Those familiar with previous failures of the 650-horsepower 6.2L V8 LT4 engine in the C7 Corvette Z06 can add one more to the list.
This time, the failure took place on a track at the hands of Fox News reporter Gary Gastelu. According to the review, the Vette “unceremoniously called it quits” after a few laps. As with every other Corvette Z06 engine failure thus far, the root cause remains unknown.
“There was oil, some bits and pieces, unpleasant noises. It was not pretty.” That’s the most detail about the failure itself from the review, and Gastelu also points out that the failure of this particular engine may simply be the result of abuse from fellow journalists who undoubtedly gave the Corvette some “quality testing”. He also raises the point that “sports cars break, and it ain’t cheap to fix them when they do.” While this is true, we also have no doubt that the brilliant minds at GM are certainly capable of building a vehicle that is both powerful and reliable, and that the particular Z06 in question is covered under GM’s 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, and 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.
Even so, these failures should not be happening in the first place — at least not to this magnitude — as they are a major contributor to customer dissatisfaction, and we can’t help but think that they are all the result of the same underlying issue, one that GM/Chevrolet have yet to address on a public basis. This isn’t to say that there is a major mechanical flaw, or that every Z06 is defective. To the contrary, it could be as simple as advising drivers to extend the break-in period for these high-powered LT4 motors. But we’ll spare you the speculation and ask what you think in the comments below.
Comments
I wonder what the break down of build location is, NY vs KY? If all have come from 1 location this may point to a QC issue.
Don’t all of the engines come from the New York plant? The rest of the assembly is the Bowling Green facility.
Those with the Z07 package are hand built in Bowling Green. There are some other special build codes where the engine is hand built there as well. All the others are built in NY and shipped.
This is absolutely factually correct … the notion that anyone would ‘thumb down’ such a post just goes to show the level of brand indoctrinated self delusion some idiots embrace.
I own a C7 Z06/07 since late December and I track it hard at every opportunity … I’ve been fortunate that my LT4 is stout, and as opposed to many other Z06 owners I haven’t overheated into limp mode, my power steering hasn’t quit mid corner, or suffered catastrophic engine failure. The more owner feedback we get the more it seems that I am in the lucky minority. Thank god for GM 99% of C7Z owners don’t push their car harder than the minimum required to schlep back and forth to C&C, otherwise these engine failures might be a daily occurrence.
Just in case anyone else stumbles across this:
http://www.torquenews.com/106/2015-chevrolet-corvette-z06-lt4-will-be-built-kentucky-and-new-york
Some people buy this stuff brand new and floor it everywhere they go. Do I think all of these are driver misuse? No, but of the LT4 failures I’ve read into they’ve been because of the oil and filter. These engines are so precisely engineered to get more power they’re just vulnerable to contaminates. I’m confident GM will soon have a solution to this problem. Its a minor setback.
Drop a voodoo 5.2 in her.
“Drop a voodoo 5.2 in her”
Only if you want to turn it into a POS and be labeled a homosexual, then yes.
With a blown engine it is a pos, and what’s wrong with being homosexual.
What an idiotic comment….
I like the 350 but that Voodoo still has to prove itself. Ford has blown an immense amount of these engines during the development process.
I wouldn’t actually put one in it, I’d have GM fix it. I’m a fan of the LS series engines but have zero experience with the LT. Plus the voodoo would most likely be too wide. And your right, it hasn’t proved it self. Hopefully it does as well as the Coyote as far as proving itself.
Relax I’d never do it.
Well I’m glad that’s not a problem with my grocery getter 2.5 Malibu.But being a qa worker my guess is hand assembly equals engine malfunctions.
More likely machine assembly for malfunctions. The technicians hand building the Z07 engines are no amateurs. I Agree with the above QC comment and potentially there may be an issue with the break in period not being honored by owners.
It could be something as simple as a supplier issue. Engines go through testing perfect but when the supplier makes up parts in large groups and misses then issues like this can happen.
I have not heard anything specific yet but I am sure they may have already addressed the issue and are just taking care of the issues when they happen. It is near impossible to know what ones may be at risk and what ones are not.
Well, since gasoline engines are going to become quickly obsolete…does it really matter? The new LUDICROUS speed upgrade to the current Model S is proof enough of that. No gears and 2.8 secs to 60mph…Yee Haw!
Well not everyone can afford a $10,000 upgraded Battery for their $128,000 new electric car that still takes well over night to recharge.
You have to have a cheaper car like a Z06 to have to drive when you really need to gets someplace of any real distance in less than 24 hours.
I would not lose my gas can yet bud.
There is absolutely no doubt that these cars are abused and the break in period is just as important as it was in the past.This is not rocket science were talking here in that if you pull any car off the showroom floor and hammer the throttle for hours on end it is going to severely decrease the life of the automobile.There is no magic engine in the world of automotive technology that begs to be abused without a long break in period.
if not doing a break in as speced by GM they can use the computer to prevent the revs from going over a certain amount till the car reaches a certain mileage. if a large amount of Z0-6 engines expire you will see this happening
engines these days are pre broken in as to limit the number of warranty claims…HOWEVER, it’s still recommended that one follows the break in procedure anyways, but more importantly to change the oil after the first 100 then after 500 miles, then after the next 1000, then the next 1500, then after that follow the usual routine probably 7,000 miles for most cars. Also dyno reports have indicated that a person needs to break in an engine by varying the RPM a lot and not drive it too long at a steady speed or too low of an RPM for the first 1000 miles, if a person does this you will get better horsepower readings. Also you should avoid full on drag racing or top speed runs (or for trucks towing) during the first 2000 miles. So while engines are pre broken in these days you still need to be careful for the first 2,000 miles, but that’s still a lot better than the old school cars where the break in period was 5,000 to 6,000 miles depending on the engine. There are few car manufacturers that have NO break in rules and no early oil changes either like Toyota, Kia and some VW’s just to name a couple, most of the detailed breakin requirements are more for high performance vehicles and high output trucks, your more mild manner cars driven by the non fast driver types mostly do not have a break in period because they don’t want buyers to have to worry about such details like air pressure in tires…
So when’s the recall going to be issued?….:/
First off the new cars today really have little of a break in. Cams and rings were the main issues for break in and both are relative non factors anymore. The cams are now rollers where they have no break in. The rings are pretty much set to spec and even with the use of Mobil One still seat in fast.
They generally recommend varying speeds and no hard accelerations just till the parts inside have a little time as a precaution.
While the MFG generally recommend taking it easy generally little harm comes to an engine anymore. Things are much different than they used to be.
I have seen for years new cars run hard from the start and no harm is done. The truth be said most Corvettes at dealers have been driven hard long before most owners ever got them. Those 50 Miles on the speedo were not the easiest ones.
Odds are these were simple issues that could have been just a issue at assembly or a part from a bad group. We even see this in NASCAR where a MFG has a bad series of springs and 3-4 cars in the race drop a valve.
Odd are GM will not recall these cars as for one what ones are bad? Two it is not a safety issues and three they are taking care of the ones that do fail. In the over all picture not even 1% are failing so why recall them all if the issue is a limited one?
Drive and if something happens they will cover it.
This is not the industries first engine failure.
That is far from what engineers who build these cars say in terms of no break in period hyperv6.All reciprocating mass engines including farm tractors require break in.If you are suggesting manufacturers are near redline for break in period then that is far from the truth and i know that the engines are babied to achieve that.Besides what these tuners say,that burnout at the dealership did damage and can be proven upon disassembly.Guaranteed blow by on the cylinder wall with any high horsepower car and I mean any including Ferrari or Porsche.
Allan
There are no absolutes but generally with “Most” new modern engines a set break in procedure is no longer needed. The greatest item for break in is as follow.
The Cam is the most critical component. But since “most not all” cars have roller cams break in of the cam is not needed.
As for rings they are set to very good tolerances and are made with coatings that seat them in fast. Piston rings don’t rely on their spring tension to seal against the cylinder bores. Instead, combustion gases work their way between the rings and the piston and force the rings outward. During the first few minutes of engine operation, it’s important that the throttle be opened pretty far at lower rpms to provide this high pressure. Otherwise, the rings won’t burnish the cylinder walls properly, and the engine will have high volumes of blow-by—which means excessive oil consumption and shortened engine life. If you’ve ever seen the car jockeys who drive new cars off the end of the production line into the storage lot, or the transporter drivers zipping up and down the car-hauler ramps, you’ll realize that this all-important step has been performed for you many times. If you’re installing a new engine, simply give it a few seconds of wide-open throttle in a high gear. For the first thousand miles, avoid constant speeds and throttle settings. If you commute in normal stop-and-go traffic, you’ll be fine. I advise against cruise-controlled sojourns across Nebraska.
With Bearings The admonition to keep engine revs low for an extended break-in period stems from the days when bearing and crankshaft manufacturing tolerances were far less rigorous and lubricating oil wasn’t nearly as good. While modern engines are assembled to much the same design clearances, the tolerances are much tighter, meaning the variability is smaller, greatly reducing the possibility of a tight spot. Redlining a fresh motor is generally a bad idea, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t drive normally. I would, however still recommend anyone avoid top-speed testing, drag racing or towing heavy trailers for the first 500 miles just to be safe but even that is not really needed in “Most” cases anymore.
Oils are now to the point too that the parameters have changed too. There once was a time that you could not start out a new engine with Synthetic oils but today that is no longer true either with factory stock engines.
The real issue is there are so many different kinds of engines and ways to build them with different combinations. Because of this break in can vary with many engines. As for stock factory production engines the break in is no longer as critical as it once was with again “Most” engines.
A lot of things change but many stay the same because of the way we used to do things. I still hear no wax for x many days. The truth is the Clear on the paint is dry before it leaves the plant. Other things come up like how many miles to change oil or how to rotate tires etc. because this is how we used to do it. Yes I still hear people say do not put radial tires from the left to the right.
The bottom line is most factory fuel injected engines today will not be damaged with harsh use. In fact the one thing that may do more damage is just setting the cruise control for a set speed for many miles. But with the advent of dealer trades where they drive cars between states to swap out cars for customers there has been no influx of damage here either.
I work in the performance industry and have to keep up with the ways of todays engines. It is really amazing just how good engines are today. What we get factory are better than full blown race engines of just 25 years ago in many cases. The quality of materials and the engineering put into them make the old original engines look down right like crude tractor engines from the 40’s. That is not to day many of todays tractors are not advanced.
The fact is much in the industry is controlled by the we have always done it that way and many people are slow to change from their past proven methods. While there is nothing wrong with that many times what they did is not longer needed and or really relevant anymore with the changes and technology used today.
Now you toss in a flat tappet cam then yes you do really need to watch break in. That is one area many fail at today as the Zink is missing in todays oil and many are doing it the old way and not using zink additives to break in a cam and wipe it out. So even if you work with the old technology you can not still do it the old way anymore.
The bottom line is that the odds are slim that the issue is just simple abuse as these engines are a lot better than that. A simple part failure is most likely an issue here and easily fixed. GM will not speak of it as it is just so far a small number of cars and odds are 6 months from now will be forgotten. They will repair the ones with issues and that could be just a handful as we have seen.
I say this in the nicest way but like many others you need to read up on just what goes in engines today. The technology and quality of the engines today are a long way from what they once were.
This isn’t all that surprising; every base LS (and now LT) engine has been rock solid and the Z06 variant has had the shadow of engine failure.
LS1, nothing needs to be said.
LS6, I hope you replaced your valve springs in your 2002-2003 Z06
LS2, mine has 120k miles on it and I just autocrossed it on Sunday. Oil analysis says she’s doing great
LS7, how’s those rocker arm needle bearings? Wasn’t there something with the valve guides too?
LS3 and LS9, haven’t heard anything bad but improve the LS2 and you’ve still got a Gen IV
LT1, have you heard of anyone killing them?
LT4, clearly has thermal issues and we have articles like this.
I love Corvettes but this is a trend with new Z06s.
Weak rods?????
There were many short cuts in the design of the new Stingray and many in the engines that they don’t want to mention.
See the latest issue in Car & Driver (August 2015) on page 79 for the write up under Fleet Files for the juicy details!
Calling for Dexos Oil and changing their tune to Full synthetic six months later is indication of reliability issues!