Ever dealt with GM crate motor warranty replacement?

[EastAustinSawdust]

Long story short, something broke inside my GM crate motor, which was purchased (from Jegs) and installed in 2015 and has about 16,000 miles on it. Called Jegs, they gave me a phone number for the warranty dept at GM Performance. Gonna call 'em first thing Monday morning.

According to the GM warranty paperwork, the coverage is 36 months or 100K miles. So in spite of having just 16K miles on this thing, my coverage ended way back in 2018.

My question is: do you think there's any chance GM will still offer some sort of warranty coverage? This is a well-maintained and very gently used motor that was NEW in 2015, and there's now something clunking deep down inside it...something that should probably last 200K miles. I haven't yet opened things up to find out—waiting to talk to somebody from GM in case there's some sort of process or documentation they want me to go thru.

In terms of what actually broke...my best guess is a wrist pin, rod, bearing, or cam shaft. I can tell it's on the passenger side, and you can smell gas in the exhaust on that side which I assume means the affected piston is not combusting. The oil pressure is fine and the truck isn't burning oil either. My main hope is that the cam shaft is fine so I can do the repair without yanking the engine.

BTW, if you ever need to get in touch with the GM Performance Warranty Dept, here's their number: 1-866-453-4123 (couldn't find that anywhere on their website or on the warranty paperwork)

 

[SirRobyn0]

I cannot speak to GM specifically and I wish you the best of luck, but 5 years past the warranty end I hold out little hope. But it's still worthwhile to call and try you never know.

 

[fast 99]

Large print giveth, small print taketh away, read the warranty.

Yes, had to replace one new [not target] 350 GM engine under warranty. This engine was installed at our shop with certified techs. Was on a 1-ton box van, lots of work. They covered labor at $18 per hour. Shop rate at that time was 75 per. No fluids or ancillary parts covered.

If owner installed, most engine warranties have an exclusion and even then, may require documentation showing it isn't over fueling or have some other tune up related issue.

My experience with engine warranties, there's always a gotcha. Time wise it's out of warranty really doubt they will honor anything.

 

[GTX63]

Long story short, something broke inside my GM crate motor, which was purchased (from Jegs) and installed in 2015 and has about 16,000 miles on it. Called Jegs, they gave me a phone number for the warranty dept at GM Performance. Gonna call 'em first thing Monday morning.

According to the GM warranty paperwork, the coverage is 36 months or 100K miles. So in spite of having just 16K miles on this thing, my coverage ended way back in 2018.

My question is: do you think there's any chance GM will still offer some sort of warranty coverage? This is a well-maintained and very gently used motor that was NEW in 2015, and there's now something clunking deep down inside it...something that should probably last 200K miles. I haven't yet opened things up to find out—waiting to talk to somebody from GM in case there's some sort of process or documentation they want me to go thru.

In terms of what actually broke...my best guess is a wrist pin, rod, bearing, or cam shaft. I can tell it's on the passenger side, and you can smell gas in the exhaust on that side which I assume means the affected piston is not combusting. The oil pressure is fine and the truck isn't burning oil either. My main hope is that the cam shaft is fine so I can do the repair without yanking the engine.

BTW, if you ever need to get in touch with the GM Performance Warranty Dept, here's their number: 1-866-453-4123 (couldn't find that anywhere on their website or on the warranty paperwork)

In my opinion, their answer will be "No".
They won't care whether the motor was gently used or redlining to work every morning. The warranty is their protector and it is almost 6 years past the warranty.
The first thing you should do is have someone knowledgable diagnose the issue.
You may have better results with your auto insurance carrier.

 

[SirRobyn0]

In my opinion, their answer will be "No".
They won't care whether the motor was gently used or redlining to work every morning. The warranty is their protector and it is almost 6 years past the warranty.
The first thing you should do is have someone knowledgable diagnose the issue.
You may have better results with your auto insurance carrier.

That's actually a really good idea @EastAustinSawdust if you have full coverage on the truck, and GM turns you down try insurance next. At the shop I had a customer who got a rebuilt engine installed in his mid-90's GMT-400 with 200K+ because he had a metal rod kicked up on the highway that put a hole in his oil pan, and by the time he could get off the highway the motor was done. Knew another one that got and new engine put in his Ford F350 which was a diesel and he filled it with gasoline.

I'm not sure in your case with the engine, but if you have documentation on the purchase and mileage at the time of the purchase and maybe get a shop to diagnose the sound and write an invoice with the problem clearly stated. You might be able to convince the adjust that it falls under an accident or act of god.

This is actually the reason all of my rigs have compression coverage. It's paid for itself a few times, especially when we have had severe wind storms.

 

[Bloodhound1981]

I have no experience to speak of with GM Performance warranty claims but I suspect there is little hope. I have had enough bad experiences with other warrantys where I was in fact still in the covered period.

I waited as long as I could to order my GM Performance crate motor, so I would have the warranty coverage as long as possible. Well as usual everything in the build took way longer than I expected. So my crate motor now has about 60 miles on it but is now 3 years out of warranty. And in the meantime the price of the motor has doubled. So here's hoping to no issues.

 

[75gmck25]

Do some simple troubleshooting first. Pull the valve cover and check pushrods and rockers. Maybe have someone crank it over while you watch the valve train. You may also want to pull the intake and check for collapsed lifters, antifreeze leaks, etc. If no problems are visible in the valve train, you could try using a cheap borescope and look down each spark plug hole for any cylinder damage.

You could also pull the oil pan to check for damage to rods and crankshaft, but I don’t think you would find bearing damage unless you pull the engine and start taking it apart.

 

[SquareRoot]

Think of it as your lucky day for an upgrade.

 

[EastAustinSawdust]

Update: talked to multiple departments at GM and they all basically said 'heck no' which is pretty much what I assumed. I got the impression that if I was only like 6 months out of warranty they might be able to make an exception, but 5+ years out of warranty is just not something they'd ever cover, despite low miles. So now onto plan B, which is getting in there and seeing what the heck is wrong. To be continued!

 

[SirRobyn0]

Update: talked to multiple departments at GM and they all basically said 'heck no' which is pretty much what I assumed. I got the impression that if I was only like 6 months out of warranty they might be able to make an exception, but 5+ years out of warranty is just not something they'd ever cover, despite low miles. So now onto plan B, which is getting in there and seeing what the heck is wrong. To be continued!

Please keep us posted

 

[peats]

I once had a broken rocker arm that sounded like death. Maybe you will be that lucky.

 

[fast 99]

I have no experience to speak of with GM Performance warranty claims but I suspect there is little hope. I have had enough bad experiences with other warrantys where I was in fact still in the covered period.

I waited as long as I could to order my GM Performance crate motor, so I would have the warranty coverage as long as possible. Well as usual everything in the build took way longer than I expected. So my crate motor now has about 60 miles on it but is now 3 years out of warranty. And in the meantime the price of the motor has doubled. So here's hoping to no issues.

FYI GM has discontinued many part numbers. Motor might not be available. I know the generic low HP new 350 is not. Felt lucky to buy one of the last available.

 

[Bloodhound1981]

FYI GM has discontinued many part numbers. Motor might not be available. I know the generic low HP new 350 is not. Felt lucky to buy one of the last available.

They're still making mine. It's a great motor btw. Roller cam, Vortec heads, over 350hp and 400lb/ft of torque. But man the price has gone up like everything. I think I paid 3 grand.

https://www.chevrolet.com/performance-parts/crate-engines/sp350-357-base

 

[fast 99]

That's a Vortec. Was referring to the earlier 73-85 design.

$4600??????

Know things have gone up but that's crazy. They are much better motors than the early style but didn't want to deal with adapting one. Purchased the new 85 350 for around 1800 delivered. Runs nice, never going to roll the tires even on a good day.

 

[Olegmbuilder]

That's actually a really good idea @EastAustinSawdust if you have full coverage on the truck, and GM turns you down try insurance next. At the shop I had a customer who got a rebuilt engine installed in his mid-90's GMT-400 with 200K+ because he had a metal rod kicked up on the highway that put a hole in his oil pan, and by the time he could get off the highway the motor was done. Knew another one that got and new engine put in his Ford F350 which was a diesel and he filled it with gasoline.

I'm not sure in your case with the engine, but if you have documentation on the purchase and mileage at the time of the purchase and maybe get a shop to diagnose the sound and write an invoice with the problem clearly stated. You might be able to convince the adjust that it falls under an accident or act of god.

This is actually the reason all of my rigs have compression coverage. It's paid for itself a few times, especially when we have had severe wind storms.

You mean Comprehensive insurance coverage right? Not compression.