Entering hell with my corvette
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Entering hell with my corvette
So today I was driving my 2003 c5 z06 on the hwy going about 55 and I started to hear a chatter. then the car shut off ..I started it again and it turned off ...so I rolled to the next exit and stopped at the light .. when thr light turned green I tried starting the car again and it started and shot smoke out the exhaust . . I got the car into a gas station and then it died again .. so I got the car towed back home and started ton see what went wrong ... I drained the oil and bingo ... my oil was filled with coolant ..so now I have to pull the motor and replace everything I damaged ... all this before I even made my first payment on the car ... F*** me right ?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 2,234
Likes: 64
From: Gulf Coast Mississippi
St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15
How many miles are on the car ?, did you notice anything unusual in the days prior leading up to this. These motors are pretty darn tough, for something to just let go like that.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 552
Likes: 86
From: Philly area PA
Whew..................head gasket? Sorry you are going through this man. I know this is a shot but reach out to the previous owner let him or her know what's going on. Maybe just maybe he or she might help but I wouldn't hold your breath. I had a similar situation, bought my car in another state I stopped to get something to eat with my 7 year old and the car wouldn't start. Waited 5-10 minutes and it started, went home to show my wife and it wouldn't start again. 3 hours later I reached out to previous owner he said "I don't know what you did to the car after you left" needless to say I was very very upset. Two guys jumped in and offered some suggestions BILLCURLEE and 8VETTE7 and a member even came to my house to diagnose. Turns out I needed a starter. I guess what I am trying to say is don't stress too much, I'm sure it can be fixed. There are some great guys on here that are very knowledgeable, utilize them. Maybe even post in your local region or reach out to a local Corvette club for assistance. Good luck and sorry you are going through this I know how you feel.....
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
So today I was driving my 2003 c5 z06 on the hwy going about 55 and I started to hear a chatter. then the car shut off ..I started it again and it turned off ...so I rolled to the next exit and stopped at the light .. when thr light turned green I tried starting the car again and it started and shot smoke out the exhaust . . I got the car into a gas station and then it died again .. so I got the car towed back home and started ton see what went wrong ... I drained the oil and bingo ... my oil was filled with coolant ..so now I have to pull the motor and replace everything I damaged ... all this before I even made my first payment on the car ... F*** me right ?
The reason I ask is twofold;
1. Milky coolant could be as easy as a head gasket
2. Pure coolant on top of the oil is a crack in the block or a cylinder head crack. Number 2 is a tough one considering aluminum block and heads but overheating past the max sometimes causes hairline fractures because Aluminum has a low melting point.
Not trying to scare you, just making sure you diagnose it properly to be prepared.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,470
Likes: 460
From: East Windsor NJ
So today I was driving my 2003 c5 z06 on the hwy going about 55 and I started to hear a chatter. then the car shut off ..I started it again and it turned off ...so I rolled to the next exit and stopped at the light .. when thr light turned green I tried starting the car again and it started and shot smoke out the exhaust . . I got the car into a gas station and then it died again .. so I got the car towed back home and started ton see what went wrong ... I drained the oil and bingo ... my oil was filled with coolant ..so now I have to pull the motor and replace everything I damaged ... all this before I even made my first payment on the car ... F*** me right ?
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
HOLY HELL! Yea,,,,,,,,, I agree... Before you replace the engine,,,, you really need to do a LOT of testing and see exactly what problem you have.
If its a head gasket, its NOT all that difficult to fix.
Pull the plugs, inspect each one and look for significant differences in color. That would tell you what cylinder/s are involved if its cylinder specific.
If you pressurize the coolant system and it wont hold pressure but there isn't any coolant is a cylinder/s, that would be a head gasket / block issue.
Remove the heads and inspect.
Thoughts/ comments???
Bill
If its a head gasket, its NOT all that difficult to fix.
Pull the plugs, inspect each one and look for significant differences in color. That would tell you what cylinder/s are involved if its cylinder specific.
If you pressurize the coolant system and it wont hold pressure but there isn't any coolant is a cylinder/s, that would be a head gasket / block issue.
Remove the heads and inspect.
Thoughts/ comments???
Bill
Thread Starter
7th Gear
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Ok so I figured everything out .. when I got the car thr guy said it was tuned wrong and it was running lean... so thr whole time he drove it running lean and so did u when I bought it .. I took the heads off and saw that cylinder 8 exploded and I cracked the block ... I also shot my piston into my manifold lol .. so everything is junk only salvageable part is the heads on the driver side and maybe 7 pistons
so my plan is to buy a longblock out of a 2004 gto and buy new heads and cams and then put it all back in
so my plan is to buy a longblock out of a 2004 gto and buy new heads and cams and then put it all back in
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 22,025
Likes: 192
From: At the beach in little Rhody
Holy crap, I would be PO'd and knocking on that guys door. If he knew it was lean and was selling, the suspicious person that I am, I would guess he knew he had a bad cylinder and decided to off load the car. That sucks. The tuner that I use is very careful about not leaning the car out exactly for this reason.
Acct Suspended APR 2026 by request
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 10,367
Likes: 1,272
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
so he told you it was tuned wrong and running lean when you bought the car and you continued to drive it?... if so that was a big mistake, now if he didn't tell you that until after you blew it up then yeah I would be really pissed
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 3,099
Likes: 1,270
From: Harbor City California
We have had cars come to use for PPE (post purchase inspections) just to learn some of these cars were scary lean. Not to mention on in particular I can think of that was way lean and boosted.
A good PPI or PPE could save you an engine.
http://www.americanheritageperformance.com/
Edit: Not recommended to drive a car that is running lean (as in the original post).
A good PPI or PPE could save you an engine.
http://www.americanheritageperformance.com/
Edit: Not recommended to drive a car that is running lean (as in the original post).
Last edited by American Heritage; Nov 1, 2016 at 04:48 AM.
Racer
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 465
Likes: 16
If the car were running that lean shouldn't it have had the P0171 and P0174 Trouble codes present? Or were they disabled?
I would agree that a good inspection of the power train is warranted on these cars, but prior to purchase. Compression test, leak down test, DIC check, and so on. If you wait until after you buy, you may just be confirming that you bought a time bomb.
I would agree that a good inspection of the power train is warranted on these cars, but prior to purchase. Compression test, leak down test, DIC check, and so on. If you wait until after you buy, you may just be confirming that you bought a time bomb.
Pro
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 550
Likes: 53
From: Fort Myers Florida
Ok so I figured everything out .. when I got the car thr guy said it was tuned wrong and it was running lean... so thr whole time he drove it running lean and so did u when I bought it .. I took the heads off and saw that cylinder 8 exploded and I cracked the block ... I also shot my piston into my manifold lol .. so everything is junk only salvageable part is the heads on the driver side and maybe 7 pistons
so my plan is to buy a longblock out of a 2004 gto and buy new heads and cams and then put it all back in
so my plan is to buy a longblock out of a 2004 gto and buy new heads and cams and then put it all back in