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Warranty question

F

flyboynm

Full Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Messages
17
Location
Los Alamos, NM
Back in May, I noticed that my 02 Avalanche started to burn oil. It has the 5.3L engine. I got had gotten the oil changed and went from Las Cruces, NM to San Diego, CA and then on to Las Vegas, NV when the check engine oil light came on. Checked the oil, and it needed a quart and a half. Added oil, didn't think too much about it, and drove home the next day. I got home (about 20 miles NW of Santa Fe, NM) and the check oil light came on again. Checked the oil, and I was again a quart low. Added the oil, and said the next time I get to the nearest dealer, I would get it checked out.

I had to go to Las Cruces, NM again a few weeks later, and on the way down, I had to change the oil. After changing the oil, I drove to the dealer (3.5 miles away) and talked to them about the oil loss. No problem, they would start an oil usage test. They needed a mechanic to look at it though, so then wanted me to come back on the following Tuesday. (It was a Saturday.) Anyhow, I drove 800 miles between Sat and Tues and went it and was told I was 2 quarts low, so they topped it off and wanted to continue the testing. We have driven a few trips to Albuquerque and back, and went in and it was 1.5 quarts low. That is the only "official" reading they have because they won't take the proof of an non-dealer oil change 3 days before as proof to the 2 quarts in 800 miles.

Anyhow, my warranty is nearly up (at 33k miles right now). What can I do about this? GM says that using more than a quart of oil per oil change is out of specs. I am sure I am going to get an oil change needed light soon, and am afraid that if I get that done I will go beyond the 36k miles of my warranty and they will tell me F-U when it still burns oil. Any suggestions?

By the way, I bought this used in January and love it, except for the burning of oil.
 
Has the PCV valve been changed to the correct one..look back in the Q and A section for a few threads about burning oil....TIMCOSCO is a member who had the problem...

HTH
 
PVC was changed to the correct one when I got the oil change in Las Cruces, NM and again in Santa Fe, NM when I was told it was 2 quarts low. They thought it might have been a defective PVC.
 
Wow....I was hoping that was it.....I have read on here about the 2500 with 8.1L engine burning oil but that a quart was about normal per oil change.....

I would go back in a have em look at it and ask them what happens when warranty mileage is up...Make sure get anything in writing,.....

Hopefully others will chime in with their comments

PS WELCOME to the club

 
I changed to the new PCV and my "oil burning" stopped shortly after. ('02 5.3). I now am at 47000 miles and use Mobil 1, change at 5k and am down approx 1/4 qt. at each change. I would pull the PVC myself and check it. Don't have the orifice measurements but it's very small. OEM was about 1/4 inch. New one is less than half that.
 
I have checked the PVC. It is the correct one. I am just a bit put off with this dealer service bit. If they give me too much of a run around about the 36k mile bit, I am just going to pick up the phone and call the State's Attorney General. Let's just say that I can get her on the phone pretty easily.
 
flyboynm, I just started having the same problem as you. It makes no sense in explaining my problem because it would be your same story to a tee.

I have these exhuast tips coming out of the sides of my cladding. You have to see the amount of soot that builds up over a weeks worth of driving.

I have not changed my PCV Valve yet but have an appointment to get my car serviced on Monday.

Under any conditions I should not be getting the "Low Engine Oil" light. This has never happened in the 2 years I have owned the truck and nothing has changed in my driving style that could justify such a loss of oil.

I hope nothing major is wrong. My warentee is up in 2,000 miles and I know for sure now that I am getting the extended warentee. I just have to find the right warentee.

 
Just a few minutes ago, I started up my truck and had a huge blue cloud of smoke and it didn't go away. I killed the ignition and started it up again, and the smoke was gone. I am calling the dealer now.
 
Spoke to Mary Ann at Santa Fe Chevrolet @7:58AM today. She told me that since we have an open ticket on this issue and it was opened before the warranty ended, it WILL be covered under warranty. I just wanted to document it somewhere where it won't be lost . (I am always loosing something....already lost my mind!) I know, I need to get that also in writing from them, but it is better to have the info of whom I spoke to, etc ;)

Anyhow, she said she will put the info about the blue smoke on my ticket. I am not too worried about the Chevy warranty ending, because I have an aftermarket extended warranty from Land Car Agency, but they can be a pain in the butt. I once before had to use their warranty to get a transmission replaced on a 97 Ford Ranger I had. The only reason why I got it with this vehicle was because it was included when I bought my vehicle.
 
This unfortunately sounds more serious than the PCV valve. Good luck. It would be interesting to get information as to the fix. For those owners who haven't checked their PCV's...Just pull it out of the drivers side valve cover...waaaay in the back and look at it. If the hole is a 1'4 inch or so in diameter...go get the new one. The dealer doesn't have to install it... just do it yourself. It's only a few bucks for the part. I don't think for $5 or less it's worth the hassle.
 
Well, I took my truck in to the local Chevy Dealer and it was 3 quarts low....it was also due for an oil change.....it used 6.5 quarts of oil between oil changes. I went to the Service Manager about this issue, and he said he wanted me to bring my truck in every 1000 miles to check the oil consumption. Someone that worked for the dealership overheard this and walked up to me with a business card with the Chevery Assistance Center # written on back and told me to call them with my concerns. What do you all think?

Steve
 
cannot hurt to call.....tell us what they are about after you call....

Thanks
 
flyboynm said:
Well, I took my truck in to the local Chevy Dealer and it was 3 quarts low....it was also due for an oil change.....it used 6.5 quarts of oil between oil changes. I went to the Service Manager about this issue, and he said he wanted me to bring my truck in every 1000 miles to check the oil consumption. Someone that worked for the dealership overheard this and walked up to me with a business card with the Chevery Assistance Center # written on back and told me to call them with my concerns. What do you all think?

Steve
Click to expand...
Steve,

I think you should call. Anytime you can get a Corporate person involved, the better. The local place just might not be as worried about you, the customer, as Corporate. And the next higher guy on the food chain can probably authorize more than the local joker.

Also, there is a TSB on this:

01-06-01-029B JUL 02 Engine - Greater Than Normal Oil Consumption

You'd think they would already have checked the TSBs, but you never know...

(Some member posted the link to AllData in a thread a few day ago, kudos to whomever you are! I followed it all the way to the 1500 4 x4 Avalanche page:

http://www.alldata.com/TSB/11/0211AYFY.html )

Any chance of posting that phone # so the other members can utilize it? I think plenty of people would benefit from having it.

TommyD said:
This unfortunately sounds more serious than the PCV valve. Good luck. It would be interesting to get information as to the fix. For those owners who haven't checked their PCV's...Just pull it out of the drivers side valve cover...waaaay in the back and look at it. If the hole is a 1'4 inch or so in diameter...go get the new one. The dealer doesn't have to install it... just do it yourself. It's only a few bucks for the part. I don't think for $5 or less it's worth the hassle.
Click to expand...
TommyD,

Any chance of posting the new PCV part #? I just checked mine and it's opening is 1/8" so I don't need it but I am sure that there are others that could use the part #. Thx.


Man, my wife calls my new obsession with this board and the local Colorado chapter a bad thing. I've already learned so much about my beloved Avy, it's priceless.

Cheers,

-Joe
 
Argh! :E:

Perhaps I should not post on threads where I do not have the problem, I may have jinxed myself:

My check engine oil light just came on! I checked and it was low. :8: I'm at 20.5K miles right now and this is the first time this has happened...not looking forward to an oil consumption problem.

I hope your issue has been taken care of Steve.

Regards,

-Joe
 
Here I go again....The famous Check Engine Oil Light came on again last night. This is my 4th trip to the dealer for this issue. Maybe I should start talking Lemon Law, because so far, the dealer has only has added oil and said that they are going to continue the consumption check. When are they actually going to do something?
 
Check engine light is different then oil usage.....

Is the dealer saying the check engine light comes on due to oil usage?

If so find another dealer....IMO
 
That is very weird I have a 02/2500 change the oil every 3000 ml or 5000 k so far i've never needed to add any oil? I wonder if this is only a problem with the small v8 and not the 8.1?

It sounds like something more serious than a PCV issue.

Best of luck with it.
 
IMHO you probably cannot use lemon law as you have had the truck for over a year. (You mentioned the warranty was soon over) Lemon law USUALLY applies to a car's first year of operation.

But good news for you if your dealer recorded the problem with the oil (Gave you a computer printout of the service request), then you are usually covered under the 'secret' warranty which is that once you report something you are given a little 'leeway' (and I mean little - See Edmunds about it) that since you reported the problem before the warranty expired you are still covered.

I hope you get it fixed!
 
Ok, now I am getting really fustrated...I ment to say that the check engine oil light came back on. It was a quart and a half low.

History:

8/9/03 Got oil changed....was .5 of a quart low 28800 miles approximately
8/12/03 Went to dealer, was 2 quarts low
9/11?/03 Went to dealer, was 1.5 quarts low
10/20?/03 Went to dealer, 3 quarts low
11/14/03 Went to dealer, 1.5 quarts low at 36052 miles.

I was told that none of the oil consumption so far can be used because I haven't gone to the dealer every 1000 miles to have the oil checked. Excuse me, but whenever I go near the dealer, it is after 6PM at night during the week, which is when the service department closes, or is on the weekend, and the service department is closed. I work from 7 AM to 6 PM M-F, and they want me to take time off to go down and verify this leak AT 1000 miles directly....oh, I forgot to mention that it is 45 miles one way to the nearest dealership, 50 the next. I choose to go to the one just slightly farther away because it is a larger dealer.

I spoke to several other dealerships, of other models, and they say that they wouldn't put up with using even 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles, and mine has used 8 in about 7500 miles. I am about to make a larger stink about this if Chevy doesn't do the simple math it takes to see that it is using more oil than what they need instead of inconviencing me by making me take off time from work, drive to the dealership and they only add oil to my truck instead of doing something. I am about to go to an attorney and sue. This is total BS.
 
You can't leave your car over night and you are ready to sue and go to court 25 times in the next year?

Be real, 'I'm gonna sue' doesn't even open an eyelid there. They have heard it so often that I'm sure they just went sure sure.

But what you need to do is somehow convince that dealer that there is something wrong with your car. Call the GM assistance center, they may ask you for documentation since you are over the 36k warranty. but they will be your best bet. It just might be the dealer is incompetent, it just might be they don't want to deal with it.
 
You need to call the GM assistance center. They can put some pressure on the dealership. Explain how frustrated you are with this problem, and that you don't know when to change the oil since you are constantly adding enough oil that it shouln't ever need an oil change,... just filter changes. Let us know what happens
 
A bit of an update for you all. I took it in once again today, at 37100 miles. It was again a quart low. All they did was add a quart of oil and told me to come back in another 1000 miles. This is getting to be a crock of you know what. I am close to just driving it to the dealer, leaving it on the lot and putting the keys in through the mail drop. Think it through, inconvience of having to take off from work to bring my vehicle to them, which is 2 hours round trip, PLUS they just keep telling me to bring it back. I have done this now 6 times. When will they actually DO something versus just telling me to come back? I have talked to the Assistance Center and the Service manager told them I had only been there twice! I have called the State's Attorney Generals office and they told me that I can go after GM for failure to honor their own warranty.

I am getting sick of this and will never buy another GM vehicle.
 
Ok, I am still dealing with Chevy on this issue. I have sent the attached picture to Chevy showing it smoking and they came back and said it is "acceptable". What a crock of ____! I am going to have to sue on this one, I am fairly certain....

Steve

dissatisfied Chevy Avalanche owner....

P.S. You do see ice in the background, but the air temp at the time of the pic was 44 degrees... :8:
 

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