Ok here is the story. Yesterday (10/05/13 from 5pm to about 3am I was driving my Corvette around town stopping at random places for maybe about 2 hours a piece if that. Right before I left for home I had a couple friends come out and look at the car. I cranked it and let it ideal for about 4-5 mins as we talked. They wanted to hear it reved so I did, reved it to about 5500 rpms and that was it. It came back down to an ideal making no noise what so ever said a couple more words and I left. As i was leaving I noticed my reserve fuel light was on so I pulled in to the local RacTrac gas station to put some gas in it(which was about 2 miles down the road). I had a guy come up to me looking over the car saying how beautiful it looked and how great it sounded. We talked for maybe about 2-4 mins while i pumped gas. I only put 3.5 gallons of 93 gas in the car. Wave bye and drove next door to the taco bell drive through to order some food. As soon as I get ready to order the car starts ticking LOUD and starts jerking, lose of power and shuts off. As it starts to lose power I give it enough gas to coast out of the drive through and find a parking stop. I get out of the car wondering what the hell is going on at this point another guy drives over and ask whats wrong told him "i do not know". He goes on to tell me that the same thing the other guy told me that "he saw and heard the car when I pulled in the gas station and it looked and sounded amazing! and that as soon as I made it over to the drive through he heard it start ticking very loudly" He went on to advise me not to crank it again (which I didn't) and he thinks it dropped a valve or something". After that guy left, my attention turned to the gas station. I started wondering if I got bad gas from the pump? I walk over to the gas station and talk to the manager who was very friendly and helpful. I proceeded to tell her what I thought happened and told her that I am not here to BS you I have a witness that saw and heard the car running before I shut it off to get gas and that I am a Deputy Sheriff and have no reason to make this up. She takes down my name and number and proceeds to tell me that 93 was low as it only had 3600 gallons and usually has 9000 gallons. I then asked for the corporate number. She gave it to me and told me know one will be available til Monday FML! After that I walked outside and got the original guy that saw and heard the car witness statement, just to cover me and back me up and prove that I was not lying about what happened.

So here I am know, trying to figure out what the hell happened. The car had no problems what so ever before this. My only guess would be that I got bad gas and it caused this. I mean I drove the car all day with out a single problem until after I put gas in it. Am i right to think that? What do yall think?


A little information about the car it's a 1999 FRC with 60,000 miles and it has full bolt ons and has a MS3 cam.

 

pull a valve cover.. sounds like you broke a valve spring

 

Running it up to 5,500 RPM unloaded is asking for problems.

If it ran OK after that, and the issue started only after the fuel, I would try re-starting it and just letting it idle. See if it settles down at all. If you damaged something mechanical (pushrod comes to mind) it will tick and not stop. Don't rev it up, just let it idle and come to temp. If its ticking, then you need to check pushrods or other parts of the valve train.

 

1.) No, you're not.
2.) See posts #2 & 3.

Aftermarket cam = aftermarket work. Pull the valve cover(s)

 

Its a broken valve spring, hopefully that's all. More testing tomorrow.

Never once have I had a problem revving a car up that high. I'm not a newbie to the ls1 world as my last 4 cars have been F-bodies. I guess it was just perfect timing that the valve spring broke right after I got gas.

As i said to the other guy its is a broken valve spring. I'll be doing some test on my next off day to make sure nothing else is wrong.

And I know an aftermarket cam means more maintenance. The valve spring just broke at the right time when i left the gas station. Now I know that it wasn't gas related problem, it was a user/maintenance problem. I can admit when I am wrong. That is why I came here for suggestions on what it could be. Thanks

 

You asked if it could be bad gas, and I answered your question. I wasn't implying aftermarket cam means more maintenance (although that's possible in a general sense) but rather, aftermarket work means not only aftermarket parts, but just as importantly aftermarket labor. Depending on who did the work, quality of parts installed and how recently, this should always be high on the list of suspected issues/causes, especially when something catastrophic happens "out of the blue", as in your case.
"Bad gas" can cause an engine to die or run roughly, but not break hard parts (a valve spring in this case) within a few minutes of filling up. Red lining (or above) an unloaded engine for even a second or two too long, also known as "winging", can be very hard on an engine as vettenuts said, and that doesn't just apply to LS engines; that's all engines. Valve float can cause very bad ($$) things.


Glad you found the problem. Hopefully it's limited to the spring with no pushrod rocker arm/valve damage. I would be getting a close eyeball on the other cylinders as well as long as you're checking by doing a compression check all around.

Post back up with what you find.

 

Shoulda been in Tech all along. Too confusing if one gets missed.

 

NO WAY will fuel quality cause VALVE TRAIN NOISE! It will cause a rough idle and poor performance but, NOT cause a mechanical issue.

I agree! Pull the valve coverS and examine each Pushrod, valve spring and rocker. Look for a broken spring, loose valve rocker assy (puked out rocker trunion bearings) or a bent pushrod.

Rotate the pushrod between your fingers on the closed valves and see if you can see anything abnormal.

Check to see what DTCs that you have:

READING YOUR Engine Diagnostic Codes



The Diagnostic Display Mode is entered with the following procedure:

1) Turn on the ignition but don't start the engine. NOTE! You can read the DTCs with the engine running and or driving down the road but it can distract you. BE careful! Some DTCs clear themselves when you turn the ignition OFF!

2) Press the RESET button to turn off any warning messages. (i.e. door open, trunk open ect)
3) Press and hold OPTIONS
4) While holding OPTIONS, press FUEL four times within a 10-second period.


Initially, on-board diagnostics go into an Automatic Mode which shows diagnostic codes in a pre-set sequence: PCM - TCS - RTD - BCM - IPC - RADIO - HVAC - LDCM - RDCM - SCM - RFA. All codes will be displayed for each. ( i.e. PCM = 4 codes) If none are present in a given module, you will see No More Codes on the display.
There are two kinds of diagnostic codes, Current and History designated with a letter suffix, “C” or “H”. A current C code indicates a malfunction is present and active in the module displaying data. A history code indicates a problem existed sometime in the last 40 or 50 ignition cycles. When not accompanied by a current code of the same number, it's potential evidence of a previous problem, now resolved, that was not removed by clearing the codes.
More likely it's an indication of an intermittent malfunction.
Intermittent codes are the most challenging of the diagnostics. An intermittent code may have happened once, may have happened more than once but is inconsistent or may be happening on a regular basis but not at the time the codes are displayed. History codes can also be caused by a current malfunction in a system that is not operating at the time codes are displayed. An example is the rear window defogger which doesn't operate until the Body Control Module detects engine rpm. For history codes set by a module that does not operate with the key on and engine off, a special diagnostic tool called a Scan Tester is necessary to properly diagnose the malfunction.
Once the system has displayed all modules, it goes into the manual mode which allows selection of each module using combinations of Driver Information Center buttons. Manual mode can also be entered during the automatic sequence by pressing any button except English/Metric (E/M). Once the display shows Manual Diagnostics, select a module by pressing the OPTIONS button to go forward or the TRIP button to go back. Once a module is selected, a code is displayed, and if more than one are present; press GAGES to go forward or FUEL to go back.
To exit the diagnostic mode at any time, press E/M. If you want to erase codes in a given module, press and hold the RESET button To reset the codes once in manual mode, press and hold RESET until it displays NO CODES Press OPTIONS to go to the next module. Repeat the steps until you have reset the codes in all the computer modules.
NOTE!! Only reset the codes IF you want to - it is NOT necessary to do this. Clearing a code does not repair a problem. You are simply erasing the evidence of it in the module's memory. If you clear the code/s, and extinguish the Check Engine Light, your emissions status ready will NOT allow you to pass an emissions test until you have completed the required driving cycles.
Once you have the codes, the next question is: What to do with the information?
First, consult the factory service manual. Any serious C5 Do-It-Yourself owner should invest in the Corvette Service Manual of the appropriate model year. The Service Manual is really a requirement if you want to understand and work on your C5. You can GOOGLE the DTC and also find information on it.




Here is very good site that explains the DTCs:


http://www.corvette-web-central.com/C5DTCcode.html


http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_cod...d-ii-codes.php



Make sure to include the H or C suffix!!

 

Bill! Read post #7 (above). He's already DONE all that.

 

Well Ill be damed!

 

Thanks for all the info guys. Pulled the passenger side head today and found the valve tapped the piston a couple of times just enough to knock the carbon build up off and that the valve is bent. Other then that everything else looks good. Will be ordering new parts in the following weeks and should have her back up and running soon.

 

If it was my car,,, I would change ALL the springs and ALL the valve guide seals. You can do the other head inplace.

Another recommendation,, order new upgraded trunions for your rockers and install them!

BC

 

I'm replacing everything, I'm going with the Brain Tooley dual springs kit, possibly new heads and I my rockers already have the Trunion upgrade.