Lifter failure

[darkfader]

Add another one to the list, possibly.

Tuesday evening on my way home, cruising up a hill on the interstate, the truck felt like I was driving on a washboard. I crested the hill and coasted down the other side and took my exit. The truck felt smooth. I just thought the road was messed up until I got to the stop sign and the truck was shaking pretty bad at idle. No CEL’s.

I disconnected the Pulsar LT and started the truck, same rough idle. Go to work the next morning and completely remove the Pulsar and started it up to take it to the dealer, check parking brake, service ESC, and blinking check engine lights appear.

Wednesday evening, dealer calls and says they “think” it needs lifters but wanted their senior technician to look at it for a full diagnosis. Can’t provide a loaner until then. They didn’t call yesterday so I’m without a truck. I’ll be calling this morning as soon as they open to see what the status is.

I wasn’t able to remove my catch can since my factory parts were at home. With my luck the warranty will be denied because of that but I’ll just have to wait and see.

2020 trail boss, 5.3, 57,xxx miles. I bought it certified pre-owned in August 2023. Literally about to make the third payment on it.

 

[Loosedog]

Curious if your manufacturing date and location matches to known “bad” parts batch? I can’t recall but I believe the info is on here in other threads

 

[Matty0560]

Was there ever a recall for the lifter failure on the earlier models? If not, that's bad on Chevrolet for not issuing a recall on the lifters with all the known problems. I feared having to ever deal with it on my 2020 RST 5.3 and now I question if I'll ever have to deal with it on my 2021 LT TrailBoss 6.2.

 

[darkfader]

I can’t recall my mfg date but I’ll update the thread when I can get back to the truck.

I’m unaware of any recalls, but I had heard about a class action lawsuit involving this problem. I haven’t had time to research whatever became of that.

I knew this was a known problem but rolled the dice with a certified pre-owned. My main fear now is a warranty claim denial because of my catch can.

My 2020 6.2 TB was traded in with 42k miles and it ran beautifully for the entire time I had it. I bought this current truck with 49k and it currently is sitting at 57k.

 

[clstark7]

Add another one to the list, possibly.

Tuesday evening on my way home, cruising up a hill on the interstate, the truck felt like I was driving on a washboard. I crested the hill and coasted down the other side and took my exit. The truck felt smooth. I just thought the road was messed up until I got to the stop sign and the truck was shaking pretty bad at idle. No CEL’s.

I disconnected the Pulsar LT and started the truck, same rough idle. Go to work the next morning and completely remove the Pulsar and started it up to take it to the dealer, check parking brake, service ESC, and blinking check engine lights appear.

Wednesday evening, dealer calls and says they “think” it needs lifters but wanted their senior technician to look at it for a full diagnosis. Can’t provide a loaner until then. They didn’t call yesterday so I’m without a truck. I’ll be calling this morning as soon as they open to see what the status is.

I wasn’t able to remove my catch can since my factory parts were at home. With my luck the warranty will be denied because of that but I’ll just have to wait and see.

2020 trail boss, 5.3, 57,xxx miles. I bought it certified pre-owned in August 2023. Literally about to make the third payment on it.

I needed lifters replaced in my truck a couple of years ago, brought it in with a cold air intake and exhaust and they didn't say anything. Warranty was upheld. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty act states that a manufacturer cannot deny warranty coverage unless they can prove that an aftermarket part was the cause of the failure in question. So, be prepared to bring that up if needed.

 

[darkfader]

Thanks clstark7. I’m hoping they don’t try to deny the claim. Unfortunately they still haven’t done a full diagnosis on it, but today they said they “think it’s internal engine problems” lol. Then they offered me a Malibu as a loaner. I doubt I’d even be able to get to my house in a Malibu this time of year. Oh well. This is about to be a huge inconvenience, hopefully it’s not an expensive inconvenience.

Regarding the catch can, I believe GM offered a catch can as an accessory for the Camaro. I have to look into whether there’s any truth to that or not. I was wanting to put one on my Camaro before I put too many miles on it.

 

[darkfader]

A quick google search didn’t bring up any factory catch cans for the 6th gen Camaro. I read that on a forum somewhere so it has to be true. Haha

 

[SilvyakaSylvia]

Add another one to the list, possibly.

Tuesday evening on my way home, cruising up a hill on the interstate, the truck felt like I was driving on a washboard. I crested the hill and coasted down the other side and took my exit. The truck felt smooth. I just thought the road was messed up until I got to the stop sign and the truck was shaking pretty bad at idle. No CEL’s.

I disconnected the Pulsar LT and started the truck, same rough idle. Go to work the next morning and completely remove the Pulsar and started it up to take it to the dealer, check parking brake, service ESC, and blinking check engine lights appear.

Wednesday evening, dealer calls and says they “think” it needs lifters but wanted their senior technician to look at it for a full diagnosis. Can’t provide a loaner until then. They didn’t call yesterday so I’m without a truck. I’ll be calling this morning as soon as they open to see what the status is.

I wasn’t able to remove my catch can since my factory parts were at home. With my luck the warranty will be denied because of that but I’ll just have to wait and see.

2020 trail boss, 5.3, 57,xxx miles. I bought it certified pre-owned in August 2023. Literally about to make the third payment on it.

Mine had those symptoms when it cracked a spark plug at 55 miles brand new

 

[clstark7]

Thanks clstark7. I’m hoping they don’t try to deny the claim. Unfortunately they still haven’t done a full diagnosis on it, but today they said they “think it’s internal engine problems” lol. Then they offered me a Malibu as a loaner. I doubt I’d even be able to get to my house in a Malibu this time of year. Oh well. This is about to be a huge inconvenience, hopefully it’s not an expensive inconvenience.

Regarding the catch can, I believe GM offered a catch can as an accessory for the Camaro. I have to look into whether there’s any truth to that or not. I was wanting to put one on my Camaro before I put too many miles on it.

They might have done that for the ZL1, it seems widely accepted now that a catch-can is a must when the engine has forced air induction. But even higher compression ratio engines like the V8's and the baby Duramax should have them too, in my opinion.

 

[darkfader]

Well, I have an update. I stopped by the dealership to get some stuff out of the truck and ask if there was any news on it and they had it torn down and inspecting the camshaft for damage when I got there. So I was happy about that. The service advisor was super nice, got me an all wheel drive Nissan for a loaner and said she’d call me shortly with the final diagnosis.

Less than 2 hours later she called and said they’d be replacing ALL lifters and the camshaft. Had to order the cam but it should be there in 8 days. Not a word was said about the catch can so I didn’t say a word either.

At this point I’m happy with the service and I must’ve been talking to the wrong people down there because this new service advisor has done more for me in one afternoon than the other guy did in 3 days. Guess I’ll wait and see how this all plays out but I’m feeling a bit relieved at this point.

 

[darkfader]

Another update, the dealership just called and said the truck is ready to be picked up. They had it for a total of 3 weeks and a day so not a terrible wait I guess.

I have questions for them for sure, like how did the bottom end look, what’s the warranty on the repair, do I do a short interval oil change like a break in, etc.

Obviously if the lifters destroyed the cam, I can imagine plenty of debris made its way through the oiling system which has me paranoid as hell now. I wish this hadn’t happened.

 

[Transient]

Was there ever a recall for the lifter failure on the earlier models? If not, that's bad on Chevrolet for not issuing a recall on the lifters with all the known problems. I feared having to ever deal with it on my 2020 RST 5.3 and now I question if I'll ever have to deal with it on my 2021 LT TrailBoss 6.2.

It's not a safety issue, therefore a recall won't be issued. Safety regulators could force one if they believed it was warranted, but they haven't. As indicated in the OP, even though a lifter failed, the engine was still able to operate enough for the driver and occupants to get to a safe location. Definitely a warranty issue. Could be easy to argue that it should be covered later on since it's a known problem. But, it's not a safety issue.

 

[darkfader]

I've put approximately 150 miles on the truck since i got it back. It ran well, and I ran in L9 since I picked it up to prevent the DFM from activating until I could get home and reinstall the Pulsar LT. This morning on the way home from work, the "LOW OIL LEVEL" message appeared in the DIC. I was less than a mile from a gas station so I turned around and stopped there. I pulled the dipstick and it was dry. Then it dawned on me that I didn't check the dipstick when I picked the truck up, like a complete idiot.

I purchased an 18$ quart of oil that was not dexos 1 and added it reluctantly. I was able to see oil on the stick at that point and I went to a autoparts store and bought a new filter and the proper oil figuring I should just get home and do an oil change immediately since I just added a quart of non-dexos oil. The 'LOW OIL LEVEL" warning reappeared twice during the 60 mile commute and I pulled over both times to check the stick and it read in the crosshatched section.

I'm home now with the truck in the garage and it has fully cooled down and the oil level is reading in the crosshatch on the stick.

What the heck should I do now?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Yank the catch can, don't reinstall the Pulsar and take it back Monday? I've got to commute another 63 miles in the morning for work and then a 45 mile trip to my side job Monday morning. I'm a bit frustrated at this point.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance if anyone can give me suggestions on how to proceed.

 

[SilverSilveradoTB]

Thats super unfortunate… I would contact the dealer and take it back in if you can find time to do so.
And have them change the oil and double check the level on the spot.

 

[mrcolieman]

I think you need to differentiate between low oil level and low oil pressure. Low level is absolutely not ideal, but as long as you maintained oil pressure the engine should be ok. That being said, you left the dealership in good faith, with the promise that everything they did was tight and right. Maybe a call to the service manager to advise them if the situation and the choice to send a flat bed tow to pick the truck up or be responsible for any and all repairs required from this new issue. If they want you to drive it in I would change the oil and filter and make sure the level is correct. It may just be a faulty oil level sensor but better to not find out the hard way. Best of luck to you.