# Water Outlet Leak found at the end of the powertrain warranty



## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

You exceed the mileage at your own peril.......it then becomes a 'Will the dealer make a request for warranty on your behaf'

There is no protocol.

Rob


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Robby said:


> You exceed the mileage at your own peril.......it then becomes a 'Will the dealer make a request for warranty on your behaf'
> 
> There is no protocol.
> 
> Rob


If you have a relationship with the dealer. A history of purchases, oil changes and other services - then your likelihood is good. 

If you only made one purchase and no charge or warranty repairs your likelihood is low.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

Farmer said:


> The vehicle in question is a 2012 Chevy Cruze 1.4T w/ Manual Transmission - 100,068 miles
> 
> The water pump was fixed about 1week ago under warranty.
> 
> ...


 Clearly if you just had G.M. Water Pump work done under Warranty which I understand has been extended, the shop has to stand behind their work for a certain period of time. Assuming you have 'extra' mileage on your remaining warranty because the CRUZE wasn't sold with Zero miles is not how it works, although Service contracts purchased after the fact can extend your total miles using your exact example. The shop will probably charge you a diagnostic fee to inspect your car and either return it or apply it to non covered repairs if needed.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Repaired one problem created another, this story is getting way too old, gave up a long time ago taking my vehicles to a shop, not only do a terrible job, but charge you an arm and a leg. Any warranty work I had done on my Cruze, had to redo myself, because its me or my wife that would get stranded.

Also can't depend on one vehicle, your job and whole life depends on it, may think we live in a democracy but work for dictators, have to behave, dress, and be there where they want you to be, if not, you get canned.

Kind of shame they got away from neoprene hoses, brass, iron, and copper cooling system, plastic, aluminum, and O'rings, makes assembly easier for them, but we are sure paying the price.

Insurance companies are also against us, don't insure us, but the vehicles we own, using the argument I can only drive one at a time doesn't work, but ha, we will give you a 10% discount on your extra vehicles. We the people put up with this crap. We are the idiots.

In replacing the water pump, O'rings are disturbed already aged, brittle with 221*F temperatures, should have been replaced. But we are the idiots that purchased this crap, so have no one else to blame except ourselves. 

Ten bolts hold this pump on with three different lengths, did they put the correct sized bolts in the right holes, can they even to this when pushed to death by the service manager? Did any of the bolt heads break off after 100K miles? What about cleaning off the old gasket?

GM actually wants eight bucks for an O'Ring? These cost less than a penny a piece! Put on well over 200K miles on several older GM vehicles with no water pump or coolant problems. Just saying at one time, they knew how to design a good system.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Where is the leak? if its the water outlet on the drivers side that leak has nothing to do with the waterpump work and would not be covered under the poiwertrain warranty anyway.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

OP is correct that if his car had a recorded 176 miles at the time of first sale then the warranty extends to 100,176 miles.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

obermd said:


> OP is correct that if his car had a recorded 176 miles at the time of first sale then the warranty extends to 100,176 miles.


FWIW GM of Canada Limited starts all warranty at zero regardless of odometer reading at delivery.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Tomko said:


> FWIW GM of Canada Limited starts all warranty at zero regardless of odometer reading at delivery.


I'm actually surprised GM Canada hasn't been sued yet then for false advertising. If a car has been on the lot for a while and has racked up a few hundred miles of test drives that means the warranty isn't as long as claimed. In the US dealerships are required to report the mileage at initial sale to GM for addition to the warranty mileage.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

obermd said:


> I'm actually surprised GM Canada hasn't been sued yet then for false advertising. If a car has been on the lot for a while and has racked up a few hundred miles of test drives that means the warranty isn't as long as claimed. In the US dealerships are required to report the mileage at initial sale to GM for addition to the warranty mileage.


Canada tends to be a much less litigious society than the United States. 

I've heard Canada described as America-light. 

Although years ago I recall that GM Canada used to start warranties with the odometer reading on the in-service date. My 1999 was so. But my 2008 was not. So something changed between those dates. Probably a lawyer realizing that there was no legal requirement.


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## Farmer (Mar 6, 2013)

After I had the water pump fixed, I preemptively ordered a new thermostat /w housing and water outlet expecting those parts to start leaking Soon. After the water pump, the thermostat housing and water outlet are the only parts left of the coolant system connected to the engine. Is this correct? I just didn't expect them to leak less than a month after the water pump fix.

I was just inquiring about getting warranty work after the mileage went over the coverage period because I had the leak documented from a certified mechanic at my local tires plus that the leak was found within the powertrain warranty mileage .

After seeing the responses though, I think I'm better off just doing the repairs myself as I originally planned to . The good thing about this is I will actually get to see the parts I'm pulling off and see exactly where the failure is coming from. I'm guessing it will be the gaskets because O-rings and gaskets seem to be the weak point on this engine.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

04 Cavalier had 36,036 miles on when the upper right strut bearing went out, was within 36 months, dealer laughed his balls off because he said it was out of warranty. Didn't occur to me that I purchased this thing off the lot with 79 miles on it.

But a new strut bearing was only 20 bucks and as usual, would rather replace it myself. The original one was never lubricated from the factory, balls inside were rusty, as was the new one, just a couple of drops of oil in it. But I packed that full with Wolf's high temperature red grease and never had problems with it, also elected to replace the left side as well, same thing, rusty balls. 

Wasn't much of an issue, really the only problem I had with the car, praying the Cruze is this way as well.

Only paid 7,200 bucks for this Cavalier, dealers discount, 4,500 bucks factory rebate, another 2,000 since I owned two other GM vehicles for loyalty, and 4,700 bucks on my old GM card. But almost backed out because my crooked state made me pay sales tax on the sticker price. But that's this crooked state and not the dealer.

O'Rings are a bad joke, no business being in automotive, with all this Gore BS on refrigerants, Ford started using O'Rings on AC coupled lines, really stupid, in particular on the high side, gets dang hot there. GM dropped their bullet proof ceramic compressor seal in favor of a single lip neoprene seal, Chrysler used low grade aluminum in their evaporators and condensers, Japanese also went to O'Rings. Refrigerant began to leak out like crazy, but the EPA would only fine the tech $25,000 if caught releasing even an ounce of R-134a. Talk about a corrupt government in the USA.

See AH Obama is talking about climate change with Germany, blaming CO2 for all of our problems, another guy that should be in jail.

O'Rings do last long with a thick coat of non-hardening Permatec on them, but dey don't do dis either, just slap them in dry.

Have to drain the cooling system first before changing the pump, did they pour in the old Dex-cool or put in new? Proper mixture so it doesn't freeze up in cold weather? Or just poured in the old stuff putting it in a dirty pan with all kinds of other junk in it?

Just reasons why I rather do it myself.


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## Eddy Cruze (Jan 10, 2014)

We must remember it is the Manufacturer, not the Dealer that provides the warranty. Most vehicle buyers make the assumption that a new car warranty goes into effect as soon as they purchase the automobile. The idea that the starting point for a warranty is tied in to the date which a new owner takes delivery of the car, truck or crossover in question is a logical connection to make. Unfortunately for some buyers this is not always the case, leading to the surprise termination of warranty coverage months or even years prior to the expected end date.
The issue at stake when it comes to determining when new car warranties begin and end is found within the fine print of the warranty or purchase agreement. Many car companies set the warranty wheels in motion on the date when a vehicle is first marked as being put 'in service' by the dealer. What exactly does this mean? An automobile can be marked as 'in service' for a number of different reasons.
Some new car dealerships will take a vehicle out of inventory in order to use it as a demo, which effectively puts it in service and starts the warranty clock ticking. This is true regardless of how few miles might be on the actual vehicle. Sometimes, a dealer might also take a car out of inventory in order to mark it as sold and benefit from a limited incentives window being provided by the manufacturer. Despite the vehicle maintaining its status as a new automobile, and not ever having been titled, according to the manufacturer it has been put in service and its warranty has been activated. This can often be the case when looking at left-over inventory from a previous model year, or even vehicles which are two model years old but have yet to be sold.
In each of these situations, it is up to the buyer to verify the starting date of the vehicle in question's warranty. Making the assumption that it starts as soon as the keys have been handed over can end up being a costly mistake, especially if a year or so of warranty time has already been lopped off of the original service contract. In the case of manufacturers which offer Certified Pre-Owned warranty extensions or other types of extended warranties, some vehicles might have difficulty qualifying for these beneficial programs due to their warranty status. This can be the case regardless of how much time they have actually spent in the hands of their new owners.
Reading the fine print of both the warranty and the sales contract can take all of the mystery out of new car warranties and make sure that you are getting the exact deal that you were looking for when you set foot in the dealership. It can also help prevent any unfortunate surprises down the road when it comes to warranty repairs or extensions


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## cruze2011white (Feb 2, 2011)

Before you go changing that water outlet check and make sure the bolts are tight. Mine never leaked but they weren't tight either. So I snugged them a little more and have not had any issue with it for over 112,000 miles. Water pump was replace twice. So its possible the bolts just might be loose and when heats up and cools down you get a leak.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Farmer said:


> After I had the water pump fixed, I preemptively ordered a new thermostat /w housing and water outlet expecting those parts to start leaking Soon.


From what I've read, the water outlet has been redesigned and requires a matching redesigned hose. You might want to verify you have everything before taking stuff apart.


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## Farmer (Mar 6, 2013)

ChevyGuy said:


> From what I've read, the water outlet has been redesigned and requires a matching redesigned hose. You might want to verify you have everything before taking stuff apart.


I just read that too. I have both updated part numbers.


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## Farmer (Mar 6, 2013)

cruze2011white said:


> Before you go changing that water outlet check and make sure the bolts are tight. Mine never leaked but they weren't tight either. So I snugged them a little more and have not had any issue with it for over 112,000 miles. Water pump was replace twice. So its possible the bolts just might be loose and when heats up and cools down you get a leak.


I just replaced the thermostat and water outlet but I did notice the water outlet bolts were VERY EASY to remove. The gasket had a little bit of dirt build-up but other than that no noticeable leak points. The new water outlet was the 2nd version and had a better gasket design similiar to the thermostat housing. There were no issues with my old thermostat. Tightening the bolts would have probably been the most affordable fix but I was planning to replace both items around 100k as preventive maintenance anyway. Hoping no issues from those parts for another 100k miles.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

Farmer said:


> but I was planning to replace both items around 100k as preventive maintenance anyway. Hoping no issues from those parts for another 100k miles.


Not a bad plan. The problem I had with my old car was the plastic tank on the radiator on the engine outlet side. It would eventually crack due to thermal cycling. With the Cruze water outlet being plastic, I'd be concerned it will do the same at some point.


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## zen_ (Mar 15, 2015)

Had the same problem /w my car just a few weeks ago. The water outlet is actually fairly simple to replace, and it may have a revised P/N, along with the hose that connects the outlet to the surge tank. If you can turn a wrench, I would honestly recommend replacing all three of those items (outlet, hose, tank) at a cost of around $65, and two hours of your time. The hose breaking at the outlet connector is also a common problem, and if your tank doesn't have the barbs with metal reinforcers, just replace that too, and be done with it.


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## SMKS (Jun 15, 2015)

OP - if they won't cover it you can request a goodwill coverage

I had my coolant flange replaced at under 60k miles. They're a common failure point on these cars, which may be a leg up for you getting goodwill coverage.


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