[Solskillz]

Okay so I finally took my car down to GM and got my Cam Actuator Solenoid replaced, 173 dollars labor and part.... btw, he told me he blamed it on my oil.... I kinda call bull on that since I've always been very careful with replacing my synthetic oil at the right intervals but whatever... I didn't argue back with him.

Now they tell me my Catalytic Converter is failing and needs to be replaced. They want to charge me 903 dollars for it.

So I did a little research on these forums. Is it true there is some recall or warranty that I wasn't aware of about the CC? Is there anyway I can get this replaced for free? Or tell the sales advisor to look into it, since he clearly was unaware of that?

 

[KappaKadet]

The cat converter should be a warranty replacement at least until 100K miles. If they balk, take it another GM dealership. Good luck.

 

[boboborino]

Since you have the NA you should be still covered with this

#08300: Special Coverage Adjustment - Extended Catalytic Converter Warranty Coverage - (Jun 11, 2009)

Models: 2006-2007 PONTIAC SOLSTICE

2007 SATURN SKY

EQUIPPED WITH 2.4L ENGINE (LE5)

Condition
Some customers of 2006-2007 model year Pontiac Solstice vehicles, and 2007 model year Saturn SKY vehicles, equipped with a 2.4L engine (LE5), may comment on illumination of the malfunction indicator lamp (MAL) and/or lack of engine power. This may be caused by failure of the catalytic converter.

Special Coverage Adjustment
This special coverage covers the condition described above for a period of 10 years or 120,000 miles (193,000 km), whichever occurs first, from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service, regardless of ownership.

Dealers are to replace the catalytic converter. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.

Customers should not be charged for performing a system check when it is determined that the catalytic converter is not the cause of the customer complaint. Labor code T5722 is provided to submit claims for such system checks. Any additional necessary diagnosis and repairs that are not related to the catalytic converter are NOT covered by this special coverage. The customer should be informed that any further service that is not covered by the new vehicle warranty will not be covered by this policy.

For vehicles covered by Vehicle Service Contracts, all eligible claims with repair orders on or after June 11, 2009, are covered by this special coverage and must be submitted using the labor operation codes provided with this bulletin. Claims with repair orders prior to June 11, 2009, must be submitted to the Service Contract provider.

Vehicles Involved
Involved are certain 2006-2007 model year Pontiac Solstice vehicles, and 2007 model year Saturn SKY vehicles, equipped with a 2.4L engine (LE5), and built within the following VIN breakpoints:

Year
Division
Model
From
Through

2006
Pontiac
Solstice
6Y000001
6Y120195

2007
Pontiac
Solstice
7Y103375
7Y142882

2007
Saturn
SKY
7Y100001
7Y142739
__________________

I got the above info from here:

http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f12/help-500-00-later-engine-power-loss-p0014-63975/index2.html

I guess only if you have less than 100k miles though,

Bert

 

[chickenwire]

Yep. If you have trouble with the dealer, try this number:

https://www.pontiac.com/toolbar/contact_us.html

 

[twowheeladdict]

$123 labor to change out a part that took me 15 minutes of careful thoughtful time? If I had to rely on professionals to maintain my vehicles I definitely could only afford half of what I own.

Are you still throwing a code that tells them the Cat is bad?

 

[rob the elder]

My experience has been that most company shops pay their techs based on the GM repair manual allocated hours for each repair type. The tech gets paid based on the hours allocated, if he gets it done more quickly, then he can go to the next job and earns a bit more money. If it takes him longer, then he gets paid less because he cannot do multiple tasks in a shorter period of time.

Again, in my experience, the largest variable is the rate that the dealer charges per hour. I have seen it go from $50 an hour to $150 an hour. The tech gets half or less of the hourly charge rate, the remainder going to the dealer.

 

[Solskillz]

Okay thank you all. I got a call from the dealership and they are going to replace the cat converter for free. All they have to do is order it since it's not in stock.

I'm so glad I looked up cat converter on here to find out about the extended warranty.

 

[chickenwire]

Keep us posted Sols - it would be interesting to see if these cats are back in short supply or not.

 

[Solroam]

How did it turn out with your new cat converter, was the shifting problem gone? And did you have a CEL?, unfortunately i been having problems with hard shift and tried replacing the cam actuators and also tried cleaning the MAF, but since i have no CEL i think maybe i have an issue similar to yours, hopefully you have your sol running good now