As a general rule, GM might take better care of their customers and use "Goodwill" to help pay for out-of-warranty (not significantly-so, however) customer repair expenses. At least, they have been known to try to help out rather than otherwise. As the FAQs state, building a good relationship at the dealership IS important if YOU "expect" to get any type of consideration in times of need . . . does NOT matter if it's Chrysler, Ford, GM, or otherwise.
Having a trusted private mechanic can be a good thing, but there are ALSO times when it can be a hindrance--this is one of them. If the engine had been torn down in a dealership's repair shop, it would have been much different than if it's been taken apart somewhere else (as it was in this case). Having the dealership's operatives see for themselves the allegedly flaking camshaft lobes IS highly important. Carrying the same camshaft into a dealership's service department and wanting them to fix it is NOT the same thing--period! Doesn't matter if it's Chrysler or another manufacturer, either!
For what it's worth, the comments about poor maintenance might be considered "standard blame" items rather than otherwise. Therefore, don't take then seriously as such.
So, 60,000 miles on a tried-true engine built by Chrysler and it has a camshaft problem. I'd say it was a defective situation, typically, even with "so-so" maintenance and non-synthetic motor oil and a discount store oil filter. But as the engine was "off-site" from the dealership and the miles were "out of warranty" and the factory's stated warranty obligations, not much you can do. No oil change documentation was readily available, either, I suspect? And you present parts purported to be from said engine to a dealership operative and expect them to roll over and hand you new parts for nothing?
Consider, how you might react in the same situation IF you were at the dealership and somebody did the same thing you did. Would you believe them completely? After all, you might be seeing a bad camshaft but how do you know (beyond a reasonable doubt) that it came from an engine with
60K miles on it? Especially with the knowledge that you'd not seen any similar things in your dealership repair shop?
It's unfortunate that you got a "brush off" of sorts, but as a legal responsibility, the factory's responsibility ended at the end of the factory's stated warranty period. This would have been a good situation to have had a MANUFACTURER's extended warranty (NOT, repeat NOT an aftermarket extended warranty!!!).
Now, as the camshaft lobes were having "issues", what about the valve lifters on those particular lobes? Another key issue!
From the dealership side of things, getting into the financial side of dealership operations for lube-rack operations is not really a part of this whole situation. BUT doing business with a dealership and building a relationship with them IS important as it is with any other business we might choose to do business with. Having a private mechanic that is trusted and honorable is a GREAT thing, but when it was discovered that it might be a defective part situation, THAT's when the private mechanic should have called (HIMSELF!) the dealership's service manager and told him what he's found and ask the service manager to come inspect the vehicle rather than giving you "defective" parts to take to the dealership and request they do something about them. With all due respect, I would hope that your former GM service rep might understand the dynamics of that situation!
Now, defective camshaft lobes do NOT cause burnt valves. Worn valve guides cause burnt valves as as the guide to valve stem clearance increases, it will let the valve stem wobble inside the valve guide and not seat as firmly against the machined valve seat in the cylinder head. Over a period of time, the valve seat will erode from the exhaust gas leakage from the valve that doesn't always seat fully.
In the cylinder head, either the valve seats are induction hardened or they have hard inserts in the heads so unleaded fuels are better tolerated . . . been that way on Chrysler engines since about 1973 when they approved the use of unleaded fuel only in their V-8s.
If the valve seats in the cylinders heads (whether induction hardened or with hard inserts) were worn away and the valve guides were worn, THAT would be a defect of manufacturing that would not show up during the normal warranty period. It could be possible that THAT is what might have caused the valve lifter to impact the camshaft lobes and cause the wear pattern you mentioned. So, the sequency of events would be BACKWARD from what you mentioned--cylinder head/valve issues caused the camshaft issues and not the other way around. Again, I would suspect a competent engine mechanic would know these things (another "negative" on your trusted former GM service rep, at least to me . . . he might be a good guy, but many service reps are NOT good engineering or mechanical types in all areas of engine operation . . . with all due respect and my own observations from over 30 years in dealership parts and service activities).
In reality, you could have had similar situations at ANY brand of vehicle dealership. If Toyotas didn't break, there would be NO need for the expanded service facilities current Toyota dealerships are upgrading too--they're not doing it just for "by the book" maintenance operations either.
European oil standards are different than what we see here in the USA. Different oil specs, too, in some cases so that the "long change intervals" can be supported.
A few years ago Mercedes had a big flap over "engine problems". Some USA owners read the owners manual and saw the extended change intervals recommended and took them at their word. In the cases where the dealers did the oil changes, there was sufficient and trusted documentation of the oil changes being done and at what mileage and what oil was used. When those engines broke, Mercedes had no recourse but to replace them. In the situations where the owners had the oil changes done elsewhere, the burden of proof was upon THEM for documentation of time/mileage and oil used--those people's success in getting their engines fixed was highly variable, as a result.
As it turned out, the extended oil change intervals for Euro-brand vehicles is highly dependent upon the oil used. This is why BMW, VW, and othes have their own brand-packaged oil AND their own factory approval specs for oils to be used in their engines. These are EURO oils and NOT the same as normally-available oils in the USA (unless you know how to read the oil bottles and such!). For BMW, the normal maintenance and oil changes are part of their basic factory warranty coverage, so they side-stepped the bad publicity that Mercedes and Toyota have received over oil issues.
There are also differences in how Europeans are purported to take care of their vehicles as compared to the general USA citizenry. This is another factor in the extended change intervals of vehicles used in Europe, even if the same vehicles are sold in the USA (with a different maintenance schedule for oil changes).
On the dealership side of things, they didn't go broke NOT doing your oil changes. But them not doing them takes away a huge amount of credible documentation which could have been KEY in this situation (or any other similar situation where it can be Your word against theirs).
Plus, if ANY "Check Engine" light comes on, you need to take it to the dealership as the EMISSIONS WARRANTY usually goes on long past the basic factory mechanical warranty on the vehicle. In some cases, it can go to
100K miles! What that means is that the manufacturer backs the vehicle to meet federal emissions standards for 100K miles from new. If it does not, they're obligated to fix it (which is usually a sensor or something like that rather than an internal engine problem). Do NOT take it to an auto supply to get them to see what the computer codes might be (so they can help you start throwing parts at the problem and hopefully something will fix it . . . at YOUR expense and their profit).
Do NOT take their recommendations to a dealership and expect them to fix it without them using THEIR factory-approved scan tools, either (in an effort to get around paying the dealership's "check out fee"), so they can see what's going on and fix it according to what THEY see. It all sounds really easy and cut and dried to pull the codes and start replacing the "needed" parts without first understanding what will cause particular codes to set--sometimes, one malfunction will set numerous codes and if you don't know how they might interact, you can chunk lots of parts at the problem and the codes don't go away and the vehicle is not fixed.
Hopefully, IF you've read this far, you'll have a better understanding of what went wrong in the dynamics of your situation AND how they could have been prevented. Unfortunately, due to the many mis-steps and elevated tempers, you're going to spend a good bit of money that might have been covered in another manner . . . but NOT in the independent repair shop (without some dealership service rep's involvement when the situation was FIRST discovered rather than after the fact).
On the plus side, when you get your 5.9L V-8 repaired (hopefully with factory-spec parts and a new timing chain), it'll be ready for a LOT of more miles of reliable use. After all, the market valve of SUVs is down so you might as well drive it than take a beating on resale value in today's market. IF your engine has the flat-tappet valve lifters, be sure to get a FACTORY camshaft as much of the issue with camshaft durability in replacement camshafts has been with "replacement" camshafts rather than factory-supplied camshafts. Yep, they'll cost a good bit more, but they can be worth it in the long run.
Regards,
C-BODY