Alchemist31

On Thursday, November 3rd, as I was driving my 09 Cybergray Z06 at about 50 mph, the service active handling and service traction control messages started alternating. Since I was less than 1/2 mile from work, I slowed down and continued on. Could hear some clicking noise, which I thought might from the active handling/ traction control units. After I parked, I tried to restart it but only heard the starter turning. Called the local Chevrolet dealer (Champion in Austin) that I use for oil changes and my service advisor, Patrick, told me to have it flatbedded in. He called me when the Z06 arrived and said that there was a major issue with the engine.They needed to take the engine apart to identify the problem. He called me this morning (November 7th) and told me that the engine was apart and that the valve spring on cylinder #1 had broken and caused major issues. There were metal pieces inside the engine. I went over to look at the engine and took several pictures. Later this afternoon, he called me and told me that GM was replacing the engine with a new one and it should arrive later this week. The Z06 had only 6700 miles on it and was never abused or tracked. I must say that I am impressed by the quick resolution of how this was handled. I managed to take several pictures and will try to post them as soon as I can figure out how to do that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35027124@N00/I added link to flickr for some pictures that I took

Jasil

Glad it is working out , but given the car in stock I would expect nothing less. Still that this is happening is very scary !!

AirBusPilot

Glad to hear they took care of you. Now I know where to go (God forbid) if I have a problem. I'm at 26k miles with no issues.

If you would have said the engine dropped an exhaust valve I was going to ***** myself. So far no documented (on CF) of any 09's breaking an exhaust valve head.

avacorvette

If you don't mind, look to see who built your engine.

Translator

It is great that GM is stepping up to the plate with these warranty issues, but it is disheartening to now continuously hear about these engines needing replacement, due to dropped valves, rocker arms/needle bearings, broken springs, improperly ground cam, etc... I guess that the sky IS falling, after all, LOL. Many claim that there are not that many reported failures with the amount of Z06's on the road, but I beg to differ, especially considering that only a portion of Z06 owners are members of the Forums, so there are probably many other failures that we do not get to hear about.

Alchemist31

Yes I saw who built it, but the spring was faulty by failing and that should not reflect on the person who assembled it

3LZZ06

X 1000

Sounds like they're taking good care of you!!!

The best of luck with your brand new engine...

VGLNTE1

here comes the "sky is falling" people

kenw

Oh CRAP!!!!! here we go again.

AirBusPilot

Here's a pic. It's the intake valve. Freak spring failure, nothing more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35027124@N00/6324717332/

Boba Fett

glad they're resolving quickly for u op and nice picts of the _____

'06 Quicksilver Z06

Glad to hear that they are going to take care of you.

6,700 street miles and it broke.

Broken valve spring, and another report of a dropped valve, requiring an engine
replacement.

Yep, broken valve spring. We've seen a few of these over the years.

On another note, it would be a good time to see how the valve guides measure out at 6,700 miles.

AirBusPilot

Frankly, I'm surprised we don't see more with stock valve lift of about .600.

Les

That is an excellent point! OP, any chance of getting them to check for this and give you the results? Also, I'm glad they are taking proper care of you and your Z06.

Moike

That's really surprising for the year and miles but I'm happy to hear the dealership is taking care of you. What oil temp do you wait for before getting on it?

I've got 26k miles on my stock '06. It sees the street about twice a week since I usually use two wheels but the last thing I want do when I drive is worry and these threads aren't helping. If I ever hear a noise remotely concerning the rest of the trip will be on a flat bed.

Dirty Howie

Sorry for your motor failure, join the club

GM has been excellent in replacing these motors lately and it should give us all a little piece of mind

I too would like to know your operating procedure. Do you let the oil warm up to 130-150* before getting over 4K RPM ??


DH

achilds

His motor was assembled by Booker. Somebody already stated it was most likely not an assembly issue, but a bum spring.

mammoth713

From an engineering perspective, everything should be designed "ideally" with like 2.5x,if not more, reliability no? Seeing how the LS7 is one of GM's flagship engine designs, if not THE flagship, and seeing these failures (regardless if you argue there aren't that many, blah blah blah) in the smaller engine parts that wear, is really disappointing in general. Especially considering the fact these claims have been circling since 2007.. We are now in 2011, entering the 2012 model year. SO WHAT if the LS7 is a high power engine. So is the Saturn V rocket.. But they controlled it and sent men to the moon with it. If you're going to sit on this forum and tell me there isn't a problem here, then you are obviously just blind. With how much R&D GM does, there is no way in hell they didn't know about this. The worst part to me is it's not even narrowed down to one engine component: valves, valve guides, valve springs? Come on.

Seeing threads like this help me, personally, where I am a potential z06 buyer. It seems to me I am going to have far more interest in used z06's that have a factory warranty intact, compared to where I didn't care before.

Glad to hear it seems GM is helping you out immediately!

FWIW.

GMuffley

I am afraid so.

Hirohawa

That sucks! Was hoping the 09 and newer where going to be less prone to failures. Guess we will find out soon enough.

Glad they took care of it so quickly for you.