Not my Pistons

[Oldmonroman]

I have booked my CV8 in for a listen for piston slap which is getting worst, ( maybe because we are getting into winter) mind you the car has only 11,200 k on the clock but warranty is quickly running out.
I know after the first visit they will ask me to leave the car over night to hear it first thing in the morning although this is not needed as 5 hrs idle to cool down then you can start the car with the bonnet closed and after 2 to 3 minute 3 metres away you can here it with one finger in you ear.
Now! what will they try to throw at me first. Mind you I asked the dealer have you ever heard this problem before and he said "NO" could you believe that.

1/ Will they tell me its normal
2/ Will they tell me its bad and we will have to rebuild your engine
3/ Will they replace it with a new one]
4/ Will they replace it with another reco one from someone else ( NO WAY !!!)

Now I know there are a few on this forum that have had this problem can you please tell me what did they do, Rebuild or Replace complete engine, Also Rebuilding were you happy after that.
I have been told they have run out of Gen 111 for the VX series and now are using the VY's is this true?.

[VooDoo]

Go and see Zupps. They wont stuff you around and will listen to the engine. They rebuilt mine (even when i said i didnt think it needed it)

You wont get a new engine, it will be rebuilt in house. Generally they will only put in genuine parts (i supplied some lifters as they didnt class those as a warranty item). I have heard of some dealers letting you fit a cam while its being rebuilt too.

A rebuild isnt really a big deal. I was completely happy before and after my rebuild and will continue to use Holden servicing even after the warranty is up.

[JoshoMarc]

After purchassing my ute used from Armstrongs, I left it a while to diagnose what I thought needed replacing under warranty.. and thought id leave it for a cold start as well. It ran out of factory warranty in Jan this year, but among a few other problems (big vibration through driveline between 90 - 100 kays with clutch engaged) they agreed to rebuild the engine. So i guess theyll just rebuild it.

[RedVX2]

My car has the noise issues that you mentioned.

Took the car to my local Holden dealer, they listened to it on a cold start after being there overnight and said that it was within their tolerances! (Even though it sounds like a London taxi when its cold).

Good luck with it.

[Oldmonroman]

We were out at the car club on Sunday and all the Monaro's were lined up side by side. We all started the engines after a 5 hour rest, then we all walked between the 5 cars which were parked side by side and mine was noticeably noisier. The rest were as quiet as a mouse compared to mine. When they rebuild them, are they using a different type of piston, eg longer skirts etc, they would not be putting the same type of piston back in would they?

[JoshoMarc]

Its only the clearance between the piston and the bore that produces the slap noise as it 'rattles' in the bore... more noticeably when the engine is cold and the components havent expanded properly, blah blah. My understanding is that the revised pistons they use have a teflon coating, which probably aids in hiding the noise (less friction = less noise) more than anything else? Does anyone know wether they are actually a tad bigger??

[AGVTII350]

My car has the noise issues that you mentioned.

Took the car to my local Holden dealer, they listened to it on a cold start after being there overnight and said that it was within their tolerances! (Even though it sounds like a London taxi when its cold).

Good luck with it.
Was your car still under factory warranty when they said it was within tolerances?
Because the piston slap/rattle issue is a known problem, has anyone heard of Holden rebuilding cars out of warranty?

[JoshoMarc]

yes, mine is getting done as we speak. My factory warranty ran out in JAN, but they happily said theyd rebuild it for me. There were some other problems (one quite major that they passed or should say missed in the '100 point inspection') with the car though that theyre fixing as well so im not sure wether its to keep me happy or not...

[Inter-ceptor]

yes, mine is getting done as we speak. My factory warranty ran out in JAN, but they happily said theyd rebuild it for me. There were some other problems (one quite major that they passed or should say missed in the '100 point inspection') with the car though that theyre fixing as well so im not sure wether its to keep me happy or not...
For free???

[vxberwag]

I had my VX11 engine rebuilt at 50,000 klms (12 months ago) with new revised pistons as I wanted to keep my engine No, now its noisy again Holden have authorised a remanufactured engine to be fitted.

[highlander_69r]

i have a vy ser1 and just recently had the rebuild done via warrenty.it has the revised pistons in it and it still has a slight tick to it

[JoshoMarc]

yep... 100% free... from the dealer principals mouth.. Actually a nice bloke was he

[Inter-ceptor]

Yikes, so many guys are having piston slaps, im starting to rethink me buying a VX SS II next year as it will be definately out of warranty :(

[JoshoMarc]

Dont worry too much, Unless the car is drinking oil or blowing it out the exhausts (happened to a mate), you ll find theyre all noisy to a degree. Buying an LS1 was the best thing i ever did. Lots of fun.

[myles]

Josho, is that Armstrong who are doing the rebuild?

I've found since the el-windo issue (which is debateable how much it was an issue), Armstrong has seemed to have picked up their service.

Inter-ceptor, I've heard of tvs blowing up, won't stop me watching tv. ;)

[pagey]

Getting Older - If you are on the southside (or even if you aren't) I would recommend Motorama @ Springwood. They rebuilt my VU engine no questions asked, and have done so for numreous other people. If your car has only 11,000 kms on it i would not be surprised if you are able to get a new crate engine. As mine was around 50k when it was rebuit - it was deemed to be a little too manay k's for a replacement engine.

The motorama guys seem very switched on and I have yet to hear a bad word about them.

[JoshoMarc]

yeh armstrongs are doing it...
I brought it there cause a bloke at work married (armstrongs) sister, then, yeh, the debarcle with the winding happened. IMHO I was disgusted at the service from the used car salesman. A complete turd. I couldnt be happier with the service department, I think youre right in saying theyve picked up their act a tad. Cant be 100% sure till i get it back though.

[AGVTII350]

Yikes, so many guys are having piston slaps, im starting to rethink me buying a VX SS II next year as it will be definately out of warranty :(
Dont let a few bad apples change your mind. Yeah, there have been a few issues, but what can you do? My vtii had 140ks when i bought it, & every log book service up to 130ks. Some days its more noisy than others, but you just have to live with it because alloy will never be as quite as cast. As long as it doesnt use too much oil you should be fine.

[Inter-ceptor]

Dont let a few bad apples change your mind. Yeah, there have been a few issues, but what can you do? My vtii had 140ks when i bought it, & every log book service up to 130ks. Some days its more noisy than others, but you just have to live with it because alloy will never be as quite as cast. As long as it doesnt use too much oil you should be fine.
So the whole piston slap problem relates back to alloy metal?

[SV8VY]

Its funny mine makes noise sometimes and sometimes it doesn't when cold.
I couldn't be bothered getting another engine as it took allot to break this one in :D
What if they gave you a slower one. :(
Mine goes away after its warmed up and never used a drop of oil in it.
I have been at the Holden dealers early in the morning as they start them all up and I would say 95% of them where making same noise as mine.
As long as Holden don't service my car she is running nicely.

[Oldmonroman]

Yes mine has only done just over 11,000K and it started to rattle around 9.500 Kmls But like I said I parked next to others with Gen111 and we all started them together and only mine rattled.
Can anyone tell me the Revised pistons do they have longer skirts.

[RedVX2]

Was your car still under factory warranty when they said it was within tolerances?
Because the piston slap/rattle issue is a known problem, has anyone heard of Holden rebuilding cars out of warranty?

My car is still under warrranty, but only for another month. I'm taking the car in for a service before the warranty runs out and will bring up the piston slap/rattle issue again, because my engine is far noisier at cold than other Gen 3's if heard.

Seems like there might be a few other forum members have had rebuilds done outside of warranty.