Bertha turned the big 50 this week - truck and dealer review

ShoddyHog · November 20, 2011

My truck, Bertha rolled over 50,000 miles this week. I thought I would give you my thoughts on the truck and dealer service I got.

Overall, I'm just about as pleased as you can get. Issues have been:

From day one -- shuddering, hesitation, and surging when just at cruise at 60 mph on flat, smooth road.
Uneven accelleration at WOT (Wide Open Throttle).
Noisy driver's side window in the winter.
Battery has left me stranded twice.
Slip yolk clunking.
Lifter rattling at startup.

I'm not sure about the lifters. What I hear at startup doesn't alarm me, and almost sounds like something else like injectors firing. This is my first AFM engine though, so maybe a lifter problem sounds different than it does than say on a LS2.

I took it to the dealer for the #1 - #5, and it was the worst dealer experience I've ever had in my life. First, I was just about to go over the body warranty, and called the dealer. I stated that I wanted to make an appointment and why, but they couldn't get me in for almost a week. I stated that I would be out of warranty by then. After asking her TWICE, she assured me that if she made the appointment and I brought it in to have the ticket written up that I would be good even if I was a few miles over the following week.

I showed up that day, and when I told the service writer that, he started yelling at me, making a scene, and assured me that if I was 1 mile over the warranty period, that NONE of the body stuff would be covered. He made quite the scene, and stormed off yelling that he was going to get the service manager. I was in shock.

He came back a couple minutes later without the service manager. He said he couldn't find him, but assured me nothing but the powertrain would be under warranty. I was as polite as a nun, and said, "I really don't care about the body stuff, so just forget it." He then said they'd check it anyway as a favor to me, but would most likely not be covered by warranty.

I explained #1 and #2 above, to which he replied, "I already know what that is...it needs to have injector cleaning." I asked how much that would be, and he said "About $250."

I said, "I'll pass on that, and besides...it has been doing this since day one, so it can't be dirty injectors." Well, you'd swear I just insulted his mother, but he proceeded to record my issues, and I left.

I showed up the following week, and was #2 in line of about 8 vehicles waiting in line before they opened. I was sitting there watching one of their porters wiping down a customer's truck with a dry rag. (FAIL) He kept looking over at me, and giving me the creeps. He finally came over and asked if I would like to buy some window guards (plastic things that allow you to roll windows down slightly in the rain) that a customer gave to him because he didn't want them anymore. I declined.

When I pulled in, a different service writer tried to pull up my ticket, but couldn't find it. I explained that "Bob" had written it up, and he said, "Well, then I you will just have to talk to Bob. Of course...here's my truck blocking everyone else, and Bob is helping other customers. When he finally got around to me, he denied remembering me at all, or writing up the ticket. So....I had to stand there and hold everyone else up while he wrote up my ticket.

Guess what - could not duplicate on all of the items, and they rotated my tires instead of a rotate & balance like I'd asked for because he was sure that's all I needed.

ShoddyHog · November 20, 2011

I know what you're saying...doesn't sound like I'm satisfied at all, right? Well, let me continue...

First, I think I've solved the shuddering problem. I ran HP Tuners logs, and tried to see if I could find the issue, but could not. It really didn't annoy me that much, so I've just lived with it. I just replaced the stock air filter with a K & N drop-in filter two weeks ago, and guess what? I haven't felt that shuddering. Not sure why that would have fixed it, but I haven't checked my logs yet. Maybe the factory filter is just too restrictive. At any rate, the part-throttle acceleration is much smoother now too. If it comes back, I might replace the MAP sensor just to see if that helps. Not sure what else could be the problem unless the filter somehow affected the MAF airflow.

I've been very impressed with the fit & finish and ride. I do 80 mph all the way to work, and besides a slight tire out of balance, she's been smooth as glass. I could drive to California in the truck. It is very comfortable. Rattles drive me insane, and she's still rattle free at 50k.

The 4wd performance is outstanding, even with the sissy Wrangler-STs. The only thing that almost got me stuck was a solid sheet of ice on my driveway. Other than that, she just goes and is very sure footed. Wet traction sucks to high hell with the STs, but that's a tire problem...not the truck.

Performance has been good, and I get 16.8-17 mpg. Not too bad IMO. Also love the long bed. It has come in handy more than once.

Best of all, last winter my wife said, "Thank GOD we bought that truck." lol What more could a guy ask for.

ShoddyHog · November 20, 2011

I also have been running Amsoil ASL 5-30 and Wix filters, and doing Blackstone labs UOA on it. I've extended out the oil changes to 10,000 miles, and even though it appears I could go farther, that's all I'm going to push it.

GERRY: This 7,881-mile oil use interval was a cakewalk for your Silverado's LMG engine. Iron increased a

bit, but that is what we expected to see since iron is the only wear metal that should increase with extended

use. All other metals held fairly steady, showing normally functioning parts inside your engine at 38,462

miles on the odometer. The viscosity was right in the middle of the acceptable range for 5W/30 oil, and no

contamination was found. The TBN was 3.4, plenty of active additive remaining. Your engine can handle a

longer oil run. Try 10,000-miles next.

Last change: They were right...had not changed the air filter yet.

GERRY: Bertha's V-8 still looks okay in analysis. Some elements are a little higher than expected, those

being silicon and lead. Lead likely shows some bearing wear, and silicon could be dirt due to poor air

filtration. If you can take care of silicon by replacing or checking the air filter, it's quite possible lead will drop

right back down, too. Other elements look good, so we'd be surprised if the lead was the result of a

mechanical problem, but it never hurts to watch your oil pressure just in case. The TBN of 3.5 is plenty

strong, but use 10,000 miles again to watch lead.

I've checked my oil pressure, and it is good to go. This engine uses ZERO oil.

ShoddyHog · November 20, 2011

For what it's worth, I had a pinion seal leaking on my GTO, and spotted it 100 miles before the warranty expired. I called a dealer and they said, "No problem, just bring it in next week." It was replaced under warranty even though it was a few hundred miles past the warranty.

Not sure what this guy's problem was, but hey...not my business. I sure as hell know I'll never set foot on Weber Chevrolet's property again.

pm26 · November 21, 2011

Slip yolk clunking.

It might be getting real mushy by now.

ShoddyHog · November 21, 2011

Slip yolk clunking.

It might be getting real mushy by now.

Not sure what you mean by that. I had them check it at about 36,000 miles, and you couldn't pull through a parking lot and not feel it. It still does it today, but I've driven so many GM trucks/SUVs, it doesn't "bother" me...I just thought they would take care of it since it is so easy for them to fix and such a common problem.

It is obvious that the **** I dealt with told them to not check anything once I refused his $250 injector cleaning.

Garrett Street · November 21, 2011

Sounds like you've got a good truck and crappy people! Have you pulled anything with it? How's the 5.3 and 6 speed combo work for ya?

bluArrow · November 21, 2011

Not sure what you mean by that.

It's a slip yoke, not yolk. Eggs have yolks, trucks have yokes. Darn English language....

ShoddyHog · November 21, 2011

Not sure what you mean by that.

It's a slip yoke, not yolk. Eggs have yolks, trucks have yokes. Darn English language....

ROFL...Oh, now I get it. I know the difference, but have been making that same mistake for years. Oh well.

cmackvr6 · November 22, 2011

Nice write-up. Sorry to hear about your bad experiences at the dealer. Sounds like you have a good attitude though. I have some "issues" with my truck too. But the good far outweighs the bad!

ShoddyHog · November 22, 2011

Nice write-up. Sorry to hear about your bad experiences at the dealer. Sounds like you have a good attitude though. I have some "issues" with my truck too. But the good far outweighs the bad!

Yeah...just a bad service writer trying to use upsell tactics that I'm sure works on 99% of people. I wish he would have brought back the manager and we'd have talked to the person we talked to. I'm also lucky in that I have a half dozen or more shops to choose from.

I love my truck...if I could roll back time, I'd buy the same one again.