I have a 2007 Commander and I had an upper valve break. I know nothing about cars. My warranty should cover only if they can determine that is was a faulty part not lack of maintence. I have not had an oil change in 10,000 miles (bad I know). will they be able to tell that? I heard the repair is very expensive
There’s not enough info given to make much of a guess here, but it would be near impossible for a valve to “break”. However, a valve could bend if struck by a piston because of a timing chain failure. A valve could also seize in the valve guide but that is pretty rare.
Any cylinder head valve repair is expensive and a competent tech will be able to tell if the oil has not been changed regularly. Going 10k miles is way too long between oil changes and it’s quite possible warranty will not cover it unless someone at the dealer is bending over backwards to fudge a warranty claim.
Sorry I can’t be more precise here but there’ simply not enough info about the problem. Any chance this broken valve is actually a broken valve spring? The latter is far less serious and if that is the case it would be a sheer fluke rather than neglect.
They will assume you haven’t followed the maintenance schedule unless you, or they, have records proving otherwise. I wish you the best of luck.
One thing we looked for to establish if the vehicle was serviced was if the vehicle had the factory installed oil filter still installed.
I was just a mechanic so I was not “in the loop” but issues of warranty denial due to lack of service never came to my attention, it is possible I just never was told,my stall was next to the “heavy line” dept. and you would think I would have noticed,we gabbed all day long about every GM policy we could think of.
Was the oil level checked and maintained during this 10k interval? I hope for your sake the failure was due to a defective part and not lack of oil.
Ed B.
“I have not had an oil change in 10,000 miles (bad I know). will they be able to tell that?”
Well, the first thing that the dealership will do is to check their computerized records to see when the oil was last changed by them. If your maintenance record showed that things were done on the proper schedule by them, then you would have no worries.
In this case, since their records will show either that the oil had not been changed by them for 10,000 miles, or that perhaps it had NEVER been changed by them, then they would ask you to provide copies of service invoices from another facility in order to prove that maintenance was done on schedule. If you could substantiate that some service facility did perform your maintenance on schedule, then you would have no worries.
However, since apparently nobody serviced your Jeep for at least 10,000 miles, you have to be prepared for some very bad news with a potentially high repair bill attached to that news. If they deny your eligibility for warranty coverage, then you will know why it is invariably cheaper to maintain a vehicle properly, in comparison to just letting things go and then having to pay for repairs.
Among the unanswered questions that we all need you to respond to are:
*What is the odometer mileage of this vehicle?
*Did you periodically check the oil level on the dipstick, and add oil when necessary?
*Exactly what were you told, regarding the needed repair? Since there is no part called an “upper valve”, please try to find out exactly what part needs to be replaced. Is it possible that they said an intake valve?
Extended oil change intervals can be evident when the heads are removed. A heavy accumulation of gummy residues and a thick coating similar to shellac, which cause rings and VALVES to stick, are obvious. If other valves are sticking in their guides it might be assumed that the catastrophic damage resulted from the valve remaining down and colliding with the piston. I am reminded of the oil change commercial from some years ago… PAY ME NOW OR PAY ME LATER.
But then, this is speculation. Let us know what the outcome is, please.