Stuffed engine

[Ron Burgundy]

not without some fraudulent service papers.

It is BS though that a new car can't have minor services done on it by an owner.

It's not BS. The line has to be drawn somewhere....

 

[losh1971]

I would not. There were signs something was not right. The op chose to investigate himself...missed the real issue and the engine blew up. What argument would you have to ask holden to cop the bill...

Probably no leg to stand on but for the sake of a drive to the stealer and asking for "Good Will" you never know . We had a car once that had a purchased warranty but only applied if the car was serviced at CMI in Adelaide. It has a problem with the rack. Now we left the state. When we returned 18 months later and took the car in to have the noise looked at, we were told a big fat too bad, so sad, gonna cost you $2500.
A few days later I received a call and the dealership said bring it in we will still fix it under warranty. Now it was only a $2500 job to replace the rack with a brand new one but had I not tried I already had my answer, just saying.

 

[losh1971]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If it was my vehicle I would at least try. I wouldn't go in waiving the "I have rights banner", I would simply ask the question and get the manager in charge to at least make some calls to see if someone is willing to help me out as gesture of "good will". Like I said earlier worst case scenario you get no where, but still no worse off. Sounds like you have plenty of money Ron, if your willing to not even try and see what they say.

 

[tml678]

It's not BS. The line has to be drawn somewhere...

I tend to agree with this. The manufacturer is within their rights to expect that a qualified person has performed maintenance on the vehicle before they can be expected to cough up for a warranty claim.

 

[stick3]

wondering did he change the oil filter, all alloytecs have it in the same location, on top of engine in a metal screw in housing

 

[lordsnipe]

Qualifications aside, I don't see how dropping the oil and changing the filter will break an oil pump. If the oil pump failure was manufacturing related (and not service twisted such as sludge) then Holden should be at least partially coming to the party.

But they probably won't though. Worth a shot.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Qualifications aside, I don't see how dropping the oil and changing the filter will break an oil pump. If the oil pump failure was manufacturing related (and not service twisted such as sludge) then Holden should be at least partially coming to the party.

That would not break it, but incorrect backyard diagnosis resulted in the engine blowing up in this case. In theory, a qualified mechanic/dealer might have queried the pump especially when the oil level was fine and avoided this disaster. OP decided to pursue this himself and it backfired. Sometimes you just cop it on the chin and learn from your experience. Trust me...I ve been there

 

[tml678]

If the oil pump failure was manufacturing related (and not service twisted such as sludge) then Holden should be at least partially coming to the party.

Chances are it would have been throwing error codes prior to self-destructing. I feel for the OP, but if you're going to do a backyard service job on a modern car, you need to at least invest in a cheap OBDII device to find out what the car is telling you when things aren't running as they should.

It's the first thing Holden would have done if they had the chance. Whilst I feel for the OP and at times question Holden's customer service, they are well within their rights to point to the front door on this one.

 

[Skylarking]

I tend to agree with this. The manufacturer is within their rights to expect that a qualified person has performed maintenance on the vehicle before they can be expected to cough up for a warranty claim.

I’d both agree and disagree in part.

Yes, the manufacturer is within their rights to require that qualified people service the vehicle but they must also attribute the failure to poor workmanship or faulty parts. They can’t simply say no warranty applies because you changed the oils and filter when your problem is with a window which won’t open.

Obviously, in this case, it’s a little more complex and likely a loosing up hill battle but they must find some fault in the workmanship or parts used.

I’d have a discussion with the dealer about the cause of the failure. IIRC some VE/VF commodore V6’s had issue with oil pump o ring leaks and bypass valve sticking... so the cause of the failure should in the first instance be identified.

That would not break it, but incorrect backyard diagnosis resulted in the engine blowing up in this case. In theory, a qualified mechanic/dealer might have queried the pump especially when the oil level was fine and avoided this disaster. OP decided to pursue this himself and it backfired. Sometimes you just cop it on the chin and learn from your experience. Trust me...I ve been there

I’ve read on these forums how dealers have sent people home to monitor a condition causing odd mechanical engine noises, starting problems and injector misfire. So dealers diagnostics aren’t always crash hot and their advice isn’t always the best.

At this point the OP hasn’t been exactly clear on the conditions related to the warnings he had, how he diagnosed and how long he drove it in this condition. He was told clearly that he’s not covered because he bought it second hand (presumably privately). If he bought it secondhand from a dealer, I’d call bullsh!t on such a view as he would be covered by probably the remainder of the factory warranty or statutory warranty.

But back to DIY oil changes. Imagine if you changed the oils and filter and Holden used this fact as an excuse to not fix your piston slap issue. You wouldn’t be happy and rightly so.

As such, let’s cut the OP a little slack and not simply slap him down and find blame in what he has done. He may not have done anything different to what any of us may have done given the story so far.

 

[tml678]

they can’t simply say no warranty applies because you changed the oils and filter when your problem is with a window which won’t open.

Where did anyone suggest they would/could do that? I thought it was fairly clear that we were referring to any warranty claim pertaining directly to an issue potentially caused by poor/incorrect servicing.

I’ve read on these forums how dealers have sent people home to monitor a condition causing odd mechanical engine noises, starting problems and injector misfire. So dealers diagnostics aren’t always crash hot and their advice isn’t always the best.

No, but in such a case, the onus will certainly fall back onto the dealer because they were given the opportunity to address the issue, unlike in the OP's case.

He may not have done anything different to what any of us may have done given the story so far.

Servicing is a little bit more involved than just an oil and filter change these days. There's a reason why they list "connect diagnostic tool" (or whatever it says) in each scheduled service checklist. Most backyard mechanics wouldn't do this so (and i'm not suggesting the OP has done so), it's a bit rich to expect warranty coverage when you've potentially failed to listen to what the car is trying to tell you.