My story
I've started this site after another round of issues with the 5.3L Vortec LH6 V8 engine in my 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT LT. These are only my own personal experiences and opinions. The history I relate here is supported by General Motors dealership service department documentation.
I am sharing my story so that others can be informed about the problems that I've had. I am not out to 'smear' the product or company. In fact, if my issues were isolated, I might not have a 'beef' at all. But, some preliminary internet research has shown that problems similar to mine appear to be shared by others.
I am not exactly sure what I hope to 'gain' from sharing my story. As I start this 'campaign' my vehicle is in pieces at the dealership while I try to make contact with GM customer assistance, and my family of 5 is left without our main mode of transportation. In a perfect world, GM would step up and cover this second engine repair or retro-actively cover the repair when this problem arose at 33 months & 47,000 miles. But, maybe I'm living in a dream world...
I plan to do more research and see if I can determine how 'widespread' this issue seems to be. I know I've read numerous similar stories about mis-firing engines, fouled and cracked sparkplugs, engine or cylinder head re-builds, etc from others with this engine (or possibly variations therof, Generation IV 5300). From what I can tell at this point, the problem seems to be related to the way this engine shuts down half the engine under certain conditions (called AFM, Active Fuel Management or DOD, Displacement on Demand).
Condensed history of major repairs & issues
2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT LT with the 5.3L V8
***This history is supported by dealer documentation***
January 3, 2006 – Vehicle placed in service
October 9, 2007 – (vehicle in service for 21 months, mileage = 36,004)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Lawrenceville, GA. Among other things, we were concerned with the engine running roughly at start up when cold. Dealer determined cause was a conflict in the PCM and recalibrated the PCM. The problem did not seem resolved by this, but we did not pursue this since the issue seemed minor at the time and the vehicle was technically out of warranty coverage.
February 4, 2008 – (vehicle in service for 25 months, mileage = 40,684)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Loganville, GA. The vehicle had begun to leak transmission fluid and was not shifting properly. Dealer said that the pump bushing had ‘spun’ and leaked the fluid down to a point where the 3rd gear clutches had burned. The dealership replaced all the clutches and the pump bushing. Cost = $1,794.66
October 16, 2008 – (vehicle in service for 33 months, mileage = 46,965)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Lawrenceville, GA. The vehicle had begun to run very roughly and was low on power along with a check engine light. I had pulled the spark plugs and found several that had fouled to a point where they were completely ‘caked’ with deposits and the porcelain had cracked on the combustion end. Prior to this, the only symptom that I had begun to notice was some oil consumption. At the time, I didn’t realize the severity of the problem so I did not record the amount of consumption. I did, however, begin a practice of checking the oil roughly monthly and was adding maybe a quart between each oil change.
The dealer determined that cylinder #6 was low on compression due to a bad valve guide that allowed the valve to become ‘caked’ to a point that it would not ‘seat’ properly. Both cylinder heads were removed & rebuilt. Cost = $3,029.00
January 28, 2013 – (vehicle in service for 85 months, mileage = 114,661)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Buford, GA. The vehicle began exhibiting the same symptoms as it did in October, 2008. As I did then, I pulled the spark plugs and found several that had fouled and cracked. This time, the running roughly and loss of power was accompanied by a distinct ‘ticking’ sound from the top of the engine. Prior to this, the engine was still consuming oil, now at a rate of about a quart per month. I made a point of changing the oil every 4 months regardless of mileage as well as checking & adding oil once per month.
The dealer now advises the same repair as before (Oct. 2008) but advises that the oil consumption problem will remain or offers a second option of a replacement engine. Shop foreman suggests that the cause of the problem is ethanol gas. Cost for another head rebuild = $2357, cost for replacement engine = $5572.
GM's response to all this
It shouldn't be a surprise, I guess, but I did not get an encouraging response from the folks at Chevrolet Customer Assistance. They said that due to the vehicle being outside certain 'parameters' with regard to warranty coverage they would not offer any assistance on the repair. He was kind enough to offer me a $2000 'certificate' towards the purchase of a new vehicle if I was in the market for a new vehicle... Oh, and he did tell me he was sorry for my problems and thanked me for bringing it to their attention.
A couple of thoughts here;
My concern was never that at 85 months and 114,000 miles I felt my vehicle should be allowed some original warranty coverage. I would never, ever attempt to make a warranty claim on a first time failure of this kind at that age and mileage. My issue was that I was repairing the same catastrophic engine failure twice in that time frame. None of the folks at Chevrolet Customer Assistance seemed to understand where I was coming from. Their simple reaction was that we're not covering a vehicle that far outside the bumper to bumper warranty coverage.
Another thing, my vehicle is sitting at a dealership, in pieces while I try to figure out how I'm going to pay to repair the thing... again... and customer assistance guy wants to know if I'm in the market to buy a new vehicle? That says something, but I'm not sure I've figured out just what that is yet!
And lastly, for now, when looking back at some of the questions I had before (earlier post) I now have some of my answers;
My experience thus far with this vehicle, its history of catastrophic engine and transmission damage, and the folks at Chevrolet Customer Assistance can only lead me to one answer to these questions.
They took a look at at my vehicle's repair history and thought to themselves, 'yeah, that's about right'...
I am sharing my story so that others can be informed about the problems that I've had. I am not out to 'smear' the product or company. In fact, if my issues were isolated, I might not have a 'beef' at all. But, some preliminary internet research has shown that problems similar to mine appear to be shared by others.
I am not exactly sure what I hope to 'gain' from sharing my story. As I start this 'campaign' my vehicle is in pieces at the dealership while I try to make contact with GM customer assistance, and my family of 5 is left without our main mode of transportation. In a perfect world, GM would step up and cover this second engine repair or retro-actively cover the repair when this problem arose at 33 months & 47,000 miles. But, maybe I'm living in a dream world...
I plan to do more research and see if I can determine how 'widespread' this issue seems to be. I know I've read numerous similar stories about mis-firing engines, fouled and cracked sparkplugs, engine or cylinder head re-builds, etc from others with this engine (or possibly variations therof, Generation IV 5300). From what I can tell at this point, the problem seems to be related to the way this engine shuts down half the engine under certain conditions (called AFM, Active Fuel Management or DOD, Displacement on Demand).
Condensed history of major repairs & issues
2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT LT with the 5.3L V8
***This history is supported by dealer documentation***
January 3, 2006 – Vehicle placed in service
October 9, 2007 – (vehicle in service for 21 months, mileage = 36,004)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Lawrenceville, GA. Among other things, we were concerned with the engine running roughly at start up when cold. Dealer determined cause was a conflict in the PCM and recalibrated the PCM. The problem did not seem resolved by this, but we did not pursue this since the issue seemed minor at the time and the vehicle was technically out of warranty coverage.
February 4, 2008 – (vehicle in service for 25 months, mileage = 40,684)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Loganville, GA. The vehicle had begun to leak transmission fluid and was not shifting properly. Dealer said that the pump bushing had ‘spun’ and leaked the fluid down to a point where the 3rd gear clutches had burned. The dealership replaced all the clutches and the pump bushing. Cost = $1,794.66
October 16, 2008 – (vehicle in service for 33 months, mileage = 46,965)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Lawrenceville, GA. The vehicle had begun to run very roughly and was low on power along with a check engine light. I had pulled the spark plugs and found several that had fouled to a point where they were completely ‘caked’ with deposits and the porcelain had cracked on the combustion end. Prior to this, the only symptom that I had begun to notice was some oil consumption. At the time, I didn’t realize the severity of the problem so I did not record the amount of consumption. I did, however, begin a practice of checking the oil roughly monthly and was adding maybe a quart between each oil change.
The dealer determined that cylinder #6 was low on compression due to a bad valve guide that allowed the valve to become ‘caked’ to a point that it would not ‘seat’ properly. Both cylinder heads were removed & rebuilt. Cost = $3,029.00
January 28, 2013 – (vehicle in service for 85 months, mileage = 114,661)
Brought vehicle to GM dealership in Buford, GA. The vehicle began exhibiting the same symptoms as it did in October, 2008. As I did then, I pulled the spark plugs and found several that had fouled and cracked. This time, the running roughly and loss of power was accompanied by a distinct ‘ticking’ sound from the top of the engine. Prior to this, the engine was still consuming oil, now at a rate of about a quart per month. I made a point of changing the oil every 4 months regardless of mileage as well as checking & adding oil once per month.
The dealer now advises the same repair as before (Oct. 2008) but advises that the oil consumption problem will remain or offers a second option of a replacement engine. Shop foreman suggests that the cause of the problem is ethanol gas. Cost for another head rebuild = $2357, cost for replacement engine = $5572.
GM's response to all this
It shouldn't be a surprise, I guess, but I did not get an encouraging response from the folks at Chevrolet Customer Assistance. They said that due to the vehicle being outside certain 'parameters' with regard to warranty coverage they would not offer any assistance on the repair. He was kind enough to offer me a $2000 'certificate' towards the purchase of a new vehicle if I was in the market for a new vehicle... Oh, and he did tell me he was sorry for my problems and thanked me for bringing it to their attention.
A couple of thoughts here;
My concern was never that at 85 months and 114,000 miles I felt my vehicle should be allowed some original warranty coverage. I would never, ever attempt to make a warranty claim on a first time failure of this kind at that age and mileage. My issue was that I was repairing the same catastrophic engine failure twice in that time frame. None of the folks at Chevrolet Customer Assistance seemed to understand where I was coming from. Their simple reaction was that we're not covering a vehicle that far outside the bumper to bumper warranty coverage.
Another thing, my vehicle is sitting at a dealership, in pieces while I try to figure out how I'm going to pay to repair the thing... again... and customer assistance guy wants to know if I'm in the market to buy a new vehicle? That says something, but I'm not sure I've figured out just what that is yet!
And lastly, for now, when looking back at some of the questions I had before (earlier post) I now have some of my answers;
- Is it reasonable to spend $4,824 on repairs to a General Motors corporation vehicle within 33 months and 47,000 miles of its in-service date?
- How about spending over $10,000 to keep a GM vehicle on the road through 115,000 miles?
- Is it acceptable to the General Motors corporation that an engine that has had no misuse and that has been cared for properly should need to be replaced at 115,000 miles?
- Is it acceptable to the General Motors corporation that the cylinder heads in the Vortec LH6 5.3L V8 engine are only good for ~50,000 miles before needing to be completely R&R’d?
- Is it acceptable to the General Motors corporation that this engine consumes oil at a rate that seems excessive?
My experience thus far with this vehicle, its history of catastrophic engine and transmission damage, and the folks at Chevrolet Customer Assistance can only lead me to one answer to these questions.
They took a look at at my vehicle's repair history and thought to themselves, 'yeah, that's about right'...