Hello all you ZR 1 Freaks
It's been awhile since my last post but do remember my "Big Problems" post
I was living in San Diego and took my 26000 mile 1990 ZR 1 to the dealer for an oil change
I pick up the car and 20 miles later I was experiencing a rapping noise with some other issues going on too.
They admitted over filling the oil by as much as 3-4 quarts
Well we all had opinions as to what went wrong, and of course the dealer claimed no fault
I shipped the car to DRM and it's been there for over a month, Doug had no problem diagnosing the problem however …I had a cracked Crankshaft. Doug has never seen this happen. No one will state the overfill condition contributed to the failure. Doug is sending the crank to LPE for some guy named Gram? To take a look and give his opinion
I contacted GM and the dealer and they both basically told me to kiss off.
So I have a pristine 90 ZR 1 with 26000 original miles and what is suppose to be a virtually bullet proof motor with a cracked crank shaft (20 miles after an overfilled crankcase) Logic still tells me that are related
Doug is rebuilding the Motor as I write this with some minor tweaks and I should have it back by the end of September.
Well at least now I know exactly what I have under the hood and hope it lasts more than another 26000
Just thought I would follow up for those of you interested
:mad

 

hi,

we talked on the phone, it's very strange that an overfill could have cracked the crank. forged cranks do break, and this one may have had a defect. if the oil "foamed" because of the overfill, burned bearings could have resulted but even that is a bit unlikely.

GM won't service an "old" car out of warrenty (number of years).

don't feel too bad, it will fix, be better than new, and yes while it's painful and expensive, you still have one of the most reliable vette engines ever.

really sorry to hear about the misfortune, it is very strange.

Graham Behan is @ LPE and was a lotus engineer working with GM and Merc Marine on the LT5 project as lead engineer. hopefully he can shed some light. my bet, is that the engine overheated because the oil foamed up and caused a stress fracture in the crank (burned crank).

we shall see, did any of the bearings look bad???? what other details can you share about the condition of the oil or the other engine parts (cams, lifters, ect)

 

You got the shaft buddy - the "Gram" you speak of is Graham Behan - one of the original engineers from Lotus who designed the LT5 - he knows his stuff, to say the least.

You should get a written explanation of the reason or suspected reason for the failure - I guarantee it was the overfill condition, and that dealership should PAY!!!! Take them court my friend - this is not something to let go lightly!!! :smash: :smash: :smash: :smash: :smash:

 

:iagree: This is so bullpoopie. How many LT5 cranks have ever cracked? If that dealership had any ballz they would put an extra GALLON of oil in a new Z06 and take you for a test ride, just to prove their right!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

They owe you an engine. There isn't any engine made that would'nt be seriously affected by a 50% overfill. This is absolutly unbelievable that they could get away with this. Please post the name of the dealership so others won't get screwed. If they can deny this, you can just imagine what else they aren't responsible for. :mad :mad :mad :mad :mad

 

Yeah The dealership cant tell you they over filled it then tell you to go kiss off!

what kind of :bs is that?
Take em to court because I know the bill to fix your car is not going to be cheap you have shipping cost rebuild cost everything they should pay!


johnny

 

Quote:I shipped the car to DRM and it's been there for over a month, Doug had no problem diagnosing the problem however …I had a cracked Crankshaft.

Is it possible to get pictures of the cracked crankshaft?


:chevy :chevy

 

Sorry it took me so long to reply , and I had to change my user ID, My email address changed, I tried to update it gave the wrong address, couldnt log in BLAH BLAH BLAH...so now my user ID is 264FPS ( I like this better anyway)
I will likely get the crankshaft sent back to me and I will post some Pics
The Dealer was Bob Stall Chevy in Escondito CA.
Still no firm delivery date from DRM, but I am still hoping for the next couple of weeks

 

Ron
Had to change my user ID (long story)
The bearings did show heat damage, I have to believe over pressurization of the sysyem would put undue stress on the bearings. I have no idea how long to would take to adversly effect the system , remember the car has only gone 25-30 miles since the overfill.

 

:mad MAKE THEM PAY! :mad