHAT,THEY ARE ALL SAYING ITS NORMAL. I HAVE BEEN AROUND ALOT OF VEHICLES IN MY LIFE TO KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT NORMAL. I THINK THAT ANYONE WHO WORKS FOR GM KNOWS HOW BIG OF AN ISSUE THIS IS WITH THE 5.3 ENGINES THAT THEY ARE ALL HUSH HUSH ABOUT IT. SO NOW AM STUCK WITH A 40000 DOLLAR PIECE OF CRAP. CHEVYS IS ALL THAT I HAVE BOUGHT IN MY LIFE.THIS WILL BE MY LAST.
  • gmcustsvcgmcustsvc Member Posts: 4,252
    bopper425,
    Have you already been in contact with Customer Assistance about these issues? If we can check into anything further, please don't hesitate to email us at socialmedia@gm.com (include your name and contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN and mileage, and a summary of the situation).
    Sarah, GM Customer Service
  • renegade837renegade837 Member Posts: 1
    Send me an email to coveyjs@gmail.com; there are a couple of things that happened to mine. First off, check for something lose in the bumper. This may sound odd, but with all the weight of the cladding if there's something lose it's going to make a squeaking noise that will seem to change with the pitch of the engine due to vibration. Easy way to test is to park it, open the hood, stand on a chair, lean on the front upper cross member and push it hard repeatedly. If you hear the squeak, then it's in the bumper assembly.

    The second issue is a lot worse. I was told that Chevy had a major problem with soft cams. The noises started @ 150-160,000 and by 200,000 it was throwing error codes for misfires. The solution there was to replace the engine with one that had @ 80,000 on it. Expensive, but much cheaper than a new Avalanche.
  • toploader9toploader9 Member Posts: 2
    My dad bought a 2003 Avalanche that had 111,749. It has been in the shop for the cluster and other things. The vehicle has about 115000km and has no oil pressure. The dealership indicates that it is a rod bearing and the engine needs to be replaced. I understand that the oil was changed at the dealership when it was bought (july 2012). The oil was also changed by the dealership in december to a semi synthetic. So what gives.
  • toploader9toploader9 Member Posts: 2
  • buffalobill56buffalobill56 Member Posts: 1
    i have a 2011 avalanche with 21,000 miles on and engine is making ticking sounds from passenger side front wheel well area. First trip to dealer month ago said had to make an appointment for couple weeks out , they believed it was a valve spring at that time. followed up with appt. dealer had for three days, follow up calls to dealer think could now be lifter problem may require tear down to find problem. 2days later i got a call to come pick up the truck, im thinking its fixed, find out they did absolutely nothing but run tests that gm required them to do. Guess what cant find anything wrong?, but engine still making noise some times louder than others. They dont denie engine is making noise but nothing shows up on tests.So i guess NOISE is not a proper test?. They asked me to take truckback and drive it, and see if noise gets any worse. The service manager said there were no recalls or bulletins on this problem, but some of the writeups here indicate there is a bulletin on this very issue. Does anyone out there know what the bulletin number is?
  • jack2330jack2330 Member Posts: 2
    I just had a problem with my 2010 Av, stopped in front of a GM dealer. It was missing and running rough. Dealer has had it for 5 days now and they determined today that #6 cyl lifter was bad and ruined the camshaft as well.
    Is this common for the 5.3 engine? I have never had any problems with GM until this happened. I experienced some ticking noise during start up when the veh sit over night. It would stop pretty quick so I didnt think any thing about it. Guess I better pay better attention. Hopefully I will get veh back tomorrow.
  • jack2330jack2330 Member Posts: 2
    My 2010 Av developed a small crack just over the speedometer and progressively got worse. It is now cracked from the window to the speedometer hood. I wrote GM a letter (sent pictures), they contacted me and told me that they would replace the dash but it would cost me $200 because it was out of warranty.... Apparently they have had other issues with the same type of problem. One person at GM said they used the wrong materials in the dash for southern states where it is hotter. I'm in south Texas, its hot here in the summer.
  • gmcustsvcgmcustsvc Member Posts: 4,252
    Hey jack2330,

    Please let us know if there's anything we can help with during this process. Please keep us posted if you receive your vehicle tomorrow.

    Amber N.
    GM Customer Care
  • tonybeth103tonybeth103 Member Posts: 1
    Funny I just got off the phone and GM customer service told me that this is expected in hotter climates. I have a friend who has a silverado and he has the same issue.
    This is my second dash. GM told me that they were willing to take off $200.00 for the $850.00 repair. I am going to be contacting BBB because there are so many issues and the company knows about them. I have never had a car or truck do this before. The Rep told me I should have protected the dashboard better.PATHETIC !!

    Tony
  • gmcustsvcgmcustsvc Member Posts: 4,252
    Hi tonybeth,

    I'm sorry that your case wasn't resolved to your satisfaction. If you would like for me to take a second look and see if anything else can be done please let me know. I can be contacted by email at socialmedia@gm.com [attn Amber].

    Thank you

    Amber N.
    GM Customer Care
  • mikefo123mikefo123 Member Posts: 1
    Buffalobill, I just had the same problem with my 2011 avalanche with 24000 miles on it. Had the clicking noise and brought it to my dealership. They took the car and replaced all of the lifters. Seems to be running smoothly now. I don't know if they ran any tests, but as soon as the guy heard the noise, he told me it was most likely the lifters.
  • jimk62jimk62 Member Posts: 1
    68,000 Miles and already had to replace the Transmission at 48,000 miles. Had noticed for the last couple of oil changes that the engine was using oil. Had to add a quart 2-3 times before changes. Then one day....Check engine light came on, then the dash text read "Check Stabiltrak" and Check Traction Control", switching back and forth between these two warning messages. At the same time, the engine began skipping & felt like it was not running on all eight cylinders. And I could feel the upshift and downshift of the transmission while driving at all speeds. I assume the Stabilitrak & Traction Control msgs were just the computer spiking due to the engine failure. I took it to my local mechanic and he told me that there was a known factory defect in the cam shaft of this engine that caused damage to the valves and that the failure was well recognized and documented among auto mechanics

    Spoke to the local dealership, and they said that there was a common problem/defect with the engine rings (so not only the cam shaft, but also the rings). They contacted GM to ask if any "assistance" was available. Since my Avalanche has only 68,000 miles, they said they would "participate" in the fix; however, since it is out-of-date warranty, it would still cost me $2700.00. Indeed, not much because my mechanic wanted only $2500 to do the same thing without any "Assistance" from GM!!!! What a crock!!

    Engine & Transmission Failure under 68,000 miles.......What a LEMON!!!!
  • mcogs1mcogs1 Member Posts: 2

    Just happened to me too with my 2007 'Lanche. Just recently I had the CES light flash and stay on. Stabiltrack, Traction Control errors, and of coarse the engine missing. LOUD ticking noise on the left side near #1 cylinder. This is the same problem that everyone is mentioning with the 5.3L engines with AFM. Sometimes it will clear up and run normally, but will always come back after a restart.
    Now here is the kicker! I just turned over 100,000 miles. Like literally 100,016 today. I called the dealer and mentioned all the symptoms and they told me that GM will not cover anything if it is even 1 mile over 100k.
    I have been a loyal GM customer ever since I could drive. My parents always owned Chevys and Pontiacs and I followed too. Even in January we just got my wife an Equinox.

    It really seems unreal that a $45,000 vehicle would need this much repair at 100k miles.

    Either way, I have to get it fixed, we cannot afford 2 vehicle payments. Tomorrow I will make an appt with the dealer to see what they say. I'd hate to say it, but if I don't get any support from GM, I cannot support them anymore.

  • mcogs1mcogs1 Member Posts: 2
    Now it has been a few days and for the past 2, the problem is gone. This doesn't make sense that it is some oil shield in the oil pan, or the lifters, or the valve cover. If a lifter is sticking, then shouldn't it always be stickingThis looks like an electric problem. Something is actuating the AFM solenoid(s). I need to get a tech 2 tool to try to diagnose this when it is happening.
  • bpretzelsbpretzels Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2010 Avalanche and loved it until @ 81,000 the transmission went (new one needed) then 200 miles later the lifter and camshaft went.... so lets recap at 81K and out of the 5 year part of the warranty it needed a new transmission and new engine... doesn't seem like i'm the only one to experience this. does anyone know if GM is acknowledging any responsibility for this... i bought the "certified Pre-Owned" truck with 41K on it added 40K of highway miles, changed oil every 4K and this... very disturbing!!!!!
  • b4dcompanyb4dcompany Member Posts: 2
    Mcogs1 my AV is doing the exact same thing. It's like 91k on the odometer, and a little over 1k hours on the motor on an 07. But the stabil track and the traction control goes off at the same time. So when we got it me and my dad checked the plugs on the driver side three of the four plugs were chewed up and covered in oil. So we replaced them and it ran great. We run royal purple in it. And about two weeks ago now the stupid thing starts doing a one two punch in the shifting and the two different stability errors go off. And it misses and shakes in neutral. But after second it's fine.
  • b4dcompanyb4dcompany Member Posts: 2
    But see when we changed the plugs the first time it stoped doing it sll
  • billym517billym517 Member Posts: 1
    I had a 2013 black diamond avalanche. I got a call from on star and they told me I had a major issue with my engine. I took it to my llocal mechanic and he told me that these engines had a problem and to get rid of it before the warranty ran out( 5k away). I took it to the dealer anyway and he told me that it was an aftermarket oil filter causing the codes that were coming up. I wanted to believe him and got the oil changed, But was still hearing knocking. I bought myself a code reader in the code still came up but the light wasn’t on any more. The codes came up on plugs 6+8. I had the plugs changed and all the fluids but these codes still came up by then I was past my warranty. Long story short They know what was going on and didn’t fix it I traded it in and Got a 2017 GMC Sierra.  Hopefully I will not have the same problem . 
  • NC_CarGuyNC_CarGuy Member Posts: 1
    2010 Avalanche 5.3 engine needs to be placed after 70,000 miles.  I wish I knew this before spending $50,000 on this truck.  It is now a very expensive door stop.  I contacted my dealer and Corporate.  They can't do anything.  So much for the 100,000 Mile drive train warranty.  I can't believe GM won't stand behind their products. I would advise anyone interested in buying a new truck to avoid a GM product.  This was the advice given to me by Chevy's own service department.  They've had to listen to dozens of clients with this same issue.  
    I own 5 GM products, including a 2013 Corvette.  I am now planning to sell all GM products.  It's unfortunate brcause I was planning to buy the 2020 Corvette.  I guess I will need to look at a Ford Truck and .Porsche.
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