Offical: Porous Block Problem Thread
09-02-2014, 05:06 PM
#151
Junior Member
I just had this issue on mine, cracked between the coolant jacket and oil drainback hole at 118k miles, early-mid 2008 build date can't really complain with the power i was making but still, just poor engineering. I've had my fair share of all big 3 manufacturers and a 2002 WRX that made it 183,000 miles with me beating the **** out of it with 6 different turbo setups, I'm trading the SS in on an 03 Cobra, something that was actually built for boost, so long GM.
09-05-2014, 04:14 PM
#152
I know the OP said this isn't for chatting, but I've been updating my experience here. When I last left off I had called GM customer service. They finally got back to me and said that the dealership service tech said that due to negligence my head gasket had failed, car overheated, and damaged the engine beyond repair. Needless to say that made me livid, but still tried to have a reasonable conversation. I told him that this was news to me, because the shop had not told me that, and that it was completely baseless because I know that it had not overheated. Obviously when I asked what their proof was he had no idea. The only thing Customer Disservice did was take 2 weeks to talk to the dealer and call to tell me that because i was negligent and out of warranty I'm SOL.
Next step is to go get the car, order a new longblock, and put that in. I'll be thoroughly documenting the teardown of my "negligence." After that I'll be contemplating if I'll keep the car or not. Regardless any future cars will not be GM products.
Welcome to the new GM. Same as the old GM but worse.
Next step is to go get the car, order a new longblock, and put that in. I'll be thoroughly documenting the teardown of my "negligence." After that I'll be contemplating if I'll keep the car or not. Regardless any future cars will not be GM products.
Welcome to the new GM. Same as the old GM but worse.
09-10-2014, 06:00 PM
#153
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Block issues
Hey Folks, the thread has prompted me to join as a few people have questioned it. My GF has a 2008 Sky Redline (1/08) with the cracked block. I found next to nothing on the Saturn sites so sharing here makes sense.
09-10-2014, 06:12 PM
#154
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...a 45,000 mile car, we began experiencing coolant in the water and a dropping coolant level. Before finding this information, I suspected classic head gasket symptoms. PS Does anybody have the rumored TSB info describing this problem? I did the head gasket along with getting the head planed..to no avail. Mind you, on the LNF there are only several places that coolant can seep into the pan from. Head gasket, cracked head, leak in the turbo (my second wrong guess) the poorly placed water pump with a leaking seal, or the block itself. In my case, I bought the Stant adapter to physically pressurize the system to 14-16 lbs. While it doesn't bleed down overly quick, it will dump a cup or so of water into the pan within several hours.
I am EXTREMELY disappointed with GM. I have a trouble in with customer care. They keep promising that a customer care rep will get back to me, and nobody ever does. Seems like nobody cares. I need a new engine, I do my own labor, and all I'm asking is for a hefty break on a replacement...for a problem they caused. A typical phone cal to them: somebody answers speaking broken English..I give them my trouble number..."oh..it happen again?" is the reply. No, I say calmly, the engine is ruined, it can only happen once! They are killing there reputation with the public by not owning up to anything...especially the young buyers...who they will depend upon for their survival. (ps I'm an old guy who has been around the block a few times) no pun intended. GREAT site guys!
I am EXTREMELY disappointed with GM. I have a trouble in with customer care. They keep promising that a customer care rep will get back to me, and nobody ever does. Seems like nobody cares. I need a new engine, I do my own labor, and all I'm asking is for a hefty break on a replacement...for a problem they caused. A typical phone cal to them: somebody answers speaking broken English..I give them my trouble number..."oh..it happen again?" is the reply. No, I say calmly, the engine is ruined, it can only happen once! They are killing there reputation with the public by not owning up to anything...especially the young buyers...who they will depend upon for their survival. (ps I'm an old guy who has been around the block a few times) no pun intended. GREAT site guys!
09-10-2014, 06:15 PM
#155
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pss I wouldn't even bother with the Moroso block seal...a temporary fix at best, and it didn't work for mine. It will only clog precious cooling and heater core passages.
09-10-2014, 08:02 PM
#159
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I'm thinking the same thing. Even at 45 k my cams still had some wear and tear. My machinist told me not to worry about it but........
At this point I'm running no anti-freeze do minimize dilution. Also changing the oil every week or so as she's still driving it. In my mind the motor is already done...worst I can see is wiping out the K4, but that already had some play in the shaft. Amazing the lube properties of what amounts to milk!
At this point I'm running no anti-freeze do minimize dilution. Also changing the oil every week or so as she's still driving it. In my mind the motor is already done...worst I can see is wiping out the K4, but that already had some play in the shaft. Amazing the lube properties of what amounts to milk!
09-10-2014, 08:14 PM
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Swanman, you're right of course, but at this point GM doesn't seem to be taking care of anybody. The typical response from them is "did you have one of our dealers look at it?" My response to them is...if I spend 80-100 dollars per hour in addition to a dealership tow, and they find it to be cracked as I said, will they warranty it? No answer...in my mind they have already written it off and moved on. Sad!
09-11-2014, 10:50 AM
#162
Swanman, you're right of course, but at this point GM doesn't seem to be taking care of anybody. The typical response from them is "did you have one of our dealers look at it?" My response to them is...if I spend 80-100 dollars per hour in addition to a dealership tow, and they find it to be cracked as I said, will they warranty it? No answer...in my mind they have already written it off and moved on. Sad!
Also, notice how "Chevrolet Cust Svc" hasn't touched this thread for months? The only thing they ever do is help with warranty work. Now that warranty is out they won't do anything.
Last edited by exninja; 09-11-2014 at 11:38 AM.
08-12-2015, 08:25 PM
#163
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I see nobody has posted here in a while but I felt it was relavant to say I've got a 2009 SS that I bought about a month ago with an 8/08 build date and 76k miles and just found all of my coolant in my oil. No explanation other than a cracked block for it to drain as quickly as it did.
08-13-2015, 07:15 AM
#165
I see nobody has posted here in a while but I felt it was relavant to say I've got a 2009 SS that I bought about a month ago with an 8/08 build date and 76k miles and just found all of my coolant in my oil. No explanation other than a cracked block for it to drain as quickly as it did.
08-14-2015, 09:21 AM
#166
Senior Member
this is the reason i went with a cobalt instead of a skittle when i was looking for a quick little 4 door. warranty is my friend. i had a porous block as well and it was fixed under warranty. if that had happened with a used SRT4 i would have been hooped! goodluck with the engine problems buddy!
09-06-2015, 06:16 PM
#168
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Well.. I guess I may as well officially add mine:
Started last spring, somewhere between March and April 2014... determined it was a serious issue and parked the car on May long weekend; coincidentally, any warranty expired in that month as well.
Build date: 02/09 Purchased the car new in 05/09
Mileage: 75000kms
I have coolant in the oil of my car as well.. took me a couple months to tear it down, get the head checked, decked & cleaned and re-assembled and found out this weekend that it's still doing the same thing. Myself, the shop, and a couple of friends all thought it was the head gasket; especially since it had indications of coolant and oil leaking around the block and the gasket being deteriorated considerably in a couple of areas. Hi boost from the turbo probably lifted the head with the stock bolts. Arps added after the fact, but to no avail. Unfortunately, there's more to my issue than merely a head gasket. The question is what?
With no coolant, or very little in the system, the car runs like a top. As soon as coolant was forced in via pressure through the valve cover nipple, it started running worse and worse the longer it ran as we circulated the coolant. After 3 oil changes, it was obvious that the issue is something else since the oil level on the dipstick gained by about 2".
I have a mechanic friend who says it's quite possibly the water pump.. is this even possible or do I 100% need a new block? I don't know what else it could be tbh. I've also noticed that it can have a "boiling" noise after turning the ignition off for a couple of minutes, so it seems like coolant is getting in somewhere and being boiled on the block; just my hunch anyways. When the head was off, there's no cracks anywhere on the top of the block and all cylinder walls are smooth as a baby's ass, so if it is in fact porous block, it must be hidden deep inside somewhere that cannot be seen.
I know this was somebody else's post, but I figured I'd add my own experiences with this problem to date, and maybe, find a solution.
Symptoms:
1. Rapid loss of coolant from reservoir upon running the engine. Initially, it started off slowly, like half of the reservoir at the most. This occurred for about two weeks as I recall until it got worse and worse to the point where it'll suck the reservoir dry within two minutes!
2. Oil indicator level on the dipstick increases well above the full mark
3. No sweet smell out of the exhaust and little to no smoke at all, but a small amount of condensation when engine is cold, which imo, is normal.
4. Once enough coolant has entered the oilpan and is lubricating throughout the engine, it starts running rough, or harsh. With little to no coolant in the system, car runs like a brand new engine.
5. After shutting off from normal to above normal operating temperatures, there is a boiling noise heard for a minute or two near the front of the engine somewhere.
Started last spring, somewhere between March and April 2014... determined it was a serious issue and parked the car on May long weekend; coincidentally, any warranty expired in that month as well.
Build date: 02/09 Purchased the car new in 05/09
Mileage: 75000kms
I have coolant in the oil of my car as well.. took me a couple months to tear it down, get the head checked, decked & cleaned and re-assembled and found out this weekend that it's still doing the same thing. Myself, the shop, and a couple of friends all thought it was the head gasket; especially since it had indications of coolant and oil leaking around the block and the gasket being deteriorated considerably in a couple of areas. Hi boost from the turbo probably lifted the head with the stock bolts. Arps added after the fact, but to no avail. Unfortunately, there's more to my issue than merely a head gasket. The question is what?
With no coolant, or very little in the system, the car runs like a top. As soon as coolant was forced in via pressure through the valve cover nipple, it started running worse and worse the longer it ran as we circulated the coolant. After 3 oil changes, it was obvious that the issue is something else since the oil level on the dipstick gained by about 2".
I have a mechanic friend who says it's quite possibly the water pump.. is this even possible or do I 100% need a new block? I don't know what else it could be tbh. I've also noticed that it can have a "boiling" noise after turning the ignition off for a couple of minutes, so it seems like coolant is getting in somewhere and being boiled on the block; just my hunch anyways. When the head was off, there's no cracks anywhere on the top of the block and all cylinder walls are smooth as a baby's ass, so if it is in fact porous block, it must be hidden deep inside somewhere that cannot be seen.
I know this was somebody else's post, but I figured I'd add my own experiences with this problem to date, and maybe, find a solution.
Symptoms:
1. Rapid loss of coolant from reservoir upon running the engine. Initially, it started off slowly, like half of the reservoir at the most. This occurred for about two weeks as I recall until it got worse and worse to the point where it'll suck the reservoir dry within two minutes!
2. Oil indicator level on the dipstick increases well above the full mark
3. No sweet smell out of the exhaust and little to no smoke at all, but a small amount of condensation when engine is cold, which imo, is normal.
4. Once enough coolant has entered the oilpan and is lubricating throughout the engine, it starts running rough, or harsh. With little to no coolant in the system, car runs like a brand new engine.
5. After shutting off from normal to above normal operating temperatures, there is a boiling noise heard for a minute or two near the front of the engine somewhere.
Last edited by Knightwolf; 09-09-2015 at 10:04 PM.
09-07-2015, 07:25 PM
#169
New Member
Well.. I guess I may as well officially add mine:
Started last spring, somewhere between March and April 2014... determined it was a serious issue and parked the car on May long weekend; coincidentally, any warranty expired in that month as well.
Build date exactly unknown, but somewhere between 02/09 and 04/09. Purchased the car new in 05/09
Mileage: 75000kms
I have coolant in the oil of my car as well.. took me a couple months to tear it down, get the head checked, decked & cleaned and re-assembled and found out this weekend that it's still doing the same thing. Myself, the shop, and a couple of friends all thought it was the head gasket; especially since it had indications of coolant and oil leaking around the block and the gasket being deteriorated considerably in a couple of areas. Hi boost from the turbo probably lifted the head with the stock bolts. Arps added after the fact, but to no avail. Unfortunately, there's more to my issue than merely a head gasket. The question is what?
With no coolant, or very little in the system, the car runs like a top. As soon as coolant was forced in via pressure through the valve cover nipple, it started running worse and worse the longer it ran as we circulated the coolant. After 3 oil changes, it was obvious that the issue is something else since the oil level on the dipstick gained by about 2".
I have a mechanic friend who says it's quite possibly the water pump.. is this even possible or do I 100% need a new block? I don't know what else it could be tbh. I've also noticed that it can have a "boiling" noise after turning the ignition off for a couple of minutes, so it seems like coolant is getting in somewhere and being boiled on the block; just my hunch anyways. When the head was off, there's no cracks anywhere on the top of the block and all cylinder walls are smooth as a baby's ass, so if it is in fact porous block, it must be hidden deep inside somewhere that cannot be seen.
I know this was somebody else's post, but I figured I'd add my own experiences with this problem to date, and maybe, find a solution.
Symptoms:
1. Rapid loss of coolant from reservoir upon running the engine. Initially, it started off slowly, like half of the reservoir at the most. This occurred for about two weeks as I recall until it got worse and worse to the point where it'll suck the reservoir dry within two minutes!
2. Oil indicator level on the dipstick increases well above the full mark
3. No sweet smell out of the exhaust and little to no smoke at all, but a small amount of condensation when engine is cold, which imo, is normal.
4. Once enough coolant has entered the oilpan and is lubricating throughout the engine, it starts running rough, or harsh. With little to no coolant in the system, car runs like a brand new engine.
5. After shutting off from normal to above normal operating temperatures, there is a boiling noise heard for a minute or two near the front of the engine somewhere.
Started last spring, somewhere between March and April 2014... determined it was a serious issue and parked the car on May long weekend; coincidentally, any warranty expired in that month as well.
Build date exactly unknown, but somewhere between 02/09 and 04/09. Purchased the car new in 05/09
Mileage: 75000kms
I have coolant in the oil of my car as well.. took me a couple months to tear it down, get the head checked, decked & cleaned and re-assembled and found out this weekend that it's still doing the same thing. Myself, the shop, and a couple of friends all thought it was the head gasket; especially since it had indications of coolant and oil leaking around the block and the gasket being deteriorated considerably in a couple of areas. Hi boost from the turbo probably lifted the head with the stock bolts. Arps added after the fact, but to no avail. Unfortunately, there's more to my issue than merely a head gasket. The question is what?
With no coolant, or very little in the system, the car runs like a top. As soon as coolant was forced in via pressure through the valve cover nipple, it started running worse and worse the longer it ran as we circulated the coolant. After 3 oil changes, it was obvious that the issue is something else since the oil level on the dipstick gained by about 2".
I have a mechanic friend who says it's quite possibly the water pump.. is this even possible or do I 100% need a new block? I don't know what else it could be tbh. I've also noticed that it can have a "boiling" noise after turning the ignition off for a couple of minutes, so it seems like coolant is getting in somewhere and being boiled on the block; just my hunch anyways. When the head was off, there's no cracks anywhere on the top of the block and all cylinder walls are smooth as a baby's ass, so if it is in fact porous block, it must be hidden deep inside somewhere that cannot be seen.
I know this was somebody else's post, but I figured I'd add my own experiences with this problem to date, and maybe, find a solution.
Symptoms:
1. Rapid loss of coolant from reservoir upon running the engine. Initially, it started off slowly, like half of the reservoir at the most. This occurred for about two weeks as I recall until it got worse and worse to the point where it'll suck the reservoir dry within two minutes!
2. Oil indicator level on the dipstick increases well above the full mark
3. No sweet smell out of the exhaust and little to no smoke at all, but a small amount of condensation when engine is cold, which imo, is normal.
4. Once enough coolant has entered the oilpan and is lubricating throughout the engine, it starts running rough, or harsh. With little to no coolant in the system, car runs like a brand new engine.
5. After shutting off from normal to above normal operating temperatures, there is a boiling noise heard for a minute or two near the front of the engine somewhere.
I had the same suspicions about my water pump and head gasket so I did a compression check and a leak down test on the head and I pressurized the coolant system overnight to try and force coolant out of my reservoir either through a head gasket or water pump and only lost 1 psi of pressure and didn't loose any coolant, I would be in the upper 90 percentile range that you have a cracked(Porus) block. I know its sickening when you have to accept this but I got me a new LDK long block from ZZP for right at 2K and no problems since. When your coolant tank runs low you suck air into the system and the boiling sound is probably coming from around the air pocket.
09-08-2015, 07:09 AM
#171
New Member
I believe it has to be hot and pressurized because I couldn't get mine to leak cold and pressurized.
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exninja (09-08-2015)
09-08-2015, 11:57 AM
#172
Right now I'm thinking mine just has to be hot. My coolant level dropped while the car was sitting. Now I'm thinking that was because the car was warm after driving. I was really hoping to be able to excise the crack and let a metallurgist at work put it in the SEM, but I'm not going to stick my block into an oven to run an experiment. Oh well.
