— A General Motors lifter lawsuit is still trying to proceed in court more than four years after the class action lawsuit was filed in December 2021.
The latest GM lifter lawsuit update involves a move by vehicle owners which failed in the district court.
According to the class action, numerous GM models are defective because the valvetrains, active fuel management lifters and dynamic fuel management lifters are defective in these models.
- 2014-present Cadillac Escalade
- 2016-2019 Cadillac CTS-V
- 2014-present Chevrolet Silverado
- 2014-present Chevrolet Silverado 1500
- 2014-2019 Chevrolet Corvette
- 2014-2016 Chevrolet Avalanche
- 2014-present Chevrolet Suburban
- 2014-present Chevrolet Tahoe
- 2016-present Chevrolet Camaro
- 2014-present Chevrolet Camaro SS
- 2014-2016 Chevrolet Corvette
- 2014 to present GMC Sierra
- 2014 to present GMC Sierra 1500
- 2014-present GMC Yukon
- 2014-present Yukon XL
Those General Motors vehicles are equipped with 5.3-liter, 6.0L or 6.2L V8 engines that supposedly contain lightweight lifters installed in the wrong positions. This purportedly causes customers to change the oil frequently and face the expense of valve lifter oil manifold replacements.
The plaintiffs further complain the engines misfire because the valves don't open and close properly, and a vehicle makes a “ticking noise emanating from the engine” along with “chirps, squeals, and squeaks."
The GM lifter lawsuit asserts drivers experience vehicles that hesitate, surge, shudder and stall. Replacing the allegedly defective lifters does no good because the lawsuit says the replacement parts are also defective.
In over four years multiple owners who originally sued GM voluntarily dismissed their claims while certain lawyers have also stepped away from the lifter class action lawsuit. Additionally, the claims of 17 plaintiffs were sent to arbitration, but many of those customers returned to the class action.
GM Lifter Lawsuit Update
On the four-year anniversary of the GM lifter lawsuit, the plaintiffs asked Judge Laurie J. Michelson "to sever their claims based on the type of cylinder deactivation technology in the Class Vehicles’ valve train systems."
Specifically, the plaintiffs learned some of their vehicles have an allegedly defective part that is not in the engines of the other vehicles. This can be a problem for a class action lawsuit that includes all the vehicles in the same lawsuit with supposedly the same defects.
The plaintiffs asked the judge to sever the case into claims pertaining to vehicles with the active fuel management (AFM) engine and claims pertaining to vehicles with the dynamic fuel management (DFM) engine.
According to the plaintiffs, they now know there is a "significant distinction between the vehicles owned by AFM Plaintiffs and those owned by DFM Plaintiffs.” But General Motors opposed the motion to sever and told the judge severing the claims would multiply work for all sides, and the court.
GM argued severing the claims at this stage will result in “two separate sets of expert discovery, two separate sets of motions for summary judgment, two separate sets of Daubert motions, two separate sets of class certification briefs, two separate sets of pre-trial proceedings, and two separate trials.”
The judge agreed with GM.
According to the judge, it's been four years since the lifter lawsuit was filed and the plaintiffs have known of these separate alleged defects for some time.
According to Judge Michelson:
"In a January 2023 opinion, the Court noted that while Plaintiffs 'alleged one uniform defect . . . . the sum of their . . . allegations actually indicate that there are three separate part failures at issue in this case.'”
The judge had even asked the parties to “be prepared to discuss severing this lawsuit” based on the specific engine part.
"So while the Court is not surprised to see that a party seeks severance of claims here, it is surprised at the timing of this request: four years after the suit was filed and almost three years since the Court issued that warning."
CarComplaints.com will update our website when the status of the GM lifter class action is more clear.
The GM lifter lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: Harrison, et al., v. General Motors LLC.
