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[ZR1] Couplers; what will be the final percentage of failures?

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Old 04-19-2021, 03:23 PM
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WydGlydJim
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Default Couplers; what will be the final percentage of failures?

In say 100k miles; since the SC fluid change is required at that time anyway, and a SC pull would be necessary. All of em, 100%? 50%? 25%? Will most fail, or will most survive?
What do you think?
Old 04-19-2021, 03:42 PM
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drewz06
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you mean isolators? mine looked pretty ugly at 28k.... really glad i replaced mine....
Old 04-19-2021, 06:28 PM
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C6ZRJuan
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Mine was shot at 6000 miles, supercharger needed to be rebuilt as well with a new rotor pack.
Old 04-19-2021, 07:08 PM
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leadfart
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I would change out the factory coupler to the solid one on any ZR1 I owned. Cheap insurance!
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Old 04-19-2021, 07:22 PM
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chassed
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Just replace it and hope for the best

Some people drive them hard some don’t

yeah only time will tell.

id be concerned about the 2 piece time chain tensioner as well if you’re in or plan to go into the higher miles
Old 04-19-2021, 07:35 PM
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C6ZRJuan
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Originally Posted by chassed

id be concerned about the 2 piece time chain tensioner as well if you’re in or plan to go into the higher miles
Wonderful, something else to be concerned with?


Old 04-20-2021, 01:53 AM
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mine too similar mileage
Old 04-20-2021, 01:54 AM
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Originally Posted by drewz06
you mean isolators? mine looked pretty ugly at 28k.... really glad i replaced mine....
Mine too similar mileage. Replaced a couple months ago as well.

Last edited by msd127; 04-21-2021 at 12:29 AM. Reason: Edit
Old 04-20-2021, 09:49 AM
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EvanZR1
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Originally Posted by leadfart
I would change out the factory coupler to the solid one on any ZR1 I owned. Cheap insurance!
For me absolute "must do" on any C6 ZR1 would be the isolator/coupler and the intercooler bricks. Other than that, they are pretty robust.
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Old 04-20-2021, 11:25 AM
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Joey D
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Originally Posted by EvanZR1
For me absolute "must do" on any C6 ZR1 would be the isolator/coupler and the intercooler bricks. Other than that, they are pretty robust.

yup- didd both as soon as I got my car. Unfortunately, decided on a pully and ported snout.. so off comes the lid again..lol
Old 04-20-2021, 09:28 PM
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I don’t know when my coupler failed. I bought my 2010 ZR1 in 2015 with 9600 miles. I thought the noise was a little bit of rotor slap. After reading another thread, the owner said he heard a rattling noise in the SC. Yup I got that to. Then I read about what it was and how to check it. Release the belt and check the play. At 50k miles mine had 3/4” play in the pulley. Again, I had noticed the noise and thought it to be normal. Luckily, I had an extended warranty that paid GM $6000 to replace the SC. Noise went away.

Ed
Old 04-26-2021, 10:36 PM
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Originally Posted by SweetZO6
I don’t know when my coupler failed. I bought my 2010 ZR1 in 2015 with 9600 miles. I thought the noise was a little bit of rotor slap. After reading another thread, the owner said he heard a rattling noise in the SC. Yup I got that to. Then I read about what it was and how to check it. Release the belt and check the play. At 50k miles mine had 3/4” play in the pulley. Again, I had noticed the noise and thought it to be normal. Luckily, I had an extended warranty that paid GM $6000 to replace the SC. Noise went away.

Ed
Ed
The supercharger was replaced because the isolator/coupler is a non serviceable part. The coupler isn't even available as a GM part. Unfortunately the replacement SC has the same coupler as the original SC and the noise will be back.



This is what the spring does to the shaft. The more wear on the shaft the noisier it gets. This was at 18,000 miles and it was very noisy.


Old 04-27-2021, 03:04 PM
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Yeah, lied to again. When I discussed the replacement SC with the dealer, I said the same thing. The parts guy assured me that my replacement SC has an updated coupler. I thought, right, Eaton recalled all the spare SCs and replaced all the defective couplers out of the goodness of their hearts. Well, that is not exactly what I thought. Another Barbara Streisand answer.

Jim, thanks for the info.
Old 04-27-2021, 05:53 PM
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....and theres also the valve guide issue.
Old 04-28-2021, 12:04 AM
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Originally Posted by WilmingtonZR!
....and theres also the valve guide issue.

Not aware of any valve train issues with the LS9......this is a ZR1 specific thread.
Old 04-28-2021, 07:08 AM
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lol....yes, the LS9 is starting to show issues. My heads are getting shipped out to Katech at 28,000 miles. They did a ZR1 last week that had 10,000 miles and were out .010.
Old 04-28-2021, 08:54 AM
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LS9's have the same valve guide issue as LS7's do. It's just not as prominent.

This is an LS9 we just finished.





Last edited by Katech_Mike; 04-28-2021 at 08:54 AM.

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To Couplers; what will be the final percentage of failures?

Old 04-28-2021, 12:20 PM
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Originally Posted by WydGlydJim
Not aware of any valve train issues with the LS9......this is a ZR1 specific thread.


Originally Posted by Katech_Mike
LS9's have the same valve guide issue as LS7's do. It's just not as prominent.
While I see people saying there is guide wear on LS9s, I have yet to see anyone say they've had an LS9 have catastrophic failure like the LS7s have. I'm at almost 65K on stock heads, and while I haven't had them checked, the car is running great and makes 700wheel on mild mods. Would it make sense to have them checked if you're doing a big build? Sure, but personally I'm not going to worry about unless I decide to do a cam or valvesprings to support a higher rev limit.
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Old 04-28-2021, 03:22 PM
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SweetZO6
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The only valve train issue I had was a broken #4 cylinder exhaust valve spring @ 19,000 miles. It happened at idle so no piston slap or valve damage. I borescoped the cylinder after the repair. The car really becomes un-drivable when that happened. It dumped so much fuel into the motor that the cats and the O2 sensors had to be replaced after the spring repair. Took a long time to get all of that soot out of the mufflers.

Ed
Old 04-28-2021, 08:56 PM
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C6ZRJuan
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My ls9 heads are at Katech, I'll hopefully get them back soon, it's been about a month now. A few of the intake valves were out of spec with only 6000 miles in the engine. I was able to wiggle them a decent amount even with the springs on. That isn't normal, or good. I'm not saying every ls9 is going to have this issue, but I'm glad I sent mine in to be fixed. I already had one Corvette drop a valve, I didn't need another. My previous dropped valve was in an ls6.


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