2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 engine problems

Filed Nov 21, 2017 · Electrical, Engine · 31,000 miles · AL

Valve rattle, not driving vehicle to keep from dropping valve......costs $4k for repair to heads....31000 miles... If I drive it and drop valve, will cost $18k to replace engine assembly.....long term value of vehicle decreases with non-matching numbers vehicle. One helluva way to treat customers that spend $85k on a vehicle.

Filed Feb 15, 2017 · Engine · 52,241 miles · TX

I recently had my valves tested by a local shop since ive heard from other owners that the ls7 valves drop at any given time. I had two valves out of specs and have to get it fixed in order to save engine from future damage. My car currently has 52,241 miles.

Filed Oct 26, 2016 · Engine · 55,000 miles · OH

I had a friend who had an engine failure on this same engine due to a failed exhaust valve. The valve guides were extremely worn on his car causing the valve failure. Due to his failure and many others like it, I removed my heads and inspected. Sure enough, they were significantly beyond general motors published tolerances and required machining to repair. This was at significant cost to me and out of pocket. Gm knows of this issue and refuses to participate in repair costs for cars out of warranty even though it's a design flaw and safety concern. If and when the valve catastrophically fails, the engine will have a complete shut down, large amounts of smoke out the exhaust clouding the other drivers vision, and has the possibility of leaving oil slicks on the road surface.

Filed Apr 28, 2016 · Engine · 22,269 miles · MN

Valve guides out of wear with possible failure including valve to drop inside combustion chamber

Filed Jan 6, 2016 · Engine · 51,051 miles · GA

I was interning the interstate 15 in california and was picking up speed to inter the hwy and my corvette z06 starting making a knocking sound and lost power and I turned it off and had it looked at my a very well know automotive shop who specializes in gm vehicles. They told me it drop an exhaust valve.

Filed Jan 6, 2016 · Engine · 29,400 miles · CA

I was concerned about a noise that I was hearing in my 2006 z06 that is unlike any other noise I have heard while currently owning my three other gm vehicles. I decided to bring it to a well know corvette speciality shop near me. The told me about the valve guide issue that has been linked to the ls7 heads. I immediately told him to take the heads off the car and check them. I had 4 exhaust valves that were way out of gm specs. I had the heads re-machined properly and installed new intake and exhaust valve guides, valve springs and seals.

Filed Oct 20, 2015 · Engine · 59,000 miles · MI

I was driving down a busy street at 35 MPH in heavy traffic and heard a metallic sound. The engine locked up and the rear end skidded till I put in the clutch and coasted to a parking lot. I was aware of the valve problems so I took the head off the engine and sure enough dropped a valve taking out the piston and breaking the block. I took the car to kool chevy and was told in would cost 22,000 dollars to fix it. Kool told me gm would not cover any of it because the car was out of warranty at 59,000 mile on the car. I could not afford to fix the car so I sold the car as is losing more than half what the car was worth. I am still sick about this a year later as I will never be able to have another car like this. I feel like gm should have worked with me as this was a known problem with the ls7 engine. If this would have happened at highway speeds it would have been a lot worse than it was. Lost power steering, power brakes, and skidded when the engine locked up.

Filed May 4, 2015 · Engine · 29,000 miles · TX

Cruising at 50 MPH on feeder ramp and dic showed engine power reduced for 2 seconds then boom!

Filed Apr 15, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 56,000 miles · CA

I bought this corvette z06 used from a private party. The engine had a catastrophic failure due to a known issue with the valve guides and valves in the ls7 motor from the factory. I was driving home from work when the motor failed. I was lucky to be only a mile from home when it failed and I was able to coast into my garage. The exhaust valve dropped and destroyed the #1 piston along with that cylinder, and the engine block. Nothing in the motor is salvageable as it bent or sent metal shards into every part of the motor. I have tried several times to get chevy to help me with this motor, but they will not help at all. They know about the problem, but will not lift a finger to help anyone.

Filed Mar 27, 2015 · Engine · 47,156 miles · NV

Manufacturing defected in the ls7 motor. Upon further investigation I had my 2006 corvette z06 inspected for a loud audible tick in the motor. The source of this noise was from the in-balance from the #3 and #4 intake valves on the engines heads. There is premature wear on both valve guides causing internal failure to the motor. Under power demand the in-balance will cause the titanium rod to strike the sides of the valve seat causing the head of the valve to crack and fall into the cylinder. Once this occurs instant catastrophic failure of the motor happens resulting in white bellowing smoke from the exhaust, oil spillage, and engine lock resulting in the vehicle skidding off the road or loosing control. Fortunately for me I caught this in time before having a catastrophic failure. Both ls7 heads are being repaired and machined to meet industry standards. This problem must be addressed to all ls7 z06 owners as it could and has caused several crashes and possible deaths. Once repairs to the ls7 heads are made the vehicle can be returned to service.