The 2023 Corvette Z06 is Chevy’s mid-engine track monster, delivering the performance of exotics many times its price. Much hype has been centered around the high-revving 5.5L LT6 V8 gasoline engine that powers the Z06, praised by some as a marvel of engineering and bemoaned by others as a potentially problem-prone engine. Unfortunately, one owner had the displeasure of suffering an engine failure in a brand new C8 Z06.
The Corvette Z06 in question experienced an engine failure with just 52 miles on the odometer. The owner explains in a video, embedded below, that he first noticed a rattling noise while he was driving the salesman back to the dealership. While returning home, the C8 Z06 became inoperable.
The gauge cluster shows the car’s trip odometer at 52.4 miles, an average speed of 18.7 MPH, and interestingly an average fuel economy of just 8.5 MPG. With such a slow average speed, it’s a wonder why fuel economy was so low, though it’s possible that this is due to the vehicle idling or potentially revving more than being driven.
While it’s unclear exactly what took place and what caused the free-revving LT6 to die at this point in the supercar’s lifecycle, Chevy will be performing a diagnostic breakdown of the engine to find out the cause of the failure.
As a reminder, the Z06’s LT6 V8 is a break from the norm for Corvette engines, as it features a dual-overhead-camshaft (DOHC) valve-train, twin throttle bodies, and a flat-plane crank to facilitate high-revving performance. All this enables the naturally-aspirated powerplant to make 670 horsepower at a sky-high 8,400 rpm, along with 460 pound-feet of torque at 6,300 rpm.
Under the skin, the Z06 rides on the GM Y2 platform, the same vehicle platform that underpins all C8 Corvettes. Meanwhile, production takes place at the GM Bowling Green plant in Kentucky.
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Comments
Hope he gets a fix for this ASAP. I recall people reporting that the waitlist for a new Corvette is very long.
If they have a major issue they will special order this and place it as a priority. Much like the Lambo and Bentleys that were sunk coming to America. They get bumped to the front of the line.
Now if the owner blew it up from something stupid then He will just get an engine and may be at his expense.
I don’t see why the entire car needs to be replaced, the engine is removable.
Its common for manufacturers to take a whole vehicle back to do a complete forensic analysis of a major new failure, supply a backfill to the customer, then eventually make the unit in question saleable and send to auction. Had a fleet customer lose a 2017 L5P with low miles that gm replaced the vehicle with same spec unit.
You are correct. Especially in a new model and new engine like this.
GM will tear this down and do testing
Also for this price point and that few miles they will replace a vehicle just out of customer service.
I know someone who had an smell from the upholstery adhesive that was so bad GM took it and just ordered up a new one for them.
This happens more than people realize.
Odds are it is a supplier issue. Things are not always 100% if this was a Colorado WT you would never hear about it.
Even Race teams that have special valve springs made they will still test them before installing
Many of these parts are made by the same companies for other brands.
My new Turbo SS lost an intake pipe due to a bad plastic weld by a supplier. It was a early part and GM actually got it back to the tech center and did the research and found a few more that needed to be replace.
I was shocked as I spoke to a GM engineer on a work related deal and just mentioned the failure. He asked for my vin and had it in his office. He told me what they found. It was nice to know they were doing that much follow up on an odd pipe on my car.
It all depends on GM, the cost of replacing the whole car or fixing it at the dealership. The dealerships charge over $120.00 per hour plus parts! Then The DAMN DEALERSHIP CHARGING $50,000 Over sticker on top ! The dealership doesn’t think about return customers an the word of mouth the the customer paid sticker for the Corvette an DIDN’T GET SCREWED BY PRICE GOUGING!! As if the DEALERSHIP ISN’T MAKING ENOUGH ON THE CAR TO BEGIN WITH! I CAN’T BELIEVE GM LETS THEM GET AWAY WITH IT , GM NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT WHAT DEALERSHIPS ARE DOING!! It’s called return sales , you don’t put it to me ,I’ll be back an buy another vehicle from you an ill spend the word where I bought it an the good deal I got !!
Bob, if someone pays $50,000 over sticker, they wrote the check. No one held a gun to their head. I sold a C8 last year to a guy for MSRP. It was his dream car, weekend fun car, etc. 10 days later, he sold it for a profit. That was the last one I sold at MSRP. If someone is going to sell at market price. It’s going to be me.
Here I thought you was a good guy, but I was wrong! The guy you sold the C8 for the MSRP good for you, but when you said someone going to sell at market price is go to be you! When you said that you lost all mine RESPECT FOR YOU, you don’t care about repeat sales you have repeated sales and new sales from word of mouth then you made on car sale commission ,think. About it!
I’ve been dealing with a Chevy dealership since I was 18 years old buying new cars an new 4×4 pickups ever every 2-3 years . I’m on my 4th salesmen because the other 3 retired. And each one when I got a new car or 4×4 pickup whe the sales man called me an said come and get your car or truck it’s ready for you. I got a ride to the dealership and got my vehicle, every time I left the dealership with my new vehicle it had a full tank of HIGH TEST GAS NOT THE CHEAP CRAP BECAUSE OF THE VEHICLE I BOUGHT!!
NOW BACK TO Richard, you made commission on the C8 you sold that guy! You lost the definition of MSRP AN MARKET VALUE AN FORGOT WHAT REPEAT BUYERS ! I HATE IT WHEN THE DEALERSHIPS SAY WE CAN DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU INCLUDING FINANCES FOR YOU! BUT THEY DON’T TELL YOU THAT THE BUSINESS CARD HOLDER ON THEIR DESK WITH BANK CARDS WHERE THEY GET A CUT FOR USING THAT BANK AN YOU PAY A HIGHER INTEREST RATE! SO THE DEALERSHIPS MAKE MONEY FROM THE MSRP AN A CUT FROM THE FINANCE COMPANY, THAN THEY ADD A PRICE GOUGH REALLY!!! IM GLAD I’VE GOT A CHEVY DEALERSHIP I CAN TRUST!!
Dealerships are merely making up for lost ground during rough years. They are not a charity.
Richard, you sir, are a schiester
That sucks.
Somebody forgot to torque a bolt correctly.
We have to ask if it was hooning, or burnouts, donuts or some other type of abuse way before the end of brake in period. There are dozens of you Tube videos showing new cars being destroyed in the First few Days or Miles
The C8 has a break-in torque limiter so you can’t. You can see it in the picture, the normal redline is 8600.
It limits torque slightly but not rpms, it just put the redline lower for the gauge but the engine will still rev to max rpm if thats how you drive it.
It isn’t like back in the day about hotroding a new car an then blowing it up an then lie about you was just driving it to church an the damn thing blew up! All these new vehicles with the computers , everything you do while driving them is recorded in the computer MEMORY!! No more lies, the tech at the dealership plugs the dealership computer into the vehicles computers an knows exactly what happened an how you drive the vehicle, ANY QUESTIONS?!! NO MORE LIES!!
Lifter springs broke?
Well Mr Mike, the LT6 is an overhead cam engine….so do you want to rethink your “lifter springs broke” comment?
I was referring to possibility that C7 valve spring issue bled to the C8. I’m not privy to LT 6 engine
nor an owner / mechanic.
If I missed something please advise.
You said “lifters” – As you have in nearly every thread blasting GM for lifter issues, now you’re trying to save face …. you don’t have to be privy to anything to know it’s an overhead cam engine.
You don’t know what you are talking about.
I just subscribed to gmauthority.
This is my third comment on post.
Ok then I apologize. If I were you, I’d use a different handle. There’s a person goes by (went by) “Mr. Mike”. Knows little but comments as if he’s the authority on everything. Calls people “low-IQ” and other derogatory names.
He’s often bashing GM about lifter issues…thus the confusion when you did.
TNM –
How you confuse my name Michael with
Mr. Mike is baffling. I suggest you curb your
adrenaline and report Mr. Mike disparaging comments to GM Authority.
My mentioning lifter issue is not bashing.
No one here is out to get you sir.
Since you know so much about Corvettes
can you recommend a best year for C6, C7 and
C8 with fewest issues?
He needs to do a follow up video to let us know how it was handled.
While OHC engines do have lifters, the operate entirely differently than in a pushrod. A failed lifter in an OHC engine can run for tens of thousands of miles and only present mild lifter tick.
Untrue – – Valve Springs, yes. Cam Followers, ok. Lifters, No.
Makes buying a flipped one, with no warranty, a bit more of a dice roll
I have been in the business for 30 plus years and I have worked for several different manufacturers. Even some of those so called bullet proof imports. I don’t care who makes it, things happen. It’s no fun for the dealer, the manufacturer, or the customer. In fact, it’s nightmare for everyone involved. Anytime you deal with things that are man made, things will go wrong at some point. It’s just a fact of life. GM will be all over this case and I am sure, they will do the right thing as quickly as possible.
If there will be more of these to come, blame one thing: the size of the engine. Flat plane crank engines seem to have a common flaw and that’s vibrations. The lack of a counterweights on the crankshaft means that the engine is inherently slightly unbalanced, and the larger the engine, the more the vibration. The LT6, for a flat plane V8, is unusually huge and has lots of power per cylinder. That results in bigger vibrations with a bigger chance to screw something up. It was a problem with the smaller Voodoo engine, it will be a problem here.
Unusually huge? I can tell this is Mr Mike!
You have no idea what you’re even talking about.
Mr. TNM –
You are a sick puppy. I’m not c so you are barking up the wrong tree.
Ha! What about your lifter comment!?
Go play with your Ford.
Mr. TNM –
I left Ford in 1994. I own a Toyota Prius.
Not likely. Engines knock, roll and get beaten to heck every day and keep on ticking. Heck, the entire idea of a combustion engine is a bomb detonates in an enclosed space and the explosion is controlled. Even old Harley engines vibrating like a masssge chair from hell go for decades with no issues. This was a failure from the factory. A bottom end failed, timing chain or even an oil pump. That is to be expected from other engines as those are made 90% by machines and there will always be a bad apple now and then. The crazy thing about the LT6 is it’s handmade by “expert” engine builders with an additional QA inspector overseeing it.
Perhaps miniature sequential Fusion bombs contained and controlled will unlock Fusion energy
to replace fossil fuel driven power generation.
Too bad GM won’t tell us what the ECU recorded on this unit
“Danger Will Robinson, danger”
BOY DOES THAT SAYING BRING BACK MEMORIES!! THAT ENGINE IS LOST IN SPACE !! LOL!
Oh the pain, oh the pain.
NASCAR type high rpm in a production engine. What could go wrong…?! As previously stated, a minor undetected flaw in any component could be fatal. The care and attention that goes into a NASCAR engine is mind-boggling. And they still manage to blow one up every now and then.
Can we get a follow up report on the specifics of failure?
I would have had the tow truck driver’s a$$ for running tow straps through my brand new wheels. Nothing but laziness..///
Aren’t these engines built by only one person and their name goes on the engine?
yes and all the torque used is put into a computer since the torque wrench is wired into the computer . they weigh the engine at the end to make sure no parts are missing.
A sample of the engine oil analyzed by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer will provide specific failure information on the engine material since the engine experienced a mechanical rattling before failure. Caterpillar and their dealers use this diagnostic method in failure cause and analysis.
That guy is an idiot with obnoxious clickbait videos….and anyone that listens to him is questionable at best.
I smell something fishy with this story. I’m a trained sceptic. Why didn’t he call OnStar from the car? Very dangerous to walk away on a CA freeway. The Z06’s lights were flashing so it had electric power. Also, he could have charged the phone in the car. It’s his second C8 so he should have known that. Why he didn’t know the name of the dealer be bought the car from. Ciocca Corvettes block entry to its lot but few other Chevy dealers do. Would think in LA easy to find a dealer not locked down. No sure I believe his full story.
What a failure, it is apparent you do not work for GM, the guy had nearly 1/2 hour. 52 miles and the engine blew up, boy that is something. 50k above sticker. Sounds like this guy has some money. He is really composed about it, I would be hopping mad.
How many miles were on it when you picked it up? Wonder if the dealership had fun with it before you got it. It had strict warm up miles.
Hmmmm, maybe the new owner was doing more high reving than driving? In any event Chevy will sort it out and assign blame somewhere…
I smell something all right
Twin cam heads, timing chain, tensioners, I put my money on a valve train issue. I worked as a Porsche Technician in the late 1970″s. Pete Rose bought a 930 turbo from our dealership and myself and another Tech did a thousand mile service before Pete headed to spring training. We had to pull the engine to adjust the valves, check the timing chain tensioner and chain guides along with several filter changes, and checking cam settings.
I don’t know if GM has a service program to check the valve train at certain mileage intervals on the 5.5, but it may be something to look into.
I’m not sure how valve adjustment is achieved on this engine. I think I read where the valves were set in the engine build and didn’t need any adjustment after that, kind of like hydraulic lifters.
I’ll wait for the EV Corvette so don’t have to deal with this crap
Bad Bad Example using both MPG and AVG Speed if you/one DID NOT RESET the trip upon the new test drive. That is stored INFORMATION over daily consumption, idle time, drive time etc. No basis to engine failure if the trip odometer was not reset. OTOH? $hit happens… I expect my Rapid Blue that’s on order in the near future. 💙 with much anticipation 😀 ordered 11/19/2022 #Z07pkg #Chevrolet #Z06