bikerpuke

I was giving media rides at my local track as a favor to a friend. At 6,000 rpm in 4th,the engine failed with a loud bang and a huge sustained fire ball. Most of the fire blew out from under the car because of the high speed. By the time I got it stopped only the engine was on fire. I put that out with my extinguisher. There was aluminum shrapnel at the point of explosion, and a hole in the bottom of the block about 10 inches square. A separated rod is visible, but the rest of the broken pieces are so badly deformed they are unidentifiable. The regional manager for GM voided my warranty because I had installed StopTech brakes and brake cooling ducts. The only mods on the car are safety related: brakes; brake cooling ducts; harnesses; roll bar; and fortunately, a fire extinguisher. She and the dealer showed no interest in the cause of the failure or in taking care of me. I have moved the car to a Z06 friendly dealer in another town, and am in mediation with the GM special claims division. I have been without the car for over 2 months, and have not been able to even touch the car because the terms of the mediation require the car to be kept in it's immediate post incident condition. Looks like a stalling technique to me. The car has been tracked but never raced and the power train is stock original.
Needless to say I am unamused. I drive the car just as it was designed to be driven. Those of us who chose to track our cars are GM's best Corvette salesmen, and they know that. I hope that as I work my way up the corporate structure at GM I will eventually encounter someone who gets it, and they will take care of me.

Mookster

Can you tell us how many miles on your car? Any mods? How much has it been tracked?

Mopar Jimmy

OUCH, really sorry to hear about what happended to you and what your going through with GM giving you issues on the warranty and quarantining the car like that!!

I think your just the second 2009 Z that has a reported documented failure on the forum.

Hang in there my friend, fight the good fight against GM and things could always be MUCH worse (but this is a big bummer for you no doubt)!

FamousRR

How can they void you warranty because of brakes??!! That sounds pretty shady to me.


Good luck on this. Don't stop fighting especially if your only mods are brakes!

Mopar Jimmy

That's probably not the issue he is up against, they will come up with the clause in the warranty that states something similar to "excessive abuse while driving the car" (just b/c he was on a track and has some road race equipment on his car). I know, its a bunch of chicken chit bullchit, but one that the new GM is using more and more often these days)!

If you give them any potential reason not to make good on their warranty on a BIG ticket item like a new LS7 engine, they are going to take it these days, its the times we are living in with Obama Motors and the state of affairs with the economy, etc.

erick_e

Its a shame that you can't use a vehicle for its intended purpose without the manufacturer trying to back out if their warranty. That's like saying your 4x4 upgraded shocks voids your blown engine because you took it off road. At least Ford stood up and did the right thing for me. Makes me leary about my 60K Z06

fisher auto

Yea WTF!

erick_e

Fat fingered my phone and hit post before I meant to..

BEZ06

It was at either the 2008 or 2009 NCM HPDE at VIR that a several month old low mileage Z06 blew an engine.

The NCM event is attended by a number of GM guys from the Tech Center in Michigan.

The GM guys hauled the car back to Michigan for analysis, and I believe I read here on the forum that it was repaired under warranty.

Swapping brakes has absolutely nothing to do with powertrain/drivetrain issues and shouldn't even be a consideration.

You were driving the car like they designed it to be driven!!

Good luck with getting it repaired under warranty.

Bob

Mdm23

I worked as a tech for Ford for seven years and never saw any claim denied for something like this. Harnesses, a roll bar, and fire extinguisher draws the wrong attention from someone who doesn't know any better, though. They probably automatically pulled the excessive abuse card. Hope it works out. I'm assuming it's too late to try another dealer?

lar66BB

Welcome to Government Motors, I have heard stories where they are
trying to deny even Chevy. Impala warranties. Good Luck

achilds

Guess I better take my two piece rotors and get rid of my Michelin PS2's and I might as well not even install the DRM shocks I just ordered. Hope you get covered under the warranty as you should.

Landru

Have this Reg Manager tell that to a judge, IF it comes to that.
GM better come up with a reason better than aftermarkt brakes, that's all I have to say. These reports aren't doing GM & their Chevrolet division any good, a'tall.

jimman

How many track miles do you have on the car?

C7&7

Oh I would totally put that dealership on blast if they continue to pull this horsechit.

Good luck. Please keep us posted.

Hirohawa

No offense to the OP, but I think these blown engine threads from new Junior members need some verification before we all chime in. Pics and/or a Vin would be nice.

Mileage, original owner, number and milage at track events, etc. would also be helpful to the community.

TARANTULA

bikerpuke

Hey guys, thanks for al lthe support. I really appreciate it. To answer one question, the car has 11,900 miles on it I think, and is driven on the street in good weather. It has maybe 20 track days under its belt, and until the engine failed, certainly lived up to its reputation.

Katech_Zach

How many hours on track? Is it safe to say 2 hours per track day? 40+ hours of road racing?

Is there an expectation you had as to the number of hours on track before a rebuild is required? From your post it sounds like it did not meet your expectation and I'm curious what that expectation was.

Turbooo2u

Another blown engine. Looks like 7000 rpms is not in my future anymore.