Court dismisses "piston slap" suits

[Arizona Slim]

Federal cases claimed engines in 1999-2002 pickups, SUVs had loud noise, or 'piston slap.'

By Ed Garsten / The Detroit News

A federal judge in Oklahoma City has granted General Motors Corp.'s motions to dismiss 10 counts in federal suits filed on behalf of hundreds of pickup and SUV owners who claim their vehicles have defective engines.

The suits, filed a year ago, have yet to be classified as a class action. Federal Judge Joseph Heaton is expected to decide in the next 30 days whether to grant class action status to the suits.

The plaintiffs say the engines in about 800,000 1999-2002 pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles are plagued by a loud knocking noise known as "piston slap." The noise is caused when the pistons knock against the side of the engine cylinder because the clearance between the piston and cylinder is too wide, according to the complaint in one of many cases filed against GM since October 2003.

Last spring, an Oklahoma state judge denied class action status to separate suits filed in state court, but later reversed his ruling and granted the suits national class action status.

GM is appealing the Oklahoma state judge's ruling granting class action status to the state lawsuits.

Attorney J.D. Peters of the Detroit law firm Charfoos & Christensen is handling the federal cases for the plaintiffs. He said the dismissals are not a setback.

"We view it as very positive, because most of our causes of action, which are primarily express or implied warranties, are allowed to proceed in the case," Peters said.

Heaton dismissed the counts on Monday because he felt they were redundant, unclear or weak, Peters said.

The federal case involves seven V-8 engines installed in many pickup trucks and SUVs between 1999 and 2002 with displacements ranging from 3.1 liters to 8.1 liters. But some owners of later model vehicles with 8.0 liter V-8 engines have also complained of the noise.

"My 2004 8.1L is knocking with less than 2K miles," one owner wrote on the Internet site www.pistonslap.com, which is dedicated to the case and was started by one of the plaintiffs.

The state suit includes engines installed in 1999-2002 pickups and SUVs, Peters said.

GM has called the problem a "tick" -- saying it disappears after a few seconds after the engine warms up. But some owners say while the sound does subside quickly, it never disappears.

Aside from the noise, owners complain the vehicles use an excessive amount of fuel, and that resale value is adversely affected.

Continued...
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosins...C01-276094.htm

[Mike The Canadian]

oh please, my **************** 3.1 has piston slap, and it consumes less fuel than advertised, I always get 23-25 mpg city and 32-34 mpg highway..

[mikest00]

Just another way for attorneys to try and make money off of frivolous law suits. So the engine clatters for the first 5 seconds after start. We have 3 2001 Silverados with more than 287k each and my personal Avalanche with 100k and the "piston slap" has never caused a problem. You know how the old joke goes...What do you call a million lawyers on the bottom of the ocean? A good start!

[KMecham]

This never would have happened if it had been an OHC or a Toyota

The funny thing is a few weeks ago I was sitting in the drivethru of In & Out, and heard a ton of valvetrain noise from the pickup behind me. What was it? A GM, a Ford....Nope, an 02 or 03 Tundra, making more noise than my 99 Silverado. "Oh What A Feeling!"

[GMCSonoma]

Call me wrong, but my dealership HAS not witnessed any engine failure because of such! We have sold 2 5.3's to my knowledge, both were to HIGH mileage 1999's that belong to a nearby quarry.

I can also say that this doesn't seem to affect used units being sold at a steady rate off our lot. I think the longest a used GM truck will sit here is 45 days, and that is rare.

[Arizona Slim]

Originally Posted by KMecham

This never would have happened if it had been an OHC or a Toyota

The funny thing is a few weeks ago I was sitting in the drivethru of In & Out, and heard a ton of valvetrain noise from the pickup behind me. What was it? A GM, a Ford....Nope, an 02 or 03 Tundra, making more noise than my 99 Silverado. "Oh What A Feeling!"

Yep, the Tundra/Sequoia had (has?) a well known problem with piston slap. My 02 Tundra had it. Toyota claimed it was normal, and it never really bothered me. I guess it gets less press because they sell so few Tundras compared to Silverados/Sierras.

[desmo9]

The ticking right after startup is not piston slap, it's lifter knock, there until the lifters pump up with oil. My '99 5.3 Silverado did it all the time. No biggie. Just more leaches wanting something for nothing in our lazy society.

[JONSULLIVAN]

No that is piston slap, when GM changed the piston suppliers on the new gen III Vortec, thats what happened. It does go away tho, my 6 liter has it, and obviously GM has proven that it does not effect the performance or reliability of the engines in question.

[goochman]

I have it in my Tahoe - it only worries me due to my neighbor whose 3.1 v6 Lumina had a knock that turned out to be bearings...........

I presume its just the slap thing - it is annoying but goes away after a min or so.

[johnny smallblock]

A lot of people are getting angry at the people suing. And though some of you may have had good experiences with your own engines, others may not be so fortunate. There are plenty of examples in automotive history, recent and distant, where car makers have known about problems but did nothing. This may be one of those times. Or it may be people (lawyers and consumers) who don't know why their truck is making noise, but don't think it should (since they paid upwards of $30K for it). Or it may be people trying to get something for nothing. Those people rarely win, so that's not really a problem.
I just think it's odd that on a site where people complain so much about GM having had years of quality issues (in some cars and trucks) that we would all be so shocked that maybe there are problems.

[oachalon]

My uncle is a mechanic for a general motors dealership and he said was the reason those engines made that piston slap was because gm basically got rid of the skirts on the pistons to make them lighter and for better gas mileage. He said that slap doesnt affect the engine at all. No harm done. Once all the metals warm up and expand you wont hear anything. But since its not even a harm gm got sick of hearing the complaints so they updated the motors so you dont hear that anymore. Never bothered me.

[GMinTheDriveway]

I like to think of the piston slap noise as the drum roll leading to the peak of GM Powertrain TORQUE!

You can read a million threads on the paranoia surrounding piston slap on enthusiast boards like http://www.fullsizechevy.com
"Will piston slap cause my Silverado with 350,000 miles on it to fail prematurely??"

[asim]

wow i never heard of any of this before. But by how it sounds piston sound does sound common.

[monkeylizard]

In my opinion these people may have a valid argument if the engines were actually failing after say 50,000 miles or something, but these engines are still running after more than 100,00 miles or much higher. This is just a noise, not a defect. And I suppose that after you buy a car and a few months later you decide you don't like the wind noise that you should be able to return it.... I don't think so.

[goochman]

Monkeylizard - do you own one of these engines? Wind noise it is not, trust me. It can be a rather loud knocking/pinging sound akin to a motor with trouble.