My truck was supposed to be completed by noon today. When I called the service guy says " I saw him drive it out of here then it was back in the bay". The service adviser then tells me there is something else wrong. I asked "what" he says the mechanic did not say. I drove there on lunch and I find my truck with coolant dripping out of the exhaust and all over the floor. I asked the mechanic what happened. He said "I took it for a test drive and it was blowing white smoke like no tomorrow and coolant was running out of the drain hole in the muffler" He then started to say "I did not know this was the problem when you said fuel was running out of the breather" I said "that was never the problem", "I brought this in because there was fuel in the crankcase" Box of rocks.. He then tells me he thinks that two of the sleeves came out with the injectors and he was not sure they were seated completely. ARRGH http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Angry.gif


I am now VERY WORRIED about this motor! coolant in the combustion chamber!! HYDRO????? BENT PARTS?? Through the turbo? I just don't know what else!!


HELP, GM master technicians!!


I need a list of potential issues!!!!! I called GM customer service them to document the problem. That bunch is LOST as well. But I think I got the message across.Edited by: arguy

What dealer did you take it to? I live in Hudson, just curious.

Tim Lally Chevrolet in Bedford, Ohio

Havre Chevy in Ravenna has some good guys working there.

Thanks

Arguy; I wish there was something I could say.... Good luck. Try and PM some of the techs. Speedy response's may help ease your mind.

Good luck and keep us posted.

If you crack your oil drain plug, all of the antifreeze will drain out first.


This will at least tell you how much is in the pan.


Let them fix it again, and if it is noisy or down on power you can go from there.


Good luck!

They still have the truck. It is apart and they are trying to figure out what is causing the leak. I am worried about what problems the coolant caused. I am afraid the motor is now junk.

Hmmm, Interesting to say the least


In order for the truck to be going through coolant that bad, I almost dare they flat missed installing a cup.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif You would really have to have that sucker cocked in there to be going through that much. If it is mispositioned that bad, head damage is likely. I would try very hard to be there when they pull it apart, at least the part of removing the injectors etc. You dont want them to try and cover anything up.

I guess in defense of the mechanic, we are human and mistakes happen. Just be sure that you dont take the brunt of it. There is a lot of clean up involved in getting antifreeze out of the places it shouldnt be. A few oil changes for the engine, the exhaust it will likely burn out with time. Either way, I am curious as to what they findhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Disapprove.gif

Sounds like to me that they have diagnosed the problem. I don't believe you have an issue with Hydro Lock and bent rods.The drove the truck in and out and and they wont be able to disguise that occurrence.I'm also assuming you have ample warranty left.


Obviously the mechanic screwed up,sucks for him too. He wont get paid double for the job hopefully the dealer will help him out.


Make sure the make note of it on the service order,good luck.





Mac

Thank you for responding, unfortunately I can not be there when they pull the valve cover. I will go there at lunch an take a good look and talk to the mechanic. How about any damage to the reciprocating parts?


On edit, they did try to say I brought it in that way... The truck has 148000 miles on it. I just bought it from a wholesaler in July.....Edited by: arguy

if your brought it in that way, why were you waiting for INJECTORS since July 20th? Wouldnt they have tried to sell you repairs for it?

Good point.

Arguy; try and keep your wits about you. Keep yourself in a frame of mind where you can think on your feet. The dealer may try and slip you some BS. Hopefully you can let them know you are not taking any crap.

Well the story is changing. Now they are telling me these diesels smoke allot after doing this job and it will burn off....


To answer your question dmaxalliTech, obviously I did not bring it in that way, I brought it in with fuel in the crankcase. I just purchased the truck wholesale, drove it for two days and figured out it had a problem. I then called GM and verified the vehicle was still covered under the special policy and took it to this dealer with all the appropriate info.


My question to you and Mackin is: is what they are telling me possible? Or is this more crap????


They want to put it back together and drive it for a couple of days. I do feel sorry for the poor bastard tech, he has spent 3 full days on this 8 hour job. I asked the service advisor if the shop will help him at all, the advisor said "NO"


Let me know what you guys think......

I have found that if you pull a sleeve during and injector replacement and you HAVE NOT drained the coolant from the engine before hand, the coolant ends up in the exhaust.

I have no idea the path it takes, but it seems it is through the exhaust.

I'd seen it happen to another tech, and from that point on every injector job the coolant gets drained ( cheap insurance at no cost to customer )

The truck smoked(steamed ) for several miles, but it did disapate, and there was no damage to the engine.

I hope there isn't something else that happened.

As an aside, I have also seen what happens when a head gasket is put on backwards on the Dmax, engine runs fine, but the coolant and oil mike a NICE strawberry froth that takes SEVERAL oil changes to remove.

I tend to learn alot form others misfortune, not saying I don't screw up, but I am definatly careful about what I do, the thought of buying a $10K engine isn't real appealing to me.

Kevin
Mr. Goodwrench in training

Thank you for the response Kevin. I am beginning to understand how GM works their techs. It looks like the way they weed out the the techs that make mistakes. Sometimes, I wish we could get away with that in the shampoo filling business. There is a list of people I would like to make them pay for their mistakes. A few of them would be working the rest of there life for free.


I am used to diagnosing problems from a drawing, so, not knowing the layout of the block makes things difficult for me to visualize. If the coolant is draining into the exhaust it would explain all of the stuff I witnessed. I feel much better, thanks again.

... I tend to learn alot form others misfortune, not saying I don't screw up, but I am definatly careful about what I do, the thought of buying a $10K engine isn't real appealing to me.

Kevin
Mr. Goodwrench in training


Kevin,


Great Post! .... http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gifAnd good to hear from another coconscious Mr. Goodwrench! The forums tend to amplify the negative stories but I like to think the majority of techs share your attitude… By the way (in case I need some work done) are you less than a days drive from Binghamton NY?


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif

Thank you for the response Kevin.* I am beginning to understand how*GM works their techs.* It looks like the way they weed out the the*techs that make mistakes.*

They all make mistakes, even I do, honestly, training has alot to do with the end results, as much as the techs own abilities.

I know of a few dealers in my area who only work on one Dmax a month if that, mostly basic service when they do.

My dealership is a medium duty dealer, so we see it all, ( for the most part) if its yellow, it goes to CAT dealer after we determine if it is a CAT issue or a GM issue.

Dmax training (for me) to this point has been hands on, read the manual and a large amount of common sense and learning from others mistakes (inatentivness).

The most frustraiting part ( for me ) is dealing with the GM district reps, seems thier agenda is more self serving than having anything to do with actual customer satisfaction.
Up until about the end of July I wan't allowed to replace all 8 injectors, as the rep would kick the claim back " All 8 injectors do not fail at the same time" which is true to a point, but I have been able to get them to fail consecutively doing the "Highside fuel pressure test " which resulted in a set of injectors. Lot of work to prove what you already know the problems is.

I guess all I can really say, cut the tech some slack, there are folks from several directions breathing down his neck.

In most cases, the service manager has little knowledge of the repair( or the engine for that matter ) the service writer has even less, and there is a LOT lost in translation between tech, service writer, service manager food chain. understand this and things can go a whole lot smoother.
Getting rabid about the whole situation makes everything more challanging to deal with, cool heads will prevail.

I will tell you, if a person comes into my shop and wants to discuss a situation with a vehicle, I'm all ears, until there is a cross word or a threat made. At which point said person will be asked to leave, or escorted out.

Think about your job, and how things progress when the fit hits the shan, and you are the man holding the wipe. it's not a whole lot different for the rest of us.

Hopefully I have helped a bit.
Kevin

A sleeve o-ring may be rolled over....

Kevin, those posts are well said, its the same no matter where you are when you are in our shoes.

I'm not sure what effect the general's current state-of-the-art coolant has when it reaches the crankcase, but glycol based coolants eat crank bearings.

I deal with hot heads at work all the time. The problems that I deal with are worth 10 of thousands of dollars and at times much much more. I never knee jerk react during a tense discussion, I will usually try to diffuse any posturing. I will ask pointed questions and document the conversation.


It does not sound like any coolant entered the crankcase, That never entered the conversation. I will have the oil analyzed after a few hundred miles. Also I would think that if the amount of coolant I saw on the floor leaking out of the exhaust came out of the combustion chamber, there would be bent parts in the reciprocating assembly.


The last discussion I had with the mechanic he was trying to tell me that the glow plug connector was bad and needs to be replaced. I could tell he broke it trying to get it off the glow plug. I just kept my mouth shut. The part is only 8 bucks so I will pay for it so the tech doesn't. He already spent two extra days on this truck for free.


I should get the truck back by Tuesday. I will post the results. The biggest problem I have here is whoever assigned the job should have assigned it to one of the three Duramax techs in the medium duty department instead of one of the guys in the car service department. Maybe someone could explain how that works....


Again, Thank you for the quality response.


Rodney

Rodney, really sounds like a bad deal all around here. First of all, i wouldnt worry about the tech working on it for 3 days, thats not your fault.


As far as how the work gets dispatched,,, good question, after 10 years I still dont know. Seems it rarely goes to who can do it the best, rather at my shop, seems the newbies get the gravy cause the actual work is too hard and they cant/wont do it.. IMO, its a disadvantage to be experienced..http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

I know it is not my fault that he worked on it for three days. The thirty bucks is not going to hurt me. GM is paying for the labor, if the motor is still good there will not be an issue. However, if the motor is damaged, I have documented the crap out of this including many phone calls to GM customer service. (Now there's a bunch of boneheads)


I sound like the work is handed out by politics and not in the costumers best interests. All this is at a local level? Does GM have any influence here or just when they want to refuse warranty claims.


http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Disapprove.gif Rodney

what a mess. I doubt very much the motor is damaged.If so I am sure GM will cover it or the dealer..Dont worry about the tech,He either loves the d-max or hates it the moore he hates it means more for all us true d/max tech to fix....sad to say our GM brothers are struggling to fix it right......

you got it right when you call the tech reps bone heads....i tried to talk to some woman in floriday about replacing my DMF and she didnt know what a flywheel was but she knew I wasnt going to get one. I got another tech and he didnt know what a flywheel was either but he also knew I was not going to get one because there was a mysteriuos new one being developed.....all this time there was already a part number and the new flywheel available....that I found out about here and had to tell the dealer about it...then my injectors failed and I told them I wanted to come to their house and fill their cars up with diesel instead of oil and let them drive around if that was ok...they dont call me back now

fill their cars up with diesel instead of oil and let them drive around if that was ok...they dont call me back now http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big%20Smile.gif


They just don't get it, do they.

Latest update:


The stealer called today: Truck is ready! I get there and the motor sounds good, quiet, oil pressure is good, power good. I get a mile from the stealer and BANG! followed by loud compression escaping sound. One cylinder during the compression stroke. I did not open the hood, I drove it back to the dealer smoking and sounding like a steam engine.


I'm guessing a glow plug popped out, sounded to loud to be a head gasket. They have not told me what the problem is yet. I hope someone else is going to work on it but I guess that won't happen.


They have had this truck for 50 days. Disappointing.

You have WAY more patience than I do.

so, when do you wanna cart it up to MI?http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

so, when do you wanna cart it up to MI?http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif


I would love to but, I don't think I could get them to pay you! http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Disapprove.gif


Patients? What else can I do? Yell & jump up & down? I know squeaky wheel gets the grease... In all reality, they have been waiting for parts for 37 of the 50 days. So the dealer has been F%&*ing it up for 13 days, so much for an 8 hour job....

UPDATE:


http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clap.gif I got my truck back today. All seems well, runs strong, oil pressure good. It popped #6 glow plug, seems it wasn't tight.


Time will tell..... Now it,s time to have a little fun.. Thanks for all the support.....

<DIV>http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Angry.gif Its week #6 for me as of monday. Got a set of 4 injectors in at the dealer last week. Expecting the other 4 this week. The stealer ordered 8, but only got in 4. Calling the GMC Hotline daily.</DIV>
<DIV>I MISS MY TRUCK</DIV>

My wife had mine for only this morning. I missed it. Can't imagine being without it for that long.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif