my60th

I turned 60 on June 20th, I had a specialty plate made 'MY60TH'. I really wanted the 60th anniversary corvette. I saw this car and said, let me just do it. I hesitated on the warranty at first because of the low miles, but I figured many things on the corvette could be expensive and I thought the warranty (bumper to bumper) was reasonably priced and is transferable for a $45 fee. So I went with the warranty to make me feel comfortable about the purchase. I reviewed the contract last night and I did not see anything in the fine print that should make me concerned. I have driven the car to a few car shows, and stepped on the gas a few times to bring back that smile I had when I was younger, but that is all. You guys have been a real help, and these posts help keep me optimistic. I will be touching base with the chevy service department today to see how the job is going. I will keep you all updated. Thanks again!!.

dr_gallup

Good luck, hope you get it all sorted. I did the exact same thing a little over two years ago, bought a 60th anniversary GS for my 60th birthday. I had been thinking I wanted a velocity yellow one until I saw the 60th anniversary package.

phileaglesfan

Good luck! I know a couple 13 427 motors that blew. Definitely make sure they replace every part of the oil system as mentioned before as the new motor will die also. I'm guessing it is the rod issue that is common. For some reason GM screwed up building some of them, which ones is always the question. I heard good things about car max. I know I wouldn't buy an LS7 without an extended warranty. Getting on it a few times is not an issue so I wouldn't worry about that too much.

Buying used is always a risk because you don't know why they are getting rid of the car in most cases.

Good luck with the repair. It figures that GM won't cover this issue out of warranty, it even involves some patience to get them to cover it within warranty as they'll look for a way out.

cmonkey713

I hope the CarMax warranty saves him. When dealing with GM very frustrating and disappointing.

Ericm1949

my60th

Good point, I will try to find the in service date. Thankyou!

rkj427

if you would like............... take the VIN to any GM dealer, they can run a FREE VIS Report in the Service Department, which will contain all of the vehicle option, build, and service information for you

my60th

I checked the in service date on the car and it was January 2013. The car showed up in the my search at CarMax the first week of February, just over 5 year warranty. It had just turned over 6,000 miles so the previous owner may have just had the oil changed. CarMax informed me that they had also changed the oil. Shortly after I purchased the vette, I had an issue with the car starting when it the engine was hot. Thought it might have been the battery because a battery charger was left in the trunk. I checked the battery and it was only a few months old. After a couple weeks it got worse and so I brought it to the Chevy dealership. They battery checked out OK. They found that the starter required an allot of amps when the engine was hot, so they replaced the starter and CarMax covered it. After that it started fine for awhile and then it started to hesitate again when hot. I mentioned this to the service dept again when I brought the vette in for this issue. They stated that in some cases hard starting could also indicate a bearing issue.
Chevy dealership was hoping to start the tear down today.

ruxvette

As has already been said...
Make sure everything that had oil going through it is replaced...

my60th

Thanks I will. I intend to to inform the service manager how critical this is. The dealership has been great, and they have brought the mechanic out to talk to me several times. I will be sure to have a conversation with him on this also.

Jeff T.

You've been very calm and even keeled so far and I applaud you for that.
I sincerely hope everything gets worked out to your satisfaction.

BigVette427

They will probably let you keep the old motor if you ask - do it. You're block may or may be salvagable, at the least you'll likely need new Ti rods. Might be able to make a hot-rod out of the old motor or sell it for parts. Too much fun to let someone else play with it. At the least it would make a badass coffee table with a glass top on it. Tell them that is the least they can do for your inconvenience. The original heads will be ideal cores send out and "fixed" for the valve guides while the new motor gets installed. Look in the Z06 forum for more info, but consider American Heritage Performance in Harbor City, California. https://www.americanheritageperformance.com/

Jstan2014

BigVette427

I've never heard definitively but from what I have gathered, GM tried to use a new main bearing material that was more environmentally correct for import over to Europe. Obviously they soon realized the mistake that that was but I've never been able to narrow down specifically when they started doing this, and when they stopped. I don't believe any 2012's had these bad bearings and I don't believe any of the 2014 Z/28's had these issues, either.

I'd like to learn at what point (if any) in the 2013 LS7 production run did GM switch to the previous bearings? Why does this happen on some motors and not others? I remember back when the 427 Vert's were new hearing about motors that gave out before they even got to their first 1,000 mile interval. Lots of folks spent a lot of money on a sweet one-off for 2013 Corvette and got stuck with a bum motor. I always wanted one but was hesitant for this specific reason. Heads (valve guides) I could fix, main bearings taking out Ti connecting rods, out of warranty on my dime, no thank you.

AORoads

I'm glad the OP is getting some progress and hopefully it will all be fixed, maybe even a new engine vs. a reman engine. And, while the car's original powertrain warranty ended this past January, I learned from that thread I included in my other post that CarMax's warranty is pretty darned good, too. Even tho I've sold a few cars to them, I've never bought---these examples could change my mind. I'll wait to see the final outcome for and of the OP's car in this thread but it definitely seems like it's going in the right direction.

Thanks for keeping us updated and continued good luck!

cal45

...and here I am thinking I was the only one that did this when I bought my 60th GS two weeks ago - even though I won't hit 60 till October.

csf

When I bought my 13 GS brand new I seriously considered the 427, but went with a GS, as the Z06's also with the LS7 were already having some catastrophic failures.
This was surprising to me as all those motors were "handbuilt" at the Wixom facility and came with a signed engine plaque by the builder.
Although some say the number of actual problems is low, the total number LS7's sold is low too, so the actual percentage may be significant. This is why
I think someone with one of these failed motor should open up a complaint with the NHSTA. GM may not want to help here, but the government may feel differently.

I say this because several years ago our Mazda suffered an out-of warranty axle failure, coasting in a parking lot, which cost us almost $3000 to repair. If we had been on the highway
we could have lost control, flipped, been injured or killed. The vehicle had been serviced regularly at the dealer, garaged and kept in perfect condition so I asked Mazda to cover this and was denied.

I contacted the NHSTA to file a complaint about a possible safety defect . . . . they opened a file and assigned an intern ( a kid from University of Michigan ) to research it . . .
turned out there others with the same exact issue, apparently due to premature corrosion from road salt. Mazda had to recall thousands of vehicles in states where salt is used to inspect or replace
the axles and boots, which cost them millions, and we got all our money back as well. And that intern was so proud of his work.

There was already a lawsuit ( https://www.leftlanenews.com/corvett...ems-89973.html ). Maybe its time a government summer intern look into this LS7 situation.

Good luck to you.

Mordeth

All of this has already been done, years ago. Including complaints to the NHSTA and a lawsuit against GM for the LS7 valve guide issue. They went bankrupt and the entire problem was basically ignored. It is well documented on these forums and elsewhere. There have been hundreds and hundreds of complaints (TO EVERYONE), and the very issue was featured in an "Ask Tadge" question a few years ago on these very forums. He is the Chief Engineer of Corvette, FYI (issue also ignored/dismissed). So thanks for the "advice" to us LS7 owners, but all of this has already been done. In addition, most of us LS7 guys simply spend a lousy $1500 (cost of a set of tires) to repair the heads ourselves in a weekend. And the fact that an engine was hand assembled says nothing as to the quality of the machine work on the cast LS7 heads performed by a company in Canada (Linamar). And finally, the number of LS7s sold is not "low". They built around 30,000 of them.

cal45

Sorry you are experiencing this but it does sound like you chose the right dealership to handle this.
Good luck with the fix and keep us updated.

Bruze

Yes, we do love that road salt here in the north. My C6 is very happy snoozing away for 5 months or so in my barn each winter.

My 2017 truck, which has been through two winters, already has signs of rust on the undercarriage.