mrniceguy8211

At my job we have a 2005 cobalt 2.2 super base model, manual locks and windows etc. Since we are not the best at changing the oil in our company vehicles on time the owner is switching the whole fleet over to synthetic oil. So we send our Cobalt over to our local repair shop to have 5w30 Mobil 1 oil put in. After the change one of my drivers takes it to NY ( like 20 miles away ) and bang! it starts making some really weird noises. He stops at a repair shop up in that area and has it looked at. Come to find out that one of the cams seized in the journals and lockup up so bat that it actually blew one of the cam gears apart! Now we have to replace the entire head and timing setup on the motor. It only has 53K on it. Has anyone else had this kind of problem on the 2.2l, or are we just very unlucky?? Oh and it did have proper oil pressure and the filter was installed correctly.

Smitty1017

they had to have fucked something up when they changed the oil. you would have noticed something wrong if the cam was seizing up, i would think...the car probably would have felt like the ebrake was on at all times...

originaladrian

it def wasnt the mobile 1 synthetic if they used the correct weight. thts wht i use

also, when u change the oil, it should go all the way to max, not to the middle of the dipstick measure part. its misleading.

eastcoastz

Its not the Moblie 1.

outtamymind

ya i agree they fucked up somewhere

mrniceguy8211

That is what I think too, but we have used this shop for Years and never had a problem. I had also driven the car like a week before and it was fine, I mean it was no SS but it was still peppy. The shop in NY where it died is dumbfounded as to what caused it. He said the oil pressure was good, the filter was fine and I know it was def Mobil 1 syn because I work at a parts store and we sent the oil and filter over to the shop. That car ran perfectly, then we switch to synthetic and bang 20 miles later the top end of the motor is shot. The dealership was no help either, the warranty was out at 36k and they are like " we have never heard of that problem before. " so Idk. Just trying to see if anyone else had any ideas what might have happened. The shop said that other that that the rest or the motor was in fine condition.

outtamymind

its the little gremlins i tell ya

originaladrian

sure it was 10w30? and not 10w20 or 40? tht could do tht... unlikely but still...

mrniceguy8211

No it was 5w30

GTO 1

Hmmmm.... I would suspect the driver a little on this one. I don't think you would go up to 20 miles with an absolute problem. Wonder HOW the car was being operated when the problem occurred?

GTO 1

originaladrian

prob didnt break it but 5w30 is for lower temps, i stick with 10w in s FL

umrdyldo

iTrader: (1)

It's for sure not the oil. please get that out of everyones' mindset.

It's most likely a problem with the car that wasn't noticed before hand.

If the oil caused that then there would be blown motors all over the place.

Hell GM even recommends it.

mrniceguy8211

That is the same thing I said, but the kid that drives it ( it is his assigned vehicle ) drives like an old lady, that is why we gave him this car when we got it. I mean he was the least likely to blow it up. It is and auto too, so it's not like he was hitting the rev limiter in every gear or something. Are the any recalls or TSB's on the cams or cam gears in the '05 cobalt 2.2L?

There was blown timing chain and cam gear all over the place. the head is at our machine shop, but we can't even rebuild it. Bent valves, the journals for the cams are all chewed up etc. I think it is just a strange coincidence that the car ran like a top, no ticks or bangs, nothing. Then we switch to syn and it blows up.

originaladrian

many MANY people have switched to syn

BlueSSupercharged

I dont know what that dealership is somking but the cobalts have a 5yr 60000 mile powertrain warrenty from the factory.

Smitty1017

dont all chevys have lifetime powertrain warranties?

chicoss

somehow, i get the feeling that maintenance wasn't kept, a small amount of sludge formed, and when you switched to synthetic, the new oil and pressure picked up the sludge causing your parts to "starve" of lubrication long enough for them to sieze (sp?)...

how do they know what the pressure was if there is no oil pressure gauge?
idk...

DebadgedBALT77

Its most likely your companies fault for lack of maintenance. You even said yourself, that that dont keep up on it very well. So, i think warrenty might be waved if they pull the top end apart and find signs of neglect.

chicoss

maybe it was the timing chains' time to go...

ls1fbody

i've heard of the 2.2's having valves that don't seat well, and that causes problems, maybe you had a valve do something crazy?

outtamymind

when a DTC is set or a fault is found the ecm takes a snap shot of every parameter on the motor including oil pressure which can be viewed later with a tech 2. you can find out exactly what speed, rpm, oil pressure, fuel pressure everything from this snap shot. so my guess is they took a look at this when the vehicle was in the shop.

halfj99

accually come to think of it.. seems like there was a recall on some, there was a batch that missed the heat treating cycle to harden them... but i might be thinking of the wrong part

DebadgedBALT77

if you want i can log onto dealerworld right now and look.

originaladrian

not oil pressure, its only a sensor switch that tells the car a warning or not. on/off. not an actual sensor.

mrniceguy8211

Idk, it's weird. My manager has a 2007 ion 4dr with a 2.2. He switched to synthetic and has not had any problems. But he switched at like 9k miles. Do you think that maybe it has something to do with the milage that we switched??