rikhek

While driving Saturday in the country my 08 Z06 with 33k miles put a rod through the block on the passenger side.

I was in 2nd gear at about 4,000 rpm when I lost power. This was immediately followed by a loud band and it sounded like a machine gun under the car. Took a bit of effort to not crash it due to the rear tires being oiled. Lucky the car didn't burn due to the amount of oil on the exhaust manifold and exhaust system. Lots of aluminum chunks all over the place. I even picked up a piston pin circlip from the crossmember.

Not certain what failed but if I had to guess it sounded like it dropped a valve prior to the loud bang.

Engine is stock and has not been tuned. My dealer knows I've tracked the car.

Got it towed to the dealer who downloaded the engine mapping and transmitted it to GM in Michigan. Got a call yesterday from my service writer that GM approved a new engine under warranty. Said it should be here next week.

GM did not play any games or question my use of the car. I commend GM for standing behind their warranty. It's been a very stressful five days. Great relief when the service writer called and said authorization for warranty replacement granted.

Not sure if they're covering it under the 5 year 100K mile powertrain warranty or the extended warranty I bought two months ago. I bought the extended warranty two days before my original 3/36 expired. I've never bought an extended warranty as I firmly believe they're sucker bets. However, I've had a number of problems with this car. Also, I plan on keeping for two more years and will be able to sell with one year remaining on the warranty. Thought it would be a good selling point.

Rick

OnPoint

Wow.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Glad to see GM is doing right by you, though.

Hopefully they'll get it back together soon.

Any pics of the carnage?

VET4LES

Wow. Glad to hear you have GMPP. I'm sure that's what they will use. Keep us informed.

High Altitude Vette

I buy new bikes for R&D, and part fitment. So they normally get sold with very few miles. I always get the extended warranty for resale value.
But I usually get screwed on resale anyway so I think I am going to just start stacking them up like cord wood

I bet the thought that you just sent the check a few days earlier felt pretty damn good when you heard...BAM..
Gary

Vega$Vette

Extended is a waste of $

This would be covered under the 100k powertrain warranty.

z edge

Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Any idea why the engine would fail at 33k?

Best of luck with the new motor

thatonedude1

Sorry to hear about that, but now you will have a fresh engine. Glad GM did not balk at this since it is stock. Sounds like you use it for exactly what it was designed and built for. Spirited driving and working it hard on the track sometimes. GM has to cover this without question. Did you notice any issues or vibration just prior to this, or was everything fine?

FAsnakes

Thsts awesome to hear..
Hope you're up in running as quickly as possibl

Glennm27

Glad to hear this all worked out for you.

You were wise buying the GMPP and I'm not saying that because of your problem but for your forethought of selling the car with a year left on the warrnty. That WILL be helpful when selling the car. The new owner can also extend the GMPP again so it's a great move in my opinion...

Again, I'm glad to hear everything is working out for you... I've seen this before and it worked out the same way. I watched an 07 LS7 detonate ON THE TRACK at VIR 2 years ago with GM employees watching and it was all covered under warranty. Once they saw the owner had NEVER tampered with the computer and it was 100% stock, they agreed to put a new engine in his car.

cclive

GM stood up...that's great to hear. That is the ultimate powertrain failure and certainly would fall under the 5/100 warranty.

laconiajack

Is this a rare event for Z06 engines?

OnPoint

Given the number of LS7s on the road, yes, it is relatively rare. However, a number of these have been reported, and even tho rare in the big scheme of things, such doesn't help OP much. It's certainly very real to him.

Good news is he'll be back on the road in short order.

Torchsport

Nice to hear you will be breaking in a new motor.
Good story. Hope your up and rolling again soon.

TSLAVette

[QUOTE=rikhek;1578073855]While driving Saturday in the country my 08 Z06 with 33k miles put a rod through the block on the passenger side.

nuthin worse then your rod going through the block on your passenger ...

CH-Z51

Sorry for your troubles, I'm pleased to hear GM is stepping up. Good luck.

Top_Fuel

I'm looking at used Z06s now and cars with warranty left are a fairly high priority. I don't even want to know what an LS7 crate motor replacement costs...

Rocketmanwpb

You will probably need to discuss replacing your clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, pilot bearing and slave cylinder since the engine is going to be separated from the torque tube.

Your clutch is probably barley worn with 33K, but might as well match the new engine to a new clutch. Normal labor at the dealer is around 2K to replace just the clutch assembly.

Joe_Planet

my z had 3k miles on the clock, same crap happened and gm fixed it, no problems!

eaglei

As one of the engine builders at Wixom, I hate to hear about a failure like yours. We occasionally get engines back from the field - I hope we get yours for examination. I'm glad you are covered and hope it all works out to your satisfaction.

I have sent your posting to some of our quality folks. Believe me there is a lot of concern whenever we hear about a customer problem. We know that we need happy customers to stay in business - and our names are on our engines.

cclive

$12,000