General Motors has released a service bulletin for select units of the 2020 Chevy Colorado due to an issue with a solenoid that’s prone to failing.
According to Special Coverage bulletin N232430470, certain 2020 Colorado units equipped with the naturally aspirated 3.6L V6 LGZ gasoline engine may have a condition where the engine’s bank two camshaft position actuator valve solenoid could fail. If this were to occur, the Malfunction Indictor Light (Check Engine Light) will illuminate and a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) will be set.
Affected vehicles are to be inspected by certified GM technicians, while the bank two camshaft position actuator valve solenoid will be replaced as necessary, free of charge. Notably, it should take GM techs roughly almost four hours to complete this fix.
It’s worth noting that this bulletin is classified by General Motors as Special Coverage, which means that affected vehicles will be covered 15 years or 150,000 miles – whichever comes first – from the date the vehicle was originally put into service, regardless of ownership. This means that any eligible claims that are filed on or after January 25th, 2024 must be submitted using labor operation codes. As for claims filed before this specific date, repair orders must be submitted to the Service Contract provider.
As a reminder, the 2020 Chevy Colorado was offered with the choice of three engine options. These included the naturally aspirated 2.5L I4 LCV gasoline engine, rated at 200 horsepower and 191 pound-feet of torque, the Duramax turbodiesel 2.8L I4 LWN engine, rated at 181 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, and the naturally aspirated 3.6L V6 LGZ, rated at 308 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque.
Transmissions choices consisted of either the GM six-speed automatic transmission or the GM eight-speed automatic transmission. Meanwhile, 2WD was standard and 4WD was optional.
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Comments
Well at least they are replacing it free of charge .
I have been fighting with GM for reimbursement for the work done on my Colorado for 2 months. I have sent in the required documents 3 separate times, got confirmation they were received; yet weeks later, was told I didn’t submit the paperwork, each time! It seems that they don’t want to honor for the work done on the recall prior to the letter being sent out. Does anyone have any suggestions of actions I can take against GM for illegally not paying for my claim?
Mine went out on my Colorado 2018 ZR2. It wasn’t a cheap fix.
They will reimburse you if you let GM know about your past repair.
30 yrs as an Automotive Tech. General Motors can’t even manufacture a quality wheel bearing, no way they should be attempting to perfect variable valve timing
You are so correct. When looking for a 3/4 ton in 2023, GM lost my choice due to the fact that the 6.6 gas couldn’t stop using oil. Can’t even engineer an engine without flaws after a hundred years.
Apparently a lot t of manufacturers are having issues because everything is made as cheap as possible heck half of these items are not even made by the parent company they are out sourcing or made in China… there is no more exclusively made by GMC those days are long gone since the mid to late 1980s it’s a shame. I am not sticking up for GM but this is just how it is now.
Service bulletin avoids a recall, they’ll fix it if you mention it even if it hasn’t failed yet.
This isn’t newsworthy. It’s just regurgitated information that may or may not affect some vehicles in the fleet.
Electronic solenoid valves in engines and transmissions do fail at times. That’s life.
If my kitchen toaster element quit one day, would it be newsworthy?
No and neither are articles such as these, because the types of failures that end up as bulletin content are generally very low volume, compared to how sensationalistic “journalists” (loose use of the term) attempt to convey that the “sky is falling”.
From my 55 years in the field, we’ve come a long way since the “classic” exceptionally poor quality vehicles of the ’40s through ’90s. Vehicles are generally several fold times more reliable, but unfortunately, service and diagnostic requirements have become increasingly more complex.
Because the internet did not exist, few knew how truly bad some of those now cherished models were. I worked on them in the service bays every day. Vehicles are way more reliable and far safer now than ever before.
However, no matter what, supplier companies determine the necessary size of terminals, coil winding, wire gauge and other aspects of electrical components for best overall performance and longevity.
Sometimes, they get it wrong. Variable Valve Timing Solenoid Valves function on high frequency pulse-width modulated signals, similar to trim solenoids and torque converter apply solenoids.
These are extremely low resistance solenoids in comparison to the windings of transmission shift solenoids that are classed as “steady state” and have a higher coil resistance.
Given the hostile environment that solenoids function in when controlling hot engine lubricant of questionable condition and grade, under high frequency conditions, there will be some failures.
Technicians have endured the reduction of wiring gauges (higher number AWG, or mm2) and the miniaturizing of wiring terminations from “blunder buss” size, down to “Mini-50″/Micro 1.2 that have been determined by electronics engineers (not vehicle engineers), to be capable of allowing current as high as 5 amps to flow through some of these terminations and downsized wiring.
Poor terminal tension and terminal fretting (oxidation), Printed Circuit Board component miniaturization and more, result in some weird and wonderful diagnostic challenges for the technicians of today, like never before.
The intake camshaft phaser solenoid failed last year on my wife’s ’15 Terrain. It’s now a known failure component with a fairly predictable life expectancy. Technician have learned the characteristics of this easily diagnosed concern that is can be resolved in less than an hour.
The 3.6L engine has 4 of these solenoids, one for each camshaft.
A toaster doesn’t cost $28,000
Ironically, I just had my Bank 1 solenoid fail. Makes me wonder if GM got a bad batch of solenoids. At least mine was replaced under warranty
My 2018 Colorado recently had the same problem. Is GM sure that only 2020’s were affected.
Would this throw a P0016 error code?
Should take GM techs four hours to complete? I just had to replace the bank 2 solenoid in my 19′ Colorado. It took me 20 minutes. Solved the P0021 code.
Drew – Do you have the failed Bank 2 solenoid still? I would like to take a look at it. Thanks
My 2018 Colorado recently had the same problem. Is GM sure that only 2020’s were affected.
Drew – If you still have the failed Bank 2 solenoid could you please post a picture of it? Thanks
‘ If it’s got teats or tires, your bound to have trouble with it !’ – Anonymous
I swapped mine in 30 minutes going cross country. Shouldn’t take 4 hours. It’s right in front and slightly under the throttle body.
I have a 2021 Colorado zr 2. 67,000 miles and had the check engine light come on. After doing some research’s it seems to be the same problem that the 2020 is having with its timing solenoid’s. We took it to the dealer and had a bill of almost $900. it is wrong that they are charging people for a problem that is a known issue with the same solenoid but on a truck that is one year younger.
I am currently having this issue with my 2018 Chevy Colorado. Has GM made any mention of similar problems with 2018’s?