Ongoing Saga With My Truck

SoCalChris · July 18, 2008

So I get a call from the dealer this morning, asking me to come down so we can discuss my options about what to do with my truck. I thought that can't be good, and was right.

The gear on the distributor had every single one of it's teeth sheared off. That of course means that all of the metal gear teeth are now in my engine. The mechanic seemed pretty sure that removing the oil pan, and flushing the distributor shaft with oil will remove the metal since the truck hasn't been run at all since this happened. Since he thinks metal didn't get up into the engine, he thinks we can just replace the distributor and it will fix it.

The problem is that the parts and labor are another $700, on top of the nearly $700 I've already put into it to replace the BCM. At this point, the repair is already costing me over 10% of what I originally paid for the truck new.

The truck is a 2006, with less than 60,000 miles on it. It hasn't been abused, and has had all maintenance performed on it. The dealer gave me the GM customer care number to call and see if they would cover some of the cost, since it is out of warranty, but still should not have happened to a truck as new as mine.

Has anyone had any luck with this? Anyone have any tips that might help me get them to cover some of the cost?

I'll post pictures of the sheared off gear teeth once I get the part back.

jrrod2004 · July 18, 2008

So I get a call from the dealer this morning, asking me to come down so we can discuss my options about what to do with my truck. I thought that can't be good, and was right.

The gear on the distributor had every single one of it's teeth sheared off. That of course means that all of the metal gear teeth are now in my engine. The mechanic seemed pretty sure that removing the oil pan, and flushing the distributor shaft with oil will remove the metal since the truck hasn't been run at all since this happened. Since he thinks metal didn't get up into the engine, he thinks we can just replace the distributor and it will fix it.

The problem is that the parts and labor are another $700, on top of the nearly $700 I've already put into it to replace the BCM. At this point, the repair is already costing me over 10% of what I originally paid for the truck new.

The truck is a 2006, with less than 60,000 miles on it. It hasn't been abused, and has had all maintenance performed on it. The dealer gave me the GM customer care number to call and see if they would cover some of the cost, since it is out of warranty, but still should not have happened to a truck as new as mine.

Has anyone had any luck with this? Anyone have any tips that might help me get them to cover some of the cost?

I'll post pictures of the sheared off gear teeth once I get the part back.

I used to handle these types of cases for the Field Office of GM.

Some of the questions that I would ask the customer (in this case, you) would be the following:

Are you the original owner?

What is the mileage of the vehicle?

Do you maintain the vehicle?

Is the maintenance done at the dealership?

Does the vehicle look maintained?

Have you had any goodwill in the past?

What previous GM vehicles have you owned in the past?

What can we do to earn your business after the warranty expires?

Do you show appreciation?

Will you be willing to pay a 'deductble' or 'co-pay'?

Why is GMPP not covering this part

jrrod2004 · July 18, 2008

it is also my understanding that there have been changes to the way GM handles these cases. As I understand it now, the dealership has "ultimate empowerment" to handle these cases and only punts to GM when they dont want to handle it/cannot handle it/or there are different circumstances that require GM to assist from the coporate level.

SoCalChris · July 18, 2008

Mike, thanks for the heads up about what they'd be asking.

I just got off the phone with them, and it went pretty much like you described. When asked what they could do to help, I suggested they cover the parts and I cover the labor. The lady I talked to phoned the dealer while I was on the line, and came back quickly and escalated my case to the district manager.

Hopefully they'll help me out on this. I'm supposed to hear back by Monday.

Zembonez · July 18, 2008

Couple of questions...

What made the distributor gear shear? Did the distributor lock up? Seems odd. Maybe some others in here can speak up but I've never heard of this happening. Surely at 60K this is most unlikely.

Also... It sounds to me like the BCM they claimed was the issue was actually a failing distributor. I think they misdiagnosed the original issue and now (like a dealership huh?) they want you to pay for the "next" thing they feel will fix it. (which was probably the problem all along)

I'd be setting the service manager down for a little "chat" about now. You should not be paying for their technician trainee to practice.

EDIT: I see your last post now. Good luck with it.

asilverblazer · July 18, 2008

When did the 5 year 100,000 powertrain warranty start? I thought for sure it was 06, why doesn't that cover it?

SoCalChris · July 18, 2008

I'm pretty sure that the BCM was bad anyways, there were quite a few little electrical gremlins that I've had that would be caused by it.

I have no idea why the distributor did that though. The truck had been throwing a P0016 error code for a week before this happened. I'm pretty sure that was related, but I have no idea what caused that code to be thrown in the first place.

So far the dealer has been good. I don't have any complaints with how they've handled it so far. Hopefully they'll keep it up.

Unfortunately, the 5 year 100,000 mile power train warranty started in 07.

dietz4ibanez · July 18, 2008

My 2002 Chevy Cavalier has a cracked dash and the glovebox door fell off(which I think my wife lied about whether or not she got mad and slammed it open when she got her last ticket?)... She denys all acusations...

Anyways....

GM gave me a $1000 towards my next new or gm pre owned purchase...

pm26 · July 18, 2008

About the distributor gear failure:

I assume that the distributor is driven by the gear on the cam. The distributor gear is normally secured with a roll pin to the distributor shaft. From your description, the distributor gear practically disintegrated, and I would suspect that there is serious damage to the cam gear as well, necessitating replacement of that too. If the distributor shaft is not damaged, then it may be possible just to replace the distributor gear.

Anyway, I see the following possibilities:

1. The original distributor gear was improperly surface hardened (carburized), resulting in rapid wear and failure

2. a wrong size gear was installed on the distributor, causing improper meshing with the cam gear, thus causing premature failure

3. the distributor was not seated properly, causing the drive gear to partially mesh with the cam gear, resulting in rapid wear and failure.

4. The roll pin sheared, causing the gear to rotate around the shaft and become partially disengaged from the drive gear, causing rapid failure.

This is a 4.3 liter V6 engine right? I believe that this is the only '06 truck engine that still uses a distributor.

mkelly · July 18, 2008

About the distributor gear failure:

I assume that the distributor is driven by the gear on the cam. The distributor gear is normally secured with a roll pin to the distributor shaft. From your description, the distributor gear practically disintegrated, and I would suspect that there is serious damage to the cam gear as well, necessitating replacement of that too. If the distributor shaft is not damaged, then it may be possible just to replace the distributor gear.

Anyway, I see the following possibilities:

1. The original distributor gear was improperly surface hardened (carburized), resulting in rapid wear and failure

2. a wrong size gear was installed on the distributor, causing improper meshing with the cam gear, thus causing premature failure

3. the distributor was not seated properly, causing the drive gear to partially mesh with the cam gear, resulting in rapid wear and failure.

4. The roll pin sheared, causing the gear to rotate around the shaft and become partially disengaged from the drive gear, causing rapid failure.

This is a 4.3 liter V6 engine right? I believe that this is the only '06 truck engine that still uses a distributor.

Correct me if I'm wrong but arent distributer gears usually made of a soft metal like copper or plastic so they wont damage the camshaft?

SoCalChris · July 18, 2008

About the distributor gear failure:

I assume that the distributor is driven by the gear on the cam. The distributor gear is normally secured with a roll pin to the distributor shaft. From your description, the distributor gear practically disintegrated, and I would suspect that there is serious damage to the cam gear as well, necessitating replacement of that too. If the distributor shaft is not damaged, then it may be possible just to replace the distributor gear.

Anyway, I see the following possibilities:

1. The original distributor gear was improperly surface hardened (carburized), resulting in rapid wear and failure

2. a wrong size gear was installed on the distributor, causing improper meshing with the cam gear, thus causing premature failure

3. the distributor was not seated properly, causing the drive gear to partially mesh with the cam gear, resulting in rapid wear and failure.

4. The roll pin sheared, causing the gear to rotate around the shaft and become partially disengaged from the drive gear, causing rapid failure.

This is a 4.3 liter V6 engine right? I believe that this is the only '06 truck engine that still uses a distributor.

The mechanic used a bore scope to look at the cam gear, he said that it looks undamaged. He also mentioned that the cam gear is made of hardened steel, and is harder than the gear on the distributor, so the distributor gear failing wouldn't necessarily destroy the cam gear. I didn't look at it too closely, but it looks like the distributor gear is attached to the distributor shaft, and isn't replaceable without replacing the entire distributor.

Yeah, this is a 4.3L V6.

dietz4ibanez · July 18, 2008

I am pretty sure that gear is replaceable without replacing the whole distributor... Its just a small pin that you have to punch out and then the gear slides off.

At least thats the way it has been for my trucks...

ZZ327 · July 19, 2008

You have a v6 Right? Otherwise theyre trying to screw you. No other GM pickup engine has a distributor anymore.

pennzoil29 · July 19, 2008

I am pretty sure that gear is replaceable without replacing the whole distributor... Its just a small pin that you have to punch out and then the gear slides off.
At least thats the way it has been for my trucks...

+1. I agree with Brian on this one. I know you can change the gear on the 5.7. You'd think it would be the same for the 4.3.

Zembonez · July 19, 2008

Wait a minute! Cam gear wear or no cam gear wear... there will be TONS of metal shavings at the mid level of the block where the cam lives. How the hell do they plan to get them out of there? It's not like there is just a big cavern under the cam where all things dangerous fall out of harm's way. At the very least, the intake needs to come out and the valley where the cam and lifters live needs to be flushed and cleaned out. Then the pan should come off and have the same done to the bottom end of the engine. Cylinders are safe since the only way for anything to get in there is through the valves.

The plot thickens...