sonicactuary
New member
Hi All, I hope I'm posting this in the right place, sorry if this goes kind of long.
A while ago, my 2014 1.8L LT Sonic began overheating as I was sitting in a drive-through (luckily I was just pulling out). I pulled into a parking spot and let it cool, but I couldn't figure out what was causing the overheating. I replaced the thermostat housing and water pump to no avail, and then finally found out the fuse controlling the cooling fan was blown. I replaced this and it worked fine for quite a while, no overheating, then it blew again. I replaced it, and now it has been even longer than the first interval and I haven't had any fan issues.
Recently, I noticed the coolant was just slightly low, so I topped it off and kept watch. It started to go a bit faster, and I noticed some white smoke coming from the exhaust... ugh. I brought it to my mechanic and they confirmed a leaking head gasket, which we assume is from the car overheating from the fan failing. They took it apart and found that the engine block was warped, and so now I'll need a new engine. My preferred mechanic is an independent shop, and they quoted me around $5,500 to replace with a used engine and some other ancillary things, like the timing belt and new water pump that they said should be replaced while they have everything apart. The thing is, the engine has less than 80,000 miles on it, so I'm really disappointed. I spoke with a Certified GM service manager who knows and regularly communicates with my independent shop, he said he absolutely trusts their opinion but in order for him to see if Chevy will cover any portion of the expenses he'll have to take a look for himself, but he said if he can confirm what my shop said, Chevy would cover 30% of the expenses, which would leave me out of pocket with... about $5,500, the same as my shop, and I wouldn't get any of the extra parts.
So, my questions are:
1.) Should I have the shop inspect the radiator fan for issues?
2.) Has anyone had any luck getting Chevy to cover a high expense like this? I really think having to replace an engine with less than 80k miles is kind of ridiculous. I called Chevy Customer Service, and they said they'd have their supervising manager review my case, but I want to know what I'm getting in to.
Edit: To be clear, the second time the fuse blew the engine did NOT overheat - I realized there was an issue because the AC wasn't coming out as cold as it should be.
A while ago, my 2014 1.8L LT Sonic began overheating as I was sitting in a drive-through (luckily I was just pulling out). I pulled into a parking spot and let it cool, but I couldn't figure out what was causing the overheating. I replaced the thermostat housing and water pump to no avail, and then finally found out the fuse controlling the cooling fan was blown. I replaced this and it worked fine for quite a while, no overheating, then it blew again. I replaced it, and now it has been even longer than the first interval and I haven't had any fan issues.
Recently, I noticed the coolant was just slightly low, so I topped it off and kept watch. It started to go a bit faster, and I noticed some white smoke coming from the exhaust... ugh. I brought it to my mechanic and they confirmed a leaking head gasket, which we assume is from the car overheating from the fan failing. They took it apart and found that the engine block was warped, and so now I'll need a new engine. My preferred mechanic is an independent shop, and they quoted me around $5,500 to replace with a used engine and some other ancillary things, like the timing belt and new water pump that they said should be replaced while they have everything apart. The thing is, the engine has less than 80,000 miles on it, so I'm really disappointed. I spoke with a Certified GM service manager who knows and regularly communicates with my independent shop, he said he absolutely trusts their opinion but in order for him to see if Chevy will cover any portion of the expenses he'll have to take a look for himself, but he said if he can confirm what my shop said, Chevy would cover 30% of the expenses, which would leave me out of pocket with... about $5,500, the same as my shop, and I wouldn't get any of the extra parts.
So, my questions are:
1.) Should I have the shop inspect the radiator fan for issues?
2.) Has anyone had any luck getting Chevy to cover a high expense like this? I really think having to replace an engine with less than 80k miles is kind of ridiculous. I called Chevy Customer Service, and they said they'd have their supervising manager review my case, but I want to know what I'm getting in to.
Edit: To be clear, the second time the fuse blew the engine did NOT overheat - I realized there was an issue because the AC wasn't coming out as cold as it should be.
