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Well bad news guys looks like I might have some coolant in my oil. I had speed inc install a&a kit on my car early this year and after I attended the half-mile event by wanna go fast I noticed my car was running low and loosing coolant. I thought it was just leaking but when I look in my garage I didn't see any leaks on the floor. so I need to monitor this and over time it seems to be consuming more and more coolant. So on my last oil change I sent the oil out to Blackstone and my worst thoughts came true. The coolant is somehow getting into my oil.
Here is the notes Blackstone sent me on the oil analysis test:
Note: my car is a 2002 c5 z06 with 40k miles on it maybe about 4k miles with the A&a supercharger set up. I was using mobile 1 synthetic 5w30 and change my oil in 2k mile intervals. I drop the car off at speed inc in about a month and from the looks of the oil test I may need to build my motor as it's showing excessive bearing wear. Not looking to go nuts just want to build the bottom end up to handle the boost. In order for them to inspect the car it's going to cost me a lot of money so I may as well just have them build the motor while they're in there.
Has anybody experienced anything like this before I'm thinking that it may be be a result of a bad head gasket issue or a cracked cylinder wall which is resulting in the coolant getting in the oil. Sucks that it had to happen but eventually I was planning on doing a bottom end build. Just didn't expect it to happen so soon. Any thoughts or insights on what I should do. I'm not looking to do anything crazy with this car just would like something reliable and am content at around 700 wheel horsepower. The car was making 660 wheel horsepower on the stock ls6 bottom end. I really didn't beat on the car that much although a few passes at that half-mile is probably what did it is what I'm thinking. Suggestions/thoughts?
Well bad news guys looks like I might have some coolant in my oil. I had speed inc install a&a kit on my car early this year and after I attended the half-mile event by wanna go fast I noticed my car was running low and loosing coolant. I thought it was just leaking but when I look in my garage I didn't see any leaks on the floor. so I need to monitor this and over time it seems to be consuming more and more coolant. So on my last oil change I sent the oil out to Blackstone and my worst thoughts came true. The coolant is somehow getting into my oil.
Here is the notes Blackstone sent me on the oil analysis test:
Note: my car is a 2002 c5 z06 with 40k miles on it maybe about 4k miles with the A&a supercharger set up. I was using mobile 1 synthetic 5w30 and change my oil in 2k mile intervals. I drop the car off at speed inc in about a month and from the looks of the oil test I may need to build my motor as it's showing excessive bearing wear. Not looking to go nuts just want to build the bottom end up to handle the boost. In order for them to inspect the car it's going to cost me a lot of money so I may as well just have them build the motor while they're in there.
Has anybody experienced anything like this before I'm thinking that it may be be a result of a bad head gasket issue or a cracked cylinder wall which is resulting in the coolant getting in the oil. Sucks that it had to happen but eventually I was planning on doing a bottom end build. Just didn't expect it to happen so soon. Any thoughts or insights on what I should do. I'm not looking to do anything crazy with this car just would like something reliable and am content at around 700 wheel horsepower. The car was making 660 wheel horsepower on the stock ls6 bottom end. I really didn't beat on the car that much although a few passes at that half-mile is probably what did it is what I'm thinking. Suggestions/thoughts?
660 RWHP on the stock bottom end is way too much boost!!! With the stock bottom end and 10.5 compression ratio 6 lbs boost is about as much as you should do on the stock internals. Otherwise, you are stressing the engine way too much.
660 RWHP on the stock bottom end is way too much boost!!! With the stock bottom end and 10.5 compression ratio 6 lbs boost is about as much as you should do on the stock internals. Otherwise, you are stressing the engine way too much.
Seems like you found out the hard way.
A stock C5 can handle 9 to 10 psi of boost very easily..i am running 9 psi of boost on a ECS kit at 6500 rpm and zero issues what so ever
A stock C5 can handle 9 to 10 psi of boost very easily..i am running 9 psi of boost on a ECS kit at 6500 rpm and zero issues what so ever
Not a stock C5, a Z06 with 10.5 CR not 10.0 as on stock LS1..
I would never run stock bottom end more than 6 lbs regardless without either:
A. Lowering the compression ratio ( to around 9-9.5 which will require new heads).
B. Having a forged bottom end.
C. Both
Only a matter of time if you ever push it at more than 6-7 lbs. Can go more agressive with lower compression ratio and/or forged bottom end. These engines were not made to handle that much HP without some real engine work.
Not a stock C5, a Z06 with 10.5 CR not 10.0 as on stock LS1..
I would never run stock bottom end more than 6 lbs regardless without either:
A. Lowering the compression ratio ( to around 9-9.5 which will require new heads).
B. Having a forged bottom end.
C. Both
Only a matter of time if you ever push it at more than 6-7 lbs. Can go more agressive with lower compression ratio and/or forged bottom end. These engines were not made to handle that much HP without some real engine work.
gas makes more difference than the CR, you can boost 11:1 motors on e85, no problem. on pump 10:5-1 is dicey, but, he didn't have a detonation problem, he had a too much cylinder pressure and hp problem
even with a forged bottom end this situation would have happened. he didn't break a ringland he lifted a head. arp head studs would be what would help this situation. he simply lifted the heads
chances are the OP could pull the heads, check for resurfacing, install ARP head studs and run again. would be cheap and easy too
gas makes more difference than the CR, you can boost 11:1 motors on e85, no problem. on pump 10:5-1 is dicey, but, he didn't have a detonation problem, he had a too much cylinder pressure and hp problem
even with a forged bottom end this situation would have happened. he didn't break a ringland he lifted a head. arp head studs would be what would help this situation. he simply lifted the heads
chances are the OP could pull the heads, check for resurfacing, install ARP head studs and run again. would be cheap and easy too
gas makes more difference than the CR, you can boost 11:1 motors on e85, no problem. on pump 10:5-1 is dicey, but, he didn't have a detonation problem, he had a too much cylinder pressure and hp problem
even with a forged bottom end this situation would have happened. he didn't break a ringland he lifted a head. arp head studs would be what would help this situation. he simply lifted the heads
chances are the OP could pull the heads, check for resurfacing, install ARP head studs and run again. would be cheap and easy too
might as well run it until something breaks
I agree that fuel makes the difference, but E85 has its other life shortening issues. Pump gas was an assumption using no less than 91 octane.
I also agree his bottom end did not fail and agree with your analysis on what happened.
You can run 11-12 lbs boost if you want. The higher the boost, the more stress on the internals. If you are racing, not a biggie, but if reliability is a concern, then better to stay conservative.
I personally would not run more than 6-7 lbs boost without some serious motor mods. However, that is because I want HP, but want reliability as well.
I agree that fuel makes the difference, but E85 has its other life shortening issues. Pump gas was an assumption using no less than 91 octane.
I also agree his bottom end did not fail and agree with your analysis on what happened.
You can run 11-12 lbs boost if you want. The higher the boost, the more stress on the internals. If you are racing, not a biggie, but if reliability is a concern, then better to stay conservative.
I personally would not run more than 6-7 lbs boost without some serious motor mods. However, that is because I want HP, but want reliability as well.
i don't even know if i would boost a stock engine at all. if you drive them hard {which is hard to resist with that power on tap} something always seems to go wrong sooner or later, i suppose as you say, low boost and a some way to keep intake temps down would be safest on pump. i remember my honda having these same issue when i installed a turbo.
guy had a spot on tune to be able to run that kind of power on pump though with that compression
The only part of an LS6 that can handle 800-900 hp is the crank. They are quite stout. Need forged rods, pistons and Arp bolts everywhere. Some newbies don't know that for the record.
The only part of an LS6 that can handle 800-900 hp is the crank. They are quite stout. Need forged rods, pistons and Arp bolts everywhere. Some newbies don't know that for the record.
stock block gets sketchy too. i'm friends with one of the members who has a twin turbo z06 running high 9s. it's capable of more but turned down to aprox 750whp if i remember right. the problem with the stock block is the bearings get fried. caps walk even with the best bolts, flex starts chewing bearings up
i just don't think there's a way to make a really hp car and not constantly be fixing things if you run them hard and often. my facebook feed is littered with guys who race, make big power, and are always working on or fixing something
stock block gets sketchy too. i'm friends with one of the members who has a twin turbo z06 running high 9s. it's capable of more but turned down to aprox 750whp if i remember right. the problem with the stock block is the bearings get fried. caps walk even with the best bolts, flex starts chewing bearings up
i just don't think there's a way to make a really hp car and not constantly be fixing things if you run them hard and often. my facebook feed is littered with guys who race, make big power, and are always working on or fixing something
Yeah that sounds true. Limits must be set, I never factored in bearings and flex but when you are talking about boost TT/SC at over 20 psi, well I'm sure you need an aftermarket block or $$$crank etc.. especially if you're beating on it all the time...can't expect something not to break at those levels.. the hardcore FI guys need deep wallets. lol
Update: Turns out all it needed was new head gaskets and a set of ARP head studs. I pulled the heads off wasn't showing signs of where the leak was but I popped a set of ARP head studs on (had arp head bolts prior), and a new set of head gaskets and my problems have been solved. The head probably lifted under boost with the arp head bolts. No more coolant consumption! :-)
Last edited by c6speedjon; 03-08-2016 at 12:44 AM.
Update: Turns out all it needed was new head gaskets and a set of ARP head studs. I pulled the heads off wasn't showing signs of where the leak was but I popped a set of ARP head studs on (had arp head bolts prior), and a new set of head gaskets and my problems have been solved. The head probably lifted under boost with the arp head bolts. No more coolant consumption! :-)
but but but the weak ls6!!! I'm running 13 psi through a stock short block LS6, and this thread made me laugh. The posts made it seem like the engine will grenade itself as soon as you run more than 10 psi. It certainly wont, but there is also no guaranteed life span.
OP: Glad you got the issue resolved!
Last edited by nullpointer; 03-08-2016 at 01:48 PM.
but but but the weak ls6!!! I'm running 13 psi through a stock short block LS6, and this thread made me laugh. The posts made it seem like the engine will grenade itself as soon as you run more than 10 psi. It certainly wont, but there is also no guaranteed life span.
OP: Glad you got the issue resolved!
No one said the LS6 is weak, just the opposite.
What some of us have stated is that it was not designed with boost in mind, which is absolutely true.
However, if you are going to boost and still want to maintain a modicum of reliability, lowering the boost limits, high quality fuel, keeping the intake heat to a minimum, and a good tune are key.
10-18-2014, 05:41 PM
Coolant in oil - C5 Z06 A&A supercharged
