head replaced SECOND TIME
 

2006 Hummer H3,
Head replaced Apr. 4, 2007 at 13,000 miles for check engine light rough running.

Today Apr. 20, 2008, Took to dealer for check engine light and running rough.
They said cylinder 5 missing, needs new head. They had one in stock.
They gave me a rental and here I sit in disbelieve.

I do not remember seeing any threads on a second head.
I am going to do a search,
and I think I will check in the Alaska Lemon Law.

Dan

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

im getting mine replaced right now,26,000 miles im kind of worried about this,how many others have had their heads replaced?:notallthere:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Homeboy is this your second head replacement in the H3?

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

no this is my first but ive read about a few other people needing theirs done twice,mines been in the shop for two weeks i wonder if gm will cut my monthly payment in half for this month lol!

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

I had to have mine done twice.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

That Sucks

I had mine replaced at 12,000 miles. I was wondering if they had solved the problem... I guess not:confused:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Maybe in Alaska they didn't have an updated head in stock when they replaced it the first time?

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

mine didnt go out till around 25 or so

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Update on my second head replacement.
After 2 days they called and said the second head they put in was bad.
Have to get another one.
Two days later they called and said the timing chain tesioner bracket is cracked. Will be two more days.
They gave me a Tohoe for a rental.
I willing like this Tohoe.

Dan

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

:confused: They gave you a hooker??

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Perhaps the ninnies should learn how to do a proper root cause analysis? I'm thinkin' it's NOT the heads that are the problems but something else? There's too many high mileage H3s like mine that are getting HAMMERED with no problems. It's not a head design issue in my opinion. I've got 53k (yeah, not much by some folks standards) on our '06 3.5 and believe me, half it's life is spent at full throttle (poor thing needs a little less ass or a little more grunt). No engine problems as of yet.

Neat thing about the little 3.5 is that driven properly, I can exceed 19mpg. But, driven hard, I only get a little over 15. It does indeed reward a patient foot!

Now, if I could just get a set of BFG ATs to last more than 25k!!!!...:violin:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

2006 Lux 70k miles Manual Transmission high rpms buzzing around the high country daily. (Knock Wood) No engine or transmission issues.

Was in at MedVed today for an oil change and rotation and they were trying to get me into an Alpha....lease is almost up....big sigh.....
Solar Flare....they laughed when I said I didn't want the Chrome on the Alpha Lux and would put my black steps and grill guard on it. :clapping:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

getting mine done right now. first time, around 37k on it H3 2006

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

my 06 had the head done at 42k ............

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

My son, who now owns my '06 H3 with VIN xxxxxxx084 is still going strong in Colorado with 89,000 miles on it. No engine or drivetrain problems. I'm not sure if running Mobil 1 synthetic has anything to do with it, but it's the only oil the engine has ever seen. He is about to put his second set of brakes in, but living in the mountains is hard on brakes.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Any other symptoms? My 07 stalled twice on the way to work this morning, verry noticable "rough Idle", stalled when stoping at traffic lights. noticable fluttery sound while warming up, much louder on acceleration. 23k miles...however no engine light, ...yet. Any thoughts?

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Give it a few more days.
You'll get the light.
Look at this way... you'll get 10yr/10,000 mile engine warrenty now.
Also new oil and coolant.
Hey I even got a free set of plyers I found under the hood.

Dan.
On my 3rd head. (wish my wife was as willing as GM)

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Are you a technician? You obviously have never diagnosed or repaired one of these cylinder head problems. The problem is in the valve seats. The intake valves don't seal because the valve seats deteriorate. The updated heads have inserts in the seats. I've replaced probably 400 of these things and only had 1 of the updated heads come back needing another head. The reason yours hasn't had a problem is because you've driven it hard. We've never replaced one on a rental car because we all know how people drive a rental.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Wasn't this problem addressed and solved at the manufacturing plant in NY after it was identified in early builds and early 2006?
Most of the early problems with this have been shaken out, no?:drama:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Yea, but they sold a lot of them before the new heads came out. The new head didn't come out until like 7 months after the vehicle was released.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

H3's that were produced after 8-15-05 had the fix:raar:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

update~ still no check engine light, but took to dealer this morning. Got a call back that the Manifold bolts were broke, and they had to order parts, will keep it over night. On my way over now to pick up rental. Dealer says its not the head, but symptoms point that way. Will advise more tomorrow...

:confused:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

intake or exhaust ?

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exhaust~

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Actually it was 4-4-06

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

We had to replace the head on our 2007 H3 2 months ago... So I call shenanigans on the engine fix dates.

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The 07 is a whole different head than the 06's. There have been a few 07's, but not like the early 06's. I've personally replaced less than 10 heads on 07's.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

not to hijack the thread, but what was the problem with the 2007 head then? Had the same diagnostic problems and same fix.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Half of them were intake valve seat problems and half were exhaust valve seat problems. On all of the exhaust valves that were leaking, they were #5 cylinder and there was an exhaust leak that caused the valves to burn. Same diagnostic approach, testing compression and cylinder leakage.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Ok, got the Humv back this evening, invoice states as follows:
"DIO BROKEN EXHAUST MANIFOLD BOLD IN CYLINER HEAD. ATTEMPTED TO DRILL BOLT AND EXTRACT-UNABLE TO REMOVE. R/R CYLINDER HEAD TO EXTRACT ON BENCH. REINSTALL HEAD AND REPALCE GASKETS AS NEEDED. DRAINED AND REFILLED OIL AND REPLACED OIL FILTER. NOW OK."

so I got a free oil chanage, too bad I had just changed it a week or so ago with Mobile One...
also; "TECHNICIAN NOTICED OIL LEAKING FROM TRANSMISSION AREA DURING EXHAUST CHECK. R/I TRANSMISSION TO REPLACE REAR MAIN SEAL-LEAKING OIL"

Seams like there were a few other issues, glad I went in for the fix. Will give her the break in tomorrow and report back with any issues. I do have to commend the dealership, they had every thing in line for me, rental car was ready and waiting, no charge for anything, not even the 5gal of gas I used up. No comments about the level kit or MagnaFlow exhaust / K&N CAI or anything. all in all, damn glad for the warranty.:dancingbanana: :dancingbanana:

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

seems to be running great, I guess I didn't realize how loud that exhaust leak was, cause now she's real quite. MPG has gone back up a litte too, was ~13, now around 14.5 (using the Scan Gauge II) Thanks to all for the extra info and advice. I'll have to post a pic of the Scan Gauge, installed it in the DayStar dash console, real clean fit.

~Keepa

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Haven't been around for a while. I have a '06 Green H3. Build date is 11/05. At 35,000 miles engine light went on. Then went out a few days later. I thought it was bad gas. Then at 36,000 came on again and stayed on, so I made an appointment to get it looked at. Then it went out again. I kept the appointement. My dealer reported that the #3 cylinder had 70% leakage and the head needed to be replaced.

He said, they are on back order for three weeks because the replacement heads they were using were also defective. There were 15 H3's ahead of me, so they were doing about 1 per day. He said to keep driving it unless the light came back on and started flashing. The light stayed out the whole time. It's not burned out either, because it does light when I turn the key.

Yesterday was my appointment. Dropped it off at 8:00 a.m and picked it up at 5:00 p.m. The service person said, this is the new improved head, so it shouldn't leak anymore. He said, it's warranted until the end of the original factory warranty - 50,000 miles. I asked, what if it goes out again, lke the other replacement heads? He said, they would try to work with me. How are others getting the 100,000 mile warranty? If this was fixed, then GM should feel confident that even with the 100,000 mile warranty, it would come into play.

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

Do a search for the post that list the answer to your questions.
You need to call GM and make a claim. They will take your info, call the dealer for varification. They will mail you an extended warrenty.
Takes a fews calls. Be polite and tell them how wonderful your hummer is and how much you want to keep it with the extended warranty.
Without it you might have to sell it and get a F3.

Dan

Re: head replaced SECOND TIME
 

I think that earlier post about driving it hard hits the nail on the head. They didn't have as many problems with the I 5 on the Canyon trucks and work trucks are always overloaded and abused. My early VIN H3, now in the hands of my son in Denver is still going strong, but I did a lot of towing of my bass boat with it, hard driving, and mountain driving with the pedal to the floorboard. 90,200 miles and no problems - I'm not sure how that helps the head, valves or valve seats, but it's worked so far.