H3 Major Engine Problem

[Pacey]

Help!
I got my H3 now for two months and already I got a major problem.
No trouble up so far until I got back from my skiing vacation. After leaving the good ol' German "Autobahn" after 8 hours of driving with an average of 90 mph I noticed that the engine was vibrating strangely.
Well did not think about it until the Engine Warning Light came on steady the next day. Went to GM straight away. Apparenty there is a misfiring problem in one of the cylinders. Service thought that it was the spark coil, but it turned out that this was not the problem. Now they are tearing apart the Engine to locate the problem.

Thing is that although they are offical GM dealers here in Germany, it's their first H3 in for service and quite frankly I don't trust them being that experienced.

Anybody experienced something similar?

Damn! My rig's now in for almost a week and I got a really really crappy replacement...

[Pacey]

Help!
I got my H3 now for two months and already I got a major problem.
No trouble up so far until I got back from my skiing vacation. After leaving the good ol' German "Autobahn" after 8 hours of driving with an average of 90 mph I noticed that the engine was vibrating strangely.
Well did not think about it until the Engine Warning Light came on steady the next day. Went to GM straight away. Apparenty there is a misfiring problem in one of the cylinders. Service thought that it was the spark coil, but it turned out that this was not the problem. Now they are tearing apart the Engine to locate the problem.

Thing is that although they are offical GM dealers here in Germany, it's their first H3 in for service and quite frankly I don't trust them being that experienced.

Anybody experienced something similar?

Damn! My rig's now in for almost a week and I got a really really crappy replacement...

[f5fstop]

Do they use the same engine on any other vehicle in Germany? It's used in the US on a few other products.
But if they are good techs, an engine is an engine, and as long as they have the correct procedures, they should be able to work on it with no problem.

[Planohummer]

Two most likely conditions:
1)Alt, P/S pulley wobbling causing false misfire signals--they need to remove the engine belt and see if the misfires persist(make sure they don't run it too long)
2)Burnt exhaust valve seat. Have them do a cylinder leak down test. This will mean a cylinder head replacement(they're on backorder from GM).
Obviously, I don't have psychic powers and these both could be way off base. Two fairly common diagnostic tests listed above will at least get them started.

[Pacey]

@Planohummer

You won! Option 2 is the problem. But how on Earth can this happen on a brand new vehicle?

I already get stupid comments from my friends saying that the engine is unfit for the stressfull use on german motorways which average speeds above 95 mph.

[Mr. I - Man]

Dumb question, Did you follow the engine break-in proceedures properly? This must be done in order for everthing to seat properly.

[Pacey]

This is turning into a major case. Apparently there is a more serious problem. GM is having a technican from Detroit being send over as this is the first time this has happend.
They tried to explain to me but I am a technical n00b.
They are talking now of having the whole engine send back and or replaced. So probably I will be without my beloved H3 for more than 3 to 4 weeks. But this is unacceptable. I mean this car is only 2 months old and has no more than 3000 miles on the meter. Especially since they do not have an aedequate replacement.

[Mike E]

Can they at least give you a loaner while they have your H3? Not sure how that works overseas but my dealer will offer me a loaner H3 even when I go in for an oil change. Good luck, I'm sure GM will make it right for you.

[Planohummer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Pacey:
This is turning into a major case. Apparently there is a more serious problem. GM is having a technican from Detroit being send over as this is the first time this has happend.
They tried to explain to me but I am a technical n00b.
They are talking now of having the whole engine send back and or replaced. So probably I will
be without my beloved H3 for more than 3 to 4 weeks. But this is unacceptable. I mean this car is only 2 months old and has no more than 3000 miles on the meter. Especially since they do not have an aedequate replacement. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Have your friends with comments do some research on the air/fuel flow capabilities of that engine before they give you any grief.
Actually, I'd be more comfortable with GM replacing components as opposed to repairing them on that new a vehicle.
I don't disagree that it sucks to be out of your vehicle that long, but in the meantime you're not racking up miles on your vehicle and GM is footing the bill.

[H3 Hummer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">This is turning into a major case. Apparently there is a more serious problem. GM is having a technican from Detroit being send over as this is the first time this has happend.
They tried to explain to me but I am a technical n00b.
They are talking now of having the whole engine send back and or replaced. So probably I will be without my beloved H3 for more than 3 to 4 weeks. But this is unacceptable. I mean this car is only 2 months old and has no more than 3000 miles on the meter. Especially since they do not have an aedequate replacement. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Unacceptable Seems like they are really making an effort to remedy the problem(s). I think it sucks but at least they didn't say "user error".

[Pacey]

Spoke with the technican today. The main problem are defective valves. Problem is that actually my car is one of the first "official" H3's being sold by GM in Europe and now GM Europe is highly alerted and would like to investigate further. The technican told me that in their opinion they will exchange the valves and that's it. But GM now tells me that they need to investigate further and they would like to have the whole engine replaced and have mine send in. I really don't know what to do.

Regarding the replacement: If I would have a replacement H3, no problem. Thing is that they do not have any spares around and I have to stick with their smallest eurotrash...

[Pacey]

Thought I give you guys a little update. Its been now 5 weeks and my H3 is still dusting away in the garage without engine. Thing is that they cannot get the spare parts. While they were taking out the engine they caused damage to the radiator so that one had to be replaced as well. In the meantime they came up with some brilliant ideas such as shipping the whole car back to the factoy for replacing the engine. Problem is that they could not get it either. They had to get it out of production which is virtually impossible nowadays. I finally settled with the dealer today to take the car back and replace it with a new. Have to pay an additional 2500 bucks though. Anyway this was a terrible month. And I hope to be back on the streets as soon as possible. Who would have thought that this tiny engine warning light that came on more than a month ago turned into such a major disaster. The only thing that makes me worry is that they could not find a reasonable explanation as to what has caused the problem.

[f5fstop]

Why should you have to pay to have the vehicle replaced? If GM wants to purchase the vehicle back, insist upon them replacing the vehicle for free, as the would do for the US residents.
Does your country have any "lemon laws," like we do in the states? These are laws concerning the re-purchase of vehicles that cannot be fixed or fixed in a certain time period.

Sounds like an unfortunate and somewhat bizarre story. Obviously the dealer network for the H3 is not well established yet in Europe. I hope the outcome is positive.

Running at autobahn speeds (90ish) is not uncommon in areas of California and western states, so of course we want our engines to tolerate this type of stress.

S.

[Pacey]

The thing is with german law that you have to "compensate" the dealer for the miles you have driven the car. There is no legal right to return the car until they have tried at least twice to repair the damage. However there are some cases regarding a certain timeframe but in anycase this would have been a feast for Lawyers, which I tried to avoid as this would have ruined the whole fun! So I finally settled to the regular terms. All I want to do is to enjoy the car as I did this christmas when I was pulling a couple of SUVs which were stuck in snow. Anyway I hope this was just one off default. Looks like it, since nobody else here reported anything similar. I hope to have the new car in about 2 weeks. And then I promise I will add some pictures. Got some really nice rearcam setup in the spare tire.
BTW while I am writing this I'm sitting in a plane from Frankfurt to Shangahi...Flatrate wireless Internet at Lufthansa! U gotta love these new technologies..

[evomind]

cool ur getting a new truck, not cool its on ur dime.
u have to compensate the dealer for the miles driven? shouldnt gm take care of that?
and anyways, u only had 3k miles on it....so thats abt 83 cents per mile...thats pricey.
well, whatever works for u.
good luck with the next one, maybe they can help u with options and such...