VE Timing Chain (Stretched)

[CHEFAI]

hey guys and girls,

my fiance and i purchased a VE Omega from a car yard in late April. When we looked at it, it had the engine light on. The sales man told me it was going to be fixed without an issue. As time progressed and as my blood was boiling more and more each day because of bullshit with the new VE's its finally come to the problem of what was causing the engine light to appear. I found out today after nearly a month we havent had our car its a streched timing chain issue, so we are getting the timing chain/sensors all replaced.

Prior to this the computer was APPARENTLY playing games saying sensor after sensor had to be replaced, then the sales person called Holden Tech to have a chat to someone and they said it could be a BCM/ECU/Wiring (Condensation in loom) issue. Now i have heard this before and they went ahead and replaced it all but still came up. Then they end up getting to the bottom of the issue which was the Timing Chain setting it off.

Mind you the engine warning light was coming up 15mins of driving after the sensor/code was deleted (from what i was told), up to this stage we are hoping to get out car next week which will be a month from purchase also with everything replaced GENUINE PARTS and i will be asking from the workshop to tell me what was replaced even though it didnt solve the problem.

Im a mechanic at a small workshop myself and i have bought a later model car purely for the reason as all mechanics have in common. The last this they want to do is fix problems on their own car when they get home.

Im glad im not paying for it......i just dont want any problems in the future......................

Also its a Late 06 VE Omega 3.6L

 

[vn4250]

hi, i have a 2006 ve omega (not bought through holden) its an ex-gov health dept. i only had the car 1 year & 4 months now and 80,000km when purchased. complete logbook service but not with holden but through fleet company dealership.
its about a year out of warranty but only just reached 100,000km prior to taking it in to holden for diagnose.

this week i got confirmed p0018 code which resulted in a stretched timing chain fault. got that confirmed by gateway holden in fairy meadow but they didn't pick it up the 1st time and sent us off saying the car was fixed, and a minute after driving out of holden then they picked it up 2nd time round. they charged me a ridiculous $70 just to read the trouble code & reset the check engine light (5 minute job mine you) pretty piss about that.

anyways had whinged to them about this problem with stretched timing chains and how the tech service bulletin is mentioned on several postings and people having it fixed outside warranty. but my fallen a deaf ears, gateway holden saying its not gonna be covered under warranty cause its out of warranty. so i contacted holden customer assistance hotline and they say its a to dealership approve warranty jobs and not holden, holden just pays the dealership for warranty jobs. so decision from gateway holden was NO not covered under warranty which mean i was in for a hefty repair bill.

question: how long (km) does a standard timing chain last? and is it a geniune fault if the chain don't last up to 100,000km? (may consider legal action if i can get hard facts)
bottom line... i been quoted similar prices around $1800 to fix, don't have that kind of money right now.

question: is it possible to replace it yourself? how difficult is it and how much cost for parts? my most experience is replacing head gaskets on older falcons. which i've been told getting to the ve engine is a big job but replacing the chain is easy part.
bottom line... i have a ve in the garage, not driving it anymore as i don't want to further degrade the engine while stretched timing chain fault is still exist.

IMO: i've own two falcons before and they've been reliable and had them for a long time, ford was very cooperative even after warranty. i can't really say it for holden. so for the 1 year & 4 months of my holden experience, what i thought was a good car, things like this issue is making me think holden is very poor quality build and goes same for the service. sorry to say but if they can't support their holden owners then i'll go buy something else (not holden) as soon as i get rid of the car. very disappointed indeed.

is there any help out there would surely much appreciated. thanks.

 

[philsv6]

As its a known fault for 06 models, I think you should be able to get it fixed by holden (they have in the past even with the cars being out of waranty) Timing chains should last the lifetime of the engine, shouldnt really have to replace them ever under normal and correct opperating conditions. Its not a rubber timing belt that should generaly be replaced every 100,000km.

good luck

 

[mi04se1]

There is no set time frame for timing chains, they could last for a few months or years. Unless your real good at tearing down the engine, I would let a certified tech do it. On Cadillacs it takes about 8 hours. Trust me, Im a Cadillac parts manager and I know alot about this.

 

[Sabbath']

this week i got confirmed p0018 code which resulted in a stretched timing chain fault. got that confirmed by gateway holden in fairy meadow but they didn't pick it up the 1st time and sent us off saying the car was fixed, and a minute after driving out of holden then they picked it up 2nd time round. they charged me a ridiculous $70 just to read the trouble code & reset the check engine light (5 minute job mine you) pretty piss about that.

It's a standard diagnostic fee. You took the car in to get it checked out. Deal with the costs involved.

anyways had whinged to them about this problem with stretched timing chains and how the tech service bulletin is mentioned on several postings and people having it fixed outside warranty.

The car is atleast a year out of warranty. I've never heard of a car a year out of warranty having warranty work approved.

gateway holden saying its not gonna be covered under warranty cause its out of warranty.

question: how long (km) does a standard timing chain last? and is it a geniune fault if the chain don't last up to 100,000km? (may consider legal action if i can get hard facts)

Legal action for what? A mechanical fault that only affects a minor amount of vehicles?

bottom line... i been quoted similar prices around $1800 to fix, don't have that kind of money right now.

That's the price to fix it. Dont have the money, dont fix it. Bottom Line.

question: is it possible to replace it yourself? how difficult is it and how much cost for parts? my most experience is replacing head gaskets on older falcons. which i've been told getting to the ve engine is a big job but replacing the chain is easy part.

Of course it's possible, but make sure you're confident before you tackle the job. The Alloytec isnt a hard engine to work on.

IMO: i've own two falcons before and they've been reliable and had them for a long time, ford was very cooperative even after warranty. i can't really say it for holden. so for the 1 year & 4 months of my holden experience, what i thought was a good car, things like this issue is making me think holden is very poor quality build and goes same for the service. sorry to say but if they can't support their holden owners then i'll go buy something else (not holden) as soon as i get rid of the car. very disappointed indeed.

is there any help out there would surely much appreciated. thanks.

You bought a second hand car, out of manufacturer warranty. You knew that when you bought it. No point having a whinge now when something goes wrong with it. It's one of the perils of owning a car. Things go wrong, you fix them. And i dont really see what Holden Service has done wrong, or Holden Customer service? You have no contract with them to honour to fix it, or to pay for it.

 

[pjdm1980]

If it's a known FAULT then it should be fixed. I've never heard of a timing chain giving up after only 100 000Klm's as per usual another dealership with their head up there own arse!

 

[Sabbath']

If it's a known FAULT then it should be fixed. I've never heard of a timing chain giving up after only 100 000Klm's as per usual another dealership with their head up there own arse!

Bull. Should i be able to take my VT back to Holden and get them to fix the piston slap? The car's out of warranty, but surely, because it's a fault that Holden recognised, surely they should fix it? Or what about the VH seat crack, or the seat in my VL that always used to recline back on itself itself, surely the dealership should cover thhat aswell?

Who's going to pay for the time that the dealership spends on the car? Holden wont pay, the owner wont pay either so you expect the dealership to cover every fault with every car that holden produces?

The car wasnt even serviced at that dealership to begin with. Just another case of somebpody being too cheap to fix their own car when it goes wrong.

The facts are:

Bought a car, used.
Owned the car for over a year.
Car is out of new car warranty both on time and kilometres.
Car gets a mechanical fault
Owner now having a cry because for some unknown reason, the dealership, and Holden wont pay for the repairs.

 

[pjdm1980]

If it is a clear design fault then yes. That's why they get paid to design cars otherwise i might as well start building cars in my back yard with sticks and lawn clippings. If it had let go and it was from lack of servicing or reasonable wear and tear then I would say stiff but 100 000Klm's with full service history, get stuffed!

 

[Sabbath']

If it is a clear design fault then yes. That's why they get paid to design cars otherwise i might as well start building cars in my back yard with sticks and lawn clippings. If it had let go and it was from lack of servicing or reasonable wear and tear then I would say stiff but 100 000Klm's with full service history, get stuffed!

You can have your opinions and do all the chest heaving you want, but the warranty is expired, so they have no obligation to fix it. I saw one guy bring his VR in with 14,000km's on the clock with a rooted fuel pump claiming that it should be fixed under warranty. Over a decade after the product was given to the customer, yet within the first 20,000km of the vehicles life. According to your logic, the pump should have been fixed under warranty.


Parts have a finite life on them. The manufacturer gives you 3 years or 100,000km's as a reasonable time for any niggling issues to raise their head and then be fixed. This car is well out of the 3 years, and is also out of the km area.

Hard luck.

 

[pjdm1980]

Fuel pump are not a known weak point. that's my whole point it's a known weak point or as normal people call it a design fault! and as for the chest comment I'm just another person who likes Holden cars just not there service departments because it's full of managers with heads up there arse's.