Engine leak, warranty issue?
 

Good Morning Everyone,

I need some advice/suggestions/comments on my situation. Last month while performing a oil change and inspection at my local dealer which i bought the car from, the tech noticed a leak of fluid (he didnt say what type). He didnt know where exactly it was coming from at that moment but advised me to bring it up on the next oil change.

So Fast forwarding 1 month (3,000) miles later, i brought it in for a oil change on Saturday. I mentioned the leak. After 2 hrs ( guess i was the last one to come in at 11), they let me know they detected a leak but are unable to trace exactly of the origin, they put dye in the oil to help them identify the leak and that i will need to bring the car back some time during the week after 200-300 miles and before 500 miles.

My issue is they charged me for the Dye and i guess labor? it was like 12-13 dollars each so, 26-27 dollars for dye and labor. plus my regular 7 dollar oil change. My question is, am i going to end up paying everything for them to repair or work on my engine? Should it not be covered under warranty(power train/other)? Shouldn't it be parts and labor covered? My car has just about 45,000 Mileage on it. I also bought the lame dealership warranty which i dont even know what is covered under that.

I will upload the receipt a bit later to show you guys exactly what the tech wrote.

Any advice would be appreciated

Thank You

-Vin

Sorry to hear about the leak. That sure seems like an odd situation. I would be happy to investigate this for you. Could you private message me the VIN and the name of the dealership? I look forward to hearing from you.

William R.
Chevrolet Customer Care

So an update guys: I am nearing 200 miles so i contacted the service at the dealership today to see if i can drop it off and get a loaner car. They told me they do not have any loaner cars untill 05/28/13! what is up with that???

So the situation is i have to bring it back before 500 miles, but i can not get a loner car and the next available loner car is in 2 weeks! i will be past 500 by then!

Does your Dealership have later hours? If so, wait for the car. It's usually just putting the car in the air and using the light to check for the dye to light up to spot the leak. Shouldn't take too long. The repair, depending on what it is, will probably require a loaner. They'd more than likely require parts to be ordered regardless. Diagnosing it shouldn't be too bad for time.

Leak/issues
 

If your car is still under warranty they should not be charging you for the dye test/supplies.
They are also required to provide you with a replacement car if your car needs to stay with them.
They should be able to inspect the vehicle fairly quickly to check for the leak/dye after the required operating miles.
Telling you to wait a couple of weeks for a "loaner car" to be available is crap.

Thank you for the input guys! i schd it for Friday Morning, hopefully its nothing too major, but yea the car should be under warrenty, would this not be under power train? and isnt that covered for 5 years /100kmiles? My car is just about 45k on it

yea like wth loaner car should be available immediately right few weeks is BS! especially since i bought my car from them!

I don't think it's a "requirement" for them to provide a loaner if it has to stay. Clearly it's not a horrible leak that is nearing catastrophic failure. You do have powertrain warranty as well as your extended warranty so i wouldn't sweat it so much.

Heres what happened (my assumption) You came in for an oil change and during the inspection they noticed a small leak. A dealer cannot "upsell" a warranty repair. GM does not like that and you can see why. I don't feel you should have been charged for the dye and if it is deemed to be warrantable repair you can get the service manager to return your money on that.

Relax. you are alright, so much hysteria on the internet about dealers.

^ This ^

Just an update guys, they identified the leak to be coming from the timing cover after waiting 2 hrs but they said they could not repair it that day but to come back in 2 weeks. I took it to another dealership and had them seal up the timing cover.

When I asked why the dye was not coverd in warranty, the dealership service rep said "GM does not cover fluids"

More importanty, should I be doing an oil change right away; will the dye do harm to the engine or can I wait till the 3,000 miles are up?

Thanks guys.

Try another dealer, inform them what steps have been taken, describe your dissatisfaction thus far and the reason you have come to them. The best part of the powertrain is it's nationwide at any dealer. Don't put up with that, and talk to the dealer Service Manager that charged you for the test supplies, they should process your refund quickly. Another shop will most likely have loaners :) Be sure to ask before you drive to them with a courtesy call.

Tell them that it's not a fluid that you were asking to be covered -- they are talking about coolant, oil, etc.
You want the diagnostic steps to uncover a warrantied problem covered, including the dye. The dye is not a "fluid" that your car needs, it is necessary for them to find the problem.

Thank you, I will question this the next time I go to them. On the side note should I be getting a oil change right away? the leak has been sealed but the dye is still in the car. Is it bad for the car? or am I fine till my next oil change?