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[Z06] Valve Springs

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Old Feb 15, 2011 | 01:15 PM
  #61  
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replace mine with the yellow replacements at 20k...easily done
and now I have more peace of mind
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Old Feb 16, 2011 | 07:45 PM
  #62  
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Just out of curiosity has anyone ever broken a replacement OEM LS6/LS2 spring (Part#12499224)? Im on the fence about changing mine, the rest of the valve train is stock, 22k miles but I do plan to autox the car. Just wondering if theres an equal chance of breaking a new spring or if thats never been reported.
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Old Feb 16, 2011 | 10:25 PM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by Vettechris996
Just out of curiosity has anyone ever broken a replacement OEM LS6/LS2 spring (Part#12499224)? Im on the fence about changing mine, the rest of the valve train is stock, 22k miles but I do plan to autox the car. Just wondering if theres an equal chance of breaking a new spring or if thats never been reported.
I have not read any reports anywhere of it happening...now to be clear we are talking new stock GM replacement springs with a Stock cam.

my car has 21K orig. and I am changing out the springs with GM stockers when I get it out of storage this spring, I figure it cant hurt and the car sits a bunch so in that sense alone its probably a good idea to do them.

Peace, B.
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Old Feb 16, 2011 | 10:54 PM
  #64  
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Default When were 2004 upgrades installed

My 03 has a build date of March 03. I have heard that late 03's had the good springs. What is a late build date?
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Old Feb 16, 2011 | 10:59 PM
  #65  
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Why wasn't this a Recall for GM?
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Old Feb 17, 2011 | 10:28 AM
  #66  
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Never mind, question answered
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Old Feb 17, 2011 | 07:22 PM
  #67  
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Originally Posted by budnate
I have not read any reports anywhere of it happening...now to be clear we are talking new stock GM replacement springs with a Stock cam.

my car has 21K orig. and I am changing out the springs with GM stockers when I get it out of storage this spring, I figure it cant hurt and the car sits a bunch so in that sense alone its probably a good idea to do them.

Peace, B.
Yea I am running stock cam as well and intend to replace the factory springs with new GM replacements so that is good to know, thanks
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Old Feb 18, 2011 | 04:32 PM
  #68  
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Mine has a build date of June 2, 2003. Anyone know what month they stopped making C5?

Originally Posted by Bobtam
My 03 has a build date of March 03. I have heard that late 03's had the good springs. What is a late build date?
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Old Feb 18, 2011 | 05:21 PM
  #69  
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Originally Posted by BobbyC3
Why wasn't this a Recall for GM?
Its extremely rare.. Maybe around a 2-3% chance of this happening
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Old Feb 18, 2011 | 10:20 PM
  #70  
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Default Got a problem w/a safety issue? File it w/NHTSA

Originally Posted by Sinister-Z
I'm sure a lot of it is over exaggerated but GM even recognized the issue at one time. Its cheap insurance as far as I'm concerned because I have seen the destruction of what a dropped valve is capable of.
It should have been a recall issue. "A clear-cut safety hazard," so says the Excec Director for Auto Safety Clarence Ditlow. And there's a precedent for recall from other automakers that have had similar problems. He made that statement ref to Toy Motor having issues with eng valve spring defects on Lexus division.

Had everyone from day one filed a complaint w/NHTSA, this issue would have been on GM's tab, where it belongs.


btw: I just started a thread on filing complaints with the NHTSA. See C5 Discussion

Last edited by cor28vettes; Feb 18, 2011 at 11:55 PM.
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Old Mar 21, 2011 | 05:20 PM
  #71  
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Ordered a new set of LS6/Ls2 springs today 64.99 Gene Culley has them also got a fullset of vavle seals too 43.99.Quality motortsports in Lewisville Texas is doing install for $220 labor
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Old Mar 22, 2011 | 01:48 AM
  #72  
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I'm in Afghanistan right now, and my car isn't being driven. It has around 45k miles and stock internals. I'm thinking when I get back, after having the car sit for 8 months it might be a good idea to get the old valve springs changed out.

So, just a regular set of GM LS2 springs will work to replace the stock LS6 springs?
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Old Mar 22, 2011 | 11:56 AM
  #73  
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I'll be doing the full CompCams replacement as noted in this article:

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...ngs/index.html
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Old Mar 22, 2011 | 08:43 PM
  #74  
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Originally Posted by Kamauxx
I'm in Afghanistan right now, and my car isn't being driven. It has around 45k miles and stock internals. I'm thinking when I get back, after having the car sit for 8 months it might be a good idea to get the old valve springs changed out.

So, just a regular set of GM LS2 springs will work to replace the stock LS6 springs?
I'm doing my springs for peace of mind.. I still believe it is rare to break a spring 2-3% chance. The Ls2 spring will work(same spring) for your Ls6.. I did a search in the C6 section of this forum and found 1 post from a guy with a 2005 Ls2 that broke a spring at 45k miles and 1 post from a 2008 LS3 (different spring) that broke a spring. I agree that there was a bad batch of valve springs during 2002 and early 2003.. There are posts from 2001 and 2004 Ls6 motors breaking springs also, however, this is very very rare... If you plan on future performance upgrades, there are better springs out there on the aftermarket.. There is really no sense in going overkill on the springs unless you are planning on a camshaft and/or a Heads package or Forced induction in the future.. Make sure to replace the valve seals too.. They are only. $43.99.. Well worth it while you are into the valvetrain.. Thank you for serving our country!! Go Marines!

Last edited by David426; Mar 22, 2011 at 08:57 PM.
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Old Apr 4, 2011 | 10:05 PM
  #75  
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Just thought I would add some pics of my valve spring swap I did not that long ago. I also included a picture of the tool that I used.

The swap was pretty easy for the most part. I also changed out all the plugs since I had to pull them anyway. I was very happy about how easy it was to access them compared to my 4th gen F-Body's that I owned in the past.




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Old Apr 4, 2011 | 10:07 PM
  #76  
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Few more:





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Old May 15, 2011 | 12:47 AM
  #77  
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Originally Posted by NatB
Actually- I was strongly leaning towards the PAC 1518's. But after my own exhaustive research on this forum - I concluded the 1518's were too much for the oem cam and valvetrain components.

I like the way the 1518's are designed - but I convinced myself the 1218's were better suited to run the stock Z06 valvetrain. This based on a lot of information from this forum .
FYI ... if you look at the spring specs on PAC's website, you will see that the PAC 1218 and the PAC 1518 have exactly the same specs. Only difference is that the PAC 1518 is nitride treated and nano-shot peened to give it more reliability and also allows it to achieve 0.650" lift vs 0.600" for the 1218.

PAC 1218:
http://www.racingsprings.com/Store/P...?ProductID=206

PAC 1518:
http://www.racingsprings.com/Store/P...?ProductID=220

From what I'm seeing, if you want the 1218 you might as well get the 1518 for a little more money to get the tougher more reliable spring.

The "tamer" spring is the PAC 1215 ... which has slightly less seat loads at the same lifts.

PAC 1215:
http://www.racingsprings.com/Store/P...?ProductID=205

Originally Posted by Pipedream
I am running the 1518s... surprising how many people will comment on them, that are still on the factory cam and springs... anyway.. if you are sticking with the factory cam, you are correct just go with the 1218s, BUT understand, the closed seat pressure between the two is the same, 130#s (1.8" install height). The only measured difference are at loads of 1.2" @ 318#s for the the 1218s and 1.150" @ 337#s for the 1518s. Really not that much difference, but go with what you are comfortable with.
If you calculate the open load at the same lift, then it will be the same between the 1218 and 1518 ... they both have the same exact spring rate and give the same loads at the same compression distances.

Last edited by ZeeOSix; May 15, 2011 at 12:57 AM.
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Old May 16, 2011 | 07:11 PM
  #78  
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Did the 04Z's have this issue or was it corrected at that point??
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Old May 16, 2011 | 09:02 PM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by Dave concrete
Did the 04Z's have this issue or was it corrected at that point??
From what I've read, the 2004s don't have any issues with the stock springs.
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Old May 17, 2011 | 01:17 PM
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I have the PAC 1518 springs...stock Z06 cam....700 whp and no problems
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