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GMC Acadia Engine Problems

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    rayabloorayabloo Member Posts: 3
    And by the way I've always used Mobil One 5w-20. Its one of the best.
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    danas97danas97 Member Posts: 1
    Looks like I am not alone in my situation. I bought an Acadia less than a year ago after having a new baby and needing more room. Kept up to date on maintenance and have taken great care of it. Its been in and out of the shop and is now just sitting at the shop requiring a new engine! It has less than 85,000 miles on it. When they opened the oil pan, it looked like a glitter bomb went off. There were tons of metal flakes. We though maybe Jiffy Lube had done something wrong when changing the oil but it looks like they are in the clear and I am out $5000+ to replace the engine. I don't have the money and I don't know what to do. Looks like I may be calling GM as well. There is something faulty if this is a recurring issue on the same vehicle.

    Any help or suggestions is appreciated.
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    madgmfanmadgmfan Member Posts: 1
    I am a lifelong GM fan and have the same issue, at 59,000. This is my wife's vehicle. 2009 model, bought with 44,000 miles Certified Preowned, owned it less than a year, no issues. Engine failure at 59,000, and the dealer won't help because of sludge buildup. Has anyone on this forum had any assistance from GM on this? I have always been a GM owner - own 2 trucks and an SUV from them now. But if they can't help me with this, they'll loose a long time, loyal customer, when there are hundreds of posts online of known engine and transmission issues.
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    qcihdtmqcihdtm Member Posts: 1
    I've bought my second Acadia (a Denali) in September 2012 after trading in my 2010 SLT at Freeman GMC in Grapevine, Texas.
    I've had a few nuisances with the truck over these few years.
    In the last couple months, it started having some RPMs drop mainly when idling but occasionally when driving too.
    About a month ago, I got a check engine light.
    Truck is a little over 5 years old and about 83500 miles.
    When I purchased it, I also included an extended Warranty with Ethos for 6 years and 90000 miles.
    We moved to Minnesota about 3 years ago so I took it to a GMC dealer close to our new home (McCarthy Auto World in [non-permissible content removed] Rapids, MN) on January 4th. They said they would not be able to start working until the 15th.
    I rented a small sedan for two weeks ($300 from the 4th till the 18th).
    Dealer said that the Timing Chain was faulty and that they would replace it for $2500.
    Since I have the extended warranty, they call them and they agreed to pay. So far, I would only have to pay a $50 deductible.
    On the 17th, they called me and told me that the chain had been replaced but when they took the car out for a test drive, they saw new codes stating that there was some debris in bank 1.
    They asked me for permission to open the engine at a cost of $625 and that they would have to call the warranty again to understand if this new issue would be covered. They said the $625 would be part of the total cost if the warranty did not cover this new fix.
    I had to rent the sedan again, for 1 more week ($170).
    They called me a couple days later stating that the engine had sludge and that the warranty wanted to send an adjustor.
    It took about 4 more days for the adjustor to come.
    The warranty wants me to prove all oil changes because they state that the sludge could only be formed if I did not change the oil for long periods of time.
    I told the warranty that it would be difficult to come up with all oil changes because of my move from TX to MN and because I do not do the oil change every time at the same place.
    I ran around and found most of the recent oil changes from a few places (NTB, Valvoline, Walmart).
    I sent the oil changes I have together with a detailed explanation of the timeline.
    I had to rent the sedan again ($160).
    Warranty was not responding quick enough so I told the dealership to fix the issue and put the engine back together. They told me the cost would be reduced from $2409 to $1580.
    The dealership called me today again saying that the did put the engine back together but that it stopped working during the test drive and had to be towed.
    They said that the best approach at this time would be to replace the engine and that if the warranty did not cover it, I would be responsible for that.

    I do not know what other ways GMC is going to find to pick pocket me.

    I did not only do the oil changes but also presented proof so it is not possible that the sludge happened because of oil changes.
    There is something else wrong with the engine and reading through most posts of this forum, it seems the engine is bad.

    I need to speak with someone at GMC that is willing to make things good for me.

    This is outrageous.

    Do I need to hire a lawyer for GM to put their act together?

    Thanks!

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    thecardoc3thecardoc3 Member Posts: 5,747
    edited February 2018
    qcihdtm said:

    We moved to Minnesota about 3 years ago so I took it to a GMC dealer close to our new home (McCarthy Auto World in [non-permissible content removed] Rapids, MN) on January 4th. They said they would not be able to start working until the 15th.
    I rented a small sedan for two weeks ($300 from the 4th till the 18th).

    I'm not surprised by your story, frankly I often wonder why there aren't a lot more of them documented like this because it does happen way too often. The "blame" for this falls onto a lot of shoulders and that includes people who had nothing better to do with their time than to cut down the repair trade for their own personal gain. I suppose in a lot of cases they really believed they were doing good for the consumer but in reality they had no idea what the end result of their efforts would really be. Your story is spot on as to what price pressure over the last few decades (aka "They want an arm and a leg to xxxxx" ) and personal insults ( calling techs morons etc) was bound to do in regards to techician talent and availability.
    qcihdtm said:


    Dealer said that the Timing Chain was faulty and that they would replace it for $2500.

    The chains on these do fail, in part because they needed to be more robust but mostly due to maintenance concerns.
    qcihdtm said:


    Since I have the extended warranty, they call them and they agreed to pay. So far, I would only have to pay a $50 deductible.
    On the 17th, they called me and told me that the chain had been replaced but when they took the car out for a test drive, they saw new codes stating that there was some debris in bank 1.

    An experienced technician would have identified all of the issues before the first repair. Dealer pay habits especially "warranty flat rate labor times" drive talented technicians not only from their bays but often out of the trade completely. A lot of people have tried to twist that as not being a consumers problem, but there is little doubt this is a problem for you.
    qcihdtm said:


    They asked me for permission to open the engine at a cost of $625 and that they would have to call the warranty again to understand if this new issue would be covered. They said the $625 would be part of the total cost if the warranty did not cover this new fix.
    I had to rent the sedan again, for 1 more week ($170).

    They should have done this on the first go. Fault on the technician but then we get back to the experience and knowledge side of the scale. There is no way for someone to know this without having gone through this experience or without extensive training and experience. That doesn't mean that the tech couldn't have done more investigating before going in but we have to consider that they have likely seen chains fail before on vehicles that were maintained correctly and had no problem doing that repair exactly as originally quoted. This event could easily just be an outlier for them.
    qcihdtm said:


    They called me a couple days later stating that the engine had sludge and that the warranty wanted to send an adjustor.
    It took about 4 more days for the adjustor to come.

    Hate that part and especially how the delay ties up service bay and otherwise interferes with all of the other work that the shop has to be doing on top of the inconvenience for the vehicle owner.
    qcihdtm said:


    The warranty wants me to prove all oil changes because they state that the sludge could only be formed if I did not change the oil for long periods of time.

    That is false. Over extending oil changes is only one possible cause, besides there is one that is far more likely. The vehicle was most likely serviced with engine oils that failed to meet the specifications for your engine. Go back to 2010-2011 and look at how "know-it-alls" decried GM's switch to the dexos1 specification. From the build date you needed to use an oil that was SM GF4 AND GM6094M approved. When dexos became the specification, the 6094M became obsoleted and your car was then supposed to be serviced with a dexos approved product. That alone would have prevented sludge deposits from occurring.
    qcihdtm said:


    I told the warranty that it would be difficult to come up with all oil changes because of my move from TX to MN and because I do not do the oil change every time at the same place.
    I ran around and found most of the recent oil changes from a few places (NTB, Valvoline, Walmart).
    I sent the oil changes I have together with a detailed explanation of the timeline.
    I had to rent the sedan again ($160).

    Valvoline? Walmart? Valvoline in the beginning of dexos requirement refused to get their products approved and claimed that they met the specifications and they did so quite loudly.

    https://www.edmunds.com/car-care/do-i-have-to-use-the-manufacturers-oil.html

    https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/tips-advice/stop-changing-your-oil.html
    qcihdtm said:


    Warranty was not responding quick enough so I told the dealership to fix the issue and put the engine back together. They told me the cost would be reduced from $2409 to $1580.
    The dealership called me today again saying that the did put the engine back together but that it stopped working during the test drive and had to be towed.
    They said that the best approach at this time would be to replace the engine and that if the warranty did not cover it, I would be responsible for that.

    At this point they owe you an engine or the money back for the other repairs. The tech is now working on it for free anyway and will likely be blamed for the whole scenario.
    qcihdtm said:



    I do not know what other ways GMC is going to find to pick pocket me.

    I can't say that GMC is directly to blame, but like all of the manufacturers they have played a role in making sure that the cars were serviced correctly and that talented technicians were doing the work. Just like Walmart played a role in making sure you had a talented technician available to you when the car broke down. The pennies that you saved back then have turned into some pretty big dollars today.
    qcihdtm said:


    I did not only do the oil changes but also presented proof so it is not possible that the sludge happened because of oil changes.
    There is something else wrong with the engine and reading through most posts of this forum, it seems the engine is bad.

    It's not the engine, it's the way it was serviced. There are a lot of people who share in the blame and none of them work in a service bay.

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    dalibor1dalibor1 Member Posts: 1
    Please help!

    Our Acadia is 2007 and it has 176000 miles
    While driving on a freeway "check engine came ON" and after few more miles message on the dash "low oil pressure turn engine off" and beeping noise on dash. Ther wan NO overheat. Oil is changed. Oil is present and leveled as it should   We towed car to our house and mechanic came and check.

    Noticed;
    Some water on oil cap
    Codes it shoves
    P0700  P0106  P0496  P6016  
    P0016  P0011  P0014  P7E8
    P0C43 P0500 

    After few hours Acadia it starts ther in no noise but on dash hp idle moves up and down little bit but we will NOT DRIVE IT. 

    All that came at once PLEASE help us with any infomation. 
    THANK YOU 
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    crprice11crprice11 Member Posts: 1
    We purchased a 2008 GMC Acadia 2 years ago. After dropping 1000 dollars for a transmission repair (we missed the recall deadline by a few thousand miles) and thousands more dollars just in keeping up with the poor gas mileage, we began to hear a knocking noise and We took it to the GMC dealership for an oil change and a diagnostic test and they told us we needed to repair the water pump and timing chains VERY soon to the tune of 3500 dollars. Luckily, we have a fantastic mechanic who is ASCE certified with over 30 years experience who leveled with us and said the 3.6L engine in all GM products has major defects that GM will NOT cover under any warranty or recall. He advised we get rid of the vehicle immediately because we were about to encounter thousands of dollars worth of problems. The gas mileage alone was breaking the bank. We traded it on Saturday for a Honda Accord sedan. I have no regrets. Good riddance. Would advise anyone with a 3.6L engine made by GM to beware. This includes Chevrolet and Buick.
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    blackstallio1blackstallio1 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2011 Acadia SLT that I bought new. I have always replaced the oil (whether it was me or at the shop) with full synthetic oil at or near the UOM reading of 0%.

    The other day, I was pulling out of the park after a nice day with the family and the engine just stalled, no check engine lights, etc. Had it towed to the GMC dealer and a day later, they tell me the engine is seized, need a new engine which will cost $10k. They did not determine the cause of the failure, telling me it will cost extra to determine this, and don't recommend this option.

    This news was obviously a tough pill to swallow seeing as it only has a little over 100k miles on the engine and was expecting to drive it for several more years without an auto payment! To get the news that it's completely dead was shocking! I've always been willing to "deal with the headaches" that this truck has given me, which, have been numerous from the water pump and power steering pumps failing early on, the AC needing repair and multiple other flaws.

    I've always read through the online forums through the years and have seen this truck has had a lot of problems, including the engine. But when I asked GMC regarding whether any of those problems could have caused this catastrophic failure, they had no answer.

    Does anyone have a similar experience with a failed engine with fairly low mileage?

    I'm obviously not going to pay $10k to replace the engine on this truck, but what are my options now? Fight GM to get it fixed (probably a losing battle)? Try and trade it in for peanuts and move on?
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    mrsmaquedamrsmaqueda Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2007 Acadia alt-2 and I bought it from a dealer for 4,305 cash and had it for 1week 2 day and broke down they told me it was the timing chain broke called the dealer he told me that he didn’t care and it was my problem now I have talked to a couple of mechanics they told me it would cost me 7,800 dollars to fix I am a single mother of 3 kids does anyone have any advice for me please help I have tried to talk to a laywer now one will help because it’s not a newer car
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    Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    This is really a civil matter at this point. Most used cars are sold "AS IS" unless the dealer made some other promises. You might consider Small Claims Court but I can't say if you have any case.

    If you trust the mechanics' diagnosis, then given the age of the vehicle, it seems like you should just cut your losses and move on.

    $4,300 is pretty cheap for a 2007 Acadia--almost half the normal price, so I'm wondering what condition it was in to begin with.
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    supersadownersupersadowner Member Posts: 3
    I am the sad owner of a 2012 G.M.C Acadia , whos engine died at the ripe young age of 60,000 miles, while travelling, with my wife and two young kids on route 10 from Florida to California in hope of starting a new career. G.M.C gave 3000 dollar/ credit towards a new motor problem was greedy dealership installed the motor without using any new gaskets... seriously for a measly saving of a few dollars and a few hours labor this dealership decided to treat my vehicle and my family like this, all the leaks were documented by another G.M.C
    dealership The last repairing dealership contacted the dealership who installed the motor and was treated rudely as I was , They were informed of the mistakes that were made but simply didn't care., I live in a different state and I feel that the dealer wanted to make a quick buck, did a subpar repair, and couldn't care less about there reputation or how badly it reflects on G.M.C. Any novice knows that what came out of the car has to go back in
    if a part needs a new gasket please put one in, even with the contribution of 3,000 from G.M.C Im still out around
    around 8.000 dollars and now an additional 600 dollars to fix an oil leak caused by a six dollar gasket that was reused when motor was installed in the car. When a motor is swapped the new remanufactured motor comes without all the pieces attached , brackets, manifolds , and the parts are supposed to be inspected, gaskets replaced
    and the parts re installed correctly this was not done, and verified by another dealer This is really disturbing in two ways what was the level of competency of the tech that worked on the car, and what are the core values of G.M.C and or the Dealer in Ft. Stockton Texas who thinks this is the way to treat customers. As a Side note flying to Texas to pick up the vehicle and drive it back to California, I sat next to a very nice person who happened to be an executive for Toyota,( She gently teased me for buying a G.M. product ) who was going to Texas with the purpose of expanding their business there,. If G.M.C keeps treating their customers like this Toyota wont have a hard time, expanding their business. There was a case opened # 9-5075352781
    everything said in this article is documented by receipts and photos , I am thinking about starting a video blog on you tube , containing the good and bad, it will be painfully truthful about the experience I have had, and may be of benefit to someone out there deciding which new vehicle to buy, or where to get your car serviced
    feel free to post an email on this site and I will send you all the photos and particulars, so Mr.or Mrs consumer can decide for themselves. In the meantime I hope nothing else breaks on this car

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    Mjgruber7Mjgruber7 Member Posts: 1
    Help, while driving my 2012 GMC Acadia, my door locks engaged then disengaged and the engine revved to about 6000rpm and loss of power. (Seems like trans is slipping into neutral dispite the gear selector remaining in Drive) this occurred 3 time in 10 minutes at highway speeds.  We hit the one-star button to run diagnostics remotely.  No faults where found but rather scary situation.  Any ideas?
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    YocomohoyoYocomohoyo Member Posts: 1
    2012 GMC, wouldn't start. Was just parked overnight. Mechanic stuck a scope in one of the cylinders and he said it looks like the valve exploded. I've been using Bg since I got this vehicle, and they said this engine is famous for that, and they won't do anything. Now I see this thread and see how many people have been having the same issues. Did GM ever admit this was a horrible engine? I'm a single mother with 3 kids. I can't afford $8000 to replace an engine. Is there a class action against GM. I bought this vehicle, thinking it was going to last me forever. I already had to replace fuel injectors and it cost me $3000. Please help!
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