Hydraulic Lifter Replacement Policy
 

VIN: 2G1FT1EW3A9145506
Mileage: 16,200
Last week I heard a knock in the engine at between 1.8K and 2.0K rpm. The dealership diagnosed it as hydraulic lifter failure and replaced the 8 lifters on the cylinder bank with the failed lifter.
If the good lifters on the bank with the bad lifter were replaced because they too might be about to fail, doesn't it make sense to replace the other 8 lifters on the other cylinder bank?
As of yesterday, the car is back in the shop for a similar engine knock. So far there's been no conclusion as to from where the knock is coming. It seems to have stopped. It seems as though the "low hanging fruit" in this case is the lifters. How can I get my dealership to replace the other 8 lifters?

What's the sense in having this thread if GM won't answer?

careful...:icon_wink:, curious though...L99 or LS3?

Chevelle Man,

The problem has been side-stepped. I traded in the used 2010 LS3 Camaro that had the lifters replaced and bought a new 2010 LS3 Camaro. Same color, same features but with the addition of the ultrasonic backup warning system. So far, the new Camaro has been running really well and I'm out of the break in period.

This might seem an extreme solution but the deal I got on the new one seemed really good and I could just see myself going 'round and 'round with GM about the lifters that were not replaced and the knocking sound that the local techs were not able to duplicate on the used LS3.

However, no one from GM has responded to my "complaint" posted over a month ago. So I ask again, what's the sense in having this sticky thread if it appears that no one from GM is even monitoring it, never mind addressing problems posted to it?

Am I missing something here? It's possible.

your question was actually forwarded to the "CARS" team at GM..I was told you would be getting a response from the proper division regarding this..

So something is actually being done? Someone noticed? Maybe I missed it, but it would have been nice to have received some notification that this was being handled by GM.

In any case, I'm no longer involved with the car in question. However, if GM decides that replacing all lifters instead of just the lifters on one cylinder bank when one goes bad is to be their standard policy, it may be of benefit to others in the future.

Yes. I did forward this question and a few others to GM...as it says in the sticky..these people are doing this as a favor to the forum and I'm sure have alot of other stuff to do as well. I'm sorry not every question can be answered in a timely manner.

Hello Fellow Gearheads - If I may weigh in on the subject, this might help provide the answers you're looking for......

I think it partially depends on whether the noise can be isolated to a specific lifter or not so many times the decision would be made on a case by case basis.

In some cases, the dealer technician can isolate it to a specific lifter so they would just replace the 1 lifter or maybe 2 lifters for that one cylinder. In other cases, they may not be able to isolate it to a specific cylinder or lifter but feel it is coming from one bank or the other so they just replace all of the lifters on a suspect bank. In other cases, they may be convinced that it is a lifter noise but can not isolate it very well so they just replace all of them.

Hope this helps.

- Friends from within :)