[iddqd]

Hey all.

I recently traded in my 17’ Chevy SS sedan for an 18’ A10 ZL1 and am absolutely loving it. It came with mostly cosmetic mods, an awe intake and hooker black heart exhaust. I plan to keep it stock until the power train warranty is out next January. I’m reading about the oil pan issue these years have and was debating if I should go to a dealership to see if it’s been tuned, and get a stock intake/exhaust to be on the safe side.

If it’s been tuned already, I plan to just go ahead and begin the modding now!

[Spaceme1117]

Technically, no, an intake and exhaust should not void the warranty.

However, stealerships have been known to void warranties (or blame problems on aftermarket intakes) for any changes to a vehicle. Magnuson-Moss Act basically says that they have to prove a modification was the cause of a problem, but if they void your warranty, you would have to take them to court.

As for as exhaust, if it is just a cat back or axle back, most stealerships seem to not make a big deal about that.

If you have any doubt, its best to put the car back to stock if you are going to make a warranty claim or bring your car for service or a TSB.

You could contact the stealership and speak to the service department manager and ask them about what mods are acceptible before you take your car in. Some service people are actually sensible when it comes to simple mods and won't have a problem with an intake or exhaust.

[Kevin0311]

What color was the ss sedan?

[SJFGTO]

The issues are with the oil pump in mainly the 2017/2018 model years. No mod technically voids the power train warranty, but the presumption that an engine mod caused the failure of a part covered by the warranty is always present; more so for some mods and at some dealerships than others.

[BlaqWhole]

It will void the warranty if that is what is stated in the contract that you signed. If it says that and you accepted the car, signed off on it (which means you read and fully understood it), and then drove off with it, then yes, it will void your warranty. Go thru your contract and read it.

And for the record, always assume that any mod will void the warranty. If you're not comfortable with that then do not mod.

[Coded4SS]

GM warranty is hit and miss as it is. Put it on.

[zxspeedspec]

Best answer I can give you is it depends on how much of a stomach you have for expensive lawsuits. I had a C7 Z51 I bought as a dedicated track car. Stupid POS overheated its own transmission within 12 minutes consistently regardless of ambient temp.

I took it to a tuner, had him save a copy of the stock tune file, and then I asked him to tune the transmission to be less aggressive with WOT shifts so the stupid car wouldn't bang shift itself at redline. I can't remember exactly, but essentially the stock transmission tune at redline had a target shift time of like 150 ms or something like that. The car would try to complete the shift in 150 ms or so as long as it doesn't think it'll physically damage the transmission. I had it tuned to like 300 ms so it wouldn't generate as much heat per shift.

I was able to extend the overheat time to maybe 15-16 minutes which still wasn't acceptable for a track toy. I took it to get the transmission warrantied. They did some fluid triple flushing which got me to 18 minute sessions, but still not what they marketed. I brought it back and complained again and they brought in some higher level engineer. First thing he did was check for transmission ECU flashes and voided my warranty.

I found a local lawyer and convinced them that my case had merit and was covered by Magnusson-Moss because there was no way that GM can prove reducing the load on the car would cause their transmission to overheat especially since I have detailed data logging that shows the transmission temperature decreased after I flashed their ECU. We didn't end up going to trial but essentially during mediation I told GM go ahead and look at the flash counter on your transmission ECU, you'll see it's only been flashed 1x. You can also pull the file off the existing ECU and compare it against stock and you'll see that unlike most people modding, I reduced how aggressive the car would behave. I had printed the tables and had it at mediation so they can review what I already know to be true.

They decided it wasn't worth going all the way to trial and possibly owing me attorney's fees AND a new transmission so we settled. Can't go into the exact details of the settlement, but I don't own the Z51 anymore and I have a much more fun track toy.

[kropscamaro16]

depends on your dealership mine never cared now im almost 6 years in no major problems but i would talk to them first

[PROMETHEUS]

I had an aftermarket exhaust and intake and my dealership didn't seem to care as well. Although I never had any serious warranty work done on the car. I was always told that once you crack the engine open or screw around with the ECU, your warranty is toast. Which seems reasonable to me.

[iddqd]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I love this vehicle so much. It’s an AFE intake and Hooker Blackheart exhaust. I’m unsure if it’s connected to stock npp or not. I plan to have a local shop get me an idea of all mods on them but it appears to be just both of those. I’ll get the oil changed at the dealership and ask them to see if it’s been tuned.

My SS was a NGM color with LSA/ARH headers, dsx kit/flex fuel. It was a great vehicle but I don’t need 4 doors and I wanted to experience the alpha chassis.

If I want to get a stock intake/exhaust, would I have a good chance getting it under member classifieds here? I have power train warranty until 1/2023. I’m not necessarily scared of warranty getting voided. More so when I drive this ZL1 on road trips and if the oil pump were to fail, I’d hate to have it towed somewhere randomly. I plan to drive this vehicle everywhere and am strongly debating to just replacing the oil pan now while also adding a couple mods while I’m at it.