http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum Forum for discussion of general technical related subjects for the Solstice GXP. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:17:53 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/images/solstice2/misc/rss.jpg http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f59/turbo-lug-bolts-issues-60607/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:26 GMT I had a near miss Monday, going in for a $50 repair that almost had me buying a new Turbo. Last year I had a shop install the Solo Hi-Flow CAT onto my MagnaFlow exhaust system. I was really pleased with the sound and performance,:) but I noticed a slight smell of exhaust when the car was cold. I took it to my exhaust guy and we noticed that the seal from the Cat to the Turbo wasn't fully seated, but didn't see much sign of discoloration from a leak. I ordered a new seal anyway, but never got around to having it put on until I recently started having performance issues under hi-boost when starting off cold. I'd run up to about 20 PSI and then I get this loud "Blatt" noise and immediately lose boost and power.:( If I allowed the car to warm up the problem went away, so I assumed that it was exhaust gas venting around the loose seal. Well I talk with my muffler guy and he recommends that I buy spare lug bolts, because he had experienced the threads stripping on these when you try to remove them. This I did and when I had everything together I took the car in for a quick fix, but it was not to be. Apparently when the shop removed my old CAT they inadvertently had backed two of the lug bolts (which are threaded on both ends with a small unthreaded portion in the middle) partially out, resulting in a bad seal and my exhaust leak. What it also resulted in was severely locked bolts. We tried everything to turn them to no avail, so we had to pull the turbo off and clamp it to a vise to try to remove them. So now my 1 hour max job had escalated to 4.5 hours and a turbo removal. Well it just kept getting better. Despite applying heat and using a cam wrench, the lug bolts would not come out and eventually stripped out the threads on the turbo body! Very bad news and a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.:cryin: On top of that I was feeling pretty guilty about occupying half of my guys bays and having watch him turn away customers all morning because he was working on my car (he's a one man shop). Well we find a machine shop that might can remove the lug bolts and rethread the turbo, but my car in out of commission, all my friends and family are at work, and the local car rental is out of cars. Pretty much a perfect storm going. Eventually a local jobless, ex-con swings by and offers to drive me to the shop and then home if I fill his truck with gas (really a nice guy, just a little lost), which I happily do. To speed up this tall tale, the machine shop successfully removed the lug bolts, rethreaded the turbo, and properly installed the spare lug bolts I had already purchased, all for a measly $75. I took the turbo back to my muffler guy and by COB the next day I had my Sol back and running good with just slight collateral damage (needed coolant and passenger side HID headlights wires were pulled out of their sockets). He didn't even really gouge me too much on the labor.:thumbs: I consider this a classic example of how the smallest project can rapidly grow out of proportion when dealing with cars.;) ]]> General Tech, Solstice GXP Specific jeff_b_wilson http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f59/turbo-lug-bolts-issues-60607/ http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f59/bent-lifter-60596/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:46:38 GMT More problems! Hooray!

Anyway, several weeks ago the motor in my '07 GXP started making a helluva racket. I had the fortune of dealing with an extremely loud rattling sound that just came out of nowhere.

Took the car to a dealership in west palm beach (which, incidentally, happens to be staffed by complete MORONS!) and when they took off the valve covers, they discovered a bent lifter and the rocker arm "just fell off". Normally a powertrain warranty would cover this, but apparently, because an intake and I/C piping can cause hard engine failures, the claim is being denied.

(I'd fight this if it meant I needed a new engine, but as it stands the motor still runs. I just need a new set of lifters and a rocker arm, total of about $140)

Ive decided to do the labor myself, just to get the car into a working condition so I can sideline it and start the build-up for an LS2 swap (the motor burned 5 quarts of oil in 2 months. I dont trust it.)

The only problem here is that Ive never done top end work on an overhead cam engine (mainly pushrod diesels). Anyone have any tips, advice, or maybe a repair manual for a similar ecotec? I have access to any and all tools needed at this point in time.

The only other problem is that I've yet to take a look at the motor myself, as its still stuck at the dealership. ]]> General Tech, Solstice GXP Specific XplosivePlushToy http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f59/bent-lifter-60596/ http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f59/non-sac-whos-got-one-60544/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:15:13 GMT So who has made the swap? And what brand/setup and how do you like it? So who has made the swap? And what brand/setup and how do you like it? ]]> General Tech, Solstice GXP Specific Jebsmith http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f59/non-sac-whos-got-one-60544/