Let’s talk about this 2004 Chevy Avalanche engine 5.3 that is experiencing a misfire issue and the procedures toward diagnosing and finding the real problem ( the culprit ) component/components.” Yes, my truck.“
If any readers have time for a story, you may relate to this one.
At the Dealership now, Pull up to the big shop doors, Pull through the big shop doors, but wait till they open those big shop doors, Sure Okay I can do that. Stop on the designated marked zone. Oops, I went too far, nobody was watching me until I heard a voice command from somewhere in the let’s get acquainted area, back up you’re are too far forward.
The good news is I never caused too much of a ruckus, and no one was injured
Now let’s get serious, Truck information is needed. I am asked to describe my truck’s engine problem. At this point, I give the service writer the best verbal explanation of when and how the misfire became present, uninvited of course.
When I explained how my truck was running so good and that when I had opened the hood to check my oil as I do once a week, when I closed the hood after my quick inspection and started the engine to go about my day, that’s when I noticed the engine running roughly and misfiring.
After the write-up of my explanation of when and how the engine started running rough and the obvious curl up of the service writer’s eyebrow as he wrote the information down, I kind of felt he may be thinking, okay this is a good one to tell others during a coffee break. Hey, who doesn’t like a good and unusual story to listen to?
Yeah! just when you think you heard them all.
Hand over the keys time and ask for any type of vehicle to get me back home. Sorry, says the Service Writer, no courtesy cars are available at this point in time, and also no courtesy rides back to work or home. Then how does one get home? when one has a 15 km distance to travel.
Okay at this point I am handed a “Taxi Voucher” and call the cab company to pick me up, right? Good thing I had my wallet with my credit card inside, otherwise I would be dropped off and walked the last 6 km home.
Yes, a taxi voucher is only good for a limited amount of travel distance!
Oh well back home now and on the couch, time to think about my truck.
Question Here: Next day I called for what’s an update on my truck “Please”, so says I to the service writer at the dealership.
Answer Here: We are really busy we will get back to you later in the day, what can I say? Okay, day one has gone by, and day two coming up. I say to myself I won’t call the dealership till just before noon. Finally, I made the call just before noon, As the phone continues to ring and then click over to voice mail to leave a message I will get back to you as soon as possible says the recorded message from the Service Writer.
I think this is pretty much standard procedure, what do you readers think?
I left my message, wanting to know about any details they had to share with me, and what else could I do, so I hung up and continues to wait for a return call.
Late afternoon day two, a call from the dealership with repair suggestions on tackling the truck’s problem. Suggestion to replace all spark plugs and spark plug wiring harness to correct the code (P0300) misfire issue. Owner me, says will that fix my truck’s misfire problem?
The service writer says that’s our first step towards fixing the (PO300) code issue. So “8” spark plugs get changed.
Then we will see where we go from there, says he. Oh! so that may or may not correct my engine misfire issue. I agree to the step towards finding my misfire problem and I am thinking, okay it’s been 45,000 km since I changed my spark plugs and have not changed my spark plug wire set, in over 200,000 km. Go ahead do it, I say to the service writer.
The service Writer says he will call me back with the results, but probably tomorrow, my calculations should be day three.
Day three is here now, and a call from the dealership coming my way, I answer, and we go through the good morning exchanges, and the service writer says well I have good news for you. The new spark plugs and wires are working fine, but there is still a misfire in your engine.
Now I’m thinking to myself OH NO! not a major engine problem. I just spent $660.00 in diagnostics, parts, and labor for no gain, but lots of pain, “no fix.”
Question to the service writer, where do we go from here I ask.
The answer he the service writer says they will send my truck to another division of the dealership to check my internal engine operating functions.
On day four incoming call from the dealership service writer, again the good news is the technician found the problem, and the bad news is the parts will have to be ordered in from another dealership.
Question to the service writer, tell me the problem and the fix to get my truck back on the road. The answer from the service writer is the problem is a broken valve spring on cylinder #5 and it can be fixed without taking the engine apart.
It’s now time to talk to the technician working on my truck if that’s even possible. I ask the service writer if there was a chance the technician and I could talk about the repair in question and if this would be the closing chapter on the fix to the code (PO300)
The day five Service writer called me back, in the morning and the Technician agreed to communicate with me early afternoon on the current condition of my truck.
Again no call coming my way yet, so I called the Service Writer, and what luck, the Technician was just heading into the Head Service writer’s office. The in-shop Service Writer then connected me to my information source, the Technician.
We introduced ourselves and got into a discussion concerning my truck’s Code (PO300) Engine Miss-fire is an ongoing and not yet fixed issue.
I got the Technician to run me through where we are at currently with the broken valve spring on the exhaust valve on cylinder ( #5 ). The technician found this by doing a compression test on that very cylinder and then removing the valve cover and doing a visual inspection.
I then asked him, if could he tell if there could be a chance that the top of the piston could have come into contact with the exhaust valve head, because of the weak broken Valve Spring. (Now This Is Important)
We all know and understand that Businesses no matter what their goods and services are all need to make money to survive. So I put the load on his shoulders the Technicians by saying, If it was your truck and in his professional opinion and the knowledge he has over the years working on GM Trucks, would he do the repair (The Fix) with confidence, knowing that the Code (PO300) would now be fixed and put to rest and disappear from my truck’s computer memory of stored codes.
At least for this point in time until another different code appears on the dashboard as an engine light flashing or no-flashing light.
So after a 1/2 hour phone meeting, I felt confident enough with his confidence to agree to the repair to replace the broken exhaust valve spring. Well 2 days later I get a phone call from the dealership service writer and the words I wanted to hear were said to me, your truck is repaired and ready to be picked up.
Then he said, oh! one more thing, I thought I might lose it here until he said that they need time to wash my truck before I pick it up. And then finally the Goodbye was in order.
End of the story a good running truck and a clean truck which was way overdue for washing on my part. Why is it that a clean vehicle always feels so good to drive?
Okay, I am feeling good, truck is running great, If You got time maybe check out some other Fixes and Things, come on in.
Hey if you have a story you would like to share with me I would love to hear about it so we could compare our experiences.
