UR2SLO

I dont understand why GM does'nt make a recall to change out a few components in the heads of the LS7 instead of just waiting for the motors to blow and have to cover them under warranty at about $17k a motor including labor. Im sure that GM knows that the LS7's have serious issues, the LS1's, LS2's, and LS3's dont have anywhere near the problems that the LS7 does yet they're only a fraction of the price. I myself have already been through a motor on this car, and even though it was covered under warranty it still wasnt fun to deal with and having the car down for so long. Now when i drive the car I dont have cofidence in the motor holding up, which isnt good when i know im driving a car with a sticker price of 75k+. I honestly dont think ill be buying another GM product again, and I dont know how people dont think its that big of a deal as long as its covered under warranty. What are you going to do when your warranty is up and the motor fails due to a defect?

rws.1

Get a Katech engine....

Gannet

Maybe because the vast majority of engines don't blow, and doing a recall would cost a zillion dollars.

As to GM vs. The World, I was recently considering buying a mid-grade German car. A nice BMW or Audi or Mercedes. The overwhelming advice I got on the forums for those cars was to never own one out of warranty, as they will eat you alive. What's the warranty on a $100k BMW, Audi, or Mercedes? 4 years/60k miles.

Maybe you shouldn't worry so much about your $72k Chevy. At least if you have to buy an engine, a new one in a crate is "only" $14.5k. Price out the V10 in a BMW M5 sometime.

ghostmech

Why would Government Motors care how much money it costs? It's all Monopoly money for them nowadays anyways

KIWIBOB

I'm another LS7 owner that is now concerned that, the next time i drive up the road is the engine going to get me home again. The 14.5k replacement cost dont sit right with me after saving yeons for the Z the first time. So with all the threads on this, I'm wondering what i can do to make my LS7 bullet proof.

Painrace

See #2 post above!

Jim

KIWIBOB

Thanks Jim, but not easy to get here in NewZealand, just wanted to know from other members if a few minor mods. may help me sleep a little more. With 17k on the clock and the roof deal as well, i'm really a little worried. Bob.

Bill Dearborn

There just aren't that many failures to make the OPs comments a serious concern for you. How many 2006 engines had a problem? I see these cars tracked all the time and haven't seen as many failures that I saw with the C5 (LS1 or LS6). Mole hills tend to become mountains on this forum.

Bill

morris

Bob, it seems to me that the most common pre-emptive fix is replacing the exhaust valves and upgrading the oil system if you track the car.

mforman42

Typically, recalls are done for safety defects. Service bulletins are used to handle non-safety issues, and warranty may be extended if it seems to be a widespread problem.

Porsche had huge problems with early Boxsters needing engine replacement, BTW. The joke was that the light on the dash was the 'Change Engine' light.

BlaznZ06

The bold statement always baffles me.

i'm not trying to be agrumentative at all. JMHO

We take the number of blown engine posts from here and extrapolate that to the general population purchases.

GM won't even tell how many engines have been blown, valves gone bad, thats bad marketing and PR. I would think those numbers are held close to the vest.

Not everyone who owns or has owned a Z is on this forum.

I know of 4 blown here in DFW where the people don't even care that this forum exsists.

dfinke23

I've had one pop and I understand your loss of confidence. My engine is now bulletproof and I have a hard time going over 6K rpm.
Where would they start on a recall? Exhaust valves, pistons, oiling system, rockers; it would cost more than fixing them as they break.
As for the people who say "they are few and far between", how do you know? I personally know only about 10 Z06 owner and half of them have had issues; one is on his third motor.
Katech is a great option but doesn't fit alot of owner's budgets.

HyperX

Wasn't there a poll here on this board where only people with issues were people that modded their cars? I think there were like 2 early 2006 engines that were not modded in some way.

z06clif

Ask RichieRich he would know how many problems where at his dealership

Clif

dfinke23

Absolutely not. From what I see (and the guys I know), it's about 50/50.

skudlw

I think the L7 engine is great and have had no problems unless you abuse them. They are only mechanical parts and if you treat them right, this engine should last at least 150K miles. What a bunch of complainers.

dfinke23

BS. There is a reason why the ZR1 went in a different direction.

Big Top Gt

You're not even kidding.



Mine's an 06 and currently has 28XXX miles on it. So far, it's not had any major failures (only had to have a few trim pieces replaced here and there, plus an oil change or two) but the idea of the warranty being up in May is enough to have me looking to sell it soon. (While someone else can keep it for 5 or 6 months under warranty and buy an extended if they want.)

I really want to buy a ZO6 but these horror stories are seriously making me rethink the decision.

To the OP: have you ever seen the movie Fight Club?

One of the best scenes talks about recalls and how they're calculated. Sure, the movie is fantasy, but this is EXACTLY how a recall is calculated.

mirage2991

^ your quote is the exact same way in the aviation industry. Cost factor of the fix vs the possible law suite resulting from a crash...

In this cas, GM is waiting it out and replacing engines that pops in hope that the rate of blown engine is lower than the rate of cars going out of warranty...

You can always pull the heads, buy new exh valve and be done for a few hundred bucks as long as you do it yourself...

BlaznZ06

It wasn't a poll but a person's data collection

Modded included different tires and wheels than OEM.

So to me it's not hard data.