herbojfl

I picked up my 2010 Cyber Gray 6 speed coupe on June 4, 2010 at the Corvette Museum after watching it being built. It was a dream come true and I am hoping to keep the car for a very long time. After 16 months of happy motoring, I decided to go for an Edelbrock E-Force supercharger, long tube headers and a cam. Horsepower Sales in Pompano Beach had a lot of great reviews and installed a cam on another Club member’s Z06.

I took her in on Monday October 10 to begin the work. Baseline dyno pull went without a hitch. 371 rwhp / 376 rwtq. I decided to stop by on Wednesday to see how things were going. When I walked in and they said they couldn’t get the camshaft out of the car, I figured they were pulling my leg. Unfortunately, that was not the case. They showed me how tight the camshaft was and with some finessing, the technician removed it right in front of me. He immediately noticed metal splinters. After careful inspection, there were chatter marks and flat spots on the bearing surfaces of the cam and the wear pattern was offset to one side. The only way to fix it is to remove the motor, thorougly clean it out and install new cam bearings.

Since the engine is all apart at this point and not knowing if we could put the camshaft back in and reassemble it and have it run, I am basically screwed as far as any warrantee from GM. My only choice is to rebuild my engine or get new short block. Both options are thousands of dollars.

You would think that getting a hand built engine was a good thing. Or at least I did. Can’t say if it was assembled incorrectly or the camshaft or bearings were defective, but either way I’m left holding the bag. This should not have happened.

I don’t know what recourse I have with GM, but I decided to bite the bullet and go for a forged short block. I will have a much better car in the end but it will cost me double what I budgeted for. I would not say that I beat the crap out of the car, but I did not drive it like my truck either. I drove it like a Corvette.

Has anybody had a similar experience or am I the only lucky one?

jthurik

I would just build the motor for boost you do not have to go wild. I would work with gm also you never know what they will do and the bottom line is the motor is broke before you did any mods.....

John

Garret

You have no recourse...you put it on the dyno and blew it...have fun building a new engine.

okie08vette

Why would you not give GM a chance to see what they could do. It never hurts to ask, seems like you have all the facts all they can do is say sorry and then you are right where you are now.

okie08vette

What, he blew the car on the dyno never heard of such a thing. If that was the case then the shop with the dyno would be responsible for the damage.

TripleAstyle123

I would put it back together bone stock and bring it in to the dealership and say the oil had a lot of metal in it. more than you think normal and convince them to take a look inside.

As for "blowing" the motor on a dyno, whats the difference if he blew it up on the street or dyno? The only issue with the warranty is the fact the motor is tore down and not by a GM certified dealership....

Landru

There've been a few LS-7s on record of fragging, usually Chevrolet replaces the uber-expensive engine no questions asked. Except, on modded cars. Precisely why I've left my Z06, stock.

The warranty is quite clear. It's null 'n void the moment an engine's opened for the purpose of modifications, and that includes a 'tune'.

LS-7 people who modded are out-of-luck inasfar as any help from Chevrolet goes -- just as you're SOL, now. So no, you're not the only one.
Although is this speed shop assuming *any* liability, however small, to offset the hit you'll take?

If there's any good news here it has to be a new LS-3 is a lot less $$ than a new LS-7.

TripleAstyle123

Im pretty sure when you tell them to dyno your car, the risk is your own. If a motor lets go when revving to max rpm it had an issue before they ran it on the dyno. I doubt any company would consider being responsible for a stock motor blowing up on their dyno.

JC7

I leave well enough alone!

Garret

I agree....so GM has nothing to do with this...once he took it in to "upgrade" it, why would GM have anything to do it.

Gary '09 C6

...if the speed shop "blew it up" they should have liabilty insurance ...time to have them file a claim, and also work with GM (full disclosure).
Maybe between the two most of the repair cost can be covered...?

JJC5

Because it was damaged before he modded it. Dyno or not, redlining the motor does not void the warranty.

herbojfl

You guys are sort of missing the point. This shop like hundreds of others dyno cars every day. Guys like us drive their Corvettes like Corvettes. IMO, the engines should be able to take it. Mine didn't. I didn't do anything to cause it and the shop didn't do anything to cause it. It was either assembled wrong or the bearings were defective.

R&L's C6

The problem you have is you can't prove if this was the first or fifth time you took the cam out. You have nothing to lose at this point by contacting GM and discuss the situation. Good luck.

Gary '09 C6

I think you've actually amplified (in bold) what some responses have said...definitely get GM involved.
Maybe even seek out some legal advice so at least you understand what recourse, if any, is available to you.

good luck...

ravill

Wow. I am sorry for your problem bro.

BUT PLEASE!!! You expect sympathy when your car blew up after putting a forced induction modification on it?

I mean, you say things like "I'm stuck holding the bag" or implying that GM messed up or the builder messed up.

Sure, possible, but seemingly placing the blame on someone else? Really?

You placed a supercharger on your car. Hence, you blew it up, period. It sucks it blew up. Really it does. But you did it. It wasn't GM's fault. Or the poor sap who built your engine. For all I know he built mine too.

AirBusPilot

That's not what happened. They were in the process of the initial tear down and discovered the engine has a serious issue.

The question becomes, does he put it back together and let GM warranty it? Or just pay for a forged short block and never (hopefully) worry again.

pewter99

jschindler

This thread makes no sense at all. You are saying that the shop was pulling apart a bone-stock engine and discovered the cam practically locked up, but you don't think the warranty will cover it???

First of all, either the shop is not telling you, or you are not telling us what really happened. The car would not have been running if you brought it into the shop like that, so what happened in the shop that we are not being told?

Secondly, if it is all a coincidence, why in the world would you not have had the engine buttoned back up and off to a Chevy dealer? If it was on the up and up, there would be no deception and GM would be liable.

Please tell me that I'm being paranoid for nothing and there is a logical explanation.

Russell ZR1

classic