General Motors fails to disclose a defect with the positive crank ventilation system (PCV) in their vehicles’ internal combustion engines, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

A group of GM vehicle owners claim the PCV systems in certain vehicles manufactured by the company are prone to “plugging and clogging” during cold weather. 

The vehicles affected by the alleged defect are GM’s 2010-2016 Buick Lacrosse, 2011-2017 Buick Regal, 2012-2017 Buick Verano, 2010-2015 Chevrolet Captiva, 2010-2017 Chevrolet Equinox, 2013-2014 Chevrolet Malibu and 2010-2017 GMC Terrain vehicles, according to the class action lawsuit. 

In the event a PCV system malfunctions, the owners argue the vehicle’s engine pressure can increase and lead to a rupture of its rear main seal, which they say can cause both catastrophic and permanent damage. 

GM, vehicle owners claim, sent out a “Diagnostic Tip” bulletin to dealers, but not to customers, in 2019 on account of the alleged clogging issue.

Vehicle owners argue, meanwhile, that GM neither recalled the vehicles nor extended their warranties, instead electing only to “advised technicians to use a drill bit to clean out the clogged orifice.” 

Further, vehicle owners claim GM has known since “at least 1985” about the “PCV system’s vulnerability to cold weather and clogging” with owners arguing the company has repeatedly advised dealers on “how to fix” the issue.

“Despite this track record, GM continues to conceal this defect from consumers at the point of sale and continues to design, manufacture, distribute and sell hundreds of thousands of vehicles prone to this defect,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Vehicle owners claim GM is guilty of unjust enrichment and fraudulent concealment, among other things, and in violation of a number of state consumer protection acts. 

The vehicle owners want to represent a nationwide Class and Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin subclasses of all persons or entities who purchased or leased one or more of the affected GM vehicles.

Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting injunctive relief along with costs, restitution and punitive, exemplary and treble damages for themselves and all class members. 

In related news, GM recalled more than 740,000 2010-2017 GMC Terrain vehicles last month over concerns the vehicles’ lower head lamps could present a glare issue due to a headlight housing defect. 

Have you purchased a GM vehicle containing a defective PCV system? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by E. Powell Miller, Sharon S. Almonrode and Dennis A. Lienhardt of The Miller Law Firm PC and Steve W. Berman, Jerrod C. Patterson and Anthea D. Grivas of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. 

The General Motors PCV System Class Action Lawsuit is Kiriacopoulos, et al. v. General Motors LLC , Case No. 2:22-cv-10785, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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If GM does not fix these vehicles free of charge and/or reimburse those who were able to get their vehicles fixed for these PCV issues they KNEW about and even acknowledged the issue extended mileage and yrs ownership (10yrs) warranty but then tell us when we need them to fix the defective vehicle they produced “too bad were not going to fix it , sorry”. Then we need to turn to another automaker for future purchases. I don’t think Ill buy another GM vehicle and I definitely won’t hold my opinion in with those I know regarding the untrustworthiness of GM!! Shame on you GM!!

I have a 2014 Equinox with the same engine and the same thing has happened to me. The rear main ended up blowing because of the frozen clogged PCV. I was informed by a mechanic friend of the statement GM sent out to the dealerships/Mechanics regarding this issue. I looked it up and saw that they even state to repair PVC and rear main issue on these vehicles. They extended the mileage and year warranty. I am still within covered according to it. However when O called the dealership I was told my VIN doesnt come up for coverage. After research on line I seeseveral owners in my position with the exact thing happen were told exact response from dealership. So if this class action is won, do I get my car fixed? Very disappointed in GM!!

I have a 2017 Chevy Equinox with the same engine. I would put 4-5 quarts of oil in each month. Would check it weekly. Running on 3 cylinders and needs a new engine. 92k mileage. Had I know about this defect earlier I would have got rid of the car before hand. Still owe another year worth of payments.

Help! I have a 2012 Buick Verano- I needed an engine replacement 14 months ago- and it JUST BLEW! And I still owe a small fortune on my vehicle loan! My mechanic said it is a very well known problem with this particular vehicle as the engine is one of the top “failingest” engines in the world. How can I get help?

Greetings! I had a 2013 Chevy Captiva that constantly burned motor oil and the engine just went out one day.

My 2013 Chevy Captiva did the same thing. I had the oil and filters changed by a professional and about 35 days later, it would not start so I had a mechanic check it and there was no oil or antifreeze in the car at all. I had no warning what so ever!!!! This was 2 weeks ago and now I have no vehicle.

Yes I bought a GMC 2016.. 2022 I had a series of problems.. First, cam shaft.. then PCV problem.. a costly $4000 worth of problems and finally paid for it and traded it in.. I had the jerking problem, said intake manifold.. to PCV PROBLEMS.. then waiting almost 3 weeks with out a car.. SERVICE didn’t have a car to lend..

doyne1@yahoo.com i have one of your 09 Silverado 4×4 with the 5.3 engine it is using oil and oil pressure is dropping to 0 so i wanting to know is GM going to recall this defective engine and make it right im paying $ 10,000 for a truck i cant drive that is not right thank you

2020 chevy silverado purchased used 2 months ago is doing this shake thing, who do we contact to do something with a class action

I have a 2013 equinox. I had some problem.

I have a 2014 GMC Terrain that suddenly stopped running while driving with no warning, Turns out the engine seized even though it had oil in it. I would love to join this lawsuit.

Some thing with my 2013 equinox.

I have a 2017 buick verano that for no apparent reason have a blowed motor. This vehicle was serviced as it should be, now I am stuck with a car that is no longer running.

I own a 2011 Buick Lacrosse. It is burning oil and wearing out engine parts. It started at less than 60,000 miles. Constantly replacing 02 sensors. Need to be included in the class action law suit.

I have an effected vehicle that has had an engine failure and I would like to know how to get on the law suit.

Our family owns two vehicles involved in these recalls,,, how do we get our names and cars on the lawsuit…

I have a 2013 Buick Verano that started an oil leak and now has the timing chain that needs to be replaced with low speed lunging and transmission slipping I can no longer drive it and I still owe on it I’m a disabled veteran I have no extra income for things like this it’s killing me

Who is the attorney representing this class action lawsuit…

I have a 2017 Buick Verano with high oil consumption. No oil leaks. It’s burning the oil. The oil ran excessively low. I was unaware because there is no low oil warning. Now the timing chain needs to be replaced. Hopefully the valves aren’t damaged.

I have a 2012 Buick Verano and have engine damage due to the PCV system, and Increase oil use… How do I become part of this class action lawsuit?

We have a 2016 Chevy Equinox with 70,000 miles and are also experiencing oil consumption issues which has now caused a timming chain issue in the middle of our vacation. Had to rent a car and leave our car at a shop, hoping will be fixed when we return from vacation. Dealership was no help at all. How is GM not addressing this issue? Would like to be part of class action suit.

I have a 2015 Equinox affected by this, and guess who Serviced the loan.. Ally. I purchased the gap insurance and they refused to do anything about it. Ally notified me and said that the vehicle was part of a class action lawsuit that I had no knowledge about, and they sent me a 1099-C on the undrivable vehicle. It is sitting in my yard as an ornament and now Ally is going after me for them discharging the debt through a 1099-C. They wont give me the title nor the money that it increased on my taxes. So if this has happened to anyone else or something very similar and have an ongoing suit….sign me up!

I have a loan through Ally. I have the same problem wasn’t even aware. I have been paying out of my pocket since I purchased vehicle in 2016 from Sterling McCall/GMC dealership. I’m so frustrated because I never heard about until now. They should inform me their was defect manufacturing of the car when I bought because their was a class action law suit then. How to get it fix or give me my money back and take hour car. Lemon vehicle purchase with full of problems. I wasn’t even aware of the extended warranty up 120000 or 10 years of vehicle. No information ever sent recalls regarding car.

I am in same position. My Equinox is sitting there and unusable because I cannot afford to fix the damage the PCV has done by also blowing out the rear main seal. Im still in peramiters of there “useless extended miles and year coverage”. !! I would like to be part of this suit!

I have a 2021 silverado 1500 I bring my car for oil change and I was driving at 70 miles and then the transmission was gone. On the middle of yhe road, I call them and they didn’t anything because they said it wasn’t covered when I have all the damn insurances that they sale. I’m from md and the car brake down on ohio. I WANT TO DEMAND THEM.

I would love to join this lawsuit, as my 2013 Buick Verano has been sitting at the shop due to the oil consumption blowing out the motor. I do not have the funds to replace something that should not be a problem at 80k miles. Please let me know what I can do!

I would like to join this class action suit.

We have a 2013 Chevrolet Captiva Sport equipped with the poorly designed 2.4-liter Ecotec engine which uses oil at an astonishing rate. I first noticed an increase in oil usage at around 85,000 – 90,000 after an oil change was done at the dealership. I heard a knocking in the engine a few days after the oil was changed. It was 2 1/2 quarts low and I just thought the tech got distracted and had failed to complete the job but a few days later, we were down a little over a quart low.

GM’s Oil Life Monitoring System failed to advise us of insufficient oil in the engine even at critically low levels. We contacted the dealership but they just suggested that we perform a test to measure the usage. When they explained the criteria of the test, I told them that we did document the mileage and oil used and they felt that using 4 quarts per 1,000 miles was not excessive usage. They did not inform us that GMC was aware of the problem but we felt like they were gas lighting us. Now we know why.

After we passed 125,000 miles, everything went downhill. The dealership performed a number of stop-gap fixes of components of the 2.4-liter Ecotec, however; none of the fixes addressed the oil consumption defect. All of our repair bills were in the thousands. Finally, at around 175,000 miles, my wife took the car in because it was running poorly. The dealer told us that the repairs would be in excess of $7,000 for a new transmission, catalytic converter, fuel pump, sparkplugs, and ignition coils (Note: we had a complete tune-up 6 months earlier.)

We took the car home and started looking for a local mechanic to give us a second opinion. He said we needed a timing belt set, sparkplugs, ignition coils, a generator, cam timing sensors, a catalytic converter, and a new exhaust manifold. I had him do the work but unfortunately, there are still issues that only a new engine can solve. My mechanic is very familiar with the 2.4-liter Ecotec engines. He says that they are all designed to self-destruct with their faulty pressure control valves (PCV). Or rather, the issue is that the engines aren’t equipped with a traditional one, instead using a fixed vacuum port on the intake manifold. When clogged, crankcase pressure can cause these vehicles’ rear main seals to leak oil. This defect results in low oil levels, and lubricity levels that are not sufficient to prevent damage to all internal engine components. This defect allegedly results in low oil levels, lubricity levels that are not sufficient, as well as damage to the internal engine components. An additional deadly flaw lies in GM’s Oil Life Monitoring System which fails to advise the driver of insufficient oil in the engine even at critically low levels.

I have a 2016 GMC Terrain and have had to replace the pvc valves when my engine failed. After picking it up, discovered my catalytic converters were blown because of this after the mechanic tried to tell me there was nothing wrong. Just changed the solenoids after they failed and now it’s making a grinding noise when I start it. Nothing but problems!

I purchased a 2014 Terrain that has this issue. I changed the pcv valve because there was white sludge stuff in the oil and on the dip stick. Before changing it out was making a horrible noise that went away for a little while after changing the PCV valve. My vehicle has 116,000 miles on it. How do we get this taken care of before the engine craps out on me?

I have a 2010 72k Miles blown motor last year winter low oil , had 1200 miles to go before oil change .

I recently sold my terrain! It had a blown engine and replaced it prior to selling!

I have a 2012 equinox and I am having severe oil loss. Please include me in your lawsuit

My son has a 2014 Equinox and the engine burned up due to a total loss of oil. there were no indications that this was about to happen. it will cost $3000.00 plus labor to replace this engine. He does not have the money currently to do this repair. Is there any open class action suits or payout that he could apply for?

Add me please. I have a 2015 Chevy Cruze that has been costing me thousands of dollars after I’ve reached my 2nd year. When I say thousands of dollars so far it’s been $7,000 and I don’t understand how when I’m a local street driver and my car has never touched the highway or excessive driving for these expensive repairs to be needed

I also have anothe issue, 2012 buick lacrosse with the cxs hiper front suspension struts, all the parts have been discontinued even by aftermarkets, summit racing, ac delco, rock auto, napa, autozone, etc, amazon… ebay, i have looked everywhere. there are no parts to be found, i contacted ac delco and the buick dealerships in fort worth tx and they have no solution. so am i supposed to drive with no shocks!!!! this needs to be included

My 2017 Chevy Cruze has the same issues with PCV and now they saying I need a new engine costing $7-8,000 and I still owe $17,000 for the car…I would love to be added to this class action lawsuit

Purchased 2013 Captiva from dealer they claimed it needed a new catalytic converter, they changed and nothing but problems, still haven’t figured out the issue throwing a different code every time we fix the previous one. Gave it a fresh oil change and started to sound like crap. My son still hasn’t been able to drive his car.

I am the third owner of 2013 Cadillac escalade platinum with 77xxx at 114xxx the D.O.D failed and my lifter has collapsed. Wasn’t aware of this till I did my research. This has happened to hundreds if not thousands of consumers. It’s a very expensive fix that gm should be responsible for

2014 Terrain…purchased 10 months ago. nothing but issues with this motor…basically need a new motor. I want in on this class action lawsuit as well! 23 year old, owe $12,500 on it…I can’t afford a new motor…this is shameful they haven’t recalled this motor!

Just had a complete diagnostic check on it…I owe $12,000 the dealership says there is $11,000 worth of repairs to do…are you kidding me??? Please tell us how to get included in this class action lawsuit????

And the hits keep coming, got a mechanic to put in the engine, but guess what, there are no engines available to purchase because there are soooo many people needing to replace their engine!

2014 GMC Terrain. Interesting that after oil changes it seems to run a tad rough. Just thought it is normal for my miles. Radio and screen has shut off out of the blue then a few seconds it goes to the main screen. I’ve only received a recall yesterday on headlamps. Also I just was told that I am loosing turn by turn amongst other OnStar features as it has something to do with 2g will now need to be 5g in our Terrain??? Is the manafucturer aware of this when making these vehicles??? There should be an upgrade done automatically you would think? Does anyone know what are all of the recalls are out that we need to be aware about?

My 2014 Chevrolet Equinox also had a frozen PCV valve and I lost my rear main seal, pistons,rings, and piston arms. The total bill came to almost 5300.00. I also had been reporting an oil consumption problem to my dealership and they found metal fragments in my oil. I had a lifetime warranty with CNA but the geniuses there said oil consumption is normal for your car. EXCUSE ME BUT I DON’T HAVE A 2 CYCLE ENGINE! If anyone can refer me to the attorneys handling this case I would like to file as well.

Is it possible to get in the lawsuit? $7400 second timing chain and they just won’t admit.

I was sold a used 2014 Buick Verano this time last year. I found out today that my engine has failed due to an oil consumption issue with the engine that GM has been aware of for years. I was not informed of this issue when buying my car. I am now stuck between getting a new engine for $7k or paying off the $12k owed. I am disgusted, and will have a very difficult time financially either way. Please let me know how I can get in on the class action lawsuit. I feel completely cheated.

I purchased and paid for a 2011 Buick Regal. It burns oil faster than a truck would. I’ve had it looked at and was referred by a credited mechanic to contact GM it is definitely in that group of vehicles that should have been recalled.

Purchased in 2015, have had nothing but problems. In 2019 two weeks after an oil change it had completely ran out of oil without me knowing it. No warning lights. Took it to the dealer I purchased from and I had Bent a piston and burnt the timing chain up. $3800 later it was fixed….temporarily. It continues to burn massive amounts of oil and I know now to monitor it regularly. The engine light comes on randomly and now the stabil track and low brake fluid light. Brake fluid is fine I checked it. I’ve had to keep the vehicle bc I owe more than it is worth due to the cost of repairs I have incurred. Please help!!!

I have a 2014 GMC Terrain. Has caused nothing but problems! In 2019, about two weeks after an oil change, it had completely ran out of oil without my knowing. No warning lights no nothing. Bent a piston and burnt up the timing chain. Took it to the dealer I purchased from and after $3800 it was fixed. But not really. It still consumes massive amounts of oil and I have to monitor it daily. Now the engine light comes on randomly, stability track light and low brake fluid….I lose my rpm’s on occasion as well. Once I restart the engine most of the time rpm’s return. I’ve had to keep the vehicle bc I owe more than it is worth bc of all the repairs done. Please help!!!!

I have a 2014 Cadillac Escalade V8 that currently has catastrophic engine failure…so the engine needs to be replaced…when we purchased this car it had 72,000 miles on it and ran perfect until one day the check engine light went on… then boom my mechanic told me my engine was shot…GM really screwed us all… now we are out 9k for a new engine…🤮 I would love to be added to this class action lawsuit

2014 cruze had that issue how to repair myself actor Chevy dealer charge me $600 to tell me what I already knew I would like to join this class

I have a 2016 Equinox that has a blown engine. I had it towed to the dealer and they want $8000 to replace the engine. It showed no sensors saying there was a problem.

I have a 2013 Terrian that has given me nothing but problems. It goes into limp mode about 5 minutes after driving, it’s been in and out of shops for over a year now, just about the entire fuel system has been replaced. It has a 2.4 engine. How do I go about getting involved in the lawsuit? I’m paying monthly on a vehicle I can not drive safely.

I have this with my Malibu 2017 pleas add me

Please add me to the list. I have a 20141 GMC Sierra that I have had major engine and transmission problems with.

I own a 2013 GMC Terrain that periodcally starts running rough and then the engine light comes on. When I take my vehicle to a mechanic to get code read, code always come up with weird readings. After codes are cleared vehicle will run fine until next time. Seemed to happen more this past winter. My vehicle did have an oil consumption problem that GM finally fixed after much a do about that problem. Now engine ruins rough after few years of oil fix. I was told in order to change spark plugs the engine would have to be pulled, costing a couple thousand dollars to pull that engine tn order to get to plugs. Senior here on limited income, can’t afford to get a tuneup! And maybe something is really happening that codes aren’t correct? Before my battery was going bad codes said this or that that I replaced only to come down to needing new battery. Definitely add me to this!

How can I join class action same thing happened to my 2016 equinox and had to spend almost 3k having fixed

Currently dealing with the pvc issue! The dealerships also refuse to fix it under warranty!

I have a 2011 gmc acadia and have stuck over 6000 into it this year. Sadly 3 different mechanics claimed to fix the same problem over and over.

We had a GMC Acadia 2015 had the transmission rebuilt and not even a year later it went out again. Was told by the Transmission guy it would go out again no matter what we did because GMC sends same parts. We’re also replacing the motor in my husbands GMC Sierra which is a 2009. My car had 84,000 miles when Transmission messed up. His truck has 140,000 miles and the motor went out.

Oh goodness yes please add me

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General Motors fails to disclose a defect with the positive crank ventilation system (PCV) in their vehicles’ internal combustion engines, a new class action lawsuit alleges.... Read More

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