Frenchican

I had planned on selling my Z as soon as it was repaired, but I realized that it's such a good car. I should keep it. Even though it has a broke piston and cracked cylinder wall.

That... and the fact that GM voided my warrenty for having headers and high flow cats.

So, I called Jason at Katech and ordered a 427 long block. It should be built and ready to ship at the end of next week.

bondmid003

Lets get some performance numbers please!

mg0427

Did you have any other mods???

MG

Undy

I think an appeal higher up the GM chain and some lawyer action is in order ... unless there's other issues.

JDRacing

Frenchy, I must have missed a post, or perhaps a whole chapter, somewhere. Last I saw on your "Ruh Roh" thread, GM was going to have the dealer repair your engine. Obviously if the block is cracked it's junk, but how did you get from a commitment by GM to repair it all the way to voiding your warranty for headers? And how, exactly, are they establishing that the headers/cats caused the problem?

Don't mean to be cross-examining you here, but I've been following your saga with much interest and missed this development, which must have happened in the past few days.

outnumbered

Something smells wrong to me.

Foosh

Yep.

Pat07c6z

The LS7 has cylinder liners.

Varmit

I don't see how headers and hi flow cats caused this. Maybe I'm missing something really big here, How can GM weasel out of this commitment??

Frenchican

No problem. Last week GM perfomance told me that only the dealer would be doing repairs after I requested (at my cost) to send the engine to Wixom to be rebuilt, if that was the case. I never requested a replacment engine. So, after I was told by GM Performance (Paul) that as long as the dealer could facilitate my request, "it shouldn't be a problem"

Anyway I guess it was. So, since I was expecting the dealer to rebuild the engine, I took my frustrations here on the forum and decided to sell the car once it was repaired by the dealer. Yesterday, the dealer called and said that a warrenty rep wanted to see the engine before approving the repairs. This was done today. The dealer called me to tell me that the warrenty was void because I had headers and high flow cats added to the car.

NO OTHER MODS have been done... unless adding an audio system is a 'mod'

Maybe, in hind sight, blasting GM on this forum might not have been a good idea, but there ya go.

So, everybody with headers and cats.. swap them out before taking in your car for warrenty work. Like that had anything to do with the piston coming apart...

Oh yeah, this was not a valve spring issue. It was a 'headers and high flow cats causing the piston to break and cracking the cylinder wall' issue.

JDRacing

Yes it does. He said the cylinder wall was cracked, though. I didn't take that to mean he was talking about the liner.

vegasdude

So much for headers..........I can't take a chance with a 5 year warranty by doing cams and headers.........too bad..........

JDRacing

Wow. Did anyone explain how, in GM's view, the headers/cats caused this problem? I'm sure you've read about the federal Magnuson-Moss Act, which requires the manufacturer to establish that the modification caused the problem necessitating the repair, before voiding the warranty? I hope you're not going to just let this go--the burden of proof is on GM to prove that. Here is an excerpt I pulled off http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Dumm...e/id-2669.html (Car Mods for Dummies):

"Under the Magnuson-Moss Act, a dealer must prove, not just vocalize, that aftermarket equipment caused the need for repairs before it can deny warranty coverage. If the dealer cannot prove such a claim — or it proffers a questionable explanation — it is your legal right to demand compliance with the warranty. The Federal Trade Commission administers the Magnuson-Moss Act and monitors compliance with warranty law."

The Magnuson-Moss Act also has an attorneys fees recovery provision which could require the manufacturer to pay for your fees if you successfully pursue this.

I hope you're not going to let this go. Sounds like GM might owe you an engine.

Foosh

All correct on Magnussen-Moss. If it were just a "cat-back" system and no other mods, it would be a no-brainer, court case.

However, the car was not "emissions-certified" or released for sale with headers and "high-flow" catalytic converters. I suppose GM could successfully argue in most courts that there is a reason that they increase engine output, which GM did not consider advisable. Why else would so many "modders" be rushing to add them? Do you want to tell a Judge that 505HP is not enough, with a straight face?

A case like this would be a very slippery slope for anyone wanting to file such a complaint. If you don't win, you pay attorney fees and court costs in addition to buying yourself a new engine.

JDRacing

You sure that the attorneys fees provision is bilateral (i.e. that the prevailing party, whether it's the consumer or the manufacturer, recovers fees and costs) in this federal consumer protection law, Foosh? Or perhaps you just meant that the consumer pays his/her own fees and costs if he/she is not the prevailing party, which of course is correct.

By the way, I'm not advocating a lawsuit (yet). Just that he push back.

Dicecal

Would be a bad thing for GM to get away with this, a very bad precident!

A427MAN

HOW did GM convince you to keep it by refusing to fix your engine and canceling your warranty???

Frenchican

By them refusing to replace the engine, it pretty much left me with the resolve to repair it myself. I don't think selling it without an engine would help me out. I still owe $49,000 on it.


Not for nothin' but I just remembered something. When the engine was running and it started to knock, I turned it off with in seconds, had it towed home, then towed to the dealer where they sat on it for a few days.

The service rep called me Friday to tell me that they found a failure in the #7 piston and would tell me more when they pulled it apart. Then she called me Monday to tell me the engine seized. Could the dealer have compounded the damage by running it at least twice after I brought it in?

Even if they did, I probably won't do anything about it but I might bring it up.

DDSLT5

Completely beside the point. The headers did not cause the failure of the engine - plain and simple. Staying on topic helps to keep the real issues clear in your mind.

LTC Z06

That's some BS right there.