# Dealer cost for a new engine install?



## ws691ta (May 1, 2017)

Hi everyone, can anyone here give me a ballpark figure for an out of pocket engine install at a Chevy dealership? This past Saturday my wives 2016 47,000 mile car developed a misfire in it's number 1 cylinder along with illuminating the money light on the dash. To make a long story short, I was a tech years ago so went through some troubleshooting. P0301 was permanently stored in codes. I performed a cylinder balance test with a scanner, cylinder one was definitely worse when I shut the injector off so I knew it wasn't completely dead. Swapped 1 and 2 plugs & coil packs, cleared code, P0301 continued to be a pending code so that's not it. Compression test dry from 1 to 4 came in at 100 150 150 150. At that point I didn't bother with oiling the rings or a leak down test, I popped of the oil cap and it smoked like it had 250,000 miles with cylinder bore and piston ring wear. I'm guessing the P01101 bonus code was from the engine finding additional air through the piston that was bypassing the MAF. My wife and I both agreed that I don't have the time to look at it so we agreed to take it to the dealer. The Chevy dealer did the leak down test and they confirmed what I already knew, #1 piston checked out. So here is the kicker, they are telling me that to replace the pistons it will cost $7700.00. If the cylinder walls are scored and it needs a new engine they will charge me $9500.00 for the motor install plus the diagnosis of the pistons which will push the bill to about $12,000.00. So essentially a 5 year old, low mileage car that has swilled premium top tier fuel and had synthetic current Dexos oil changes for it's entire life is going to cost me over $9,500.00 for a new engine. Has anyone else on this forum had to go out of pocket in this big of a way for their car yet? No one has to post amounts, just tell me I'm not nuts for dumping this much money into what is essentially the best ( and worst ) Cavalier GM has ever built.


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## Valpo Cruze (Feb 23, 2014)

$12,000 in repairs to a car that can be bought used for $16K is a hard pill to swallow. Maybe consider getting a used motor if you really want to keep the car.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

One guy posted on YouTube of his warranty being voided due to aftermarket parts.

His cost was $3500 dealer install. 28k miles.

That was around 2018 .


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## ws691ta (May 1, 2017)

I thought I saw somewhere on this forum that someone is being charged $1000.00 for the upstream and downstream O2 sensors installed at the dealership which is also a joke. Funny thing is I'm a Compliance Officer in Business and Licensing for my states MVC. Basically I audit car dealership sales. From what most people are telling me they can't get there hands on cars anymore and people aren't buying them marked up unless they have to. Most lots are stocked at about 15 percent capacity. So if they aren't selling cars, they are trying to recoup money somewhere else. The thing that bugs me about it, is that GM refuses to stand behind their cars. My brother went through the same thing with the 3.6L in one of the early GMC Acadia's that had timing chain stretch.


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## Maqcro1 (Apr 29, 2019)

ws691ta said:


> Hi everyone, can anyone here give me a ballpark figure for an out of pocket engine install at a Chevy dealership? This past Saturday my wives 2016 47,000 mile car developed a misfire in it's number 1 cylinder along with illuminating the money light on the dash. To make a long story short, I was a tech years ago so went through some troubleshooting. P0301 was permanently stored in codes. I performed a cylinder balance test with a scanner, cylinder one was definitely worse when I shut the injector off so I knew it wasn't completely dead. Swapped 1 and 2 plugs & coil packs, cleared code, P0301 continued to be a pending code so that's not it. Compression test dry from 1 to 4 came in at 100 150 150 150. At that point I didn't bother with oiling the rings or a leak down test, I popped of the oil cap and it smoked like it had 250,000 miles with cylinder bore and piston ring wear. I'm guessing the P01101 bonus code was from the engine finding additional air through the piston that was bypassing the MAF. My wife and I both agreed that I don't have the time to look at it so we agreed to take it to the dealer. The Chevy dealer did the leak down test and they confirmed what I already knew, #1 piston checked out. So here is the kicker, they are telling me that to replace the pistons it will cost $7700.00. If the cylinder walls are scored and it needs a new engine they will charge me $9500.00 for the motor install plus the diagnosis of the pistons which will push the bill to about $12,000.00. So essentially a 5 year old, low mileage car that has swilled premium top tier fuel and had synthetic current Dexos oil changes for it's entire life is going to cost me over $9,500.00 for a new engine. Has anyone else on this forum had to go out of pocket in this big of a way for their car yet? No one has to post amounts, just tell me I'm not nuts for dumping this much money into what is essentially the best ( and worst ) Cavalier GM has ever built.


that can’t be the real price. I paid $7000 for a brand new engine in my traverse, a much more expensive engine and labor intensive job.

don’t you have a warranty? Also isn’t cylinder 1 covered on some sort of recall? I feel like I see that same issue come up a lot around here.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

ws691ta said:


> 3.6L in one of the early GMC Acadia's that had timing chain stretch.


A timing chain job on those engines is an awful ordeal. I wouldn't buy any vehicle with that engine because of that, even if it's an illogical belief that it would need a timing chain replaced.

But then I bought a Cruze Diesel where the timing chain is on the back of the engine. I hope I don't need a timing chain replacement because the engine has to be split from the transmission to do the job.


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## ws691ta (May 1, 2017)

Maqcro1 said:


> that can’t be the real price. I paid $7000 for a brand new engine in my traverse, a much more expensive engine and labor intensive job.
> 
> don’t you have a warranty? Also isn’t cylinder 1 covered on some sort of recall? I feel like I see that same issue come up a lot around here.


I kid you not. They wouldn't even order the engine without me putting $4,700 down on it. I made a couple of calls to some of the dealer's and tech's I know and they said the same thing I did. Some, not all car dealers have marked up the price of everything from parts to service along with the price of the cars. Pretty much a victim of the current economic trends. I'll post the bill once I get the car back. My opinion on the motor is it probably should have had a recall, but it would have been an enormous loss for GM. So they did the obvious thing, and screwed the customer. I've been in a GM family for over 20 years now and I've had quad 4's, TPI's, blown LS1's, Saturn's and I still have low mileage 3.7 Colorado 4X4 which turned out to be a fantastic truck. But this car will probably be the last GM I buy.


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## ws691ta (May 1, 2017)

Barry Allen said:


> A timing chain job on those engines is an awful ordeal. I wouldn't buy any vehicle with that engine because of that, even if it's an illogical belief that it would need a timing chain replaced.
> 
> But then I bought a Cruze Diesel where the timing chain is on the back of the engine. I hope I don't need a timing chain replacement because the engine has to be split from the transmission to do the job.


Ha Ha, have faith in that car. My Colorado has 5 cylinders and one of the scariest chain driven balance shaft setups on the rear of the motor that I have ever seen. Their are plenty of them out there with over 200,000 miles on original motors.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Warranty is 5/60.

I'm guessing the 5 years is up.

The pistons usually go before 30k. And pretty much every one of them were dealer oil changes.


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## Valpo Cruze (Feb 23, 2014)

ws691ta said:


> Ha Ha, have faith in that car. My Colorado has 5 cylinders and one of the scariest chain driven balance shaft setups on the rear of the motor that I have ever seen. Their are plenty of them out there with over 200,000 miles on original motors.


You should see the Audi 3.0t. 4 chains and 4 tensioners on the back side of the engine. $5,000 indie shop or over $7,500 dealer. About $2,000 just in parts. Yeah this pic is my engine in my garage. I know call myself an uncertified Audi mechanic


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Talk about madness.


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## Maqcro1 (Apr 29, 2019)

Valpo Cruze said:


> You should see the Audi 3.0t. 4 chains and 4 tensioners on the back side of the engine. $5,000 indie shop or over $7,500 dealer. About $2,000 just in parts. Yeah this pic is my engine in my garage. I know call myself an uncertified Audi
> 
> 
> ws691ta said:
> ...


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Just for idle curiosity:

I believe there was an ECU update that was released for the early production Cruze gasoline engines. The update was some programming to try to reduce the risk of LSPI.

Did you ever get that ECU update?


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## ws691ta (May 1, 2017)

Barry Allen said:


> Just for idle curiosity:
> 
> I believe there was an ECU update that was released for the early production Cruze gasoline engines. The update was some programming to try to reduce the risk of LSPI.
> 
> Did you ever get that ECU update?


Hi, no I did not. My wife never received an email or snail mail regarding the issue. I wasn't even aware of it until I found TSB 18-NA-171. The thing is, I asked about it a few times when I spoke to the service department at the dealer and they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. So before I picked up the car, I asked them to please re-flash the PCM to the latest update. The bill actually says "as per customer requested, ECM update as well". LOL, It's not a request....It's your TSB that states their is a re-flash available. I shouldn't have to ask for it. You would think that a dealership that has a vested interest in keeping an engine warrantied would be on top of such things.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

ws691ta said:


> You would think that a dealership that has a vested interest in keeping an engine warrantied would be on top of such things.


Dealerships are reimbursed for warranty work. They aren't paid for TSBs that are not a recall but just an ECU update, so that costs them money they don't get paid back.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

I wouldn't install a used motor either.

You have no idea if the same predicament will happen again.


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## nebura1 (Jan 25, 2020)

ws691ta said:


> Hi everyone, can anyone here give me a ballpark figure for an out of pocket engine install at a Chevy dealership? This past Saturday my wives 2016 47,000 mile car developed a misfire in it's number 1 cylinder along with illuminating the money light on the dash. To make a long story short, I was a tech years ago so went through some troubleshooting. P0301 was permanently stored in codes. I performed a cylinder balance test with a scanner, cylinder one was definitely worse when I shut the injector off so I knew it wasn't completely dead. Swapped 1 and 2 plugs & coil packs, cleared code, P0301 continued to be a pending code so that's not it. Compression test dry from 1 to 4 came in at 100 150 150 150. At that point I didn't bother with oiling the rings or a leak down test, I popped of the oil cap and it smoked like it had 250,000 miles with cylinder bore and piston ring wear. I'm guessing the P01101 bonus code was from the engine finding additional air through the piston that was bypassing the MAF. My wife and I both agreed that I don't have the time to look at it so we agreed to take it to the dealer. The Chevy dealer did the leak down test and they confirmed what I already knew, #1 piston checked out. So here is the kicker, they are telling me that to replace the pistons it will cost $7700.00. If the cylinder walls are scored and it needs a new engine they will charge me $9500.00 for the motor install plus the diagnosis of the pistons which will push the bill to about $12,000.00. So essentially a 5 year old, low mileage car that has swilled premium top tier fuel and had synthetic current Dexos oil changes for it's entire life is going to cost me over $9,500.00 for a new engine. Has anyone else on this forum had to go out of pocket in this big of a way for their car yet? No one has to post amounts, just tell me I'm not nuts for dumping this much money into what is essentially the best ( and worst ) Cavalier GM has ever built.


Bro there is a Chevy Cruze recall problem with the pistons on the Cruze, the glands on pistons break, they know they have to replace , get ahold of Chevy and tell them about it, they will replace all pistons if any problems, there a lemon law lawyer out there that will get it taken care of, I already did that


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## brodie29a (Feb 21, 2021)

me personally i would look for a new engine from a 3rd party dealer and then find a wrench to put in for you that would be the cheapest route. i wouldn’t even bother trying to repair the cyl. the eco engines have a bad history of blowing out holes in the side wall


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

nebura1 said:


> Bro there is a Chevy Cruze recall problem with the pistons on the Cruze, the glands on pistons break, they know they have to replace , get ahold of Chevy and tell them about it, they will replace all pistons if any problems, there a lemon law lawyer out there that will get it taken care of, I already did that



Got a link to that recall?
Supposedly there's a software update. Might be a TSB.


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## Earthangel496 (Oct 17, 2017)

You definitely need to make an escalation call to GM Customer Service. With the known piston problem this repair should be goodwilled under powertrain warranty.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Earthangel496 said:


> You definitely need to make an escalation call to GM Customer Service. With the known piston problem this repair should be goodwilled under powertrain warranty.


HAH! On a 5+ year old car that is out of warranty? They'll laugh in your face and tell you to get lost.


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## nebura1 (Jan 25, 2020)

Barry Allen said:


> HAH! On a 5+ year old car that is out of warranty? They'll laugh in your face and tell you to get lost.


Well ya, I would too


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

snowwy66 said:


> Got a link to that recall?
> Supposedly there's a software update. Might be a TSB.


Here is the TSB: 



https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10163888-9999.pdf


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## brodie29a (Feb 21, 2021)

holy (bleep) how big is car dude lol that engine is monstrous in size, and i feel for you bro having to do timing on that if it was even if i knew how to do it i might just pay someone to do it lol.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

ws691ta said:


> I wasn't even aware of it until I found TSB 18-NA-171.


I thought GM would make it an easy recall for the 2016-2018 cars: Bring the car in, get the ECU updated, and maybe throw in a free oil change.

Such a recall could prevent engine failures if the ECU update that GM offers is believed to prevent the problem (who knows if it does?). This could be a recall that saves GM money.

But then I figured that someone in the bean counting department at GM did the math. They figured the likelihood of engine failures and calculated how many would happen within warranty and figured the total cost to repair them. Then they figured the cost of the recall for all vehicles, or at least the large percentage of them that they could expect to show up to get the ECU update, and they calculated the cost for that.

If the cost of the recall was higher than the cost of repairing the failed engines under warranty, they don't do the recall.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

I wonder what the cost of the software update is.

And does a TSB hold the same power as a recall?


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## brodie29a (Feb 21, 2021)

@Barry lol you sound like edward norton in fight club, my question is which car company do you work for again lol


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Barry Allen said:


> I thought GM would make it an easy recall for the 2016-2018 cars: Bring the car in, get the ECU updated, and maybe throw in a free oil change.
> 
> Such a recall could prevent engine failures if the ECU update that GM offers is believed to prevent the problem (who knows if it does?). This could be a recall that saves GM money.
> 
> ...


I wouldn't want their free oil change.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

brodie29a said:


> @Barry lol you sound like edward norton in fight club, my question is which car company do you work for again lol


"A major one."


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

snowwy66 said:


> I wonder what the cost of the software update is.
> 
> And does a TSB hold the same power as a recall?


Figure it's about 15 minutes of a technician's time. 

There was a recall for my Diesel Cruze that was the same recall for the Chevy/GMC pickups with the 2.8 Duramax engine (so, all 4-cylinder Diesel engines because I think they all share the same ECU). Probably the same recall for the Equinox/Terrain SUV engines. The recall was something about how the engine could have a malfunctioning condition that wouldn't trigger the CEL. It could have been a glitch in one line of code or it could have been a serious issue. Anyways, I drove in to the dealership at a random time to ask if it could be done and they said yes. Before I finished a cup of coffee they had the car done. I guess it was something that basically any technician can do because they didn't have the specific Diesel technician doing it. Probably plug the computer into the OBD-II port, hit update/refresh, and wait 5 minutes to upload.

And no, a TSB is not a recall.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

So TSBs don't have to be performed compared to a recall.

It took me 30 minutes I think it was to flash my ecu with a tune. 

I saw someone saying they paid $300 for dealer update.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

I wish that ECU updates would be covered as a warranty item. Looking at a general CarFax report for my car (it was handed to me as part of an oil change) I found that there was an ECU update performed before my car was delivered to me. I'd have to go back and look at it, but it was something about making the engine run smoother or with less noise - I guess it was just a new ECU calibration that they were rolling out and they put it on the car before I ever got it. Then I got the ECU update for the recall (the thing about the check engine light) and that's been it. The second one was a recall, so it was definitely free.


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## Cruzer4326 (Jan 22, 2017)

Welcome to the automotive world, post-Covid.
Please don’t give up on GM, it’s probably the dealership.


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## Geraceitaly (6 mo ago)

ws691ta said:


> Hi everyone, can anyone here give me a ballpark figure for an out of pocket engine install at a Chevy dealership? This past Saturday my wives 2016 47,000 mile car developed a misfire in it's number 1 cylinder along with illuminating the money light on the dash. To make a long story short, I was a tech years ago so went through some troubleshooting. P0301 was permanently stored in codes. I performed a cylinder balance test with a scanner, cylinder one was definitely worse when I shut the injector off so I knew it wasn't completely dead. Swapped 1 and 2 plugs & coil packs, cleared code, P0301 continued to be a pending code so that's not it. Compression test dry from 1 to 4 came in at 100 150 150 150. At that point I didn't bother with oiling the rings or a leak down test, I popped of the oil cap and it smoked like it had 250,000 miles with cylinder bore and piston ring wear. I'm guessing the P01101 bonus code was from the engine finding additional air through the piston that was bypassing the MAF. My wife and I both agreed that I don't have the time to look at it so we agreed to take it to the dealer. The Chevy dealer did the leak down test and they confirmed what I already knew, #1 piston checked out. So here is the kicker, they are telling me that to replace the pistons it will cost $7700.00. If the cylinder walls are scored and it needs a new engine they will charge me $9500.00 for the motor install plus the diagnosis of the pistons which will push the bill to about $12,000.00. So essentially a 5 year old, low mileage car that has swilled premium top tier fuel and had synthetic current Dexos oil changes for it's entire life is going to cost me over $9,500.00 for a new engine. Has anyone else on this forum had to go out of pocket in this big of a way for their car yet? No one has to post amounts, just tell me I'm not nuts for dumping this much money into what is essentially the best ( and worst ) Cavalier GM has ever built.


My son is going through this with a 2017 Chevy Cruz it’s not a recall but Cruz’s are known for this the turbo is too powerful for pistons cause the engine failure. Extended warranties won’t cover this because it’s a manufacture issue. Call GMC/Chevy service assistant line make a case it will take about two weeks and make them do inspections, with dealership and extended warranty company. Manufacture company will keep in contact via text and give you a case number. I would not of known to do any of this with out the help of the dealership service department. GMC/Chevy is covering 100% new engine and labor.
I hope this helps anyone who needs its.


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