C3Paul

Hi

I have read few posts about broken valve springs in 2002-03 cars and am scared in to replacing valve springs in my 2004 Z16.

My car is 2004 Z16 with 17000 mls on the clock and before I go ahead and replace the valve springs I would like to check if this issue is relative to the 2004 LS6 engines as well.

Anyone with 2004 LS6 and broken valve spring?

NatB

I have a 2002 - and I just replaced mine as preventative maintenance.

All the many posts on various forums indicate the main problem was the 2002-2003 model year Z06. Seems GM got the QA/QC issues with their spring vendors undewr control for the 2004 model.

Eric Reeves

I have owned two '02 Z that were daily drivers and I put a lot of miles on the first one at the track. Both were stock (except for headers on the first). Never an issue with a broken spring. I am mindful not to rev it up before it gets up to temp. I am not worried about the springs either.

FYI, I put the GM Hot Cam kit in my '02 WS6. It comes with the '02-'04Z springs from GM. I would spin that car up to 7k rpm at the track. The car has been running in that configuration since '04 with no issues.

Not saying there was something wrong with springs with the number of cases out there but you have to wonder how many were telling the truth about sitting at a light and then all the sudden....

machz800ps

The valve springs are a 02-03 issue. the springs in 04 were said to to be different and i have not heard of any 04 issue on here, my 04 has 22k on and is a street car not worried at all ,and i rev 1st through 3rd alot
Steve

GoliathsVette

This was an issue with the 2003?! Have they done any recalls for this issue? Was it a manufacturer defect or just random cases? What does everyone suggest for springs?

NatB

Search through the forum on valve springs. Lots of posts. It generally affected the Z06 which has a more aggressive cam than the normal C5.

Apparently there was a bad batch ( or several) of the valve springs. Believe it affected some of the 2002's and 2003's as well.

Was it a real problem- I don't know, as people who post on forums like this would not post to say their valve springs are working great. This skews the statistics - some say it only affected 2-3 percent of the engines which strikes me as minimal ( unless it was my engine that grenaded). Generally, valve springs are a non issue except for highly modified engines ( i.e. aggressive cams).

I replaced the springs on my 2002 Z06 purely as pm.

NatB

Pretty much my point of view as well- I changed the springs out last week-end as pm based on the negative posts. I remain skeptical that it was necessary - but more for peace of mind. My gut feeling is the problem has been way overblown by a few people suffering very unfortunate parts failures. Nobody is going to post how well their springs are working

T-FAST

Thats just the nature of an online forum.

81c3

I been on here since 2005 and theres been alot more than a few. For about $200. why not chnge the springs and throw in some new valve seals if you own an 02 or an 03?

its funny how guys will spend a ton of money on a cat back exhaust sytstem with no real reason based on faliure rates or even a hp increase, but the same guys will debate changing out questionable valve springs which could blow an engine in a heartbeat...........

NatB

Agree with you on your point on people spending money on non esentials - that's why I replaced my valve springs.

But....imho, this is not a DIY job for anyone to tackle - as a mistake in performing the job could also be costly (i.e. dropping a valve; losing a keeper in the engine; improperly re-installing & torquing the rocker arms). I would suggest that paying a good shop $300-$500 for the labor plus parts would be well worth the peace of mind. That's still far less than a good quality cat-back system.

2TONE82

C3 Paul - I think I remember you from the early days on CF...congrats on your Z16. I have #165, she has a little over 33K miles on her and no problems with valve springs. As someone else mentioned, I let her warm the oil up before hitting higher RPMs. Try to keep her under 3K RPM until oil temp hits 120.

On another note - have you checked for the fuel tank cross over leak? Mine came up with that problem but was fixed under the recall.

Best to your and yours -

GoliathsVette

OohRahh; RCT-1 Helmand Province, AF

2TONE82

Back at'cha; RCT-7, Mogadishu Somalia…92/93…a long, long time ago

Speeed-Racer

I have an '04, a mid-year build, that broke a valve spring a few years back. When I posted, a few chimed in and someone was keeping track of build year/months of the cars that were effected. My '04 was the second recorded, but the first was a very early build. It is not prevalent in the '04's; but, as previously posted, a little PM will be peace of mind.

C3Paul

Hello,

Well the Z is just brilliant! Love it

I can not smell any fuel at all, so I do not know.

Was there a recall?

I am quite busy with the naughty one at this moment:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...ine-build.html

Paul