Urgent Advice need on the L77

Well the final word is Holden wont install a new engine without swaping the camshaft that is in the L77 with an L98 cam. They agreed to supply a new camshaft and not remove the one from my faulty L98. So I guess we'll see how it goes.

 

Well Holden never ceases to amaze me.

Here is the lastest. The new L77 (bastardised 3/4) engine is in the process of being fitted to my car at the moment.

I get word today that they (the dealer) has changed the camshaft from the L77 with a new L98 camshaft.

Also as outlined in the Techline they have removed the L77 sump and will take the sump from my August 2009 built L98 (last of the L98's) and fit it to the what was new L77.

There are 2 proceedures on the techline one for a 2007, 2008, 2009 VE with the L98 and then there are the 2009, 2010 VEs with an L98. If the L98 was fitted back in 07, 08 and early 09 is says to use the sump, dipstick tube and dipstick etc etc. For the later model VE (so MY9.5 owards) you on need to replace the Valley cover and crankshaft. There is no mention of the need to change the sump.

I've told the dealer that yes my car is a 2007 VE but the engine is a L98 from the MY9.5 series which is why it only takes 7.6ltrs of oil. The earlier L98 had an 8.3ltr sump.

This is just complete bullsh!t that Holden will replace an engine with a new 3/4 motor but pull it apart to swap bits (like sump, etc) because? who f$!kn knows. From what I can gather seeing NO ONE will give me a technical reason why it is imperative to change theses parts (such as if they don't the ass end will fall out of it). It defeats the purpose of supplying a new motor which is covered under a 2 year 50,000klm Holden warranty.

I have reached the point with all this bullsh!t I have had to go through, that I will be publishing all my frustration on the various Motor magazine sites, Youtube and anywhere else it will get coverage. Basically warning people to be wary of the way Holden deals with Mechanical engineering faults. My recommendation would be not to buy a V8 holden ever. They have had so many years to get it right an still can't do it.

I am also in the process of obtaining professional advice in which to take the matter further.

NOTE: I should add though. Except for what appears to be a lack of care resulting in the sump being removed possibly unnecessarly, my local Holden dealer have been great to work with.

Also was told today that they no longer take the motor out through the top of the engine bay. They remove the engine out the bottom. Yep got to pull all the subframe crap, steering, etc etc out to change the engine. What use to be a 2 day job now becomes a week (maybe longer)......

Heres a pic of the so called NEW 3/4 engine minus the sump.

 

I received advice today that they will be refitting the sump that came with the new motor as it shouldn't have been removed.

I'm glad the service manager is on the ball. +1 for him.

 

The original engine developed the same problem at about 30,000klm. It took another 30,000klm before anyone would admit that there was a problem. At the time there were no L98 engine available so they had to go with Option 1 of the Techline which is to use a cylinder block and rebuild it using parts from the OEM engine. Within a few months the same noise came back. To rule out a build quality issue they were able to source a 3/4 crate motor. This was installed last November after a lengthly battle again for them to recognise it was the same issue and they wanted it to get much worse than it was before doing anything.

Around march or so the new engine had completed about 8,000klm and I was called in for an oil change. They used a 10w30 semi syn and with a few weeks I started noticing the noise in the mornings. Then the fight started all over again.

The car is not driven hard, modified in anyway. I cant speak for anyone who has driven it at the dealership when servicing. It is primarily a family car and I always have the kids in it. I guess I have been unlucky. My issue is not so much the product but how its handeled by Holden to get thing resloved, and I'm not talking about my dealer. They have been good. Its the people that represent Holden's view of these situations.

Anyway you can only take my word for it but those who have seen how I look after my cars no its not a driver related issue. If the info I put up helps others then I've achieved something.

Cheers

 

Hi all,

I thought I'd update everyone on the latest with my 'NEW' engine being fitted.

Just got off the phone with the Holden dealer. They said I won't be getting my car back today as there is a problem with the new motor. It is rattling its head off up the top end somewhere and they don't know why (like I said why change the camshaft?) anyway we'll let that one go. They told me that they will need to contact Holden TAC (yaaay!!!) for advice.

Here we go again. I'm placing bets that they want to pull the heads off etc etc etc..... F%$K when will it ever end!?

 

Well it just keeps getting better.

Phoned the service department today to see what's happening with my car. Was told that the service manager will ring be back (I think I should have stipulated a date and time) the afternoon goes by so I SMS the manager and they reply to my SMS instead of calling me. I suppose I should be lucky I got the SMS.

Anyway, the message tells me that they (the dealer) has stripped the motor (this is the Brand NEW L77) down (heads off, lifters out, etc etc.) to find the fault. Got the usual response of cause 'Nothing Found'. So they are putting it back together and will see how it sounds...

I must have crossed the path of a lot of black cats in my day to deserve this crap... I think it might be time to take this issue to the Department of Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs.

 

I was able to source the techline (from another forum) for the proceedure they said had to be followed when fitting an L77 in a 2006-2010 VE SS which was fitted with an L98.

Here is a PDF.
View attachment L98 V8 Engine Serviceability -.pdf