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Half stall at highway speeds?


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It's been a newer problem intermittently however it's been progressively getting a bit more blatant and the dealer can't replicate it so maybe I can give them an idea of where to look tomorrow.

Tonight, it made the 'rattle' like it was going to stall at 65 MPH, applying the gas did nothing until the car hit about 50 and then it was like nothing ever happened.

They've replaced the Fuel Pump relays so far, could the pump be faulty already ?

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Well after the engine goes in, I'm going to be calling Chevy again to see what they can do about putting some type of extension on the warranty not only for all the trouble I had but for the new engin

It is most likely the same engine, but modified to avoid the problems that created the original problem. I would venture to guess that your car was developing the #4 cylinder anomaly, and was most lik

FYI - My Spark LS 5M has 20K miles and went in to the Dealership with the problem described above. I was burning about a quart of oil every 125 miles @ 65 MPH. They are ordering me a new Engine assemb

What they should be doing is connecting a diagnostic recorder to your car so they can capture what is happening. Could be fuel pressure issues, bad injector, bad ignition/coils, clogged air intake, etc. I would open up the air filter area and make sure you didn't suck something inside that is moving around and stopping the flow of air.

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Thanks for the tip, it's in there this morning and he said he's going to call the tech number to see what they say. It doesn't throw a single dummy light or code and there's absolutely no codes in the computer either (current or history) they said that they are going to take a sample of fuel to rule that out as well.

I def feel a brief hesitation right before it occurs, and it only happens once a key cycle and usually after about running for 20 minutes (yesterday it was after 14 miles give or take a half mile) after it does it, there's no repeat to it until the cars off. It did it once, then after a few days again, last time was Tuesday and then again last night, each time though it feels progressively worse. The car is running efficiently though, last tank 43 MPG this tank 1/4 the way through 41.8 and there's no drop on power at the low ends, it's done it both with the AC on and off, and I've been grabbing gas from different stations to try to rule out a fuel quality issue

If they can't find anything I'll ask them if they have one to throw on so they can record and hopefully catch the gremlin -- other than this the car has been great with no issues. (well outside of the AC being slightly warmer at idle in 90 degree weather but that seems to be a shared gremlin :)

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  • 1 month later...

Update! We figured it out :)

So after chevy dropped the ball releasing software for the digital recorder I told my mechanic that I had noticed a puff of blue smoke earlier this week. Back on the phone with chevy......

Chevy told him to pull plug four and low and behold we have an oil leak into the spark plugs! The plug looked like it had been in there for about 75k miles it was so bad. Chevy told hom to run a compression test so I have to go back in Friday.

My mechanic told me a few sparks according to chevy were exhibiting these symptoms and chevy elected to put in a brand new engine in each case.

The car had lost about a quart of oil since the last oil change 800 miles ago, so I guess I may have a final answer on the engine Friday morning.

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It's amazing how these idiots diagnose a car nowadays. The most elementary diagnosis is, and has been, for years, spark, fuel, and compression. No matter how finely computer controlled an engine is, without these three basic components, it is not going to run. Take away their code scanners, and they are screwed. Rudimentary mechanics are not their forte. You are probably running intermittently on three cylinders. On a brand new car, I would insist on nothing less than a new engine. Keep us informed.....

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Makes me wonder if that's what's causing my intermittent problem after I put fuel in, I started noticing mine will hesitate a little when the engine is cold, and I start driving. I'll probably pull the plugs myself and check, not worth all the bs at the dealer. A few times I could smell oil burning through the dash vents.

Edited by austex04
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Makes me wonder if that's what's causing my intermittent problem after I put fuel in, I started noticing mine will hesitate a little when the engine is cold, and I start driving. I'll probably pull the plugs myself and check, not worth all the bs at the dealer. A few times I could smell oil burning through the dash vents.

Maybe I'd pull your plugs and check I wish Ida known back when I posted this as I would have been able to get it done on winter break...

Still waiting for the compression test fitting so they can run the test...gotta wait until Thursday I guess...

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  • 3 weeks later...

So another update

The part to test it still hasn't come in and it did it today coming off a red light and I almost got rear ended and let me tell you that was it!

Tot he garage I went on an absolute warpath. I told them they should have out me in a rental the first day and since they sent me out if I get in an accident because of it they better believe that I'm going to be holding them responsible. Needless to say I had a rental ten minutes later.

Now that it's on their dime I bet that they will get it fixed fast....although my rental car is pretty sweet they put me in an 2013 Caddy ATS!

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Update! We figured it out :)

So after chevy dropped the ball releasing software for the digital recorder I told my mechanic that I had noticed a puff of blue smoke earlier this week. Back on the phone with chevy......

Chevy told him to pull plug four and low and behold we have an oil leak into the spark plugs! The plug looked like it had been in there for about 75k miles it was so bad. Chevy told hom to run a compression test so I have to go back in Friday.

My mechanic told me a few sparks according to chevy were exhibiting these symptoms and chevy elected to put in a brand new engine in each case.

The car had lost about a quart of oil since the last oil change 800 miles ago, so I guess I may have a final answer on the engine Friday morning.

FYI - My Spark LS 5M has 20K miles and went in to the Dealership with the problem described above. I was burning about a quart of oil every 125 miles @ 65 MPH. They are ordering me a new Engine assembly. Also, on my second A/C compressor. Out of my 11 months of ownership its been in for repair two months. My Dealership Service Department has been great just disappointed in GM. I will probably never buy another GM product. The Government should put a stop sale order on this GM product.

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I'll have to get that for you dori the next time I have the car.

So another update:

Got in today, the car is averaging well under sticker mpg (32 MPG) and we pulled plug 4 again and guess what....OIL!!!!!!!! So my mechanic called Chevy tech --AGAIN-- and they wanted the dealership to drive the vehicle ANOTHER 300 miles on the highway at 70-80 MPH non stop (nothing like adding miles to the car is there) so after about 10 minutes they called back again and Tech advised them to have ME drive the car for another THOUSAND MILES! Seriously?! I was beyond HOT at this point and called Chevy customer care and went on the warpath. While I was on the phone with Chevy they escalated the issue to some supervisor who then had to talk to the manager of the dealership. In the time that they were talking, Tech called back again and decided that I only needed to drive the vehicle another 500 miles. Seriously what are they thinking over there?! So on the warpath I went again with Chevy on the phone and they decided that it was time to give up and put me back in a rental car (thankfully at no cost to me) while they figure out what they're doing. They better be replacing the engine at this point, I refuse to be a fix tester, and I told them on the phone that I'm @#$@ mad and about to go trade it in to KIA or Toyota and that really got them. So who knows what's going to happen now.....

I do love my car, but if Chevy doesn't get their head out of their respective orifices I won't be buying GM again.

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Well they approved the brand new engine....now the waiting game for them to get it done

Great!! Keep tightening the screws, you didn't pay big bucks for a new car, to have a patched up engine. Keep us informed as to how it's going.....

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Great!! Keep tightening the screws, you didn't pay big bucks for a new car, to have a patched up engine. Keep us informed as to how it's going.....

Well after the engine goes in, I'm going to be calling Chevy again to see what they can do about putting some type of extension on the warranty not only for all the trouble I had but for the new engine so that way if this starts again I won't be having to pay for it.

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They will hopefully at least have a 100,000 mile warranty on the new engine. I had my transmission give out on my Mini Cooper, 2 days before the warranty ran out. Not only did they replace it under warranty, but gave the new transmission another 100,000 mile warranty. I know that GM isn't the same company, but you never know.

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OK, here is a story... Last week I was at the dealer getting the oil changed, another guy was in for some kind of wheel bearing issue. This wheel bearing apparently carries a lifetime warranty, but because the first replacement happens during the manufacturer warranty, the lifetime didn't apply, and of course the standard warranty had expired.

I doubt GM would be so kind as to warranty the new engine beyond the standard warranty.

Also note the I seem to recall that the 100,000 miles drive train warranty if prorated which means the closer to 100,000 you are, the less GM covers!

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Hi Dgolden,

GM parts and labor come with a warranty. Depending on the parts/labor it's either a 12K/12 month warranty or a 36K/3 year warranty that is separate from the vehicle warranty. Feel free to send me a message or an email if you want me to confirm what warranty you have.

Jackie

Chevrolet Customer Care

socialmedia@gm.com

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Well guys, I'm very happy I have this thread to at least show to the techs at the dealership tomorrow morning. The OP pretty much described my issue word for word. It's happened a few times, always after driving at freeway speeds for a certain period of time. And today it got worse when the problem persisted even after exiting the freeway. After I got off and downshifted, I had hardly any acceleration. I pulled over and gave it a second, then started off in first and the same thing, no acceleration with a knocking noise coming from under the hood. Pleeeease wish me luck tomorrow morning at the dealership and for those of you who we're wondering, my Spark's production date says 05/12 and she's got just over 26000 miles. 1LT manual.

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I wish you the best of luck. They still haven't gotten my engine in yet and called me yesterday to let me know that it was on order and they'll call me as soon as it gets in.

Chevy will prob want to replace the seals and send you on your way for 200 miles to come in for another compression test. Let them do that but if you're still leaking oil after that don't hesitate to call chevy like I did and rattle a few cages. If it is and they do replace the engine be ready for a wait and to enjoy your time in a loaner car.

My car started showing the issue around 25000 miles

Edited by Dgolden
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