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After dealing with the nightmare that is the Subaru 2.5 liter joke of an engine for 2 years in our Outback. I have to say you aint seen nothin...

Subaru "fixed" the head warping block warping causing regular coolant dumps by selling you bottles of what appears to be repackaged radiator stop leak. Replaced the head gaskets 3 times and the problem only got worse.

That was a car retailing for around 30,000US in 2001.

Kudos to GM for actually addressing issues with recalls and updates. Isn't that the way it should be?

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After dealing with the nightmare that is the Subaru 2.5 liter joke of an engine for 2 years in our Outback. I have to say you aint seen nothin...

Subaru "fixed" the head warping block warping causing regular coolant dumps by selling you bottles of what appears to be repackaged radiator stop leak. Replaced the head gaskets 3 times and the problem only got worse.

That was a car retailing for around 30,000US in 2001.

Kudos to GM for actually addressing issues with recalls and updates. Isn't that the way it should be?

Yes, thats the way it should be....but... We shouldn't be testing cars for the manufacturers, be it Subaru or GM. I feel the cars should roll off the assembly line and be free of catastrophic flaws.

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Yes, thats the way it should be....but... We shouldn't be testing cars for the manufacturers, be it Subaru or GM. I feel the cars should roll off the assembly line and be free of catastrophic flaws.

True, the US spec Spark was not announced until pretty close to rollout here. Then there was the Daewoo GM strike causing more delays in the production startup.

I worked on a GM assembly line for 4 years back in the mid 70's. Assemblers routinely chucked parts that were defective of poor quality. There were always several sources for the parts and some were worse than others.

With a few thousand parts and several suppliers for each not to mention batch to batch variance, it's really hard to maintain tight QC when a vehicle is in production. Especially with a one minute per assembly operation pace on 10 hour shifts.

I had to get a guy to take over for a few minutes to run a forklift and replenish my materials bins and jump right back in.

We tried to maintain quality, but we couldn't go crazy about it.

Having said that, I think the QC has improved enormously since then. But, then again so has the complexity of today's GM and other cars, so the challenge keeps growing.

If we ever hope to get free from OPEC, we need more Sparks and minicars in this country!!! Go GM!!!

Edited by elroyjetsn
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  • 4 months later...

Had all recalls done except for the rust-prone hood latch (I live in FL... no rust here!). The a/c now blows a bit more steady cool while idling, but the fan is really too weak for this car, especially in hot, humid weather. But it's passable, though no where near great in that respect. Had the PCV valve recall done and now have over 20,000 miles on her, no oil leakage, down to about 20% oil life left so will have an oil change soon. Did notice some odd "stains" on the plate that sits over the valve case... looked like oil or something splashed up over it (???). Will ask dealership about that. Seals all look good. Starts right up every time, runs nice, idles VERY quietly for such a small engine. Dealerships though... well, that's another story. Not happy with either Chevy dealer near me. One took car in on recall... car sat all day... turns out they didn't have the parts for the recall!!! Huh? Other dealer fixed a/c, then forgot to do something and a/c then did not work at all... did not check their work, so had to return and after about an hour or so, it was working properly. Also, forget a loaner... told "no." So was without car 2 days, 1 for each recall. Luckily, have second car. Sadly, GM dealers are poor around here. Have a great Ford dealership with terrific service dept. (had a Ford before), but didn't like the Fiesta and really, not a Ford fan overall. I will be out of bumper-to-bumper warranty this year, so need to decide whether to get extended warranty or wing it?!

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This is my first Chevy, (never liked them) but I've had a great rapport with the dealership since day one, had all the recalls done, within a four hour time frame, never had to wait for a part, plus a few little issues taken care of within a two hour time frame. After every visit, filling out a satisfaction survey, and a followup from GM! I've taken all this for granted, just figuring, this is how it works, at other dealerships. Whoa, there have been some major horror stories on these forums, where customers were treated like dirt, while trying to get their Sparks fixed by inept dealers, who don't know what their doing, crazy long waiting times for parts, etc. These are jobs that could be fixed fairly simply, but the frustration factor could drive the average customer insane. The outcome is, the customer grows to hate the car, and the dealership, and spreads the word, on how bad a car the Spark is. This is not my first new car, and I've always had good relationships with my dealerships, but from what I see, among Chevy's, my dealer is a jewel. I also live in a highly populated area, where I could get to roughly five different Chevy dealers within ten minutes, which also may keep them on their toes. It is important to research the dealership as much as you do the car.

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  • 11 months later...


The Spark has two fairly well documented issues. One is the crankcase venting system, and I believe it goes beyond just the PCV valve. The other is the pistons and rings are just a hair to small in diameter. Without proper crankcase venting, an a higher than normal amount of combustion gasses getting past the rings, it builds up sludge fairly quickly. Add 7000 mile recommended oil changes, and it is going to sludge up quickly. Apparently the first place the sludge plugs up is a tiny orifice in the VVT mechanism, leading to engine failure. For some reason it is the #4 cylinder most of the time. It looks like GM is about to discontinue the Spark, so they probably have no intention of fixing it.

As for the Pinto, I put 120,000 miles on a '72 Pinto hatchback with the 2.0L engine and 4 speed. Never had any problems at all. The Pinto was a very well built car, much better than many newer cars. It was simple and easy to work on, but rarely ever needed anything. The Chevy Vega, however, was another thing altogether. I doubt very many made it past 50,000 miles. It had an aluminum engine with no cylinder liners. It did however have style.

The Spark is by no means the only engine with crankcase venting problems. Toyota built a bunch of them. Many of them were used in GM cars, including the Pontiac Vibe. My neighbor had a Toyota Matrix. It failed at around 100,000 miles. There was enough sludge in that engine to fill a 5 gallon bucket. The Corolla on the other hand would go more than 300,000 miles. That is not likely to happen anymore, as it now has a CVT instead of a real transmission. [/quote.
Edited by Chippy848
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The Spark has two fairly well documented issues. One is the crankcase venting system, and I believe it goes beyond just the PCV valve. The other is the pistons and rings are just a hair to small in diameter. Without proper crankcase venting, an a higher than normal amount of combustion gasses getting past the rings, it builds up sludge fairly quickly. Add 7000 mile recommended oil changes, and it is going to sludge up quickly. Apparently the first place the sludge plugs up is a tiny orifice in the VVT mechanism, leading to engine failure. For some reason it is the #4 cylinder most of the time. It looks like GM is about to discontinue the Spark, so they probably have no intention of fixing it.

As for the Pinto, I put 120,000 miles on a '72 Pinto hatchback with the 2.0L engine and 4 speed. Never had any problems at all. The Pinto was a very well built car, much better than many newer cars. It was simple and easy to work on, but rarely ever needed anything. The Chevy Vega, however, was another thing altogether. I doubt very many made it past 50,000 miles. It had an aluminum engine with no cylinder liners. It did however have style.

The Spark is by no means the only engine with crankcase venting problems. Toyota built a bunch of them. Many of them were used in GM cars, including the Pontiac Vibe. My neighbor had a Toyota Matrix. It failed at around 100,000 miles. There was enough sludge in that engine to fill a 5 gallon bucket. The Corolla on the other hand would go more than 300,000 miles. That is not likely to happen anymore, as it now has a CVT instead of a real transmission. [/quote.

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There is no talk about discontinuing the spark. What the heck is he talking about. They are rolling out new restyled 16 models with higher eps estimates. As for the pinto being a well built car yeah right I have had two of those nightmares years ago! I can laugh bout it now horrible vehicles!

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Unloaded my Spark about 9 mos. ago due to the dreaded hesitation issue that GM dealers acknowledged and shrugged their shoulders. After nearly being in an accident due to this problem, both my BF and I traded our Sparks for 2014 Ford C-Max. Never looked back! C-Max getting 45.3 MPG, roomy, smooth, quiet, comfortable and nice flat folding rear seats. NO problems at all! Love it. Also have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee with 4.0 straight 6. They just don't build them like that anymore! First car was a 1974 Vega hatchback... lousy car... hated it... but being my first car, it was a love/hate relationship. No power brakes or steering, 4 wheel drum brakes, and a body so rusty, you could slide in with the doors closed by using the rust holes! But every time I see one, which is rarely anymore, I feel a wave of nostalgia. My aunt had a 1972 Pinto; white with orange trim and orange shag carpeting... very cool little car! I miss the days when you could glance at a car and now what it was... today, most cars look alike.

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The Spark has two fairly well documented issues. One is the crankcase venting system, and I believe it goes beyond just the PCV valve. The other is the pistons and rings are just a hair to small in diameter. Without proper crankcase venting, an a higher than normal amount of combustion gasses getting past the rings, it builds up sludge fairly quickly. Add 7000 mile recommended oil changes, and it is going to sludge up quickly. Apparently the first place the sludge plugs up is a tiny orifice in the VVT mechanism, leading to engine failure. For some reason it is the #4 cylinder most of the time. It looks like GM is about to discontinue the Spark, so they probably have no intention of fixing it.

As for the Pinto, I put 120,000 miles on a '72 Pinto hatchback with the 2.0L engine and 4 speed. Never had any problems at all. The Pinto was a very well built car, much better than many newer cars. It was simple and easy to work on, but rarely ever needed anything. The Chevy Vega, however, was another thing altogether. I doubt very many made it past 50,000 miles. It had an aluminum engine with no cylinder liners. It did however have style.

The Spark is by no means the only engine with crankcase venting problems. Toyota built a bunch of them. Many of them were used in GM cars, including the Pontiac Vibe. My neighbor had a Toyota Matrix. It failed at around 100,000 miles. There was enough sludge in that engine to fill a 5 gallon bucket. The Corolla on the other hand would go more than 300,000 miles. That is not likely to happen anymore, as it now has a CVT instead of a real transmission. [/quote.

Absolute unfounded and undocumented info. PCV was and is still the only documented issue with the engine. Obviously the failure of the now corrected issue caused all kinds of unrepairable engine damage. Pistons and or rings a hair too small would cause burning a lot of oil and almost immediate engine failure. Sludge does not build up in "a tiny orifice in the VVT mechanism" if it did, well, lets just say that sludge cannot build up in an pressurized flow channel unless incorrect oil without additives were used for a long time and that would pretty well present as a very noisy tappet area and component heat warping and pretty quick failure of one or both the VVT units. I have a better than average knowledge and understanding of internal combustion engines, having worked on everything from giant rotary aircraft piston poppers to domestic vehicle to the tiny model aircraft 4 stroke engines and recently have seen and heard of, via my mechanic, of Sparks that are issue free over 100Kmi running perfectly well not burning oil. I have seen a perfectly spotless head pulled from a rear ended trashed Spark and the oil pan had zero sludge...48+Kmi on that one. Mine has over 70Kmi and engine is smooth, quiet with normal tappet noise considering the 16 valves being tapped. Burns no oil and oil is still amber after 7Kmi..indicating no carbon which would show as black oil. I have searched for issues such as those stated in the quoted post..found none other than the well documented PCV issue..resolved by a recall and replacement of the PCV and vent hose. I would sum it up by saying that if the engine is still running well without burning oil etc after 100Kmi..well, you get my drift...'Nuff said..

Edited by Retired old Gearhead
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