Chevy Dealership Sloppiness...My P0336 Saga Continues

[Miami_SS]

Some of you may have read my previous posts about my crank sensor, misfires, and REP (reduced engine power) saga which started in November 2023. Since I'm a recent transplant to Miami and didn't know any repair shops nearby that I could trust, I took my Camaro to AutoNation Chevrolet in Doral, FL.

Their diagnosis concluded that the crank and cam were excessively worn and scammed me out of $6600. The car ran much better as would be expected after a partial engine rebuild that took six weeks with continual rebuffs of my request for a loaner car, so add six weeks of car rentals to the bill. By day five after receiving the supposedly fixed car, the infamous CEL appeared on my dashboard.

I performed an ECM scan using my HP Tuners software and CEL P0336 appeared, I took the car back to the Dealership and insisted that a new CAM Sensor and Crank sensor be installed and that a crank relearn be performed.

After waiting another week (yes, I had to pay for a rental again!) to have this done because they claimed they couldn't source the parts locally (hmmm...NAPA had the aftermarket part in stock locally for less than $100), I went back to the dealership, spoke to the Service/Parts Mgr and requested aftermarket parts because I refused to wait weeks for them to purchase the parts because I had a rental. They agreed and installed the aftermarket parts and claimed that the problem was resolved.

Again, I drive the car for a week and the infamous DTC P0336 appears along with its cousin P0035. I returned to the Dealer and informed the Service Mgr that this was the third time that DTC had appeared on a supposedly fixed car.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Leave it". I said, "Only if you provide a loaner car because I refuse the get another rental due to their failure to fix my car after an almost $7k bill". He says "We only provide loaner cars for cars under warranty but I'll see what I can do and contact you."

After that encounter, I decided to get a second opinion and chose Pep Boys because there is no independent shop in Miami that I could trust. Miami has a strong reputation for scammers and con artists which is true!

So, Pep Boys performs a sight diagnostic (eyeball check) of the crank sensor, and lo and behold they make a big discovery. When the dealership installed the crank sensor they cut the heat shield and wiring to the crank sensor and patched it using crimp connectors leaving the wiring exposed to the starter and down pipe. One of the wires was scored (burned) and I also suspect that the wiring grounded out against the starter or downpipe.

Symptoms are very similar to the infamous 'problems starting the car after it has been hot and run hard'. Difficulty turning over on a hot start (no start) and also click..click..click. Cold starts (left overnight, or a few hours) are basically no problem. Now I know that the root cause is the exposed wiring at the crank sensor from Dealer sloppiness.

Pictures (attached) were taken by PEP Boys and given to me as well as their diagnosis of the issue at no charge.

The car and pictures will be presented to the Dealer this coming week as well as a demand to fix immediately and let me visually inspect after completion.

Unfortunately, there is no lemon law in Florida for cars out of warranty (most Gen5 Camaros) but I will be filing a formal complaint with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), which regulates the auto repair industry and enforces the Florida Motor Vehicle Repair Act.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS DEALERSHIP IF YOU ARE IN THE MIAMI AREA!

[SummitWhite11]

Sorry to hear you went through this. I had a similar experience from Coconut Creek Chevrolet dealership when I had to get my 2011 Camaro HUD replaced under warranty, It had to go in 3 times and the dash removed 3 times because their lazy mechanic looked like they dragged my dash on the garage floor and left gouges on the dash which looked to be tool marks. Even that, they soiled my tan leather seats. The service advisor was a total ass and did nothing to help in my situation other than replace the dash with an entirely new one. He blamed the soiled seats on a 30k mile car when my car only had 21k on it at the time of service. I ended up reporting them to BBB and taking my Camaro to Sawgrass Chevrolet which provided exceptional service!

[Miami_SS]

Originally Posted by SummitWhite11

Sorry to hear you went through this. I had a similar experience from Coconut Creek Chevrolet dealership when I had to get my 2011 Camaro HUD replaced under warranty, It had to go in 3 times and the dash removed 3 times because their lazy mechanic looked like they dragged my dash on the garage floor and left gouges on the dash which looked to be tool marks. Even that, they soiled my tan leather seats. The service advisor was a total ass and did nothing to help in my situation other than replace the dash with an entirely new one. He blamed the soiled seats on a 30k mile car when my car only had 21k on it at the time of service. I ended up reporting them to BBB and taking my Camaro to Sawgrass Chevrolet which provided exceptional service!

@SummitWhite - Muchas gracias for sharing your Chevy Dealer experience, so it's not just me stumbling upon 'lazy mechanics' and clueless Service Advisors and Managers @ Chevy Dealerships in Florida!

[SummitWhite11]

Originally Posted by Miami_SS

@SummitWhite - Muchas gracias for sharing your Chevy Dealer experience, so it's not just me stumbling upon 'lazy mechanics' and clueless Service Advisors and Managers @ Chevy Dealerships in Florida!

It's not just you. They are everywhere. Just need to find a right ones who will take care of you and your car. I have since moved away from Fort Lauderdale to up North Florida in Palm Coast. The Tom Gibbs Chevrolet service up here is

[bsn]

Any shop that says your crank and cam are worn out but your engine doesn't need a full rebuild is pulling a scam. Cams can fail, but on a street car the crank is just about the last thing to wear out. I assume they didn't sell you an oil pump? You may want to consider filing a complaint with GM Corporate-let the dealer know your intent and they may offer some relief.

[Badbubba]

Did you get to look at the crank and camshaft for wear or the engine torn apart? Did they pull the engine or drop the front sub frame? Bearings should have worn before the crank itself. Unless bad bearings scored the crank to the point where polishing the crank wouldn't help. The camshaft is a different story. The lifters can cause the cam to wear. If I were replacing the cam due to lob wear, I'd replace the lifters and trays. Guessing it was the lobs, not the cam bearings that were worn. If they did replace the lifters, then the heads had to come off. If they milled the heads or used a different head gasket thickness, then the push rods would need to be replaced with the correct length for proper lifter preload. Looking back at your other threads, could the butt connectors have been added when the engine was replaced? I believe it was your previous engine, but having a cracked radiator cause a head gasket failure? Unless you were low on coolant and not alerted to engine temp high/reduced power. Seems like some things don't add up. I hope they are doing what's needing to be done. I couldn't find the P0035 code for the LS3, it deals with a bypass valve for a turbo charger. As for the hot start, there's a lot of threads for it. One being the connection under the jump start terminal under the hood. Could also be one of the engine grounds since the engine was replaced/removed.

[sarika789]

Dealing with my Chevy dealership's ongoing P0336 saga has been frustrating. Their persistent sloppiness in resolving the issue is disheartening. Quality service should be a priority, and it's disappointing when it falls short.top follow

[silversleeper]

There is a chance those wires are simply rubbed thru and electrical tape will be the free simple fix. Looks like a possibility of short to ground from rubbed off insulation due to long splices and no protection.

I don't like dealers at all but this might not be their fault. Also you insisted they put on some unknown quality part on it that most won't do because of these situations. I can't be sure from the information here who did what and what is wrong.


Edit: I have to agree with what others said, a crank bad in a street LS sounds very odd but I can't say it wasn't suffering from a no oil replaced kiss of death from a FastLube at some point etc. This is consistent with my other thread post I prefer to be under warranty and if not have a vehicle that needs less motor trans or other repairs if possible. Except for the terrible HVAC blend door issue my LSA car has a history of being reliable if past the initial possible oil pump failures. I did research common problems before deciding which motor and brand to buy. IIRC the LS3 was pretty good too.

[Miami_SS]

Originally Posted by Badbubba

Did you get to look at the crank and camshaft for wear or the engine torn apart? Did they pull the engine or drop the front sub frame? Bearings should have worn before the crank itself. Unless bad bearings scored the crank to the point where polishing the crank wouldn't help. The camshaft is a different story. The lifters can cause the cam to wear. If I were replacing the cam due to lob wear, I'd replace the lifters and trays. Guessing it was the lobs, not the cam bearings that were worn. If they did replace the lifters, then the heads had to come off. If they milled the heads or used a different head gasket thickness, then the push rods would need to be replaced with the correct length for proper lifter preload. Looking back at your other threads, could the butt connectors have been added when the engine was replaced? I believe it was your previous engine, but having a cracked radiator cause a head gasket failure? Unless you were low on coolant and not alerted to engine temp high/reduced power. Seems like some things don't add up. I hope they are doing what's needing to be done. I couldn't find the P0035 code for the LS3, it deals with a bypass valve for a turbo charger. As for the hot start, there's a lot of threads for it. One being the connection under the jump start terminal under the hood. Could also be one of the engine grounds since the engine was replaced/removed.

Yo, the LS3 engine on my 2011 2SS RS M6 was replaced in 2015. If you re-read my posts (under my current profile signature) I have mentioned that my 2011 engine was replaced in 2015 at GM's expense due to the infamous internal oil pump failures that GM covered under the power train warranty. I also have threads about that engine oil pump failure in 2015 under my previous Gen5 profile. Note, I didn't have the issues outlined in my current posts until Nov/Dec 2023, that's 8 years removed from my engine replacement! ... I'm sorry but the shade that you're trying to throw at me doesn't hold water. If the grounds were the issue from my engine replacement that would have occurred before 8 years and thousands of miles of driving. Also, it's DTC P0335, not P0035, maybe that was a typo on my part. So, I'll give you a reading comprehension brownie point on that. Good try, but overall, you missed the jump shot!.

[Miami_SS]

Got the car back with a replacement Crank Sensor Harness and it was insulated at my insistence in addition to the pics that I insisted the dealer take to validate the installation. After several days of driving, no more crank sensor codes (fingers crossed!), just the DTCs P0420, and P0430 for my aftermarket hi-flo cats and down-pipes (no smog checks in FL). I will get spacers to get rid of those DTCs as well as turn off the CEL via HP TUNERS.

[silversleeper]

oooookaaaayyy edit: yo

[yodaslim]

I found a great indy shop where the owner was formerly a master technician at a chevy dealership for over 12 years before deciding to strike out on own and start his own shop. As part of my due diligence, I drove by his shop and right out front I saw parked about 10 camaros and several more other chevy models. That nearly sealed the deal for me, but since he was only a year into his business and hungry for more customers he was offering great rates.

I'm bet this is a common thing and if you look around your area for indy shops like this, you'll probably find some.