[ooo]

I have an immaculate 08 LP640 with about 10,800 miles. I had it at the Troy Lamborghini dealership for some preventative maintenance; various hoses replaced, tire sensors replaced, oil changed (even though I had it changed 600 miles before that), new engine struts, and one tire placed. It was in the shop for 6 or 7 weeks, took a very long time. While there, they did a fuel tank seal change that was a factory recall. This car was previously in California (where I live most of the time) and it was serviced there by Raging Bull. No problems there. My concerns with this local Michigan deal, while working with them, were some surprising things they didn't know about, such as tire shaving, as I had them replaced once tire and they never had heard of tire shaving before. I told them what to say to Tire Rack (their supplier) to get it and it was no problem.

Long story short, today was the first day I took it out for a drive after picking up from dealer (yes, I drove home from dealer, but never had to stop/start engine in doing so). After driving just a few miles with my godmother in the passenger seat, the engine start smoking profusely. See attached pics and noticed crumbling in that one. I took videos but don't know how to post on here. What do you think happen? I had heard a clanking since being at the dealer, I wonder if something was left inside, like a nut, or not tightened properly.

 

[Giallous?]

Hire a trustworthy mechanic, Lambo-certified, and FLY HIM IN if necessary to take the car apart, on video, and discover what they did.

Clanking, to me was the big problem. The smoke can be from a variety of things that, when heated, can burn off a factory coating for the first time.

6-7 weeks?
How many miles did they put on it?

Depends on your level of dedication, but if you bring it to the same place, they have motivation to lie to you about it, whereas a different place has motivation to find everything done wrong by the first place. (or make it up.)

 

[Chris V10]

The smoking is worth investigating but may not be a concern, water may have gathered from washing or rain if its been outside and just burning off.

I would get it back to the main dealer or trusted specialist

 

[Stimpy]

Did the smoke have a sweet smell like coolant? If it was smoking from around the muffler, the coolant radiators are back there, so it could be a coolant leak onto the exhaust from some sloppy mechanic work. Check your coolant level in the header tank to see if its low.

Very concerning about the clanking noise. " I had heard a clanking since being at the dealer..." You're saying it was clanking from the moment you picked the car up, but you didn't turn around to have the dealer look into it and just kept driving it for multiple days?

 

[white out]

1. The Troy dealer is a joke (for those who don't know, it's in the back of a Buick dealership) and I have literally never seen a Lamborghini there. Unfortunately, MI has very few options: do it yourself, Chicago or Evans in OH. So I understand going to Troy, but if you go back and forth to southern CA, save all your repair work until the car is there.
2. Looks like heat-condensation from the pics and is likely coolant, especially with the reservoir sitting close to that spot of the car and hoses being replaced. Like Stimpy said, what does it smell like?
3. RE: Clanking. Again, I agree with Stimpy on this, please give more details.

 

[mctowery]

That first pic looks more like steam than smoke...coolant came to mind. I replaced a radiator hose and it "smoked" like that for at least 30 minutes while the coolant that came out during the process slowly burned off.

 

[ooo]

Thanks for replies everyone. I know it's easy to say take it somewhere else, but Michigan isn't exactly a beacon of choices. Lambo Troy seemed like the best option given it's only 50 miles away. I have kept it in MI now for 2 years and would like to continue that, so deferring maintenance 'til it's back in LA isn't an option, as I may never bring it back.

I've encountered too many problems with these shady shippers, who are typically Eastern Europeans out to play games with you. When I brought it to MI, my car got scuffed up big time as they squeezed between the body of the car and the walls of the semi. Then they tried to extort hundreds of dollars more from me on the spot. Not to mention, they left keys in and killed my brand new battery. It was a total nightmare. I don't want to be dealing with that 2x per year.

The car was supposed to be there for 10 days or so and after 6-7 weeks in there (which is half the season here), the idea of turning around right away is easier said than done. Plus I had a flight to catch and it just wasn't an option that day. One would expect/hope that if there was a slight clanking/pinging noise, that is too faint to hear during higher acceleration, that it's not out of the ordinary if it was serviced by Lambo technicians. Since I had them replace several coolant lines, pre-emptively (no problems with prior), thoughts came up like "maybe the new position of a given line is mounted slightly different and creating a noise" or similar. I think they put about 15 or 20 mi on it while there.

Anyway, they're coming to pick it up this afternoon to bring it back to dealer. If it was their new coolant lines leaking, would that have caused that crumbling in the last pic? When I brought it to their attention on phone yesterday, response was something like "if you looked at pics of Murcies for sale at dealers right now, I bet you would see that on many or most" and I'm thinking, whether that's accurate or not is irrelevant. That's kind of like if I kicked a dent in your door panel and said "your door works fine still, so it's not an issue."

 

[Stimpy]

If it was their new coolant lines leaking, would that have caused that crumbling in the last pic? When I brought it to their attention on phone yesterday, response was something like "if you looked at pics of Murcies for sale at dealers right now, I bet you would see that on many or most" and I'm thinking, whether that's accurate or not is irrelevant. That's kind of like if I kicked a dent in your door panel and said "your door works fine still, so it's not an issue."

The crumpling is simply due to the mechanics being very careless and damaging your heatshield. The heatshield is very delicate and it needs to be carefully removed and stored during work to avoid damage. They just threw yours around like a ragdoll. And because it's multilayered in design, it's very difficult to straighten it once damaged. It will still work fine as a heatshield, but it won't look cosmetically good ever again without replacement.

 

[SSIIICK]

I had a clanking noise on mine which ended up being the a/c compressor. It basically locked up and broke apart. Is your A/C working? Only reason I think this may be it was because mine was smoking as well in a similar fashion.

 

[ooo]

Okay it got picked up yesterday. Second pic is of my garage floor after getting car out of garage. Presumably this is coolant but I don't want to say or suggest that to dealer, as I want them to independently evaluate everything and not just the coolant system. Remember, I had them pre-emptively change out several coolant line due to age of the car. There were definitely no leaks prior I can say that with certainty. Ironically the whole reason I changed them out in advance was to avoid an unexpected situation like this!

That last pic is of my engine struts. I had them change these out too, as they were due to replacement. Problem is, they don't work. They keep the hood up for anywhere from 30 seconds to maybe 2 minutes max, then it slams down. When I say slam, I don't mean a gentle drop. I mean slam without notice. This is even worse than my old ones, as those were weak and cause more of a gentle drop. They insist they used OEM. I'm wondering if OEM for another model that doesn't work for LP640? When I had him look them up on phone yesterday, to verify correct part, he read part number and so forth, then description which said Murcie/Gallardo if I recall correctly. Those two seem incompatible. I'd be surprised if same strut for both? What do I tell them to replace with that is correct? Or can they be adjusted for pressure?

Stimpy- The coolant, assuming that's what it was, was/is leaking big time. Could that have caused a combustion that crinkled that metal on the head shield?

SSIIICK- I was using the AC both on the drive home from the dealer when picking up car, as well as on that 4th of July driving disaster. Both times it seemed to work fine, at least in terms of temp of cold air coming out. I wonder if coolant could have got on the AC compressor and caused noise or damage?

 

[SSIIICK]

SSIIICK- I was using the AC both on the drive home from the dealer when picking up car, as well as on that 4th of July driving disaster. Both times it seemed to work fine, at least in terms of temp of cold air coming out. I wonder if coolant could have got on the AC compressor and caused noise or damage?

This is very similar to the situation I went through, especially with the coolant on the floor. With my a/c compressor basically locking up, it was making a very loud clanking noise throughout the entire car. Interestingly, the a/c would work for a bit and then not work once the noise started getting worse. My car was pissing coolant all over the floor as well. I would have them start there as it's relatively easy to diagnose if it's the compressor.

 

[Stimpy]

Stimpy- The coolant, assuming that's what it was, was/is leaking big time. Could that have caused a combustion that crinkled that metal on the head shield?

That's definite NO from me. But if it gives the dealer a face-saving way to replace your heatshield, then run with it. It was definitely damaged when they remove it to do the work on the coolant system that they botched. They probably dropped it do that level of damage.

By the way, a professional mechanic should never return a car to a customer without pressure testing the cooling system after doing any work on the cooling system. The tool is very inexpensive and it's super easy to pressure test a cooling system. The test will show any leaks much faster and more reliably than just a test drive because during the test drive the internal pressure of the cooling system may not rise to its max rated pressure to expose leaks. But then again, it doesn't sound like they even bothered to test drive the car to confirm their work before giving it to you. Very poor, and don't give them any slack for returning a leaking car to you. No excuse.

 

[ooo]

Update- The dealership is taking care of my so far. They admitted a mistake on the coolant hose. The pinging noise they said was the hose connector hitting against something after the hose popped off. Anyway, weather pending, I am tentatively scheduled to get my car delivered back here on Tues. To ensure everything is OK I also said I think they owe me brake fluid service and some other things which they did not object to and are doing or have done. I'll post updates with pics once all is done.

 

[Devo]

Any update on the final status of the Buick dealers performance? Im in Mid-Michigan and have been looking for a place to call if I ever have any major non "DIY" problems.

If so would you recommend them?

Thanks.

 

[white out]

Any update on the final status of the Buick dealers performance? Im in Mid-Michigan and have been looking for a place to call if I ever have any major non "DIY" problems.

If so would you recommend them?

Thanks.

If you're in mid-Michigan, hit up Mike and Tony at Showroom Shine in East Lansing for service and troubleshooting.

 

[demundus]

Update- The dealership is taking care of my so far. They admitted a mistake on the coolant hose. The pinging noise they said was the hose connector hitting against something after the hose popped off. Anyway, weather pending, I am tentatively scheduled to get my car delivered back here on Tues. To ensure everything is OK I also said I think they owe me brake fluid service and some other things which they did not object to and are doing or have done. I'll post updates with pics once all is done.

Glad they are setting you right, if I could afford it (borderline depending on how bad this was) I would have seen if Frank would have flown in. Seeing as he has history with the car.