Check engine light came on–had car checked and they said we needed a rocker arm -ordered 3 months ago and still don’t have it. There is no eta for this part. How can we trade it in in this condition. Is it harming the engine? Can’t use the remote starter because of the check engine light. What is our recourse? Wanted to hand it down to granddaughter but is it safe? GM offered us $2000 towards a new car today!!! Isn’t this bribery?
Try an independent shop if out of warranty. Alternatively elevate your complaint to corporate level according to instructions in your owners manual.
You didn’t say which engine, but I found after market rocker arms in 30 seconds for the 2.5 engine.
They offered you $2000 for a 2014 Malibu ? I don’t think I’d call that bribery, theft maybe, but not bribery.
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No. Bribery requires that the person you’re giving money to have some sort of authority over you. Bribing the cop to get out of a ticket, bribing the DA to look the other way while your mob enforcers run a protection racket, etc.
What GM is doing is trying to get you to spend $30,000 on a new car despite the fact that your 5 year old GM has broken in a ridiculous way and has been down for 3 months because GM can’t supply the part, and therefore the wise move would not be to continue giving them money.
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How did they come up with the rocker arm diagnosis? That’s not something that’d show up just because of a check engine light. You might get a second opinion.
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Hard to believe they dont have a rocker arm for a mass produced engine they are putting into a current car . They ought to be caught up after their strike by now . I would be at the local zone rep office creating a scene after this much time. Go after them , that is ridiculous .
PS- do a search you can even buy rocker arms on Ebay for this engine , I think they are yanking you around .
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Driving a car that has a rocker arm failure could indeed damage other components. It would depend on the nature of the failure. What sort of rocker arm problem does your shop they say your car has? Did they tell you not to drive it?
Valve asm, vlv rkr arm oil cont. gm part #19419980. Eng asm-2.5l l4 cyclinder. Check engine light on dash on. They claim computer said this is the problem and ok to drive. Waiting 3 months for part and no eta.
Get the codes read that are causing the check engine light to be on (or read them off the shop paperwork, if they’re on it), and post them here. Parts stores will read the codes for free. There’s no ‘defective rocker arm’ code that I know of. Of course, there may be a GM bulletin out for this engine, something like ‘if you get code P0XXX. it’s typically a rocker arm’.
Does the engine act fine, otherwise?
A damaged rocker arm IS causing more damage no matter what they or the computer says. It can damage the cam lobe and mushroom the valve stem.
What about Rock Auto? They show one for roughly 6 bucks; part no. MR 1340. The exhaust. Don’t know which one you need but both should be similar in design and price.
The part in question is a rocker arm oil control valve, it is an electrically actuated oil control valve, it is not in contact with the camshaft or valve.
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That clears that up a bit better then.
Part #19419980 doesn’t seem to exist.
I did find part #12633613 (Valve Asm-Valve Rocker Arm Oil Control) in an online lookup on a GM parts site, but it says this part is discontinued, with no replacement listed. Another site showed it as on backorder since 12/17/19.
Dorman makes an aftermarket replacement under part #916-806. Rockauto shows it as in stock.
Here’s a GM Tech-Link article about this part.
I wonder if that’s actually some sort of variable valve timing actuator? If so then it might be ok to drive while awaiting the repair. Just won’t have the variable valve timing function. But there may be other considerations. A dealership shop would know whether it is ok to drive or not.
The 2014 Malibu seems to have 3 engine options: 2L turbo, 2.4 L hybrid, 2.5 L non-turbo. Which engine do you have OP?
2.5 eng. Dealer said ok to drive. It has to do with fuel and air if I follow them . only effect gas mileage according to them.
So then why on Earth would you consider trading it in for a paltry $2000? I frequently see 15-20 year old cars with way more miles selling for more than that. Just keep driving it until it can be fixed.
Do not intend to trade in for 2000 bucks incentive, just a ploy to get you to buy 25000 to 30000 dollar car. Dealer said they will give us a credit on the repair or wave the fee all togeather. Will run car and wait and see. Thanks for your input.
I suspect the $2000 credit toward a new vehicle is in addition to the trade-in value of the Malibu.
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Another thing you might want to do (and this applies to any vehicle you currently own or any vehicle you may own in the future): You can go to the NHTSA’s (National Highway Transportation Safety Agency) website (vinrcl.safecar.gov/vin) and input your vehicle’s VIN to find any recalls or complaints filed regarding vehicles like yours.