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[Z06] Z06 spring life?

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Old Jan 9, 2016 | 11:34 AM
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Default Z06 spring life?

New to late style Corvette (I'm old).

Does the 2002 Z06 have the same problems/failure as the base
non-Z06 engine?

Thanks

EPS
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Old Jan 9, 2016 | 01:23 PM
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Assuming valve springs; mainly 02 and 03 Z's have the issue and should be replaced. The base model didn't have a high lift cam, no spring issues I'm aware of.
01 and 04 Z's have much less likelihood of breaking them.
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Old Jan 9, 2016 | 02:19 PM
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Default Springs

Thanks for the heads-up.

EPS
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Old Jan 10, 2016 | 08:55 AM
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Get a flashlight, look in your oil filler at the spring you see. If it is yellow replace them ASAP. GM started using a different spring late 2003 MY.
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Old Jan 10, 2016 | 06:12 PM
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Use Pac 1218 as the replacement. Dont risk anything and change them asap. Would be silly for that little money to replace the springs rather than a entire motor
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Old Jan 11, 2016 | 01:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Atok
Get a flashlight, look in your oil filler at the spring you see. If it is yellow replace them ASAP. GM started using a different spring late 2003 MY.
The new stock springs are blue. If you are not going to mod your car, new stock springs are just fine. You may want to replace valve seals and spark plugs and wires at the same time.
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Old Jan 11, 2016 | 08:34 AM
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Originally Posted by Atok
Get a flashlight, look in your oil filler at the spring you see. If it is yellow replace them ASAP. GM started using a different spring late 2003 MY.
I looked where the oil is filled and didn't see anything yellow or blue. Not sure I was looking in the right place?
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Old Jan 11, 2016 | 04:12 PM
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Originally Posted by 03 Z-oh-6
I looked where the oil is filled and didn't see anything yellow or blue. Not sure I was looking in the right place?
If you are a normal human this is not possible, you need a head shaped like a bowling pin to see in through that hole. Pull a valve cover and you know for sure.
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Old Jan 11, 2016 | 04:29 PM
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How much does it cost for a reputable shop to do the springs? And how much are the parts?

Last edited by Studying4boards; Jan 11, 2016 at 04:30 PM.
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Old Jan 11, 2016 | 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop
If you are a normal human this is not possible, you need a head shaped like a bowling pin to see in through that hole. Pull a valve cover and you know for sure.
LOL....
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Old Jan 12, 2016 | 05:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop
If you are a normal human this is not possible, you need a head shaped like a bowling pin to see in through that hole. Pull a valve cover and you know for sure.
Not sure why you say that because when I shine a flashlight down my oil filler I clearly see the side of one valve spring. No problem to see what color it is.
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Old Jan 13, 2016 | 01:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Atok
Not sure why you say that because when I shine a flashlight down my oil filler I clearly see the side of one valve spring. No problem to see what color it is.
Seeing one spring tells you the color of one spring. That's all.
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Old Jan 13, 2016 | 02:05 AM
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I went 70k on my 02's before I changed them due to cam change. Yes they were Yellow!
Others blew them up in no-time.
I'd still recommend changing them out, but don't lose sleep over it.
If it helps, I always let the oil warm up to at least 160 before I went over 4500ish rpm's.

Last edited by dagon138; Jan 13, 2016 at 02:08 AM.
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Old Jan 13, 2016 | 05:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop
Seeing one spring tells you the color of one spring. That's all.
True but a reasonable assumption would be that they are all the same.
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Old Jan 17, 2016 | 05:47 PM
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Default reasonable assumption

Originally Posted by Atok
True but a reasonable assumption would be that they are all the same.
And some folks assume that the gun wasn't loaded.

An ounce of prevention...(wear a rubber)

Springs are cheap.

Head/piston/block repair is not.

I have blown-up enough stuff to know.

EPS
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Old Jan 17, 2016 | 09:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Atok
True but a reasonable assumption would be that they are all the same.
Thats so far from the truth. Usually 1 spring will fail and say bye bye motor no rhyme or reason. And if your lucky enough to not ruin your motor and bring it to a chevy dealership they will usually replace the 1 broken spring. The spring could look fine and not be broken on monday, you go for a quick ride on tuesday and bam broken spring game over. And you cant tell anything by looking at a spring as far as if its going to fail. Its not like you say "well its looks like a spring so it will be fine" Lol. Did you expect the spring to somehow talk to you and tell you " man im ready to break bro"! Lol. The oem springs have failed time and time again i could care less if they are yellow blue orange pink ect. Real simple solution and insurnace. On LS6 motors with a stock cam replace with PAC 1218 valve springs. Problem solved plain and simple.

Last edited by mainecobra; Jan 17, 2016 at 09:09 PM.
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Old Jan 18, 2016 | 11:15 AM
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If you can't afford to replace your springs with a good DUAL spring like Patriot Gold Extremes or Pac's, the safest way to prevent "possibly some" spring failures is to let it idle until your oil temp get to 160* before taking off for a drive. It's not 100% , but it may help,,,,,,but not likely. The safest thing to do is to replace them with dual springs,stock motor or not.DO NOT trust your motor with a single spring set up. GM's new beehives , i don't trust them either,still made in China.They are all made in China! Get a good US manufactured DUAL spring. The inside spring on a dual insures no valve to piston damage should the outer spring fail. Cheap insurance and just common sense to me if you want to forget about the possibility of catastrophic engine destruction provided courteously of GM. IMO DUAL is the word !

Last edited by ONE BMF; Jan 18, 2016 at 11:16 AM.
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Old Jan 18, 2016 | 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted by ONE BMF
If you can't afford to replace your springs with a good DUAL spring like Patriot Gold Extremes or Pac's, the safest way to prevent "possibly some" spring failures is to let it idle until your oil temp get to 160* before taking off for a drive. It's not 100% , but it may help,,,,,,but not likely. The safest thing to do is to replace them with dual springs,stock motor or not.DO NOT trust your motor with a single spring set up. GM's new beehives , i don't trust them either,still made in China.They are all made in China! Get a good US manufactured DUAL spring. The inside spring on a dual insures no valve to piston damage should the outer spring fail. Cheap insurance and just common sense to me if you want to forget about the possibility of catastrophic engine destruction provided courteously of GM. IMO DUAL is the word !

Please tell me your kidding!!! This is not true in any fashion. You should not run a dual spring on a stock cam motor. You will have way to much seat pressure. You cant just throw a dual spring in bud you have to go with specs of your cam. Please do not give advice when you have zero clue what you are talking about. The issue is the quality of material used in 02-04 z06 springs. Normally they should never be a issue just as they are not a issue on 05 and up corvettes. So a dual spring is not needed and should not be used on a stock cam ls6. Like ive said many times on here. PAC 1218 beehive spring end of discussion.
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Old Jan 23, 2016 | 06:50 PM
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Originally Posted by ONE BMF
If you can't afford to replace your springs with a good DUAL spring like Patriot Gold Extremes or Pac's, the safest way to prevent "possibly some" spring failures is to let it idle until your oil temp get to 160* before taking off for a drive. It's not 100% , but it may help,,,,,,but not likely. The safest thing to do is to replace them with dual springs,stock motor or not.DO NOT trust your motor with a single spring set up. GM's new beehives , i don't trust them either,still made in China.They are all made in China! Get a good US manufactured DUAL spring. The inside spring on a dual insures no valve to piston damage should the outer spring fail. Cheap insurance and just common sense to me if you want to forget about the possibility of catastrophic engine destruction provided courteously of GM. IMO DUAL is the word !
The springs are made in Mexico not China. As others have said your advise is dubious.
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