The exhaust valve broke off, and engine blew up. I was driving on highway.
2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 engine complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 27 of 27, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I am extremely concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines causing a loss of control of the vehicle due to the engine stopping abruptly. 88% of the corvette forum members who have had their cylinder heads tested for excessive valve guide wear, were out of service specifications. Source: http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c6-z06-discussion/3386141-the-out-of-spec-guide-wear-registry.html gm needs to issue a recall on this issue, there have been numerous engine failures as a result of a dropped valve into a cylinder which can cause severe accidents and fires. Gm is very aware of this issue, but refuses to do anything about this huge safety risk to drivers, passengers, and nearby vehicles if the engine fails going down the road. It has been noted on the forum that gm is very aware of the issues and I assume they think no one will report them for not handling it correctly. The issue is this is a critical safety issue for anyone driving a 06-13 z06 model on the road. I am to the point I don't feel safe to drive my vehicle anymore due to the loud 'ticking' valve-train as it is (symptom) meaning it is likely to fail at any moment seizing the engine while on the road. I have waited on gm for 6 years to do the correct thing on their own but I am now reporting it due to their gross negligence and disregard of their customers safety.
While driving on the road at aprox. 45mph, my car exhaust valve dropped in the motor causing immediate engine failure also creating power steering and power brakes to stop working immediately. This same exhaust valve issues occurred with many other gm corvettes with the 7.0liter z06 motor.
Valve train rocker arms broken leaving needle bearings in the oil, and all valve guides were out of tolerance.
After months of reading about the exhaust valve issue with corvette z06s I took my car and had the heads checked. The shop found the valve guide clearance to be outside the specified acceptable range. The defect puts undue stress on the sodium filled valves and if the valve fails it can cause catastrophic engine damage and potentially deadly situation if this occurs at speed on the roadway as the driver will lose ability to control the vehicle potentially causing a deadly accident. I paid several thousand dollars out of pocket to fix this issue despite gm acknowledging there is an issue with these vehicles.
This model corvette can suddenly drop an engine valve (exhaust or intake) and unexpectedly develop a hole in the block accompanied with oil spilled on the roadway, smoke billowing with risk for vehicles behind and in front, and the risk for total loss of power steering, braking and control of the vehicle. The outcome if this happened on a freeway with cars traveling at a high rate of speed is potentially fatal. All of this is due to machining errors and supplier defects for the associated parts (valves, guides, etc.) on all 2006-2013 corvette c6 z06's made by gm.
Wiggle test on all valves showed all exhaust valves with excessive guid where....safety issue....!!! This can and has LED to catastrophic engine failure at freeway speeds.......
I took my car to american heritage performance in california and had the heads checked and they were all out of speck, at 16000 miles, and this car was only street driven, and had to have all this work done on a low mileage car was very upsetting, and in the end finding out that many cars have this problem. Having to get all this work done on a virtually new car is ridiculous..
When I purchased the 2007 corvette z06, I was instructed to have the heads checked for excessive valve guide wear. I had the heads pulled and the valves examined by a local expert. He indicated that the valve guides were out of specification and needed replacement. I replaced these at my own expense of over $2000.00. Had the engine blown up as a result of this defective condition, the breaks and power steering would fail causing an accident. I would like gm to issue a recall on this model corvette.
At only 21,179 miles, my dealer inspected both cylinder head banks and found valve guide clearance to be well out of maximum allowed specification. This defect puts undue stress on the hollow, sodium-filled exhaust valves. If an exhaust valve breaks, the exhaust valve will drop into the combustion chamber, and cause a complete, catastrophic failure of the engine. This causes hazardous conditions for the driver, passenger, and surrounding traffic: the drive wheels may become locked as the engine seizes and the engine block may become windowed by a rod, causing a large spill of oil and coolant immediately under the vehicle on the roadway. These conditions could lead to a severe accident from a sudden spin and/or a fire. I have little confidence that the cylinder heads replaced on my car are free from the valve guide clearance defect. As more owners have become aware of the problem, replacement cylinder heads have been measured before installation on the engine and have been found to have defects in valve guide clearance and valve guide to seat concentricity, such as what could lead to a dropped exhaust valve and an accident. The vehicles should be recalled and fixed before any more serious accidents occur. Although my vehicle did not fail despite having the defect, I have seen a video of a spin caused by the failure, I have seen pictures of a vehicle after a fire caused by the failure, and I have seen reports of approximately 35 failures; all from corvetteforum.com. Therefore I am concerned about my safety when driving the vehicle and I believe the federal safety agency should investigate the matter.
Abnormal valve guide wear in cylinder heads considering age and mileage of vehicle. Potential catastrophic engine failure from dropped valve if not addressed. Chevrolet should fix whether vehicle still in warranty or not as is believed to be poor quality control resulting in machining errors.
Exhaust valve broke due to valve guides being out of spec. Engine seized. Immediate loss of power steering and brakes due to seized engine.
My cylinder head intake and exhaust valves were severely out of gm's .0037" maximum wiggle tolerance. The valves were tested by yuma auto and trans as well as american heritage performance (harbor city, ca). Not addressing the issue may have caused a dropped cylinder valve and blown engine.
Submission from constituent re repairs on his 2007 chevrolet corvette (the engine "dropped a valve") *smd the consumer was informed, the entire engine needed to be replaced at a cost of $18,722. Instead of replacing the engine, at no cost to the consumer, general motors offered to pick up 45% of the cost, leaving the consumer to pay the balance of $10,630. The consumer stated gm issued an internal bulletin as far back as february 2008, that showed they were aware of the z06 engine failures and short life expectancy.
Exhaust valve guides are excessively worn beyond service limit. Approximately 4 times service limit. This is a definite safety hazard to me and to those around me. The worn valve guide causes the exhaust valve to stretch, and eventually break. When the valve head breaks, it beats its way out of the engine, causing potentially: engine lockup, oil spill on highway, large smoke cloud and debris out the rear of the vehicle. Loss of control of the vehicle imminent danger to those around me due to loss of vision and slippery roadway. This issue affects all 2006 to 2013 chevrolet corvette z06.
It is stock and no tune verified by ( reliable chevrolet in springfield mo. And show-me speed in nixa mo.) at 49562 mile it drop the #6 exhaust valve which in turn destroyed the motor I have had this car to 3 different shops and they are all saying the same thing excessive wear on all the exhaust valve guides 2 of the shops determined this wear caused the exhaust valve to break other shop couldn't say.
On 09/03/08 I brought my car to a chevy dealer for noisy lifters , they replaced the rocker arms at the #8 cylinder which made the lifter noise not as loud. On 11/07/08 as I got onto the thruway , I accelerated in second gear to get into the flow of traffic ,I pushed in the clutch to shift into third gear . As I released the clutch with no throttle applied , the car began to shake very badly . I then pushed the clutch pedal in looked at my gauges which were all dead. Then I looked into the rear view mirror and there was a large cloud of white smoke behind me . Then I had the car towed to the chevy dealership and they called and informed me the next day that there was a hole in the engine block at the #8 cylinder . The dealership and gm refuse to repair the car under warranty stating that the car is used competitively of which it is not . I have found out that there have been many major engine failures with the z06 corvette . Gm has a program for 2007 and 2008 z06 cars that have major engine failures where they send the car back to the factory where they repair or replace the engine . The document id # 2067130 and #pip4132b of which I have a copy of . If there was not a problem with these engines they would not have the program in place .
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