Bad GXP wrote:I too speak from experience.
The difference is the who does the inspection of your vehicle (dealership or not) and that the company that is honoring the warranty doesn't give you the run around.
The work that was done on my vehicle would have been dismissed by some dealerships and diagnosed as "normal" for the vehicle. I had this experience too when I was the driver of a new Chevy Venture van with approximately 50.000 Km and advised the dealership of oil leaks coming the valve covers.
Not to get into a pissing match, I did this for a living at a Chevy dealership. I'm the one that got to deal with these guys day in, day out. I'm the one that had stalls occupied with vehicles (that we couldn't move back outside in some cases), wasting valuable productive time/capacity, waiting for 3 different adjusters for 3 different 3rd party, fly-by-night, warranty companies to come and approve, which 90% of the time, never happens on the spot, only to have to repeat the process the next day. IN some cases having to get the owner (as it is their contract), to get on the phone and threaten legal action). I've even had to go that route on one of my own vehicles, that I had in our shop, for a new transmission (my Mother unbeknownst to me bought one of these warranties). It took six visits to MY service department, to ME, and still they kept getting it lost in red tape and B.S. When that lawyer got on the phone with them, all the sudden approvals come through... Anyway, the point being, GMPP, I am the judge, jury, and executioner. Your valve covers are leaking. I say "YES... fix them". You blow an alternator under warranty, I'm the one that says, "YES, fix it". No muss, fuss, waiting, going through red tape, dealing with B.S., dealing with involving legal counsel.
As to leaking valve covers, most GM engines do. Why? Insanely weak torque ratings on the bolts holding the valve covers (or Cam Covers as they're called on your N*). Your N*, if I recall correctly, is 7lb/ft of torque. Well, anyone with a brain knows, you drive down to the grocery store, come home, and let it sit for awhile, that simple excercise of heat cycling is gonna loosen up 7lb/ft torque spec... Solution: Loctite or Threadlocker on the bolt threads, and I actually would go to 10lb/ft. Never had another oil leak from the cam covers on any including my own. Transmission cooling lines, which are also notorious to leak on any GM vehicles and where we got a lot of complaints, do so, becuase they're designed with ease of maintenance R&R first, not 110% sealing in mind. They will leak inevitably. Dare I say "it's normal" as that will be the standard dealer comment, but it is! I can't tell you anything different because that's the design theory behind it. If you want to permanently seal them, JB weld the joint. But replacing them won't fix the issue. The new ones will leak too.
At the end here, I've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. Buy the manufacturer backed warranty... in this case GMPP!