obis

purchased new 2002 corvette convertible with ls1 v8 engine from local gm dealership on july 2002. drove it on weekends and only had 18000km on it. while driving on oct 25,2007 the computer alerted to "coolant over temp". towed vehicle to dealership and later told engine block had a hairline crack and needed to purchase new engine.the vehicle is out of warranty and i am in dispute with dealership. has this happenned to anyone else? is it possible gm has sold me a defective engine? what could have caused this? can any one help thanks.

vincentjames501

Do you have a picture of the crack in the engine? I'd be curious to see it. I don't believe crap the stealership has to say.

lordcreth

Sorry to hear. Engine blocks rarely sponeously crack. I've never heard of an inherent problem of cracking ls1's. If all else fails you can get a used engine.

jc-untapped-z06

I would get another mechanic to look at it, their are ASE certified mobile mechanics that could give you another opinion Its worth the extra money before buying in to that scam.

army2000

Wow, sorry to hear that. I hope everything works out for you. Corvettes are mechanical devices and unfortunately things do break. I would highly suggest you get someone else to look at it. I knew simular things like this could happen so I bought a good extended warranty before my factory one ran out. My car has done very well, however my warranty has saved me dollars and paid for itself. Good luck on this.

JesseB

sorry to hear about that

AC54ME

Where are you located?

Was the weather cold - tell us the temp?

Have they shown you the 'crack' - where is it located?

Talim

If you are going to change the whole engine at least concidure changing the block to the below one

GM C5R 7.0 GM Race Block



it goes for 6995.00 but it is worth every penny.




that is what i would do if i had the same issue... BTW if the coolant over heats the only thing that would crack is the heads seal not the block, that is what happened with my Blazer.

0JPM@AutoBuffs

WvCorvette

Welcome to the forum!!!!!!!!!

T VETTE

Very odd for that low of miles and your the original owner also

diyguy

I would be leary of such a quick diagnosis.... I would want to see the heads first..

The car was not giving you ANY symptom of a problem.. No blue or white smoke coming out the back? No 'burning' type smell...like coolant spewing before or on the ground when you looked.

Did temp gage rapidly shoot up or gradually creep up, or do you recall looking at it..

Sound very odd to me.... But what the hell do I know?

danziger

I don't buy it. Unless you drove the p*ss outta the car while the coolant was WAY low... I beat the hell out of a LSx that had a pushed head-gasket (didn't know at the time) and overheated it twice on a long trip. When we tore it down, it was perfect. I've also never heard of a LSx engine splitting from too much HP stress. You either have horrible luck, or the dealership is guessing...

DeeGee

All I'd say is that engines that fail at 10000 miles must have a manufacturing fault unless theyve been overheated or run without oil.

I'd press GM.

obis

i live in toronto canada. the day i had the alert "coolant over temp" while driving the temp outdoors was a warm 25 c it was the last time i was going to drive the vehicle before storing for winter like i always have done. i was only 1 km from home so i drove it home and called for the flat bed towtruck the following day. the car was not diven for about a week before this occured and when i started the vehicle i did smell a little burning odor in garage for a few seconds. there was no coolant on the garage floor . hope this shed more light on what happened. if you can think of anything else please reply. thanks

LT1driver

get another opinion, if it is cracked it probably can be welded since it is aluminum, depends on where crack is. also new block from GM is around 1400 bucks (US) and new zo6 motor from SDP in lubbock texas around 5400 (US), other places nearer to you should be the same. good luck and sorry to hear of your misfortune.

noahdr

I had a similar experience with a dealership in my old 88 vette. Car overheated so I took it to a dealership. They told me I needed a whole new engine. I didn't believe them so I took the heads off and found a small crack in the heads where the exhaust was leaking into the coolant port. I think that most dealerships would rather just replace the engine before digging into it to see whats actually wrong with it. From their stand point it will take just as long to replace the engine as it will to figure out whats really wrong with it. Even though it will cost you a lot more to replace the engine, but they don't care its not their money.

tiojames

It could be a blown head gasket, defective coolant or heater hose, or a cracked head. I certainly would not take the stealership's word for anything and would take someone knowledgeable with me to have them show what is wrong. Good luck on the outcome.

INGER67

Your car has been out of warranty for two plus years and you're "in dispute with the dealership"? What does the dealership have to do with the situation?

Inger67

BOTYNV1

Get a qualified (certified) mechanic for a second opinion. and Good Luck