GM Please Help: LFX died, 80K miles, no tuning, out of warranty by a month - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

cliffdog89 · 12-08-2017, 01:06 PM

My 2012 Camaro just died, no tuning, only 80K miles on the LFX motor and with all maintenance up to date. The engine has never been tuned.

Anything anyone on the forum can do to help me with this would be most appreciated. I am really sad and frustrated at this point because I have put more care into this car than other vehicle I have owned and was planning to have it for many more years. I just completed a ZL1 front and rear brake swap, added brandnew tires, had the rims powder coated, had all of the little rock chips I had picked up over the years in the paint fixed, etc to only have the motor die.

I have been a long time Chevy fan and owner. All of the vehicles in my immediate and most of my extended family are Chevy's. I own three (1989 Caprice, 2014 Silverado, and 2012 Camaro). Naturally, I purchased my dream car, the Camaro, as soon as I could afford one and I just paid it off this October. Unfortunately, my warranty ran out at that same time. Fast forward one month, in the beginning of November I was driving the car and I started to hear a sound that I thought was an exhaust leak (I had just re positioned the aftermarket exhaust I had installed because it wasn't aligning with the down-pipes). This sound occurred twice on very short drives while driving over a week period (I was mostly driving my truck) but no engine codes presented themselves. This sound only occurred at certain RPMs and it sounded like the heat shield was being rattled below the car along the driveshaft tunnel as had been a problem with this particular aftermarket exhaust because it sat closer to the heatshield than the stock exhaust. The following week I again took the car on a short drive and the CEL started flashing for a misfire after about 5 minutes of drive (the car had never misfired before) but the light only flashed for about 3 seconds then went away. I continued driving for about 1 minute, more cautiously now and as I slowed down to enter a parking lot, the car shut off. Nothing violent, it just shut off. It would not restart and I had to have it towed back home. Once that occurred, I drained the oil and was very surprised to only find 3 quarts of oil (the car had never burned more than a quart of oil over 6-7K miles between changes) and had zero leaks. I checked ever inch underneath the car following this and there are zero signs of any oil leaks. I have never taken the car in salt and always baby it. I removed the front bumper before it was towed to avoid damage if this gives you an idea of how I maintain the car.

Upon draining the oil and running a magnet through it, there were small metal shavings and specs. The oil filter showed the same. The codes I pulled as follows:

P0325 Knock Sensor 1 circuit bank 1 (Pending)
P0300 Multiple Random Misfire Detected (Pending)
P2270 Oxygen Sensor Signal Stuck Lean Bank 1 Sensor 2 (Confirmed)
P2097 Post Catalyst Fuel Trim System Too Rich Bank 1 (Confirmed)

I then added oil to the engine and a brand-new filter. I removed the spark plugs to relieve compression and attempted to turn it by hand. I was only able to get it to turn with a breaker bar and it was very stiff but smooth. There were no grinding sounds coming from the engine as I turned it.

Keep in mind that I am very particular in maintenance of all my vehicles. I changed all of the transmission fluid and differential fluid using GM recommended products at 60K miles and I always changed the engine oil when the oil life tracker system instructed using only mobil 1 full synthetic extended performance and AC Delco or Mobil 1 oil filters. I just finished a full coolant flush of the car a couple of months ago.

To me, this problem did not just occur over night. Something was slowly damaging the engine over time. There were zero warning codes prior to the CEL flashing which almost immediately went away. The other codes all presented upon the car shutting off. Nothing in the system warned me of low oil pressure or anything else being wrong. If the sound I was hearing was knock and not an exhaust leak (it still may have been an exhaust leak) the car did not warn me of an engine knock prior to failure. I do everything I can to keep cars running for a long time -usually changing fluids before required to do so. My caprice has 235K miles on the original motor and my dads 2007 impala has 220K miles also on the original motor. I have done all of the maintenance on the caprice since 180K miles and I have done much of the maintenance on my dads vehicle. I am really hoping that GM would honor their warranty with how close to the warranty period this catastrophic failure occurred. I have been the only owner and have performed all maintenance myself. The car should have warned me in some way that something was wrong. The only performance mods I have done are bolt ons.

At a loss right now and really upset I have to fix what to me is still a brandnew car :'(

stlsv6 · 12-11-2017, 01:31 AM

I feel your pain and hope GM would do something but they the corporation (GM) will probably stay out of it since it has been out of warranty for 1 month. Keep us posted, have you found another engine yet?

jrhagen · 12-11-2017, 07:45 AM

I was out of warranty, about the same one month, on a previous vehicle. The manager at the local dealership called GM on my behalf. They worked out a deal where I still paid for the labor but GM covered the parts. That seemed fair to me as GM wasn't legally obligated to cover anything.

Talk to your local dealership, maybe they can help.

cliffdog89 · 01-19-2018, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stlsv6

I feel your pain and hope GM would do something but they the corporation (GM) will probably stay out of it since it has been out of warranty for 1 month. Keep us posted, have you found another engine yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrhagen

I was out of warranty, about the same one month, on a previous vehicle. The manager at the local dealership called GM on my behalf. They worked out a deal where I still paid for the labor but GM covered the parts. That seemed fair to me as GM wasn't legally obligated to cover anything.

Talk to your local dealership, maybe they can help.

So I took it to my local dealer they confirmed the engine is shot. GM offered about $2400 in assistance which still left me with $7000 out of pocked

I found a used motor from a 2015 with only 13K miles on it. I drove out and picked it up last weekend. Now I just need some warmer weather!!

12-08-2017, 01:06 PM	#1
cliffdog89 Drives: 2LT/RS M6 '12 Camaro Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 412 View My Garage	GM Please Help: LFX died, 80K miles, no tuning, out of warranty by a month My 2012 Camaro just died, no tuning, only 80K miles on the LFX motor and with all maintenance up to date. The engine has never been tuned. Anything anyone on the forum can do to help me with this would be most appreciated. I am really sad and frustrated at this point because I have put more care into this car than other vehicle I have owned and was planning to have it for many more years. I just completed a ZL1 front and rear brake swap, added brandnew tires, had the rims powder coated, had all of the little rock chips I had picked up over the years in the paint fixed, etc to only have the motor die. I have been a long time Chevy fan and owner. All of the vehicles in my immediate and most of my extended family are Chevy's. I own three (1989 Caprice, 2014 Silverado, and 2012 Camaro). Naturally, I purchased my dream car, the Camaro, as soon as I could afford one and I just paid it off this October. Unfortunately, my warranty ran out at that same time. Fast forward one month, in the beginning of November I was driving the car and I started to hear a sound that I thought was an exhaust leak (I had just re positioned the aftermarket exhaust I had installed because it wasn't aligning with the down-pipes). This sound occurred twice on very short drives while driving over a week period (I was mostly driving my truck) but no engine codes presented themselves. This sound only occurred at certain RPMs and it sounded like the heat shield was being rattled below the car along the driveshaft tunnel as had been a problem with this particular aftermarket exhaust because it sat closer to the heatshield than the stock exhaust. The following week I again took the car on a short drive and the CEL started flashing for a misfire after about 5 minutes of drive (the car had never misfired before) but the light only flashed for about 3 seconds then went away. I continued driving for about 1 minute, more cautiously now and as I slowed down to enter a parking lot, the car shut off. Nothing violent, it just shut off. It would not restart and I had to have it towed back home. Once that occurred, I drained the oil and was very surprised to only find 3 quarts of oil (the car had never burned more than a quart of oil over 6-7K miles between changes) and had zero leaks. I checked ever inch underneath the car following this and there are zero signs of any oil leaks. I have never taken the car in salt and always baby it. I removed the front bumper before it was towed to avoid damage if this gives you an idea of how I maintain the car. Upon draining the oil and running a magnet through it, there were small metal shavings and specs. The oil filter showed the same. The codes I pulled as follows: P0325 Knock Sensor 1 circuit bank 1 (Pending) P0300 Multiple Random Misfire Detected (Pending) P2270 Oxygen Sensor Signal Stuck Lean Bank 1 Sensor 2 (Confirmed) P2097 Post Catalyst Fuel Trim System Too Rich Bank 1 (Confirmed) I then added oil to the engine and a brand-new filter. I removed the spark plugs to relieve compression and attempted to turn it by hand. I was only able to get it to turn with a breaker bar and it was very stiff but smooth. There were no grinding sounds coming from the engine as I turned it. Keep in mind that I am very particular in maintenance of all my vehicles. I changed all of the transmission fluid and differential fluid using GM recommended products at 60K miles and I always changed the engine oil when the oil life tracker system instructed using only mobil 1 full synthetic extended performance and AC Delco or Mobil 1 oil filters. I just finished a full coolant flush of the car a couple of months ago. To me, this problem did not just occur over night. Something was slowly damaging the engine over time. There were zero warning codes prior to the CEL flashing which almost immediately went away. The other codes all presented upon the car shutting off. Nothing in the system warned me of low oil pressure or anything else being wrong. If the sound I was hearing was knock and not an exhaust leak (it still may have been an exhaust leak) the car did not warn me of an engine knock prior to failure. I do everything I can to keep cars running for a long time -usually changing fluids before required to do so. My caprice has 235K miles on the original motor and my dads 2007 impala has 220K miles also on the original motor. I have done all of the maintenance on the caprice since 180K miles and I have done much of the maintenance on my dads vehicle. I am really hoping that GM would honor their warranty with how close to the warranty period this catastrophic failure occurred. I have been the only owner and have performed all maintenance myself. The car should have warned me in some way that something was wrong. The only performance mods I have done are bolt ons. At a loss right now and really upset I have to fix what to me is still a brandnew car :'( __________________

12-11-2017, 01:31 AM	#2
stlsv6 Drives: 2012 Camaro Ls Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Snellville, Ga Posts: 17	I feel your pain and hope GM would do something but they the corporation (GM) will probably stay out of it since it has been out of warranty for 1 month. Keep us posted, have you found another engine yet?

12-11-2017, 07:45 AM	#3
jrhagen Banned Drives: Camaro Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: USA Posts: 2,701	I was out of warranty, about the same one month, on a previous vehicle. The manager at the local dealership called GM on my behalf. They worked out a deal where I still paid for the labor but GM covered the parts. That seemed fair to me as GM wasn't legally obligated to cover anything. Talk to your local dealership, maybe they can help.