Mace1647545504 Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 My truck is pretty much sold and I'm looking for an suv. I was thinking about staying with gm but started reading about timing chain issues with the 3.6. The question is how bad is it and if i were to buy one should I have it replaced? About how much is it to replace and when do they fail? Lastly, is there anything else I should worry about?? Thanks mace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benner Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 My truck is pretty much sold and I'm looking for an suv. I was thinking about staying with gm but started reading about timing chain issues with the 3.6. The question is how bad is it and if i were to buy one should I have it replaced? About how much is it to replace and when do they fail? Lastly, is there anything else I should worry about?? Thanks mace Stay away from 09-17 Traverse/acadia/enclave unless you purchase a hell of an extended warranty. Timing chains stretch, rack&pinion leaks, earlier models had issues with steering pumps, struts and mounts, rear trailing arm bushings, and evaporator cores....Oh and 3-5-r waveplates in the trans. 1 of the few vehicles id be scared to buy with over 100k. 150k is terrifying. CORDELL am i missing anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickey4271647545519 Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 We do timing cover reseals, chains, PS pressure lines, rack & pinion, and front struts galore on the traverse/acadia/enclave. If not an SUV, it's normally just chains and timing cover leaks. I seem to remember some of the 3.6 having porous heads that let oil into the spark plug holes and cause misfire issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 What the hell are people doing to these things? Holy shit. My dad has a '14 Enclave with over 150k trouble free miles and still runs like new. My wife's aunt has a '13 Acadia nearing 200k miles and zero issues there either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 GMlol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiek2000 Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 Stay away from 09-17 Traverse/acadia/enclave unless you purchase a hell of an extended warranty. Timing chains stretch, rack&pinion leaks, earlier models had issues with steering pumps, struts and mounts, rear trailing arm bushings, and evaporator cores....Oh and 3-5-r waveplates in the trans. 1 of the few vehicles id be scared to buy with over 100k. 150k is terrifying. CORDELL am i missing anything? 07-12 were the ones with most of the issues (timing chains, steering problems, transmission) 13+ had rear evaporator leak issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiek2000 Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 Just don't buy a 3.6 older than 2013 model year is my advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 Stay away from 09-17 Traverse/acadia/enclave unless you purchase a hell of an extended warranty. Timing chains stretch, rack&pinion leaks, earlier models had issues with steering pumps, struts and mounts, rear trailing arm bushings, and evaporator cores....Oh and 3-5-r waveplates in the trans. 1 of the few vehicles id be scared to buy with over 100k. 150k is terrifying. CORDELL am i missing anything? We do timing cover reseals, chains, PS pressure lines, rack & pinion, and front struts galore on the traverse/acadia/enclave. If not an SUV, it's normally just chains and timing cover leaks. I seem to remember some of the 3.6 having porous heads that let oil into the spark plug holes and cause misfire issues. I’m going to agree with most of this, however most of the timing chain issues are with the earlier vehicles, pre-2013. If they had minimal cheap oil changes the chains wear fast too. Any newer ones I’ve had apart were black inside. I own a 3.6 Impala and just maintain it, haven’t had any issues yet and it’s at 75k. If it does then I’ll just drop the engine and do the chains, but it’s a 2015 and I bought it early so hopefully it’s a ways off. As for the R/V body (Traverse,Acadia,ect), I personally don’t like them. The 6T70 is a decent trans if maintained, but I think the vehicle is a little heavy for it and they do wear. Early ones break 3-5-R waveplates, newer ones break when abused. Power steering parts are all prone to leaking. I have seen a few evaporators leak, more so the rear ones leak. The struts have a tendency to lock up at extension, usually happening after sitting on a lift for a few days, but again tend to only happen on the earlier ones. If you like these vehicles there are 2 ways I’d buy one, first option is to hunt down an older one with low enough miles to have the special policys for the transmission and the timing chains and have those done. Second option find a newer one, 2014+, with good maintenance records, and keep maintaining it. It’s easy to get jaded when all you see are the broken ones, it’s also common for people to bitch all over the internet when they have major vehicle repairs they can’t afford. I personally just don’t like these vehicles at all in the first place. However they are popular and the right scenarios are out there to have a decent experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mace1647545504 Posted March 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 Thanks...guess i won't be going in this direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 These things are awful, can't imagine having to work on them all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeto67 Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 not gonna lie....the GM Lambda platform is one group of vehicles I look forward to not seeing on the road in 5 years. What about finding a 2006-2009 Trailblazer SS? I know some here have bitched about the front suspension on those but having an LS2 v8 and 4L70E kinda takes the worry out of drive-train reliability, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiek2000 Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 These things are awful, can't imagine having to work on them all the time. I love them, made a shit load of money fixing them. along with 11-15 cruzes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 I love them, made a shit load of money fixing them. along with 11-15 cruzes I have to agree, I can have the drivetrain out of a Traverse in less then an hour. I’ve certainly made alot of money on them. Seem to be dying off at the dealer though. Still fixing plenty of Cruzes and Equinoxs. Now it seems like I do a few New Malibu/Cruze pistons a month, the 1.4/1.5 are cracking ringlands in the 2016 cars. DI injectors in V8 trucks are also typical lately. Anyway, sorry to talk you out of buying one but I don’t blame you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiek2000 Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 I have to agree, I can have the drivetrain out of a Traverse in less then an hour. I’ve certainly made alot of money on them. Seem to be dying off at the dealer though. Still fixing plenty of Cruzes and Equinoxs. Now it seems like I do a few New Malibu/Cruze pistons a month, the 1.4/1.5 are cracking ringlands in the 2016 cars. DI injectors in V8 trucks are also typical lately. Anyway, sorry to talk you out of buying one but I don’t blame you. prepare to start fixing 9-speeds. We just learned today that the calibration initially used was wrong based on incrorrect trans test stand data. All 9-speed to this point are affected and most likely will require internal repairs due to slippage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 I love them, made a shit load of money fixing them. along with 11-15 cruzes You can keep all of that, I'll stick with my German stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mace1647545504 Posted March 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 So what about a 12 x3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbs3000 Posted March 22, 2019 Report Share Posted March 22, 2019 I sell 10 of these a week with blown engines. As others have said it's mostly maintenance driven but I see them all the time going out between 80-130k. The well maintained ones are probably few and far between at this point. But then again you did just throw out the option of an x3... I guess at least those change their own oil... Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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