What the hell could have caused this???
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 469
Likes: 0
From: St. Pete, Fl
What the hell could have caused this???
Apparently a connecting rod broke, or came lose and punctured clean through the side of my engine. I have a 2001 Z28 with 85,000 miles, free ram air, lid and Borla cat back and that is it! The oil has been changed under 10,000 miles(as per the oil life moniter light) and I used Mobil 1 most of the time. No, I have not driven it through rain recently, either. Anyone have thoughts?
Last edited by tslawsky; May 31, 2005 at 04:40 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,108
Likes: 17
Originally Posted by tslawsky
Apparently a connecting rod broke, or came lose and punctured clean through the side of my engine. I have a 2001 Z28 with free ram air, lid and Borla cat back and that is it! The oil has been changed under 10,000 miles and Mobil 1 most of the time. No, I have not driven it through rain recently, either. Anyone have thoughts?
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 3,558
Likes: 2
From: Cape Coral FL
Originally Posted by tslawsky
Apparently a connecting rod broke, or came lose and punctured clean through the side of my engine. I have a 2001 Z28 with 85,000 miles, free ram air, lid and Borla cat back and that is it! The oil has been changed under 10,000 miles(as per the oil life moniter light) and I used Mobil 1 most of the time. No, I have not driven it through rain recently, either. Anyone have thoughts?
If not, can you see the end of the rod where it broke? Can you see if it is broken where the bolts hold the rod bottom to the top? That can tell a lot of what happened. Sorry to hear about your problem.
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 5,364
Likes: 38
From: King George VA
Originally Posted by tslawsky
Apparently a connecting rod broke, or came lose and punctured clean through the side of my engine. I have a 2001 Z28 with 85,000 miles, free ram air, lid and Borla cat back and that is it! The oil has been changed under 10,000 miles(as per the oil life moniter light) and I used Mobil 1 most of the time. No, I have not driven it through rain recently, either. Anyone have thoughts?
It was this engine failure which prompted me to learn more about what an oil does for the motor and led to my switch to AMSOIL.
That said, I don't really blame the oil for the failure. The rods were still attached to the crank and post destruction analysis indicated the stock gap between the crank and the rod bearings was under spec, meaning the oil had to work through a smaller gap than required.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I know how painful that can be.
__________________
C66 Racing #66 NASA ST2, SCCA T2
AMSOIL Dealer (Forum Vendor)
AMSOIL Preferred Customer Program (Members buy at Wholesale - a savings of about 25%)
C66 Racing #66 NASA ST2, SCCA T2
AMSOIL Dealer (Forum Vendor)
AMSOIL Preferred Customer Program (Members buy at Wholesale - a savings of about 25%)
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 469
Likes: 0
From: St. Pete, Fl
Originally Posted by Subdriver
I lost an LS6 in 2003 due to a seized bearing. In my case, which admittedly happened at higher than stock RPM, the rod bearings of pistons 3 and 4 seized and attempted to rotate the rod. The #3 rod pulled free of the piston and rotated out the side of the motor block. The #4 rod pulled part way free of the piston and was on its way out when the motor stopped.
It was this engine failure which prompted me to learn more about what an oil does for the motor and led to my switch to AMSOIL.
That said, I don't really blame the oil for the failure. The rods were still attached to the crank and post destruction analysis indicated the stock gap between the crank and the rod bearings was under spec, meaning the oil had to work through a smaller gap than required.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I know how painful that can be.
It was this engine failure which prompted me to learn more about what an oil does for the motor and led to my switch to AMSOIL.
That said, I don't really blame the oil for the failure. The rods were still attached to the crank and post destruction analysis indicated the stock gap between the crank and the rod bearings was under spec, meaning the oil had to work through a smaller gap than required.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I know how painful that can be.
Last edited by tslawsky; May 31, 2005 at 08:35 PM.
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 5,364
Likes: 38
From: King George VA
Originally Posted by tslawsky
Thanks for the info. The possibly good ending is that I bought an extended warrenty and have all of my oil change records. They will let me know after the tear down tomorrow, but it SHOULD be covered. Funny, the adjuster started to bring up the issue that I used Mobil 1 most of the time, but occasionally used Wal-Mart brand oil. The Dealer tech told him that this should not affect a modern motor in a negative way and the adjuster authorized the teardown and inspection. Shhhhesh, can you believe that? My fingers are crossed! The part that makes me nervous is that just 3 weeks ago they shelled out $1,600 for a new rear end. At that time, they noticed no sign of abuse, and that is doccumented. This must bode well in my favor. Stay tuned....
As a note for you, there is nothing wrong with using a Wal-mart brand of oil from a warranty situation as long as it meets the owners manual requirements. I suggest you open and read your owner's manual closely to pre-arm yourself if this goes south.
For example, the Vette owners manual requires a synthetic oil meeting GM Standard 4718M. A specific brand can not be required by the manufacturer, so any oil meeting this standard is in compliance with the owners manual. I suspect the Z28 owners manual has similar statements. It probably is less specific than the Vette's owners manual, and if you are lucky will only say you must use a 5w30 oil meeting API Standard SL (which was the standard issued by the API in 2001). SJ was the standard prior to that and was issued in 97.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
5 Best & 5 Worst Corvette Daily Drivers
Joe Kucinski
The Headlights of Every Corvette Generation Explained
Joe Kucinski
5 Best & 5 Most Overrated Corvette Track Packages of All Time!
Joe Kucinski
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 469
Likes: 0
From: St. Pete, Fl
Originally Posted by Mike94ZLT1
How high do you spin it, and how often do you do that? The connecting rod bolts are notoriously weak on LS1's.
Anywhere I can go to doccument this just incase I need to plead a case? THanX!
Tom
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,752
Likes: 3
From: Bethlehem PA
Originally Posted by tslawsky
Apparently a connecting rod broke, or came lose and punctured clean through the side of my engine. I have a 2001 Z28 with 85,000 miles, free ram air, lid and Borla cat back and that is it! The oil has been changed under 10,000 miles(as per the oil life moniter light) and I used Mobil 1 most of the time. No, I have not driven it through rain recently, either. Anyone have thoughts?
I'd never go 10k between oil changes, and certainly not on an older LS1 motor. My 2000 Z would cook up 1.5 qts. of oil every 3k miles.
Old and/or low oil and high revs is a recipe for certain disaster.
Scott
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,157
Likes: 5
From: Eastern PA
Sorry to hear about the troubles. 
My 2002 Coupe's LS-1 self destructed last month via the #2 piston. I'm told a fuel injector problem caused the top right edge to burn away down to the ring, creating an open cylinder top to bottom. (See the picture here.)
I was on a trip in FL when I found oil was being ejected out through the throttle body and into my air intake...drove it back to my home in GA and then a whole week w/o knowing really what the problem was. Then everything kind of went to hell when lots of white smoke started kicking out of the exhaust during hard braking and/or cornering to the left. Drove it from my home 2 hrs to a reputable shop in Atlanta (see MTIRacing )...was told I was VERY lucky not to have the rod or piston punch through the engine block like you said happened to yours.
Since it's a dialy driver with 69K miles on it and there's no extended warranty, there's nothing much Chevy can do for me. (Wouldn't want the mechanics at my local dealer messing with it anyway.
) Rather than "just" putting in a set of new forged rods and pistons, I decided to let MTIRacing turn it into a 383. Ahhh, mod fever! 
Good luck with your engine, I hope everything is covered or at least isn't too expensive and that the mechanics working on your car are up to snuff!
My 2002 Coupe's LS-1 self destructed last month via the #2 piston. I'm told a fuel injector problem caused the top right edge to burn away down to the ring, creating an open cylinder top to bottom. (See the picture here.)
I was on a trip in FL when I found oil was being ejected out through the throttle body and into my air intake...drove it back to my home in GA and then a whole week w/o knowing really what the problem was. Then everything kind of went to hell when lots of white smoke started kicking out of the exhaust during hard braking and/or cornering to the left. Drove it from my home 2 hrs to a reputable shop in Atlanta (see MTIRacing )...was told I was VERY lucky not to have the rod or piston punch through the engine block like you said happened to yours.
Since it's a dialy driver with 69K miles on it and there's no extended warranty, there's nothing much Chevy can do for me. (Wouldn't want the mechanics at my local dealer messing with it anyway.
) Rather than "just" putting in a set of new forged rods and pistons, I decided to let MTIRacing turn it into a 383. Ahhh, mod fever! Good luck with your engine, I hope everything is covered or at least isn't too expensive and that the mechanics working on your car are up to snuff!
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,743
Likes: 1
From: Keep Me Working...Buy A Ford!
Originally Posted by Mike94ZLT1
How high do you spin it, and how often do you do that? The connecting rod bolts are notoriously weak on LS1's.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 469
Likes: 0
From: St. Pete, Fl
Originally Posted by Autoworker
With 85,000 miles on the clock, I doubt if it was a factory assembly issue. Have you owned the Z since it was new? Problably mis-treated by a previous owner. Good luck on finding a replacement short block.
Update: The Number 6 connecting rod snapped in half. It tore the entire half of the engine open. I have owned my Z since it was new and maintained it well. I never raised the rev limiter using a computer, and didn't mod the car it past cold air and catback. I cant believe that regular driving could snap a connecting rod clean in half. Anyway, the inspector is making a ruling tomorrow. I dont abuse my car and god I hope that they dont try to skrew me.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 469
Likes: 0
From: St. Pete, Fl
They are going to pay, the warrenty company. Dodged a bullett there! Anyway, better news....they are going to pay 3000 for a used long block with 55000 miles on it. However, he said if I could find something else, they will pay 3000 towards that. I found a place that bought the motors from the ZL1 Camaro program, where the dealers installed LS6's in brand new SS's and added a premium on the car price. Anyway, the motor is 3500 dollars and the motor they're shipping me has 5 miles on it, original factory oil and filter and....tada....It was 1 of the lucky 1's with the LS6 block cerial number. Now, if I can just get the Stealership to stop the incessent **** raping of me, this may have a happy ending. That's another story for another post, though!
