Disintegrated Oil Pump

13048 Views 51 Replies 23 Participants Last post by bart_dood, Mar 13, 2019

gunner76

Discussion Starter · Jan 5, 2017

The oil pump in my 2012 Volt disintegrated suddenly without any prior warning just one month out of power train warranty.

GM is not helping me to fix this because I bought the car pre-owned (so, no Good Will warranty even though I have maintained the car as recommended and the prior owner's maintenance records are in the glove box. I spoke with GM customer service and the Electric Vehicle team and all said the same as the dealer service manager: I am out of luck as per GM policy).

So, I spent $2500 to have the oil pump replaced (at a Chevy dealer) and the car ran fine for about a week. Now it's making a tapping/clicking noise and the Knock Sensor error (P0324) has triggered the CEL.

Anyone else have an oil pump disintegrate? I am planning to file a report with the NHTSA so that there is some oversight. But, I am curious if there are any other cases of oil pumps disintegrating like the one in my car did.

Thoughts on what the tapping might be now? It is full of oil and the oil is clean.

TIA!

21 - 40 of 52 Posts

kns

· #21 · Jan 5, 2017 (Edited)

gunner76 said:
I appreciate the offer and will accept any assistance I can get. But, at this point my option is to re-finance my house to pay for further repairs or just trade the car on something more reliable. I have no more savings left to spend on this car. So, I really have no option but to get rid of it. I am hoping the dealer can work with me on a trade. But, I don't see how I can get into another Volt...

What makes you think that any vehicle you might get in trade for your 2012 Volt which is in need of unspecified repairs will cost less to repair/maintain? Your 2012 is a known quantity. If you trade it you will be buying someone else's problems. It can't hurt to take Amber up on her offer to help. Perhaps she can arrange for a no cost no strings diagnosis of the current tapping noise. The dealer also needs such a diagnosis in order to know what your 2012 is worth in trade. Either that or he will assume the worst and you won't get more than peanuts for the car.

KNS

turboguy327

· #22 · Jan 5, 2017

What will reporting to the NHTSA do for anyone? When you have oil pressure lights on, shut the car off right then. No driving it anywhere. That's why there are tow trucks. Driving it caused additional damage to the valvetrain and I'll bet there is heat damage in the lower end that will show up down the road.

snorth

· #23 · Jan 5, 2017

Yeah, sh*t happens. I had a 2003 VW jetta wagon TDI that I bought brand new. When it got to be about 1700 miles outside of warranty, the timing belt broke while I was driving, blowing a head and causing engine damage. Was about $3500 worth of repair, and VW wouldn't do it in warranty, even though I had just gone out of warranty. The timing belt's life was supposed to be 100k miles, and my car was just over 61k miles. The best VW offered me was a $700 credit toward the purchase of a new car. Bastards.

gunner76

Discussion Starter · #24 · Jan 5, 2017

The reason I am considering getting rid of the car is because I will soon be up against the wall on the Voltec warranty.
Heaven help me if something breaks with the Voltec components after that!

I have no idea what I'm getting into with some other vehicle, sure. But, I wonder what lies in wait for me with this car (or my 2015 Volt for that matter)? Lots of anecdotal evidence to suggest the cars are reliable and will last a long time. But, only time will really tell.

wclark57

· #25 · Jan 5, 2017

Until the dealer or someone else has evaluated it, there really is more frustration and blame (of the OP and the car) than is due.

gunner76

Discussion Starter · #26 · Jan 5, 2017

Reporting to the NHTSA will ensure that an investigation is conducted. The investigation will reveal whether or not there is a defect and potential safety hazard.

This car would have left my wife and 9yo daughter stranded on the side of the highway -- no safe place to be -- if she hadn't been approaching an exit ramp (which just happened to be the exit where the dealer is located) when the error showed up on the dash (which could have been a failed sensor for all she knew). This situation is unacceptable for a car with only 66,000 miles on it and just barely 5 years old.

gunner76

Discussion Starter · #27 · Jan 5, 2017

I will be taking it back to the dealer for evaluation just as soon as I can... this thread wasn't meant to start a rant (as it's become).

I really just wanted to find out if anyone else had had an oil pump failure and if so how it was handled by GM and how much the repair costs were (whether warrantied or not).

CCIE

· #28 · Jan 5, 2017

turboguy327 said:
What will reporting to the NHTSA do for anyone? When you have oil pressure lights on, shut the car off right then. No driving it anywhere. That's why there are tow trucks. Driving it caused additional damage to the valvetrain and I'll bet there is heat damage in the lower end that will show up down the road.

Agreed. I feel bad for the guy, but driving the car any distance after the oil light came on was a very bad decision. It should have been pulled over, shutdown, and towed. Engines that run for even a couple minutes with no oil will self-destruct.

I can understand it's frustrating to be one of the few people who has had a major mechanical issue with the Volt. But, given the number of these cars built, there are going to be a few that have issues. It's not GM's fault. And, the limits of the warranty were known when the car was bought. GM doesn't have to provide any service beyond those limits. That's life, and it's why you shouldn't stretch your finances to buy a used car you can't afford to fix.

Again, I feel bad, but blaming GM or the service people isn't right.

gunner76

Discussion Starter · #29 · Jan 5, 2017

I posted this earlier but will restate it here in case you missed it:

The service manager's professional opinion was that the upper engine was fine. But, I guess they're going to have to get in there again and see what's going on.

I'm not blaming GM nor the service people -- in fact, I would praise the service people for all of their help, professionalism and courtesy.

What I was _hoping_ for from GM was simply: "Oh, broken oil pump just out of warranty? That sucks! No problem, we value you as a customer and will meet you 1/2 way on the repairs."

That would have been just fine. At least the service department is working with me ... but, it's still a lot to sink into a car that is still new (and very new to me) and SHOULD be more reliable than this.

gunner76

Discussion Starter · #30 · Jan 5, 2017

"That's life, and it's why you shouldn't stretch your finances to buy a used car you can't afford to fix."

That doesn't make much sense... so, you buy a $8000 used car and 1 year and 1 month later it needs a new engine -- you're supposed to have ANOTHER $6000 laying around to put an engine in it ... why not just spend $14,000 up front and get a newer car that you can count on? That's what I did with the volt ... guess it was a gamble and I lost.

CCIE

· #31 · Jan 5, 2017

gunner76 said:
...

What I was _hoping_ for from GM was simply: "Oh, broken oil pump just out of warranty? That sucks! No problem, we value you as a customer and will meet you 1/2 way on the repairs."

That would have been just fine. At least the service department is working with me ... but, it's still a lot to sink into a car that is still new (and very new to me) and SHOULD be more reliable than this.

GM does do "good will" repairs at times. But, they can't do it for everyone or they'd get hosed. Again, it sucks that your car broke. But, on average Volts are extremely reliable. You unfortunately got unlucky with yours.

I wouldn't call it new at 5+ years. And I would expect issues to start creeping up around that age. My Volt is 5 years old and I bought a Spark EV mostly as a cheap backup because I expect my Volt's reliability will start going downhill soon.

gunner76

Discussion Starter · #32 · Jan 5, 2017

We are driving the 10 year old Honda while the (barely) 5-year old Volt is in the shop... :'(

CCIE

· #33 · Jan 5, 2017

gunner76 said:
"That's life, and it's why you shouldn't stretch your finances to buy a used car you can't afford to fix."

That doesn't make much sense... so, you buy a $8000 used car and 1 year and 1 month later it needs a new engine -- you're supposed to have ANOTHER $6000 laying around to put an engine in it ... why not just spend $14,000 up front and get a newer car that you can count on? That's what I did with the volt ... guess it was a gamble and I lost.

$8k sounds like a bargain for a car that was expensive as a 2012 Volt when new. I'd say you got your money out of it and wouldn't put another dime into it if you can buy another used one at that price. But, owning a car as complex and expensive to repair as the Volt, out of warranty, is unwise if the car failing will cause financial hardship.

gunner76

Discussion Starter · #34 · Jan 5, 2017

No, wait a minute ... that Honda is a 2000!!!! It's 17 years old.... runs smoother than the engine in my 2015 Volt... gas consumption (23 MPG is the best we've seen out of it) was the only reason we stopped driving it for the 2012 Volt -- the gas savings made the payment on the car. But...

Neromanceres

· #35 · Jan 5, 2017

If worst came to worst. Possibly you could source an ICE from a salvage Volt and have them swapped.

namefast

· #36 · Jan 5, 2017

Neromanceres said:
If worst came to worst. Possibly you could source an ICE from a salvage Volt and have them swapped.

Just looked up the salvage engine from car-part.com and they are around $1000 and up with some low miles. Maybe something a friendly mechanic would take on. Just a thought.

llninja

· #37 · Jan 5, 2017

gunner76 said:
No, wait a minute ... that Honda is a 2000!!!! It's 17 years old.... runs smoother than the engine in my 2015 Volt... gas consumption (23 MPG is the best we've seen out of it) was the only reason we stopped driving it for the 2012 Volt -- the gas savings made the payment on the car. But...

17 years? My Suburban is 21 years old and my BMW is 27 years old. Sometimes I wish the engines would blow to give me an excuse to get a new one. But I get my money's worth out of all of my cars, drive them into the ground, and then some.

CCIE

· #38 · Jan 5, 2017

gunner76 said:
No, wait a minute ... that Honda is a 2000!!!! It's 17 years old.... runs smoother than the engine in my 2015 Volt... gas consumption (23 MPG is the best we've seen out of it) was the only reason we stopped driving it for the 2012 Volt -- the gas savings made the payment on the car. But...

The Gen1 Volt was revolutionary. Those us that shelled out a lot of money for one in 2011/12 were taking a risk. It's paid off for most of us because it was one of the best engineered vehicles ever to come out of GM (or any manufacturer). That includes the gas engine which was actually made in Austria for 2011 and most of 2012. It's a solid award winning car and this a Volt forum, so I'm not sure what you expect to get out of complaining here.

Again, it's unfortunate that your oil pump failed, but at least half your issue is your own fault because you drove the car with no oil pressure. And, not to put too fine a point on it, but if $6000 or $8000 is enough to break the bank for you, then an out-of-warranty Volt is the wrong car. Stick with the Hondas.

I truly hope you find a good solution.

WopOnTour

· #39 · Jan 5, 2017 (Edited)

To the OP

Sorry to hear of your engine oil pump issues
As you've already heard, this isn't something we've seen reported here before so sort of a rare issue.

Given the fact the Volt's ICE doesn't run all that often for most people, things like oil pumps should outlast the rest of the car
I looked (as the dealer likely did) and there isn't any sort of bulletin or anything related to the engine oil pump

In any case, I do agree your case might be a candidate for some goodwill and it appears Amber our on-site Customer Service rep wants to help. This is the exact sort of thing they specialize in and we have had LOTS of people get help from Chevrolet simply be letting the system work for them.

So please PM (private message) Amber with the information she requested and let her try to help you
You can do that following this link
http://gm-volt.com/forum/private.php?do=newpm&u=5558

As far as the top end noise, so much depends on how long the engine was run after oil pressure was lost. Since that variable exists and is based solely on your recollection, the shop would really have no choice but to replace the pump and reassess.
Since there were no apparent noises afterwards perhaps a piece of debris from the failure worked it's way somewhere that's created the new problem up top. But they will need to listen, scope, and isolate the noise which shouldn't be too hard.

Good luck and we look forward to hearing back from you on how things went for you.
WOT

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gunner76

Discussion Starter · #40 · Jan 5, 2017

WopOnTour said:
To the OP

Sorry to hear of your engine oil pump issues
As you've already heard, this isn't something we've seen reported here before so sort of a rare issue.

Given the fact the Volt's ICE doesn't run all that often for most people, things like oil pumps should outlast the rest of the car
I looked (as the dealer likely did) and there isn't any sort of bulletin or anything related to the engine oil pump

In any case, I do agree your case might be a candidate for some goodwill and it appears Amber our on-site Customer Service rep wants to help. This is the exact sort of thing they specialize in and we have had LOTS of people get help from Chevrolet simply be letting the system work for them.

So please PM (private message) Amber with the information she requested and let her try to help you
You can do that following this link
http://gm-volt.com/forum/private.php?do=newpm&u=5558

As far as the top end noise, so much depends on how long the engine was run after oil pressure was lost. Since that variable exists and is based solely on your recollection, the shop would really have no choice but to replace the pump and reassess.
Since there were no apparent noises afterwards perhaps a piece of debris from the failure worked it's way somewhere that's created the new problem up top. But they will need to listen, scope, and isolate the noise which shouldn't be too hard.

Good luck and we look forward to hearing back from you on how things went for you.
WOT

Thank you! This is what I was looking for with this post ... I didn't intent to rant ... I love my Volts! (yes, BOTH of them!)
What I wanted was to find out about any other reports of an oil pump failure. It would be a sad day to part with that car -- these things are like members of the family. Ask anyone who knows me, I am a poster boy for the Volt -- my FB feed has been nothing but VOLT for 2 years (since I bought my 2015!). I've even lost a few friends over it (gear heads who were sick of hearing about EVs!)

I will be sure to post ... right now the car is parked safely in my garage where it will stay in out of the cold. I was going to take it to the dealer today; but, the temps were below the ERDTT threshold and so I decided to hold off until it warms up a bit.

Will be sometime next week before I know what's going on ... lets hope in the mean time nothing else breaks (not on the car, but... you know... life, in general!)

Thanks a again!!!

(oh, and I did reach out to Amber but have not yet heard back from her).

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