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2013 Blown head gasket and drama with dealership


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So here's my nightmare : bought a 2013 spark with 40k on the odemeter. Love my car and the gas mileage. Took it in for 3 recalls around 58k. These were for excessive oil consumption (14110), air conditioner (13434), and software (13128).

About 4 months ago I was on my home from vacation in San Francisco. My father has been worked on the automotive industry for 28 yrs. and has taught me always to check coolant and oil levels as well as tire pressure and brakes prior to any road trip, which I did all of the above. I was on the freeway when suddenly my car made a popping noise under the hood and a ton of white smoke.appeared. I pulled over popped the hood and noticed the cap to my coolant overflow tank was gone and coolant was everywhere. This was about 1230 pm on a Friday, I called the dealer Stewart Chevrolet and arranged for a tow which took forever. My friend and I both 21 females on the side of the road for 4 hrs. Arrived at the dealership at 430pm it's Friday remember. They won't look at the car til Monday so we are stuck with no ride til Monday I had to work sat sun and mon. Monday they phoned told me the problem was a faulty hose clamp at the water pump housing. They advised that the part was a $2 item however the bill would be close to $500 with diagnostics , overflow tank lid, and the labor (2.5 hrs) to "remove an access plate from the engine and change the clamp". We went down at checkout time and sat and waited all day car was in the back they wouldn't let me see it.

We paid the bill drove off and in under 2 hrs the check engine light came on. Pulled over coolant tank was empty engine was hot. We found a ride to buy coolant. Manual said use dexcool guy at auto parts said dexcool is destroying motors not to use it but I bought it anyways got back to the car now somewhat cooled off opened the new cap on the empty coolant tank and suddenly the coolant came back to the tank and the level read full. Not knowing what to do now we drove again same thing happened only this time when coolant returned the level had dropped so we added coolant. We made it home and have been adding coolant periodically.

Couple weeks ago the car stalled it would not start for 4 days. My dad came into town to help me he checked for spark, fuel, compression etc. he noticed the coolant looked very rusty he drained it and replaced it with dexcool. He changed the oil again ( he does every 5k miles for me using something he calls Dexos 1 it's a valvoline semi synthetic oil that he puts. He stated the oil in the pan looked fine but showed me the oil around the cap and inside where the cap tightens and it was very thick and dark. He said oil sludge problem. He also noticed that the $500 hose clamp job was easily accessible from under the hood and could be replaced in less than 5 mins. He showed me that the dealer in SF even left the old clamp on the hose and put the new clamp on in a position that wasn't even clamping the hose to anything it was just on the hose itself. My dad left it that way on purpose. He got the car the start and we took it to the dealer Giamt Chevrolet in Visalia ca .

Giant Chevrolet was explained to that we found oil sludge evidence and that the oil cap in slightly warped now from heat. Told them the oil was just changed and had been regularly. Giant says the head gasket in blown and they want me to sign an $1800 tear down authorization to be responsible for that amount should my warranty not cover the repair. This is crazy! I was ripped off at Stewart Chevy and my dad believes that when the cap blew off of the tank is likely when the head gasket blew. They did a diagnostic why wasn't I told anything ? Obviously the problem wasn't fixed as I had to pull over for the cooling issues right after they supposedly fixed my car.

Giant has had the car for several days I don't have $1800 and now no car. I am a nursing student just graduated top of my class and I am interning . I need my car I'm still making payments on to run . I also bought an aftermarket warranty that covers engine failure. Giant acts as though they want to blame the head gasket on the car being poorly maintained which it has not been. They commented to me " Jesus when did you last change the oil it's very thick". Apparently they were not even paying attention to my dad who informed them of this issue and stated the oil had just been changed and what drained from the pan looked okay it wa just up top it was that way. Help please any advice would be greatly appreciated .

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One thing i would say is I didn't hear mention of air being purged from the cooling system . Whatever the cause of coolant loss the system needs to be purged and it's not always easy to do and can be time consuming . Any air left in can cause the motor to overheat.

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The dealership knew that the cap exploded off of the coolant tank shouldn't they know to remove air with a coolant transfer system or something. They didn't even check the coolants condition because we found it to be completely looking like it was contaminated by rust. A couple things I forgot to mention also: right after the dealership in SF I found the inlet hose to the coolant tank was leaking and I put a new clamp on it myself. Also my dad, after getting the car to start after its 4 days in a coma, noticed that when opening the oil filler cap with the engine on there is a ton of compression he says way to much as it blew oil droplets out at a high pressure. He didn't check the compression but said I

He could tell from the amount of air pushing out that it was higher than it should be.

There is a post on this site with a lot of the same symptoms but the owner said they replace his coolant expansion tank and he's problems appear to be resolved . I have a blown head gasket so air in my cooling system would be the least of my problems wouldn't it ? My biggest issue at this point is authorizing the $1800 for the engine tear down. The dealer needs this to tear down the motor to determine cause of failure but like I stated last above it seems by the con

Moments made that are trying to accuse me of poorly maintaining the car. With the luck I have the warranty won't cover my repair and I'll have to come up with $1800 and tow my car away in pieces with the engine apart

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Update to your question about air in the cooling system.. Talked to my dad who recently replaced the coolant and he said he thoroughly " burped" the system . It took him over an hour to get all the trapped air bubbles to surface but he is confident there was no trapped air when he replaced coolant. He has his doubts about Stewart Chevrolet bleeding the cooling system though.

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Contact Chevy Customer Care located here on the forum http://chevysparkforum.com/user/829-chevrolet-customer-care/ They can be very helpful. If you were the original owner your power train warranty would cover the head gasket. If it was a certified purchase, I believe that would also be covered. You mention that you have a warranty, the question is, what does it cover? The girls at the Customer Care Center will contact the dealership, get the needed information, and give you the guidance you need, just click the above link, and send them a pm, explaining your problem. Let the group know how you make out. Good Luck!

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Very sorry to hear about this with a young person being taken for a ride by the dealer trying to extort $1,800 for something clearly covered by the 100Kmi/5yr warranty!

OK..first off you are lucky to have a dad who knows his stuff..he said to you "noticed that when opening the oil filler cap with the engine on there is a ton of compression". Everything else he found and all symptoms especially the pressure under the oil fill cap indicate a blown head gasket..maybe not blown all the way but certainly enough it is leaking exhaust gasses into the engine low end where all the oil is kept (crankshaft area) and thus causing that issue. The coolant tank is also being fed exhaust gasses..thus exploding the cap right off...I'm not going to get all technical with you, but just wanted to let you know I have lots of experience with engines of all kinds and the blown gasket is the bottom line. Dealer claims oil is thick and thinks you did not change it on time etc..YA..oil, specially at the filler cap and dipstick is thick because of coolant going into it. Your dad found the oil OK at the lower drain end because the coolant evaporates upward causing the sludge at dipstick and cap. Any good mechanic should have realized that.

As Walt said "Contact Chevy Customer Care", they have helped many of our members resolve various issues with the dealer & you have a warranty and extended warrant and this should cost you absolutely nothing....If possible try and get your dad involved because with 28 yrs under his belt he can probably talk tech circles around these guys...so don't worry too much about the $1,800 since I am certain that one way or another it will be resolved with probably a rental thrown in if you get the Chevy Customer Care people involved since dealers don't like to get bad points from GM as it will affect their bottom line and reputation.

***Just re-read your post and since your dad does the oil change with the correct oil, well, that solves the oil too old issue. Also read your dad said the coolant looked rusty..that could be contamination from the gas blowby in the coolant from the blown head gasket (I have seen that before). Also "$500 with diagnostics" for a water pump hose clamp..way over the top, so you may want to cancel what I assume is a credit card charge and talk to GM customer care about that at the same time. Maybe a cheap 24/7 roadside assistance program..some cell phone providers offer it for $4 a month or AAA might be worth the money..even for a flat or anything..so that way you will not need to depend on a 4 hr wait from a dealer who may be closed at time of calling leaving you stranded or overcharged for a tow...

Let us know how things turn out....K?

Edited by Retired old Gearhead
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Just to add, the Dexcool that GM uses is orange. So that may be the rusty color you are talking about. I also agree about the blown head gasket. The sludge under the oil cap is not an uncommon problem. It could be just condensation built up or it could point to more serious issues. Here is a link that explains it more. But i do agree that it does sound like a blown head gasket.

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/milky-stuff-under-oil-cap.htm

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Just to add, the Dexcool that GM uses is orange. So that may be the rusty color you are talking about. I also agree about the blown head gasket. The sludge under the oil cap is not an uncommon problem. It could be just condensation built up or it could point to more serious issues. Here is a link that explains it more. But i do agree that it does sound like a blown head gasket.

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/milky-stuff-under-oil-cap.htm

Her experienced mechanic dad said rusty color which is exactly the color of Dex-Cool subjected to combustion gasses..seen that before..sadly on one of my previous GM cars...Nice link though..good for all to read that..

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While it seems a no brainer that this should be covered by warranty , it's not always the case . I think GM will come through for you but there's plenty of loopholes in powertrain warranties . Not speaking specifically about the GM warranty since I haven't read it but many manufacturers void that warranty in any cause outside of interval defect . For example , a hose , a clamp , thermostat , belt ect ect . That's how one well known manufacturer gets out of their super long powertrain warranty . You made need to escalate your claim with someone higher up , but I think you might be ok due to your proof .

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Blown head gasket is most definitely a warranty item if the car was maintained properly..car cannot be over revved due to limiters..so that cannot be an argument..sounds like more of a partial head gasket leak rather that a full blown head and that usually indicated a defective gasket or improper head bolt torque or bolt 'stretch' on one or more head bolts.

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The problem is the root cause if it is in fact a head gasket and not something else as there are other things that can mimic that . Coolant loss from a bad clamp can cause a head gasket to deform from heat . There could also be an issue with the radiator itself causing the problem . If anything is getting into the exhaust , then you probably have a catalytic converter damaged as well as a possible head gasket . There's a lot of possibilities going on here along with possible collateral damage . I think I would punt the car after this ordeal is over . Dexcool doesn't like air being introduced to the cooling system as it creates sludge . Hopefully they diagnose the problem correctly and don't just start swapping parts as this can get expensive fast if for some reason they weasel out of the warranty .

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The problem is the root cause if it is in fact a head gasket and not something else as there are other things that can mimic that . Coolant loss from a bad clamp can cause a head gasket to deform from heat . There could also be an issue with the radiator itself causing the problem . If anything is getting into the exhaust , then you probably have a catalytic converter damaged as well as a possible head gasket . There's a lot of possibilities going on here along with possible collateral damage . I think I would punt the car after this ordeal is over . Dexcool doesn't like air being introduced to the cooling system as it creates sludge . Hopefully they diagnose the problem correctly and don't just start swapping parts as this can get expensive fast if for some reason they weasel out of the warranty .

Correct on all points shows you know your stuff. Process of elimination should solve this issue..if it is a head gasket..certainly not fully blown otherwise she would not have been able to drive very far without a total overheat.

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Hi everyone first and foremost I wish to thank you kindly for taking the time to review and offer advise on my situation, it is greatly appreciated. In case your wondering why I'm posting at 430am it's because I have to be at work in an hour from now so I woke at 4am. I have already picked my car up from the dealership due to not having $1800 to be able to authorize the teardown of my engine for the purpose of determining cause of the blown head gasket and whether warranty would cover the repair or not. My work order says "customer states the engine is overheating and the fans are not coming on, inspect and advise. No message or temp light on dash to indicate overheating. Customer is adding coolant to the vehicle every day. Inspect and advise. Recommend teardown for further inspection , Customer declined. Estimate $1800. Once torn down GM may authorize repairs. Customer declined."

In response to that: I had mentioned that I hadn't noticed the fans on during the times when the coolant tank is empty but fills back up once I open the cap on the expansion tank. I never stated that I had of been adding coolant to the vehicle daily. We did state however that the oil was sludging up top and that the oil filler cap had been warped from the heat but they didn't mention that. I also love how they say "customer declined",as if I'm declining to have my car repaired by them under warranty. I was bullied into declining authorization for further inspection due to the fact that I do not have $1800. They will not do anything without further inspection which in reality is them inspecting with hopes to fault me somehow for the head gasket failure. They already made a comment to me about not changing the oil often due to the looks of how thick it was under the cap. When my dad heard of this he immediately went there in person to remind them that he told two people that the oil had just been changed last week and it was only thick up top what was in the pan looked good. My father also advised them of a few reputable shops that he spent years working at and informed them that he personally had performed the majority of the oil changes other than Walmart one time and auto oil changers couple times my father also advised them that the code 82 light was always on despite the oil changes because nobody turned it off (dad told me every time to jump online and see what the procedure was for turning off the light but I never did) but the oil was changed at 5000 mile intervals.

I cannot take the chance of having a lien put against my car. I do not have $1800 in the event GM doesn't pat. If I did I wouldn't spend it on just the teardown of my motor. I would use it to do the actual repair somewhere rather than having to spend it on a tear down only and than pick up my car in pieces.

My work order also states "verified cooling fan operation with scanner ok all, all speeds working, checked for external coolant leaks, none found. perform combustion leak test found hydrocarbons entering coolant system indicating blown head gasket." My dad already knew the head gasket was blown. The problem I am faced with is that we only have a few receipts for oil changes because my dad did them therefore proving good maintenance is difficult especially when they're already acting stupid however my dad feels that if they try to claim that the parts were not properly lubricated in the motor the argument would stand that the car has been recalled for excessive oil consumption due to a fault of General Motors so that would explain any lack of lubrication furthermore if they try to blame the blown head gasket on a clamp or a hose, which is what caused me to overheat according to Chevy dealership in San Francisco but also after diagnosing my vehicle they claimed everything was fine so that hose clamp couldn't of been the cause according to them but in reality they failed to notice the inlet hose to the coolant overflow tank was leaking at the clamp I discovered this an hour and a half after leaving the dealership and furthermore the clamp that they installed for $500 was position to far back on the hose so that it wasn't clamping the hose do anything it was simply tightened on to the hose only. My dad couldn't believe when he saw this they charge $500 and couldn't even do the job right. They did not even remove the old clamp from the hose they left it on there. So they should have noticed the head gasket when I was there because I feel it blew when the cap exploded from the coolant tank

This $1800 is GM's way of bullying me to not have repairs done under warranty but rather to take my car elsewhere and just pay for it. Shame on General Motors for treating me this way I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here and by the way the coolant was not the normal dex-cool orange but rather contaminated rusty looking dirty coolant. The situation is garbage. I know my dad Took proper care of my car for me. He drives an 06 Chrysler 300 with 170,000 miles on it. If you drove his car without seeing the odometer you would believe it was in its first 10,000 miles of life. His car literally is in perfect condition it does not miss even slightly, His motor is so clean you could eat off it he treats all his vehicles this way. Top-of-the-line fluids always. He change his timing belts serpentine belts spark plugs oil pumps water pumps tire rod ends ball joints all before they are needed to prevent break downs. This car of mine has a lot of issues and I paid for an extended warranty through a third-party warranty company for engine failure as well.

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First I'm sorry to hear you're going through this, however I had my own issues with GM so I'm not surprised.

If you have a warranty with a 3rd party company, I would make a claim with them if the dealership is playing games.

Be aware that GM will discount your father's experience by saying how their "technicians" are factory trained and have this certification and that certification, while your father wasn't and doesn't.

I know this because that is what they did to me.

Talk to the reps on the board, and if they can't help you out, call the GM hotline in the owner's manual.

Demand that they bring in a factory trained "specialist" to look at the car, and go from there.

Just remember that you should never take no for an answer - always push for a higher up.

If all else fails, contact your state's attorney general's office - do NOT let them push you into a better business bureau hearing.

Good luck, hope it all works out for you.

Edited by Gossamer
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I feel badly for you and it sounds like you are a hard working gal without much free time to deal with this horrible service. As 'Gossamer' & others have said..PM the Chevy reps who regularly post and monitor this board. Step two, if that does not work out call the 1-800 # at the back of your manual..make sure you mention everything including the leaking coolant reservoir at the intake clamp. When the gasket blew a lot of pressure built up in the coolant tank from the gasses since the Spark has no radiator cap to release the pressure..this is now done by the cap on the reservoir that blew right off because it couldn't release the pressure fast enough and the weakest point on the tank is a little square indentation under the clamp where it is now leaking...see if your dad can do some of the talking for you as he knows his stuff...this issue HAS to be fixed under your warranty and I find the $500 for the badly placed clamp a total rip off that should also be mentioned...I wish you the best of luck..but you really need to take this to GM customer care ASAP....K?

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Take it up with gm customer service, if you have less than 100k miles on the car, all of it should be covered under warranty, regardless of you being the first owner of the car, and they should also offer you a rental car for the time they have your car in the shop.

Have your father drop the car off and also get a hold of someome in the 1800 number as they should not have billed you for the previous work.

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  • 1 year later...

WELL IT SEEMS THAT I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS SO MANY OTHERS ON THIS FORUM. OIL CONSUMPTION OIL LIGHT NEVER CAME ON EVEN AFTER BEING 3 QUARTS LOW, LEAKING OIL OUT ALL OVER, CAR HAS BEEN AT DEALERSHIP OVER 10 DAYS THEY DID PROVIDE LOANER VEHICLE THANKS SO MUCH,  BUT THEY NEED TO REPLACE SEVERAL GASKETS, ASKED WHY WARNING LIGHT NEVER CAME ON THEY COULD NOT EXPLAIN IT, I SAID MY PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE COMMON WITH THIS YEAR AND MODEL AND THEY REALLY DIDNT HAVE MUCH TO SAY.  I ASKED ALOT OF QUESTIONS: ASKED IF ENGINE HAD A PROBLEM WITH #4 CYLINDER SAID THEY DIDNT KNOW IASKED IF THEY COULD CHECK THEY SAID YES.  ASKED ABOUT NOISES ENGINE MAKING NO ANSWERS.  I ASKED IS THIS COMMON TO REPLACE GASKETS ON A VEHICLE THIS SOON ANSWER NO! ANY SUGGESTIONS ANYONE HAS LET ME KNOW I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.   

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6 hours ago, upset customer said:

WELL IT SEEMS THAT I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS SO MANY OTHERS ON THIS FORUM. OIL CONSUMPTION OIL LIGHT NEVER CAME ON EVEN AFTER BEING 3 QUARTS LOW, LEAKING OIL OUT ALL OVER, CAR HAS BEEN AT DEALERSHIP OVER 10 DAYS THEY DID PROVIDE LOANER VEHICLE THANKS SO MUCH,  BUT THEY NEED TO REPLACE SEVERAL GASKETS, ASKED WHY WARNING LIGHT NEVER CAME ON THEY COULD NOT EXPLAIN IT, I SAID MY PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE COMMON WITH THIS YEAR AND MODEL AND THEY REALLY DIDNT HAVE MUCH TO SAY.  I ASKED ALOT OF QUESTIONS: ASKED IF ENGINE HAD A PROBLEM WITH #4 CYLINDER SAID THEY DIDNT KNOW IASKED IF THEY COULD CHECK THEY SAID YES.  ASKED ABOUT NOISES ENGINE MAKING NO ANSWERS.  I ASKED IS THIS COMMON TO REPLACE GASKETS ON A VEHICLE THIS SOON ANSWER NO! ANY SUGGESTIONS ANYONE HAS LET ME KNOW I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.   

Did you have the PCV recall done and if so at what mileage and what is the current mileage. Did you buy it new or used..need that info before we can help.

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On 4/22/2017 at 0:12 AM, upset customer said:

WELL IT SEEMS THAT I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS SO MANY OTHERS ON THIS FORUM. OIL CONSUMPTION OIL LIGHT NEVER CAME ON EVEN AFTER BEING 3 QUARTS LOW, LEAKING OIL OUT ALL OVER, CAR HAS BEEN AT DEALERSHIP OVER 10 DAYS THEY DID PROVIDE LOANER VEHICLE THANKS SO MUCH,  BUT THEY NEED TO REPLACE SEVERAL GASKETS, ASKED WHY WARNING LIGHT NEVER CAME ON THEY COULD NOT EXPLAIN IT, I SAID MY PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE COMMON WITH THIS YEAR AND MODEL AND THEY REALLY DIDNT HAVE MUCH TO SAY.  I ASKED ALOT OF QUESTIONS: ASKED IF ENGINE HAD A PROBLEM WITH #4 CYLINDER SAID THEY DIDNT KNOW IASKED IF THEY COULD CHECK THEY SAID YES.  ASKED ABOUT NOISES ENGINE MAKING NO ANSWERS.  I ASKED IS THIS COMMON TO REPLACE GASKETS ON A VEHICLE THIS SOON ANSWER NO! ANY SUGGESTIONS ANYONE HAS LET ME KNOW I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.   

Seems like they are taking care of you, they have your car in the shop and gave you a car to drive. Let them fix it.

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