stevem12

Found a 2002 Z06 EB with $8K Miles to buy-Im worried about the Valve Spring issue. Should i keep looking for and 03 or 04 or is the 02 a safe bet?

nkx1

If the car is in great condition and has a good history, is there any reason why you couldn't just change the valve springs after purchasing it? From what I've read, it should only be a few hundred dollars. More than a few people it seems have changes their valve springs as preventative maintenance.

*I don't yet have a Z06, so I'm a bit of an arm chair quarterback in this respect, but I have been doing a lot of reading here in preparation for my prospective Z06 purchase in a few months. And I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.

stevem12

I thinks that good advice, just swap em proactively after i find the car.

So in your Z06 search, what have you been looking for? Ive been focused on a black Z05 C5, but seem to be liking the Electron Blue...

nkx1

I really want silver and would prefer an '04, but if an '02-'03 pops up in really great condition, I may consider that (pretty much stuck on silver). It's going to be my daily driver, since I only have room in my garage for two cars (other space is for the gf); therefore I'm looking for one with under 30k miles so I can drive it for about five years without going too much above 100k miles. I'm not going to be ready to buy for at least a few months, so at this point, I'm just reading a lot so I can identify any potential problems when I buy. I really wish they made the '02s to '04s in white, but silver will do. Btw, do you like the admiral blue at all? If so, you could get the '04 Z16 with the carbon fiber hood...

Edit: I believe the correct color is Lemans Blue Metallic, not Admiral Blue...

03 Z-oh-6

I was stuck on silver when looking for a C5 z06. I came away with an 03 Quicksilver, which is the nicest silver I've ever seen. Are you aware they switched to Machine Silver in '04? In some lighting, machine silver looks silver, but other times it looks very dark, like a gray. I think it's kind of ugly. Quicksilver > Machine Silver

Kevin 64

While I'm not an avid reader on the Forum, I do visit periodically. I never caught the valve spring issue. I sure wish I did before two days ago when a valve spring broke on mine and trashed the #1 cylinder. Beware the broken spring!

nkx1

I agree, I like the Quicksilver better, but I actually don't dislike the machine silver. To me, getting an '04 would be worth the trade off. But like I mentioned above, I would have to think about an '02-'03 in great condition.

Sorry OP, back to the valve springs now!

Never Late

Stevem, I picked up an 02 quicksilver mod red z06 with around 70k pampered miles on it, i read the threads of busted valve springs and i decided to just swap mine out as preventative maintenance. I just had it done this past week, it wasnt to bad. It ended up costing me a little more that i wanted but it was around 800 all together, that was springs, crane spring compressor tool and labor..To me its worth it completely i can now drive and have fun and not worry about the springs having any issues...I do recommend however picking up the crane spring compressor tool as it does 2 springs at once and will make the job a breeze. My mechanic used the crane on one side a conventional spring compressor on the other and almost double the time...I wouldnt let the spring issue steer you away from a well priced 02/03 because for a 400-600 dollar bill you can have that piece of mind and an awesome car...

Diceman9

Buy it.... drive it.... brake it....fix it..... repeat.

Thats what we do....

Z06_BluByU

valve spring is cheap to fix.. parts (new springs) run $60.. dont let it deter you. fix is cheap and easy..

if the rest of the car checks out.. do it!

sothpaw2

This is just what I did. Add the valve spring change in to the cost of any '02 or '03 unless you have proof they have been changed already. I would change them right away to minimize your risk but I waited 6 months / 2000 miles.

Beau68

Are the 2004's in danger of breaking springs too or did they fix the problem?

Z06_BluByU

its less common... but has happened... same with the 2001's

Texan1Z06

2003 50th anniv. Quicksilver/modred is the way to go...


I have a prem. ext. warranty for 3yrs/30k mi so I'm not too concerned with the spring issue. I think after a few years, I might do the spring job though.

Nothing on the service records indicate that valve springs were ever replaced.
**I drive 10k total miles per year--5kmi on the Z, and 5kmi on my G.**

wildbill ws6/ss

I dnt know why people stress over this so much. Such a easy and cheap fix

slwhite

You should remember that this forum magnifies problems. You never hear from the vast majority that have never had valve spring problems. I remember several years ago, the big scare then was the aluminum shift forks in the 2002. That scare seems to have subsided. You never hear about that now because it was much ado about nothing. Now we are hearing about valve springs. I am not saying it doesn't happen but I would bet that if we could see the actual statistics, it would be a fraction of 1% that have had this problem. I would not give this issue a second thought.

For what it is worth, my 2002 has 45,000 miles and no valve spring problems or shift fork problems. I plan on doing nothing. My experience is just another piece of anecdotal evidence however.

ZeeOSix

I think the aluminum shift fork issue was more about gear banging drag racer maniacs causing their own problems on that one.

Ouch ... good luck on the gamble. The valve spring issue has been talked about on this chat board for at least 3 years or more. I'd say the failure rate is more than "a fraction of 1%". Keep in mind that it has probably happened to many that don't even read chat boards. I've been procrastinating myself on this issue, but will be changing them this winter while the car is "sleeping for the winter". It might cost a few hundred bucks and some time, but it sure will be nice not to have that nagging voice in the back of my head saying "a valve spring could fail today and destroy the engine" every time I drive the car.

ZeeOSix

BTW - for anyone who missed this thread, go do some reading.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-z...-the-list.html

Also, do a search for "broken valve spring" in just the C5 Z06 Forum, and see how many threads you can find. You might also be surprised on the age of some of those threads.

rbartick

I'm with you on this one. I'm an orignal owner and I've been on this forum for a long time (before my car was born) and it seems as though this whole valve spring scare is being escalated by relatively new members buying pre-owned cars. I don't recall this being an "issue" until recent times.

I don't plan to swap out my stockers.

David426

Springs do break on our engines, however it is very rare. I did my own research by calling 3 large Corvette performance shops as well as 2 large Chevy dealerships in Dallas. Just 2 or 3 incidents between all of these sources. Combined all these sources have seen hundreds or more C5's over the years.. I'd say you have a 1-2% chance of a spring failure.. It is scary thinking about it and would be easy and a relief to get them changed out