Originally Posted by MTPZ06

Sorry to hear that...so you never inspected your guides?

Originally Posted by chadyellowz

I tied my best to warn ppl about this issue for years now. with that said I don't think their is a fix. I've seen more than a few reworked heads with bronze valve guides ss valves came back out of spec. my own aftermarket all pro heads with jessel rockers came back bad 2 months ago i've seen it in many reworked heads from vendors on this forum. I think the bronze valve guide an ss valve will last longer but in the end same result..ppl better check these heads every 10k miles..i'm now running ls3 heads on my own car and will check them every 5k miles and will update. guys just don't wait untill the car shows signs, it wont it will run fine untill the secend it drops the valve head..dont take bill's advice and do nothing. if you do you will end up like the op. I've Never seen anything like this in my 24 years of working cylinder heads the proplem is in all years

Originally Posted by Johns07Z

Thanks for all the info guys, yes i was probably remember the needle bearing issue for the date range, shame on me. 3-5k is something i would have done for sure, shoulda woulda coulda, at least my brother with the same car can learn from me before he suffers the same fate! Looks like i'll be shopping for a crate, then sending the new heads out for some work before i hit the track again.

Originally Posted by Johns07Z

First, thanks guys for all the support. Sorry, surmised wrongly that mine was out of the date range of the dropped valve/valve guide issue from posts here so I didn't have the guides checked. I was coming out of a series of 2, right hand turns and heading uphill when the engine suddenly lost power and a second later a loud pop, saw a lot of white smoke from both sides of the hood along with some shrapnel. Car slowed to a stop. It also seems to be the cause of most of the engine failures i have read on here over the 3 years I've owned the car. hindsight is 20/20 and should have had the guides checked instead of going for the AP Racing front brake system (figured stopping was more important than going).

DH from above, car is bone stock, tune and all except for the AP brakes and new SKF Hubs I did myself just prior to this to correct the ABS warning light.

Last Corvette Glad you did your guides, hopefully that takes care of it for you! and yes, on the track and only one other car suffered minor damage from the oil slick - and i had trailered the car for the first time so even got it home to my garage, so all things considered, aside from the quantum $$ ahead, it was a pretty safe failure

I didn't do the guides myself as it seemed a bit out of my skill level and didn't ever hear on here what it costs to check? and what kind of dollars to have them sent out to someone like PRC or LME, are we talking $5k, $10k, more? I realize there are a lot of options, valves etc, but a range from someone who's had it done would be appreciated. PM if you'd rather - seems to be a forbidden subject to talk $$ but having known that i might of jumped in and still have a block!

Also does GM warrant 8 year old engines with 25,575 miles on them? PM or email if sworn to secrecy by the General!
Again thanks for the support

Originally Posted by Random84

That's sad.

Any speculation on installer error vs "geometry?"

Your warnings were all initially about the hollow exhaust valves. But now that we know intake and exhaust guides are wearing - and now aftermarket solid stem/bronze setups are wearing.... it seems the valves themselves are not specifically the issue (which was the first 3 years or so of our collective worry).

So... are we back to "geometry" and is there a solution - aside from swapping to LS3 heads?

Care to share what other shops you've seen worn guides from? It seems that any LS7 owner has no reasonable solution at this point - if what you're saying holds up long-term?

(Checking heads every 10k isn't reasonable IMHO)

Originally Posted by Adam_W

Sorry to hear it.

I also dropped a valve on my car last year, never tracked it, just commuted to work with it.

I feel your pain and hope you get things sorted out soon.

These cars... my opinion is that either you keep them under warranty/GMPP or you have the heads done and checked every X number of miles. Whichever it is, you have to be prepared for the valve drop failure to happen and be able to still enjoy the car and sleep well at night.

Originally Posted by chadyellowz

has nothing to do with tracking the car..i've seen the same thing for 5 years..if anything it seems that tracked car last longer...and this is why i'm starting to think its a cloosed loop thing...if the ls3 heads came back bad we will know. and if they came back good I will know

Originally Posted by 525sc777

I have 91k on my 2007 Z06 wouldn't you think these issues would have already showed its ugly face? I have no service records on the car how do I find the GM service records if I'm unsure?

Originally Posted by Bill Dearborn

There is no harm in asking GM if they will cover it. I would start by writing a letter to the CEO since a dealer probably may not forward your request due to the car being so far out of warranty.

Let us know what caused the failure. Based on what you have said so far it doesn't necessarily have to be due to a valve guide issue.

How fast were you going in the Esses and at which turn were you when it popped? That is a tricky place to have an engine let loose and spill oil all over the surface.

Mine let go just about where the start/finish flag station is on the front straight about 4 years ago with the engine turning about 6800 rpm. It popped at about 24K miles. Based on the dealer's tear down to find the cause it definitely looked like a dropped exhaust valve head but the guides were not checked and there is no way to know for sure the guides caused the problem. I had about 4K track miles on my engine and it could have just as easily been a weakened valve spring that allowed the valve to float at 6800 rpm and hit the piston Vs anything else.

Bill

Originally Posted by Johns07Z

I've started my letter to Ms. Barra, but probably should also talk with the dealer 1st? not sure. sorry to hear about yours and at least mine was at a lower speed. I was coming out of turn 2 probably about 80-85in 3rd and I'm guessing 4k- 4500 RPM ? and was bleeding on the throttle and transitioning into turn 3 when it lost power, then popped. I pulled offline outside of 3 and came to a stop just before the flag station between 3 and 4. only 1 car got caught in the oil slick and suffered minor damage in the wall. I've got 16 days at the Glen now and a couple days a the little Englishtown road course. As one poster mentioned, it did have 9k miles on it when I bought it, but no rock chips at the telltale rear brake inlet form track days, was kept covered in the garage and still looked and smelled new, FTIW. But sure, buyer beware. I've put the remaining 16,500 on it myself, changing oil after every track day etc. and had no warnings or sounds or oil use.

Originally Posted by MyLastCorvette

Well just WTF are we supposed to say?

We have been warning you-all for years; Since you choose to ignore the potential problem. Well "Tough" you got what you deserved...

Originally Posted by AZDANZ06

Unfortunately Ms Barra won't get you anywhere, others have tried writing her. We have a Class Action Lawsuit in the works for this issue, however the recent ignition switch ruling by a judge shields GM from responsibility for anything made prior to their bankruptcy. So the class action suit is at a halt right now hoping that ruling gets overturned, as that would exclude all Z06's made before June 1st, 2009, GM's bankruptcy date. Hopefully the law firm can find some ways around it if the ruling sticks in the ignition switch case.

GM does not give a **** about us customers, they are fine having us eat **** sandwiches and hoping we will still buy their products.

Originally Posted by b4i4getit

There are still plenty of LS7 cars that were made post June 1, 2009 so things should still be progressing. This means that GM should at the very least find some sort of remedy for 4 years of LS7 production in terms of warranty extension or parts replacement

Originally Posted by AZDANZ06

C6 Z06 Production Numbers by Year:

2006 - 6272
2007 - 8159
2008 - 7731
2009 - 3461
2010 - 518
2011 - 906
2012 - 478
2013 - 471

If we exclude 2006 through 2008 equals 22,162 Z06's produced, this does not take into account 2009 models built prior to GM's Bankruptcy.

That leaves 2009 through 2013 equals 5834, so not many Z06's produced during those years.

http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2013...ction-numbers/