Has anyone had any problems with warranty work on your ecotec.
I have been having some fuel issues which I believe are from some bad gas we had here in PA. When I took the car in the last three times they said they can find nothing wrong with it. They told me to use some fuel system cleaner. I have researched and a place called alldata has a technical service bulliten issued to clean the injectors because of the bad gas. I never brought this up to the dealer until today. I have also been having this noise like an electrical short that comes from the headlight turn signal switch. So I call the dealership today and I tell them the problems I have been having. They tell me that they can't work on it because I have a cold air intake and cat back exhaust. I have a weapon r intake with a k&n filter on it and a magnaflow cat back. I am pretty sure that these things do not void the warranty. Anyone else encounter this. I am very angry right now because they have worked on my car several times and now as soon as I ask about cleaning the injectors they tell me they can't work on the car.
Let me know
Thanks


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I believe that it is LAW that they can not void the warranty because of aftermarket parts unless the part causes the problem you need fixed. I will try to find a reference to it, but now that i have mentioned it, maybe someone will know what i am talking about and post it.
I am sorry to hear that they denied fixing an electrical problem because of engine mods, thats bull@!#$.

ok that didnt take me too long,
Look up the magnuson-moss warranty act, also clean air act warranty provisions.
maybe take it in to them and rub their faces in it and ask them to proove that your electrical problems were caused by your engine mods.

good luck, i hope this helps.

There is a recall for a PCM reflash. Most of the time it corrects this problem. Also take it to another dealership. Thats what I had to do.

Yes I had the pcm reflash and that is when I really started to have the problem. The electrical I am really not concerned about however the rough idle and the miss I get sometimes do. This was happening when everything was stock as well as now. They have this documented I am sure because I know I had the vehicle there for that before I did anything to it. I really would like them to check the injectors by visual inspection not just a code check. Also I started to smell the catalytic converter again could that be a possible problem? I really just want them to check everything before my warranty runs out. I have a higflow cat that has been sitting in my garage for about 2 years in the box. I will put that on after the warranty runs out. I also will be putting a header on as soon as the warranty runs out. I really feel that the dealerships are a joke I had a 97 camaro with a 6 speed that lost reverse gear one day. I took it to the dealer they told me nothing wrong. Which it did shift into reverse after I got it back however I had at least three other people try to get it into reverse before taking it in and nothing it was like reverse was blocked off. I bought this sunfire for a beater while I had my camaro. The sunfire has been to the dealer at least ten times since I have owned it. First there was a rattle when I turned right. They claimed they could not hear it even though I had the service guy ride with me while it was doing it. They fixed it with "shims"? I don't know what they did however it went away. Then during one of the times I had it in the shop for that the reflashed the computer. Then this rough idle started. So I had it in the shop at least 4 times for that. At one point the service manager gave me a bottle of fuel system cleaner. Which worked for a little bit and that is why I am thinking the injectors or maybe check the fuel filter. Also there was a recall for the taillights. I had that fixed and now there is another recall. I appreciate the info you gave me I am sure I will use it. I can already tell that this is going to be a battle.


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you might have to file a lemon law for your state,also since it's still under warranty tell them you want a factory rep to come down,usally that scares them into submission,the key is the a intake and cat-back do not void a warranty,also you haven't done anything to the components that are haveing problems,yes changing you cataletic converter will


if at first you don't succeed,you should probably give up

if they keep insisting they can't because of it, ask them to put it in writing that the reason they can't work on your car. then call gm's customer service hotline and/or your lawyer with it. if you do need your lawyer it may just require them calling the dealer. i think most dealers think ppl won't go to court over a couple hundred dollar fix. it's about the principle here.

it's like when i bought my short throw. someone there tried to tell me it would void the trans warranty for being harder on it. it's like 'excuse, you did graduate high school right?' basic physics; the shorter lever decreases my mechanical advantage. i hate shady service ppl.



-DS
--------
"I'm a product, of my environment
So don't blame me, I just work here
But I wanna f*** it up"
Offspring - americana

Check out the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. Your modifications don't void your vehicles warranty. Find another dealer or go back to the dealer and make them aware of this Federal law. If they refuse contact the State Attorney Generals office in the state you reside and file a consumer complaint against the dealer for not abiding by this Federal law. In the meantime change out the fuel injectors if you think they are bad. Also have the fuel tank flushed and the fuel lines purged for debris.

As far as i konw about this issue. As long as you have no major motoer mods as far as heads work or internal the have to fix it. but gm has been know to refuse work on cars because poeple chage the spark to something other than oem as well as other fluids. my best advie to you is stick the old stuff like the air box so the engine looks stock. ask to see a copy of the warrty and see if you have voilated in anyway.

lol... how does an intake void a warranty? im sorry, but the dealer/service advisor(s) where you are are idiots.

Tell them about the svc mgr giving you the fuel system treatment and how it cleared up the idle. if it really is idling rough, and you can show them on the drive, and possibly even compare to a similar car, they HAVE to fix it. dont let them sell you an injector flush. if they try, ask them if thats the problem, and if so, then tell them to clean them under warranty. yes, that right, warranty will pay for an injector flush inder warranty IF its causing a problem. not as a maintenance item. have them refer to doc #1530864

i presume you have a cavalier.

Thanks for all the feedback. I took the car to the dealer for service to fix my broken seat recliner. They never said anything about the other things I called about. I am going to call them right now to see if they will fix it. CALLING... Here is what they came up with. First off the service manager was much nicer to me this time. I don't know if the call to GM had anything to do with that? They told me to come down and buy some kind of fuel additive that gm has just come out with. They said I would have to pay for it and it costs around 20 dollars. She said that she used this personally in her own vehicle and it worked great. So I guess I will pay even more money than I already have for this problem. She also said nothing about my modifications this time. I will keep you all posted. Thanks


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Well I just came back from the dealership and the GM fuel additive was 23.88. I really hope it works.

why didnt you have them pay for an injector flush inder warranty?

and run a fuel injector test... did you point them to that document?

I live in NJ and i took my car to a couple dealers. First i took it to a nearby dealer with the Exhaust ,crank pulley,and all the motor mounts,short throw rims and drop. The told me the car was highly modified and the warranty was voided. I Brought it home and took out everything except rims and the drop. I took it to another dealer and they said that they didn't want to fix it not even if i paid for it. The car has a random misfire in cylinder 1. I called a couple dealers and they told me that the exhaust can be the cause and they cant fix it because its modified from Gm's specs. So know i got the car at home and i don't know what to do. I told them about this law and they told me that its still voided because i modified the car.

FIRST, HOW MANY MILES ON IT? IF IT IS A # 1 CYLINDER MISS, TRY SWITCHING THE # 2 PLUG AND THE # 1 PLUG AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. IF IT IS STILL CYLINDER 1, TRY REPLACING THE WIRES. (IF IT STILL HAS WIRES, IT MIGHT BE COIL ON PLUG, IM UNSURE). THEN GET BACK TO US.

I have about 12,000 miles i put new spark plugs in already helped out a little juts got off the phone with Chevy and they told me the car is to heavily modified and that my warranty is voided and there is nothing i can do.

Matt, there no spark plug wires.

Nico, you can get a replacement ignition module from ebay. There is one going for $25 shipped in three hours from now. Search ebay using "ecotec".

Thanks but i want to make sure thats the problem before i go ahead and order anything

My car has about 33,000 miles on it. I just called another dealership and they were very helpful. They told me that they would do an injector flush. I also told him about the technical service bulletins I had. He said it may also be the fuel filter, their dealership reccomends a change every 15k. I am definitely going to replace the fuel filter. The fuel additive that I bought made the car run really well it seemed however MPG went down about 10MPG. Now that I have run that through the car seems to be running the same as it was before the additive. I have had zero hesitation or sputtering yet. As soon as it warms up a little here I think I will take out the iridium plugs I put in and go back to stock. My intake was sucking oil through the breather tube so they may be fouled. Well I will keep you posted my warranty ran out as of the 18th so I guess I am SOL.

If you live in PA I got something for you I was looking it up for my wifes car, Because she got a car of a dealer and they never told her it was in a accident in michigan.so I looked up about the lemon law in PA.. So maybe this can help you out..http://www.lemonlaw.com/bill767.html

get rid of the aftermarket plugs first off...in the jbodys i have owned plugs caused all sorts of problems like you were mentioning.

secondly, the fuel filter should help, as well as a flush. addatives like that dont do jack other than flush some kerosene through the system, make it run like crap for a while and smooth out, all the while you burn fuel like a mofo...half the time fuel system cleanings are a gimmick and dont work, and if they run them through too quickly it will throw trouble codes on the computer and blow out your cataletic converter and damage sensors,LOL.

now, as far as the "heavily modified" BS goes...intake and exhaust arent heavy mods, but whatever.

i personally wont deal with dealerships. its a game. in the end, the problem is never solved and you pay 90+ bucks an hour for them to say to fix it you need this service that costs them 5 bucks for a bottle of fuel flush, and then charge 10 times more for it. hell, you can by the canisters and valve used to hold the treatment and the treatment for the cost of one stinking flush...

but hey, whatever works. get rid of the plugs, change the fuel filter, take it into a private mechanic for a diagnostics. any time the car misses it throws a trouble code and a good mechanic can tell you why.

Well new news the my car doesn't start at all, and if it does it misfires alot and shuts off i think it might be something to do with the head.

Thanks Spades one good thing now that the warranty is gone I can go balls out on this thing. I have always done the majority of the work on my vehicles and the only reason I let the dealership deal with it is that it was free for the most part. I will never buy a new car again!!! I paid well still paying about 16k for this car and now it is worth about 6k.
What a bunch of sh*t. I have a few more things coming for the car right now. I can't wait to get the plugs out and change the fuel filter. I bet that will clear things up. The injectors have to be clean with all the stuff they had me running through the car.

hey, LT1xlr8 ,im just curious about your car cutting out cause mine does the same thing . did you get the problem fixed? and does it only do it when you get on it hard or at moderate rpm i would love some feedback i have been dealing with this prob for awhile.

There was a TSB on these cars for a fuel strainer problem that caused lack of power issues.