[Z06] Sky is not falling but READ THIS THREAD if you are on stock valves/guides
08-24-2011, 02:27 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
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Sky is not falling but READ THIS THREAD if you are on stock valves/guides
My car is an '06 with 22K miles so I was not overly concerned about the exhuast valve issue but of course it was still in the back of my mind. Then I got a tune from a well known tuner here and he highly suggested replacing the valves/guides. Now I was a tad more concerned. Plus my car has a .650 cam in it so I know that puts a little extra wear on it.
Well a couple months back I noticed my car was using oil pretty quickly and was told a big puff of black smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I started the car. So I figured I needed to replace the valve seals.
I called my mechanic and told him what I though the issue was and that I wanted to replace the valves/guides while we were in there. I told him about the exhaust valve problem and he said he will replace them if I want but the stock ones are fine. I still wanted to do it for peace of mind. A little bit of money to protect a big investment was worth it for me.
I found a really good deal on a set of ported heads with SS exhaust valves and new guides so I dropped the car off before I left on a business trip to have them installed. I got a call from my mechanic yesterday telling me how lucky I am and that I was right about the seals. He said the guides were so worn that the valves were not seating right on the seals and most of the seals were gone. He couldnt believe it and said I didnt have much time left before the big boom.
I will get pics of the stock heads when I pick the car up tomorrow.
I dont want this to turn into a "the sky is falling" thread but just to provide a heads up to friends from my personal experience. If your car is using oil at a more than normal rate, I would at least have the valves checked.
David
Well a couple months back I noticed my car was using oil pretty quickly and was told a big puff of black smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I started the car. So I figured I needed to replace the valve seals.
I called my mechanic and told him what I though the issue was and that I wanted to replace the valves/guides while we were in there. I told him about the exhaust valve problem and he said he will replace them if I want but the stock ones are fine. I still wanted to do it for peace of mind. A little bit of money to protect a big investment was worth it for me.
I found a really good deal on a set of ported heads with SS exhaust valves and new guides so I dropped the car off before I left on a business trip to have them installed. I got a call from my mechanic yesterday telling me how lucky I am and that I was right about the seals. He said the guides were so worn that the valves were not seating right on the seals and most of the seals were gone. He couldnt believe it and said I didnt have much time left before the big boom.
I will get pics of the stock heads when I pick the car up tomorrow.
I dont want this to turn into a "the sky is falling" thread but just to provide a heads up to friends from my personal experience. If your car is using oil at a more than normal rate, I would at least have the valves checked.
David
Good to know though and glad you are getting them changed out.
08-24-2011, 02:59 PM
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Melting Slicks
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My car is an '06 with 22K miles so I was not overly concerned about the exhuast valve issue but of course it was still in the back of my mind. Then I got a tune from a well known tuner here and he highly suggested replacing the valves/guides. Now I was a tad more concerned. Plus my car has a .650 cam in it so I know that puts a little extra wear on it.
Well a couple months back I noticed my car was using oil pretty quickly and was told a big puff of black smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I started the car. So I figured I needed to replace the valve seals.
I called my mechanic and told him what I though the issue was and that I wanted to replace the valves/guides while we were in there. I told him about the exhaust valve problem and he said he will replace them if I want but the stock ones are fine. I still wanted to do it for peace of mind. A little bit of money to protect a big investment was worth it for me.
I found a really good deal on a set of ported heads with SS exhaust valves and new guides so I dropped the car off before I left on a business trip to have them installed. I got a call from my mechanic yesterday telling me how lucky I am and that I was right about the seals. He said the guides were so worn that the valves were not seating right on the seals and most of the seals were gone. He couldnt believe it and said I didnt have much time left before the big boom.
I will get pics of the stock heads when I pick the car up tomorrow.
I dont want this to turn into a "the sky is falling" thread but just to provide a heads up to friends from my personal experience. If your car is using oil at a more than normal rate, I would at least have the valves checked.
David
Well a couple months back I noticed my car was using oil pretty quickly and was told a big puff of black smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I started the car. So I figured I needed to replace the valve seals.
I called my mechanic and told him what I though the issue was and that I wanted to replace the valves/guides while we were in there. I told him about the exhaust valve problem and he said he will replace them if I want but the stock ones are fine. I still wanted to do it for peace of mind. A little bit of money to protect a big investment was worth it for me.
I found a really good deal on a set of ported heads with SS exhaust valves and new guides so I dropped the car off before I left on a business trip to have them installed. I got a call from my mechanic yesterday telling me how lucky I am and that I was right about the seals. He said the guides were so worn that the valves were not seating right on the seals and most of the seals were gone. He couldnt believe it and said I didnt have much time left before the big boom.
I will get pics of the stock heads when I pick the car up tomorrow.
I dont want this to turn into a "the sky is falling" thread but just to provide a heads up to friends from my personal experience. If your car is using oil at a more than normal rate, I would at least have the valves checked.
David
08-24-2011, 03:00 PM
#5
Race Director
I got a call from my mechanic yesterday telling me how lucky I am and that I was right about the seals. He said the guides were so worn that the valves were not seating right on the seals and most of the seals were gone. He couldnt believe it and said I didnt have much time left before the big boom.
Buy a lottery ticket, you're very lucky. Saved from a beaucoup buck layout.
08-24-2011, 03:30 PM
#6
Burning Brakes
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No I dont. Cam was only in for 2K miles and plenty of people run high lift cams in LS motors with no issues. I dont want this to turn into a defensive thread....... Just informative. I dont care about the negative comments. If this thread saves one motor then I'm happy. I am not here to bash or defend this motor. Just giving personal experience.
08-24-2011, 03:32 PM
#7
Burning Brakes
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Do I think every LS7 from '06-'08 will drop a valve? Hell no. Do I think you should check your valves if you notice smoke on startup? Hell yes.
08-24-2011, 03:33 PM
#8
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As I've been saying all along, stock valves are fine. It's a guide clearance issue.
08-24-2011, 03:58 PM
#9
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St. Jude Donor '08
My car is an '06 with 22K miles so I was not overly concerned about the exhuast valve issue but of course it was still in the back of my mind. Then I got a tune from a well known tuner here and he highly suggested replacing the valves/guides. Now I was a tad more concerned. Plus my car has a .650 cam in it so I know that puts a little extra wear on it.
Well a couple months back I noticed my car was using oil pretty quickly and was told a big puff of black smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I started the car. So I figured I needed to replace the valve seals.
I called my mechanic and told him what I though the issue was and that I wanted to replace the valves/guides while we were in there. I told him about the exhaust valve problem and he said he will replace them if I want but the stock ones are fine. I still wanted to do it for peace of mind. A little bit of money to protect a big investment was worth it for me.
I found a really good deal on a set of ported heads with SS exhaust valves and new guides so I dropped the car off before I left on a business trip to have them installed. I got a call from my mechanic yesterday telling me how lucky I am and that I was right about the seals. He said the guides were so worn that the valves were not seating right on the seals and most of the seals were gone. He couldnt believe it and said I didnt have much time left before the big boom.
I will get pics of the stock heads when I pick the car up tomorrow.
I dont want this to turn into a "the sky is falling" thread but just to provide a heads up to friends from my personal experience. If your car is using oil at a more than normal rate, I would at least have the valves checked.
David
Well a couple months back I noticed my car was using oil pretty quickly and was told a big puff of black smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I started the car. So I figured I needed to replace the valve seals.
I called my mechanic and told him what I though the issue was and that I wanted to replace the valves/guides while we were in there. I told him about the exhaust valve problem and he said he will replace them if I want but the stock ones are fine. I still wanted to do it for peace of mind. A little bit of money to protect a big investment was worth it for me.
I found a really good deal on a set of ported heads with SS exhaust valves and new guides so I dropped the car off before I left on a business trip to have them installed. I got a call from my mechanic yesterday telling me how lucky I am and that I was right about the seals. He said the guides were so worn that the valves were not seating right on the seals and most of the seals were gone. He couldnt believe it and said I didnt have much time left before the big boom.
I will get pics of the stock heads when I pick the car up tomorrow.
I dont want this to turn into a "the sky is falling" thread but just to provide a heads up to friends from my personal experience. If your car is using oil at a more than normal rate, I would at least have the valves checked.
David
Did you mechanic actually pull the heads, remove the valves and check the valve to guide clearance?
08-24-2011, 04:21 PM
#10
Le Mans Master
Which is it? If it's the latter, do you know why and are willing to say?
08-24-2011, 05:05 PM
#11
Burning Brakes
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Are you actually talking about the guides or just the aftermarket valve stem seals that are required when doing a dual spring? It is common for the seals to get beat up by the inner spring and sometimes you will find pieces of them in the oil. The car will burn a little oil, smike on start up etc.
Did you mechanic actually pull the heads, remove the valves and check the valve to guide clearance?
Did you mechanic actually pull the heads, remove the valves and check the valve to guide clearance?
http://www.texas-speed.com/p-1217-te...-camshaft.aspx
I will find out if he removed the valves to check the clearance tomorrow when I pick it up. The way he told me made it sound like it was pretty obvious just from visual inspection.
If you guys honestly think this potential failure was due to my cam then I will have mods delete this thread. I dont want to add more fuel to the fire on this subject if it is unwarranted. I would never guess having TSP's smaller cam would cause this issue in a couple thousand miles. My mechanic has put the bigger TSP cam in a couple cars and they had no issues and that car has alot more miles on it.
Maybe once I get pictures it will help tell the story. Unfortunatly I am not very knowledgeable about this stuff. Like I said, I am just trying to help. If it werent for reading the threads on here and having my tuner recommend replacing the valves/guides, I am sure I would have had a blown engine very soon. The cam could have accelerated the issue but I honestly think it had little to do with starting it. But then again.....I dont know much of anything about anything. lol
08-24-2011, 05:11 PM
#12
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The stock guides are wearing excessively. We're closely monitoring the situation and solutions but we're not ready to publish our findings yet.
08-24-2011, 05:20 PM
#13
Burning Brakes
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Awesome. I hope you find out the reason Jason. This is the direction I wanted this thread to go in. Not like the other 100 "I dropped a valve" threads.
If you dont mind.....do you think my cam honestly caused this for me?
Last edited by D-Rod; 08-24-2011 at 05:24 PM.
08-24-2011, 05:34 PM
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St. Jude Donor '08
I dont think I have aftermarket valve stem seals. Here is what I bought. No aftermarket seals came with it if I remember right.
http://www.texas-speed.com/p-1217-te...-camshaft.aspx
I will find out if he removed the valves to check the clearance tomorrow when I pick it up. The way he told me made it sound like it was pretty obvious just from visual inspection.
http://www.texas-speed.com/p-1217-te...-camshaft.aspx
I will find out if he removed the valves to check the clearance tomorrow when I pick it up. The way he told me made it sound like it was pretty obvious just from visual inspection.
08-24-2011, 07:35 PM
#16
08-24-2011, 07:54 PM
#17
Team Owner
I dont think I have aftermarket valve stem seals. Here is what I bought. No aftermarket seals came with it if I remember right.
http://www.texas-speed.com/p-1217-te...-camshaft.aspx
I will find out if he removed the valves to check the clearance tomorrow when I pick it up. The way he told me made it sound like it was pretty obvious just from visual inspection.
If you guys honestly think this potential failure was due to my cam then I will have mods delete this thread. I dont want to add more fuel to the fire on this subject if it is unwarranted. I would never guess having TSP's smaller cam would cause this issue in a couple thousand miles. My mechanic has put the bigger TSP cam in a couple cars and they had no issues and that car has alot more miles on it.
Maybe once I get pictures it will help tell the story. Unfortunatly I am not very knowledgeable about this stuff. Like I said, I am just trying to help. If it werent for reading the threads on here and having my tuner recommend replacing the valves/guides, I am sure I would have had a blown engine very soon. The cam could have accelerated the issue but I honestly think it had little to do with starting it. But then again.....I dont know much of anything about anything. lol
http://www.texas-speed.com/p-1217-te...-camshaft.aspx
I will find out if he removed the valves to check the clearance tomorrow when I pick it up. The way he told me made it sound like it was pretty obvious just from visual inspection.
If you guys honestly think this potential failure was due to my cam then I will have mods delete this thread. I dont want to add more fuel to the fire on this subject if it is unwarranted. I would never guess having TSP's smaller cam would cause this issue in a couple thousand miles. My mechanic has put the bigger TSP cam in a couple cars and they had no issues and that car has alot more miles on it.
Maybe once I get pictures it will help tell the story. Unfortunatly I am not very knowledgeable about this stuff. Like I said, I am just trying to help. If it werent for reading the threads on here and having my tuner recommend replacing the valves/guides, I am sure I would have had a blown engine very soon. The cam could have accelerated the issue but I honestly think it had little to do with starting it. But then again.....I dont know much of anything about anything. lol
08-24-2011, 08:15 PM
#18
Melting Slicks
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St. Jude Donor '12
This is the very reason I decided to do my heads when I swap cams. My car has 54000 miles on the stock set up and I do get a slight burst of smoke at start up. Changing guides to a more durable version just makes sense to me when changing to a high lift cam. It appears to be quite common to see guide wear on some of the ls7 engines. For a fairly cheap price I can get a set of heads ported and milled with better guides. This not only gives me piece of mind about preventing a valve problem but I get a nice bump in power too. People have to realize that performance engines do have some trade offs. You can't expect to run one hard and keep it together for 100000 miles without replacing a few things. I think the ls7 is a great piece for the money and with a few upgrades its really hard to beat. Its like jason has said it depends on power level and duty cycle how much one will increase in wear.
08-24-2011, 08:26 PM
#19
Premium Supporting Vendor
The lift is a factor but it's not the root cause. Higher lift contributes to the cause more quickly.
08-24-2011, 08:31 PM
#20
Burning Brakes
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The seals would have more then likely came with the springs that you swapped out when changing the cam. I am not sure that an accurate conclusion could be drawn with a visual inspection of the guides and the valves still in the head. Let us know what he says about them though.
I hope you won't be put off by people speculating on the cam contributing. It's healthy to have different opinions. Let people draw their own conclusions one way or another. There are some really smart folks on this forum and I think we all learn a lot from these threads if we are open minded and see posts from people who have earned our respect on the forum.
Thats what I want this thread to be and not an argument on weather this is a widespread defect or not. I am sooooooo thankfull that we caught mine in time. I hope this thread helps more engines be saved.
Last edited by D-Rod; 08-24-2011 at 09:05 PM.