# Ouch! $2984.00 repair due to coolant leak from cylinder head gasket



## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

Attention to anybody that owns 2005-2006 GTO. Check and double check your coolant levels. My GTO unbeknown to me was leaking coolant. Back in August I had an oil change done and I was told there was no coolant. They flushed and replenished the fluids and about two weeks later I took the vehicle in for its 40K checkup at the dealership. They identified a coolant leak with a transcooler line and tightened the clamps and told me that it should be okay and just to check for leaks and they will order the parts (which takes about 7 days). Everything seemed fine and I didn't notice leaking anywhere and checked to make sure I wasn't leaking on the pavement or garage floor. Everything seemed fine until Friday of last week. Started the engine about 5:30 AM and it didn't sound right at all. The previous day, no problems, no indications of any problems and I am the kind of driver that likes to hear the engine rather than music.

I had the vehicle towed in to my local dealership on Monday and was informed they did an engine block test and it failed. The reason why my check engine light never went on was due to the cylinder head gasket leaking. I have done no modifications to this vehicle besides putting in a K&N filter over the stock. I hardly call that a modification but that's how original the car is and I really never felt the need to put more into what I always thought of as a very good engine.

Of course, like an idiot I never got the extended warranty when the offers did come in the mail. I thought about and was talked out of it and then agreed to it. In hindsight I wished I would have put down the extra money for some sort of reassurance. A repair nearly $3,000.00 isn't cheap. But I'm really miffed at GM for such ****ty work on what is a high performance engine.

Not to mention the annoyance of my back leather seat headrests stitches literally pulled away and the foam is exposed. This all happened while the car resided in my garage for over 6 months. Interesting. Of course, I heard the complaints about the knocking sound coming from the back. I have that too and actually had some repair work (welding on the frame) done to fix a rear beam. Structural integrity apparently is a weak point of this car too.

This head gasket issue really took me by surprise. No sensor/check engine indication of a problem and of course now I'm paying for it out the nose. I'm hoping the cylinder heads are not warped and everything will turn out for the better because for all its flaws I really like this car but $3,000.00 is kind of a costly relationship. I'm not sure what direction I should go if the heads for any reason are damaged.

Any advice?


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## Bluegoat05 (Mar 22, 2010)

so the 3000 is to replace the engine??? and they say it failed because the head gasket leaked and what? there was water in the oil? because if there were the dealer ship should have found that when they changed the oil? or did the car over heat because of lack of coolant and thus blew the gasket and toasted the engine? oh and if the heads are warped its not a huge deal you can get a set of used for around 350 to 400 bucks maybe 500 tops


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Time for a second opinion. 
A blown headgasket with head repair should be about $1K on the top end. If you severely overheated the engine, it may need bottom end work, but $3K doesn't cover that either.


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## Bluegoat05 (Mar 22, 2010)

:agree
it all really doesn't make sense


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

Bluegoat05 said:


> so the 3000 is to replace the engine??? and they say it failed because the head gasket leaked and what? there was water in the oil? because if there were the dealer ship should have found that when they changed the oil? or did the car over heat because of lack of coolant and thus blew the gasket and toasted the engine? oh and if the heads are warped its not a huge deal you can get a set of used for around 350 to 400 bucks maybe 500 tops



No it's for the labor to remove the valve covers, replace valve cover gasket, cylinder head removal, cylinder head gasket replacement, to check and see if heads are warped. They said the engine block test failed the pressure check because the coolant is leaking from the cylinder head gasket and that is also why I did not get a sensor read out. I'm completely baffled over it.

The dealership didn't change the oil for the 40K and I asked them to not do it and not charge me for it since it was recently done. But I would assume they would have at least checked the oil (will have to look at the invoice) but I'm sure they didn't do very much besides clean the fuel injectors and check for leaks. That 40,000 mile checkup was about $290.00 (a complete rip off?)

They said my check engine light did not come on due to the leaking cylinder head gasket and so the engine overheated without me really knowing it was overheating. The coolant gauge never spiked either, was always in the middle as usual. I'm wondering if this is a common problem with any 6.0L engine from GM. I don't drive the car that hard either so that was another concern.

Thx for the response.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jetstang said:


> Time for a second opinion.
> A blown headgasket with head repair should be about $1K on the top end. If you severely overheated the engine, it may need bottom end work, but $3K doesn't cover that either.


They didn't mention bottom end work. But for all intents and purposes the service manager stated that it most likely didn't do damage to the cylinder heads but they should be checked. The coolant reservoir was literally bone empty dry when I started my car last Friday. I wasn't aware of it until the engine was turned on and I was like "what the hell". It was barely on for a minute and I turned it off. When I went to check the fluids and noticed it. I poured in some coolant and the next thing I know about 15 seconds later the coolant is dripping all over the place and noticed some spraying out of one of the coolant hoses. What's the usual cost for bottom end work?

Thx


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

YeomanDroid said:


> They didn't mention bottom end work. But for all intents and purposes the service manager stated that it most likely didn't do damage to the cylinder heads but they should be checked. The coolant reservoir was literally bone empty dry when I started my car last Friday. I wasn't aware of it until the engine was turned on and I was like "what the hell". It was barely on for a minute and I turned it off. When I went to check the fluids and noticed it. I poured in some coolant and the next thing I know about 15 seconds later the coolant is dripping all over the place and noticed *some spraying out of one of the coolant hoses*. What's the usual cost for bottom end work?
> 
> Thx


Sounds like a hose blew, engine ran out of water, overheated and blew a head gasket. My daughter did the same thing to her car, but she did warp the heads. I got remanned heads for $200, then $200 for gaskets, but thats a 3.1, but an example of the cost. Then my labor, and it took me about 15 hours, but I'm slow. 
Head R&R, 10 hours at $80 is $800 plus head gasket set. Find a mechanic you trust and get the 2nd opinion.
If the hose blew and the water dumped real fast you may have never seen it on the gauge, as the gauge doesn't sense hot air? As long as it didn't hydrolock the motor, which it didn't, the bottom end should be fine, unless you got the motor way hot like my daughter did, her engine knocked after I put it back together.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Did you purchase the car new, or used? New? How is your rapport with the dealership? Do you take the car there periodically for service? They have the ability to work with you on this. At 40K miles its not that far out of mileage warranty they can't work with you on it.
Used? Know the history of the car? Was this a previous issue hidden, car dumped because of it?
Coolant leaking into the engine would have mixed with the oil rising the levels and most probably blowing gaskets from the pressure. Never noticed the engine temp rising?


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

YeomanDroid said:


> No it's for the labor to remove the valve covers, replace valve cover gasket, cylinder head removal, cylinder head gasket replacement, to check and see if heads are warped.


Yeah that's a typical head gasket job. This is why we call them stealerships. $2k and i'll do it in my yard for ya  Don't ever go back to that place again. Way to much.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jetstang said:


> Sounds like a hose blew, engine ran out of water, overheated and blew a head gasket. My daughter did the same thing to her car, but she did warp the heads. I got remanned heads for $200, then $200 for gaskets, but thats a 3.1, but an example of the cost. Then my labor, and it took me about 15 hours, but I'm slow.
> Head R&R, 10 hours at $80 is $800 plus head gasket set. Find a mechanic you trust and get the 2nd opinion.
> If the hose blew and the water dumped real fast you may have never seen it on the gauge, as the gauge doesn't sense hot air? As long as it didn't hydrolock the motor, which it didn't, the bottom end should be fine, unless you got the motor way hot like my daughter did, her engine knocked after I put it back together.


It didn't hydrolock at least. That's good.. I wasn't sure if I'd be better off with another option like having a reputable high performance shop just replace the heads and go with that rather than the dealership.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

GTO JUDGE said:


> Did you purchase the car new, or used? New? How is your rapport with the dealership? Do you take the car there periodically for service? They have the ability to work with you on this. At 40K miles its not that far out of mileage warranty they can't work with you on it.
> Used? Know the history of the car? Was this a previous issue hidden, car dumped because of it?
> Coolant leaking into the engine would have mixed with the oil rising the levels and most probably blowing gaskets from the pressure. Never noticed the engine temp rising?


I'm the original owner of the car. The car was purchased in May 2005 and so it's outside the 5 year warranty mark for the powertrain. Ironic. I'm really beating myself up over not getting the extended warranty. 

Never noticed the engine temp rising as a matter of fact it always was showing right in the middle of gauge. The engine sounded fine the day before and no noticeable decrease in performance at all prior to this happening.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

3 grand for head gaskets? Why can't I get these kinds of jobs??


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

Rukee said:


> 3 grand for head gaskets? Why can't I get these kinds of jobs??


I was thinking the same thing. OP you could probally get aftermarket and better heads installed(labor included) for the same price.

Something just doesn't sound right.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

06gtoin216 said:


> Yeah that's a typical head gasket job. This is why we call them stealerships. $2k and i'll do it in my yard for ya  Don't ever go back to that place again. Way to much.



Yeah, it seems a little excessive but the more I look at all the complexities involved and the responsibility of doing it right. They're also replacing all 4 coolant system hoses. That was $300.00 in parts alone. I was wondering why they just didn't replace the hose that was leaking in the first place when I had the 40K mile inspection done. Tightening the clamp wasn't the best solution.

I've been reading up on the procedures for doing a somewhat legitimate head gasket replacement and there's no way I can do this at home. If it takes some eight hours for a professional mechanic to do the job, then it would take me a good 2 weeks if I had all the tools and right set up at home. It's been a long time since I got into the nuts and bolts of engines but this reminds me how complicated engines are and today they're even more complicated.

I guess at 40K I wouldn't expect a transcooler hose to fail. But that's really the gist of it and what caused everything else to go. Hard to believe such a simple thing can cause so much havoc.


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## Bluegoat05 (Mar 22, 2010)

dont feel too bad about the warrantee thing. a buddy of mine got the warrantee paid 1500 bucks for it and a year later his engine is toast. well.. the warrantee place went out of business ha ha talk about depressing. so we ended up just replacing the engine in his driveway..


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jpalamar said:


> I was thinking the same thing. OP you could probally get aftermarket and better heads installed(labor included) for the same price.
> 
> Something just doesn't sound right.


I wonder if local labor costs have anything to do with it too. I live in the Los Angeles area. The more I read up on head gasket failure the more 3K doesn't sound too steep. I assume it takes a professional mechanic about 8 hours to disassemble and reassemble the engine as well test everything. I'm not sure what the typical labor rate is per hour, guessing more than $75 per hour in this area. 

I guess I'm either getting over the shock of the cost or trying to find some comfort that it's not as bad it seems in terms of what really needs to be done because of all the work that is necessary and follow up. Ultimately I just want it to be done right and work better than did before so I can chalk this one up for a lesson learned.

I'm guessing at worst I'm paying $500.00 more than what I should be paying.
Does that sound right?


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

I'm sure if you give someone on here a trip to LA and a grand they would be more than happy to come out and swap some heads for you, cost you $2K total on the high side. I've never done LS heads, but the water pump is easier than a Pontiac water pump swap. I'm sure it's pretty easy for a competant mechanic.
Here are the prices at Autozone, Head gasket set is $371, and head bolts are $29.99, hoses are not listed?? Head checkout at machine shop, $150?
Replacing the head gaskets and hoses is not going to make it better than it was before, it will make it the same as before. At 40k the heads really don't need anything.
It's easier to write the check and have it done, I would feel terrible that they charged me that much, and if they are gouging the prices that bad, do you really think they have the integrity to stand behind their work, especially after just tightening the hose to fix the leak that they saw, if I read that right. I wouldn't give them another penny out of spite personally.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jetstang said:


> I'm sure if you give someone on here a trip to LA and a grand they would be more than happy to come out and swap some heads for you, cost you $2K total on the high side. I've never done LS heads, but the water pump is easier than a Pontiac water pump swap. I'm sure it's pretty easy for a competant mechanic.
> Here are the prices at Autozone, Head gasket set is $371, and head bolts are $29.99, hoses are not listed?? Head checkout at machine shop, $150?
> Replacing the head gaskets and hoses is not going to make it better than it was before, it will make it the same as before. At 40k the heads really don't need anything.
> It's easier to write the check and have it done, I would feel terrible that they charged me that much, and if they are gouging the prices that bad, do you really think they have the integrity to stand behind their work, especially after just tightening the hose to fix the leak that they saw, if I read that right. I wouldn't give them another penny out of spite personally.


Trust me, I feel the same way. I stopped by the dealership and asked for a breakdown of everything. It's about $1450.00 for parts and fluid replenishments (coolant, oil, etc.) and $1500.00 exactly for labor. Which includes replacing all the coolant lines. I was looking to purchase a new vehicle that can fit more passengers comfortably in addition to just using the GTO for weekend drives, etc. As far as integrity of the work done previously and given what I just experienced with my first GM product. The idea of buying a GMC SUV or a Cadillac SUV is out the window and definitely out the window for this dealership if I ever reconsider GM products. What a way to lose customers to your brand. No wonder why the American manufacturers can't keep themselves afloat in a downturn economy.

I asked about the warranty of their work. It's 12 months/12,000 miles. I'm not really thrilled with that either, but it's better than nothing I suppose. My concern is how can I realistically check on the work to see if it was done correctly. I also asked about the bottom end and was told everything was fine, but I want it documented what was done. Definitely a lot of issues that I've been developing a checklist from what I'm learning what really needs to be done in a situation like this. Yeah, the easiest thing to do is just get it fixed and realize things do happen and warranties always expire, and of course new cars fall apart after five years when it's paid off. At least from experience I can truly say that. Sebring LXi, Mustang, all fell apart after the warranty. It might be time to go Japanese again.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

Bluegoat05 said:


> dont feel too bad about the warrantee thing. a buddy of mine got the warrantee paid 1500 bucks for it and a year later his engine is toast. well.. the warrantee place went out of business ha ha talk about depressing. so we ended up just replacing the engine in his driveway..


Yeah, a lot of those places are scams or if legitimate are barely hanging on by a thread of existence. I threw away everything that was not GM every time I got their junk mail telling me my warranty was about to expire.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

15 hundred for labor?? Geeze I need to do something at my shop, even if I charged you for 10 hours it would still be under $500 for labor! You could use that extra grand for MODs.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

YeomanDroid said:


> Trust me, I feel the same way. I stopped by the dealership and asked for a breakdown of everything. It's about $1450.00 for parts and fluid replenishments (coolant, oil, etc.) and $1500.00 exactly for labor. Which includes replacing all the coolant lines. I was looking to purchase a new vehicle that can fit more passengers comfortably in addition to just using the GTO for weekend drives, etc. As far as integrity of the work done previously and given what I just experienced with my first GM product. The idea of buying a GMC SUV or a Cadillac SUV is out the window and definitely out the window for this dealership if I ever reconsider GM products. What a way to lose customers to your brand. No wonder why the American manufacturers can't keep themselves afloat in a downturn economy.


How did they get $1500 in parts? All they are replacing is gaskets, head bolts, hoses, and a few clamps. I would guess $600 at most for gaskets, checking the heads at a machine shop, hoses if they even need replaced, and clamps.

Labor is atleast $500+ more then it _should _cost.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Take it to a speed shop and have some nice NEW performance heads and install for your 3 grand or have the stock ones ported and milled for a nice compression bump


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## Bluegoat05 (Mar 22, 2010)

man they are running you through the mill!! 1500 for labor what are they doing paying the cleaning boy twenty hours to learn how to change out heads? thats at 75 an hour!! and the parts price is way out of line you can get a set of l92s for about 1700 at slp! thats with intake and new bolts! seriously tell them to shove it up their ass make a new friend that knows cars pay them 500 and buy gaskets and your golden. other wise you better take a tub of vaseline into that stealership:willy:


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

I asked my mechanic buddy about it today and he said the GTO is a cab over design, and they drop the subframe out of the car and do the heads then, that would be more labor. I have looked at a few GTOs, but there not like the Camaros where you couldn't get to the motor from the top, are they?

Call Hot Rod TV, or 2 guys garage, maybe they'll feature your car in an episode and do a head swap and dyno run for you, sponsored by edelbrock, fo free! LA has tons of motorheads, there has to be plenty of shops that will do it, screw the dealership.. take the savings and buy an extended warranty and not worry about it again!


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jpalamar said:


> How did they get $1500 in parts? All they are replacing is gaskets, head bolts, hoses, and a few clamps. I would guess $600 at most for gaskets, checking the heads at a machine shop, hoses if they even need replaced, and clamps.
> 
> Labor is atleast $500+ more then it _should _cost.



Yes, they are replacing gaskets, head bolts, hoses, clamps, thermostat, checking the heads, replacing the spark plugs, flushing the cooling system, oil change, oil filter change, etc. I was thinking the same thing about it being $500.00 more than what it should cost.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jetstang said:


> I asked my mechanic buddy about it today and he said the GTO is a cab over design, and they drop the subframe out of the car and do the heads then, that would be more labor. I have looked at a few GTOs, but there not like the Camaros where you couldn't get to the motor from the top, are they?
> 
> Call Hot Rod TV, or 2 guys garage, maybe they'll feature your car in an episode and do a head swap and dyno run for you, sponsored by edelbrock, fo free! LA has tons of motorheads, there has to be plenty of shops that will do it, screw the dealership.. take the savings and buy an extended warranty and not worry about it again!


I wished they would do a head swap, that would be awesome. A little too late but it would have been neat to watch. I'll be getting a daily driver much to my wife's dismay, I don't care. I really would like to get let the goat rest a while and actually spend money on upgrading it over time rather than repairing it.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

Bluegoat05 said:


> man they are running you through the mill!! 1500 for labor what are they doing paying the cleaning boy twenty hours to learn how to change out heads? thats at 75 an hour!! and the parts price is way out of line you can get a set of l92s for about 1700 at slp! thats with intake and new bolts! seriously tell them to shove it up their ass make a new friend that knows cars pay them 500 and buy gaskets and your golden. other wise you better take a tub of vaseline into that stealership:willy:


Yeah, you have to factor in that is about average out here in Los Angeles area for labor. I've seen $65.00 an hour but that was quite some time ago. The parts are ridiculous expensive, I agree. $300.00 for 4 transcooler hoses, that's nuts.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

svede1212 said:


> Take it to a speed shop and have some nice NEW performance heads and install for your 3 grand or have the stock ones ported and milled for a nice compression bump


I was really contemplating that. But increase in compression is going to require some other components to be upgraded. I'm a little weary of trying to get more out of this engine than what the manufacturer did. If I'm not mistaken the LS2 was nearing its capacity in stock form, it's been a while but last I heard it had about no more than 65 increase of hp capability. Maybe that's why they moved on to the newer LS engines.


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

The LS2 is at it's max?? Not even close. The LS motor is the BEST engine Chevy has ever built. period, dot, the end.. You had a radiator hose leak, and lost a head gasket because of it. There is no reason for your damage at 40k miles, or why the hose went. Sh#t happens, don't hate the car. Get it fixed and press on. I still want a newer GTO even after your story. My LS1 Vette has 95K on it and all original hoses. I should do some maintenance on the cooling system, but haven't had an issue yet. Stay positive!!:cheers


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

YeomanDroid said:


> I was really contemplating that. But increase in compression is going to require some other components to be upgraded. I'm a little weary of trying to get more out of this engine than what the manufacturer did. If I'm not mistaken the LS2 was nearing its capacity in stock form, it's been a while but last I heard it had about no more than 65 increase of hp capability. Maybe that's why they moved on to the newer LS engines.


If you really think the motor is near it's max from the factory, what the heck are you doing bolting on a turbo and cranking it up to 15lbs????


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## Bluegoat05 (Mar 22, 2010)

Rukee said:


> If you really think the motor is near it's max from the factory, what the heck are you doing bolting on a turbo and cranking it up to 15lbs????


calm down ruk i think you left your head in a different thread lol:cheers


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jetstang said:


> The LS2 is at it's max?? Not even close. The LS motor is the BEST engine Chevy has ever built. period, dot, the end.. You had a radiator hose leak, and lost a head gasket because of it. There is no reason for your damage at 40k miles, or why the hose went. Sh#t happens, don't hate the car. Get it fixed and press on. I still want a newer GTO even after your story. My LS1 Vette has 95K on it and all original hoses. I should do some maintenance on the cooling system, but haven't had an issue yet. Stay positive!!:cheers


I like the car, really love the car but I can't afford to keep the car if it's going to have problems after the warranty is expired. I understand $h1t happens but this was little much to swallow. I'm just praying they did a good job as I really have intentions of keeping the car, but if I end up footing for money out for major repairs, it's going away. That is my current state of mind and it's based on owner experience. When I look back on it, for the money I paid I did get a lot of car for not a whole lot of money considering back in 2005 a 400 plus horsepower car was very difficult to find at less than 35K. I love the interior, though it's not really American, Holden did a very nice job considering what is usually inferior quality from American makes. All in all, it's definitely not the best car that's out there right now, but performance bang for the buck it's still tough to beat. Though there are a lot more new players out there and some massive improvements as well. The GTO is great when it's not costing an arm and a leg to get fixed.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

Rukee said:


> If you really think the motor is near it's max from the factory, what the heck are you doing bolting on a turbo and cranking it up to 15lbs????



This was from a press statement coming from GM itself some time ago. At best the LS2 was good for another 75 hp. I'm not into turbochargers or even into superchargers, I prefer it au natureal. Perhaps the reason why they moved to the newer engines is based on the desire to have a supercharged Corvette and Cadillac CTS-V. Otherwise, what's the reasoning for the newer LS Series engines?


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

YeomanDroid said:


> This was from a press statement coming from GM itself some time ago. At best the LS2 was good for another 75 hp. I'm not into turbochargers or even into superchargers, I prefer it au natureal. Perhaps the reason why they moved to the newer engines is based on the desire to have a supercharged Corvette and Cadillac CTS-V. Otherwise, what's the reasoning for the newer LS Series engines?


The newer LS engine is just an improved version of the last engine, more HP and cubic inches?. Remember, 400HP is brake HP, not gross HP. So, that is actually almost a 500HP small block, thats a ton of HP already. There are worked LS motors over 1000HP on mostly stock parts, but they are power adder cars. We are in the new Muscle car era, and the cars are super fast!
Now they are doing direct injected motors, and the V-6 is putting out 320HP stock!!


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

YeomanDroid said:


> This was from a press statement coming from GM itself some time ago. At best the LS2 was good for another 75 hp. I'm not into turbochargers or even into superchargers, I prefer it au natureal. Perhaps the reason why they moved to the newer engines is based on the desire to have a supercharged Corvette and Cadillac CTS-V. Otherwise, what's the reasoning for the newer LS Series engines?


In a way your right about GM saying the motor is limited to a certin amout of power. I think its more of a CYA for GM. The motors are proven to hold more than what GM has advertised.

Most newer GM V8s are based off the LS2/GENIV engine design, there have been some impovements to the block after the LS3 based LS9 came out thats about it. The LS9 was strenthened and that was applied to all LS3/6.2 block engines.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

GM4life said:


> In a way your right about GM saying the motor is limited to a certin amout of power. I think its more of a CYA for GM. The motors are proven to hold more than what GM has advertised.
> 
> Most newer GM V8s are based off the LS2/GENIV engine design, there have been some impovements to the block after the LS3 based LS9 came out thats about it. The LS9 was strenthened and that was applied to all LS3/6.2 block engines.


Yep, that was kind of what I was thinking at first when I heard this. If anybody cares here is the update on my car:

It's still at the dealership. I was supposed to get it last Fri. but allegedly the valve gasket did not arrive. I was supposed to get a call on Mon around noon but I had to call and leave a message (understand they do get busy) and I waited 'til 2:00 PM to call back. Left a message. Get a call back at 5:00 PM while I was heading to the dealership. The gasket did not arrive. Peeved but what can I do? The car was towed in to the dealership last Mon. evening and they tested everything on Tue. So does it really take that long to get a valve cover gasket?

I also asked for the old parts, e.g., valves, etc. of course there is a suspicion the valves did not get replaced when I was told they were. The service advisor mentioned when the cylinder head was taken to the machine shop they may have the valves there but he'll check into it. I'm not exactly sure why the valves would go the machine shop if they needed to be replaced anyway. I'm frustrated at the delay but I definitely want my old parts even if I have no intention on using them just as proof the work was done as promised.

Any suggestions?


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

That wasn't too bad a wait for parts. Our HHR SS turbo blew at 14k miles and the dealer told us it would be months of driving a ****ty loaner. A few complaints to corporate and we magically got it fixed in less then 2 weeks. Also when her stiching tore on the GTO, it took 6 months for replacement rears to come. They only replace the seats, not the headrests and the grain in the leather doesnt match... and now the headrest stiching just split for the new owner(her Dad). He is very pissed about it since the car saw 1500 miles since it was replaced and is garage kept.

Just wait to you need a new key...


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jpalamar said:


> That wasn't too bad a wait for parts. Our HHR SS turbo blew at 14k miles and the dealer told us it would be months of driving a ****ty loaner. A few complaints to corporate and we magically got it fixed in less then 2 weeks. Also when her stiching tore on the GTO, it took 6 months for replacement rears to come. They only replace the seats, not the headrests and the grain in the leather doesnt match... and now the headrest stiching just split for the new owner(her Dad). He is very pissed about it since the car saw 1500 miles since it was replaced and is garage kept.
> 
> Just wait to you need a new key...


How interesting. The same thing is happening to my rear seat headrests, I was overseas for six months, came back and they were literally unstitching and it was mostly in my garage for the whole time I was gone. Funny you should mention the key fob, it already happened.


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## YeomanDroid (Oct 19, 2010)

jetstang said:


> The newer LS engine is just an improved version of the last engine, more HP and cubic inches?. Remember, 400HP is brake HP, not gross HP. So, that is actually almost a 500HP small block, thats a ton of HP already. There are worked LS motors over 1000HP on mostly stock parts, but they are power adder cars. We are in the new Muscle car era, and the cars are super fast!
> Now they are doing direct injected motors, and the V-6 is putting out 320HP stock!!


I just drove the new supercharged Jaguar with the direct injection engine. I had time to kill while our Land Rover was being serviced. The 475 hp is simply simply awesome for a 4 door car. It pulled like a dream and is definitely a daily driver so you're not getting beat up all the time. The sales person was pretty cool letting me drive the higher powered vehicles way out of my price range. What a world of difference compared to the GTO. Of course, big $$$. I can't wait to try the 510 hp Jaguar.


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