ME3500

I prefer to do my own work. Then I know the job got done right. Paying 90-$100/hr for dealer labor is hard to swallow. But I also understand they have overhead to pay for. But having a job that moves me from state to state I have become more reliant on the dealer network to repair things, unless I wanted to cart my shop around with me. SO far from Ontario Canada, Denver Colorado, Santa Clarita CA and now San Antonio TX I have had good care from all the dealer shops that have done work on my GM trucks. Except one. In 2000 I traded my 94 vette in on a ZR2 S10 Blazer ( vette deemed not family friendly by new wife). At about 396 miles the 4.3L vortec ate it's valve train and grenaded the motor. Chevy did send a new crate motor to the dealer for replacement. Hey things happen. At about 39000 miles (now out of 36000mile 4x4 warranty) the transmission started hard shifting into second. It finally popped a code which the same dealer told me the transmission needed to be replaced. No way was a 4L60E transmission failing at such low mileage. But the same dealer would not do anything but offer to install new tranny. So I took it to AAMCO. Well seems there was a service bulletin out from GM since 1996 about the aluminum valve body in the 4L60E transmission prematurely wearing causing pressure to bypass. The ECM sensed this and told the Torque converter to lock. Hence the hard shift. GM was not about to fix this since they could no longer sell 400 dollar valve body's. Remember my 4L60E was built in late 1999 and installed in a 2000 Blazer. AAMCO had a kit which reamed the aluminum body out and installed a steel sleeve so you had a steel valve on a steel sleeve. An aluminum valve body was never going to last against a steel piston. There were so many of these failures that AAMCO made a good living on doing this job. It floored me that that dealer did not know about this SB. OH but there is more! At 42000 the tranny let go. After the whole (we need to replace your transmission) thing from the selling dealer I took it back to same AAMCO shop that did the hard shift trouble shooting( these guys at Valencia AAMCO new the 4L60E). Remember the engine that cratered at 396 miles! well when this dealers tech installed the new warranty engine he put the flywheel on backwards. Anyone that has replaced a clutth or torque converter knows the writing on the flywheel that says THIS SIDE FACES ENGINE. So the TQ converter did not completely mate with the transmission pump spline. So AAMCO rebuilt now destroyed transmission and added fix to valve body and took plenty of pics. When I went back to that dealer, well it had changed owners and the new one was not about to eat a $3000 tranny repair that someone else may have caused.And they offered no help with GM either. My position was it was faulty warranty repair and they should help me with it. I took it to Chevrolet myself through Chevy hotline. Initially it was rejected because truck was past 36000 power train warranty. I pleaded the case that the improper warranty fix caused the failure in the first place. GM said I should have taken it to the dealer first, not a third party. But I knew that bad dealer that sold me the truck, that said the tranny needed replacing would have never owned up to their faulty work when they discovered it. That is why I took it to AAMCO for unbiased investigation. After 9 months of not giving up with GM and considering a suit, I finally got an elderly lady on the Chevrolet case line. After hearing my story she pushed my case up. After another 3 months have having 2 different dealer service reps reviewing the damaged parts and pictures that AAMCO documented, GM made a 50% offer . I took the 1800 and considered 50% of something was better than 100% of nothing. All because of that one dealer really. It could have gone either way with Chevrolet, but GM did help some in the end . It was because of that , I am driving my 2015 Duramax. As I stated in this thread earlier my new dealer fixed the oil leak same day, offered a loaner truck and followed up 2 days later to make sure all was well. That is the way it is suppose to be. That is the way they all have been except that one.

Dealer just called. They replaced Oil Pan Gasket. Dropped it of at 7am they had-er done by 3:23 CST. Also completed air/bag and seat belt recall. Crazy an Oil Pan seal would leak at less than 19K. I don't think GM even uses gaskets any more. Looked like RTV to me. Hope that fixed it.

After cleaning it up and driving it, it began to look more like an oil pan leak. Although the oil would gather mostly at the bell housing mating joint, it did not look like it was coming out of the bell housing drain hole. Dropped it off at the dealer, they confirmed its still under warranty and they would take care of it. Also there is a recall on the airbag and seat belt software. Will update when I get it back.

Just picked up a 2015 3500 HD. It was a pre-owned certified at 19K. When I was looking at the truck, I told the sales person it had an oil leak. They assured me it was residue from oil change. I know the oil filter on LML is in a bad place so I said ok, maybe. Ended up buying the truck and took it on a short 100 mile trip. Oil is leaking from Bell Housing. Didn't take long to find this post. Seems like this problem has been going on for some time for various reasons. Hope it is just a oil pan gasket. I guess I will see what kind of dealer I have when I take it back. Will update when I know for sure what it is. Sure looks like a rear main to me though.