Originally Posted by FRDnemesis

If you wait until it breaks, there is NO repair Paul; it's an entire engine that gets destroyed or even an entire car if you are going down the interstate when it drops the valve and destroys the block (puking its fluids under the car, at speed).

With a problem like this, you can't wait until it breaks (if you're out of warranty) to repair anything. Preventive maintenance is the only measure at this point that determines whether you spend 3,000 or 15,000 dollars. If you stand idley by, odds are it will be the latter of those prices.

-jeff

Originally Posted by azZ06Mike

Got an email from WCCH and they will have my measurements later today but they did say in the email the guide wear was minimal but i only have 11,000 miles and already showing wear.

Originally Posted by savaGe

What happens when you bring your car into the dealer, do exactly as you said, and the dealer tells you "we will NOT take off the heads and inspect them because if the engine does fail, we then would be liable to fix it".
This is what my local dealer told me. I explained to him that I would pay for the inspection, and they said they still will not touch it.

Originally Posted by CorvetteThom

What a dumb thing for a dealer to say. I'd tell them to close the service side of their business. If they don't have confidence in their mechanics to complete an inspection, and replace the materials then they shouldn't be in the business. Even if the heads are fine, it's not like they're providing an indefinite warranty on the engine/valvetrain because they inspected it.

Originally Posted by MTIRC6Z

The context in which I said the thing about fixing something that wasn't broke was in relation to the guy who just sent his heads to WCCH to be 'fixed' and they weren't even out of spec...that's truly fixing something that ain't broke, hell it wasn't even worn, what a waste and there's gunna be a lot more of that happening with all this lastest sky is falling crap.

OF COURSE you don't wait until the valve drops to fix it. What you do is intelligently attempt to figure out IF you've got excessive wear going on, as opposed to just blindly going in and fixing ever single one of the 27,000 freakin Z06s out there.

Cheers, Paul.

Originally Posted by ssmoke

Did you get the specifics?

Originally Posted by bktmbill

just picked up 08z at dealership. dropped off 18 days ago for ticking noise at 2200rpm. history on car is as follows:

2008 z06 7800 miles
stock tune
no mods except for mgw shifter
oil changed every 2000-3000 miles mobil one 5-30
12 passes at drags 10-15 140mph pulls. best et. 12.19 121mph 2.0 60ft
bought with 2800 miles in july of 2011. garage queen owned by 60 yr.old dr.

around late may of this year with 6500 miles on odo noticed ticking sound at 1800rpm and at 2200 rpm. this was itermitting but then stayed at 2200 and was constant. didnt want to take any chances so took it to dealer. he called the nexy day and said they drove and definetly could could here it. tech put scope on it and said it was exhaust side of head on driverside. one week later approval from gm was given to remove heads. after inspection of heads had 4 exhaust valves wore greater than .010. i was then informed that heads would be replaced and all associated components inspected for wear or damage. checked back in a week and they said they were exspecting parts in a day or two. another week passes and i stop to see old parts and service manager said jod is done. he took me back to look at old heads. i did the wiggle test and they definetly had excessive play. rockers were also replaced they had a trianglular wear pattern on them that favored one side. they reused pushrods and lifters. the tech who performed this job said this was his first ls7he has done. long story short. this car is dead silent at any rpm. pulls noticably harder than when it had 2800 miles. exsaust note is different even in competetive mode no moore smoodge on exhaust tips either. i am very happy with repair there is not one scratch,dent,stripped bolt ,broken wire loom connector ect. absolutely perfect job. my personal opinion on these engines is that the guide bore dia. is oversize from the day they leave the vendors assembly point. just my opinion. i am just learning about the ls engine after many years away from cars. will try to post pictures if anyone is interested.

Originally Posted by OJCrush08

Just checking in to see when GM is going to release their statement re the LS7. I am sure that even as a recently bankrupt corporation and still a very financially weak one, that at least some of the outstanding $30 or so billion of taxpayer funding was diverted to buying the best lawyers and accountants.

Sooo, after having a several year history of questions re the LS7 valvetrain, and after learning supposedly several days ago that we will hear something "soon," the sounds of silence are deafening.

Tick, tock.

Originally Posted by Undy

Or... after they read countless threads racked with hate, comntempt and disappointment for GM they canned the whole statement.

I would have...

Originally Posted by FrankTank

reasonable possibility I mean when you think about it, most people here are done with GM anyway countless folks it wont matter what they say .. I mean I can see it now..they come out with a statement that says only 09-11 cars are mainly effected and will be covered, and the over all failure rate for all MY is 2-3% even.. people will be trashing GM even more if it does not support their argument and theories. I can guarantee that.

Just look at the disrespect and rudeness some people treat Jason from Katech with when he tries to offer up information..and they are one of the top shops in the country.

Originally Posted by FrankTank

reasonable possibility I mean when you think about it, most people here are done with GM anyway countless folks it wont matter what they say .. I mean I can see it now..they come out with a statement that says only 09-11 cars are mainly effected and will be covered, and the over all failure rate for all MY is 2-3% even.. people will be trashing GM even more if it does not support their argument and theories. I can guarantee that.

Just look at the disrespect and rudeness some people treat Jason from Katech with when he tries to offer up information..and they are one of the top shops in the country.

Originally Posted by MTIRC6Z

Why is it the guys who decide to 'fix' their heads feel the need to tell the forum all about just how great it makes them feel...seems to me if it truly was that satisifying there'd be no need to try and convince everyone else to do the same thing. For the record, I'm not trying to convince everyone to not 'fix' their heads, I'm just trying to point out that it might not be necessary and there are certain telltail signs which you can look for.

Cheers, Paul.

Originally Posted by FrankTank

I think we all of course are anxious, we all understand GM is a massive corporation globally. I am sure we here would all like to think We are the priority, but with a corporation that size they have much bigger fish to fry..
I mean Stock Price, Labor Unions, Finance, lawsuits, I mean look at the VOLT LOL, according to reports they continue to loose lots of money on it.. etc etc the list goes on... based on what Mike (OP) posted here, we don't know where GM was in the process of releasing a statement... he was kind enough to tip us off that something is coming, but who knows, maybe when he found out they were just starting to draft it , and its still being worked on.

The implications on what they say are HUGE, so I can understand it taking time

I am in know way defending them, but if you step back and look at it, it does not surprise me one bit we have not heard anything yet...put it into perspective.

Also while the issue does date back, it has evolved as more motors have blown or been reported...I mean maybe back in 2006, 10 total LS7s blew for various reasons. We don't know at what point either GM got this on their radar, and what level of attention it got. I would assume now it is has traction since we are hearing they might say something.

We are in our little Corvette "bubble" here.

Originally Posted by RichieRichZ06

^^^^

This has to be one of the best posts on this subject since all of these threads have been created.

At this point even if GM released the number of failures, backed up by documented proof showing how low the failure rate really is, there would still be people on here trying to dispute it and blame somebody else.

Originally Posted by OJCrush08

Yes, let's add some perspective.

1. First, nothing but respect here for Katech and I am not hurling insults at GM by stating they were bankrupt and are having continuing problems and they are in possession of approx $30 billion of taxpayer money. Now there are some who are more upset and perhaps too harsh. These are just facts.

2. LS7 has been in production since late 2005 and we are now in late 2012 - with 427s still coming off the line in 2013. That's a long time, and it is inconceivable to me that GM does not have very accurate empirical data over several years re LS7 failures. If they can prove they are minimal, then great! If not, they owe customers of some of their most expensive products, THE TRUTH. Will we get it? I am personally doubtful.

3. If GM cannot show enough consideration for their customers to provide us with a satisfactory response which clarifies whether or not there is an unacceptably high failure rate, and if so, what they will do, THEN I do feel vindicated to do my future shopping elsewhere for all my vehicle needs. That is my personal take on it, and my right as a customer to decide.

Honestly, after all of these years, does anyone feel it is unreasonable for customers to expect some response to their concerns? Don't you think if GM's internal data clearly showed that we are concerned over just a very, very minor incidence (under 1%) of LS7 valvetrain failure NOT caused by owner mods or negligence, that they would have been happy to share that with us? Given their marketplace woes, it would seem a matter of common sense to quickly share good news.

Well, my Dad always said that the least common element in these universe was common sense.

I dunno, but me personnally, I am growing weary of people and corporations doing whatever they can to avoid taking responsibility.

Originally Posted by FrankTank

minds are already made up. IMO Done deal. There are a few people (like myself) who are still not 100% decided on which direction to take, but the rest have either sent heads to WCCH, parked their cars or sold the car. The remainder have warranty and while concerned feel pretty safe.


I don't disagree, and you make some valid points..I guess I was just trying to say given the size/scope of a company, the financial situation they are in, and still having the Gov own about 25% of the company...its not surprising its taking them a while. Of course Corvettes are important to them, and corvette customers, but there are millions of other GM customers with their concerns too.

My take, they are either waiting for some top exec to approve the communication, or are still struggling with what and how to say what they want, without being on the hook for replacing thousands of engines...or even paying the dealers thousands of hours for labor and diagnostics on engines that may turn out to be fine.

Originally Posted by OJCrush08

I beleive that most here are reasonable, and are just asking for some "corporate transparency." That said, I think it would be completely unreasonable to expect anything like what you stated in your last paragraph.

But, it would go a long way to show they are listening to their customers IF they would do the following:

1. Issue a statement acknowledging they are aware of some customer concerns re the LS7.

2. Stating that they retain full confidence in the engineering and soundness of stock LS7s that are maintained according to GM recommendations. Or, if they don't (very unlikely) stating in detail, the process Z06 owners need to follow to determine if there is concern of IMMINENT problem such as excessive oil use or excessive valve train noise, or visible smoke upon start-up, etc.

3. Issuing some sort of goodwill policy along the lines of warranty extension (time) to owners of cars currently covered under warranty. Issuing a limited warranty to Z06 owners of stock engined cars that are under a certain stated mileage ?????. Perhaps the limited warranty would cover the cost of new replacement parts with the owner responsible for labor. The repairs would be warrantied for ?? months, parts and labor.

I think that besides being fair and reasonable, its damn good customer relations. And we should not have to wait much longer to hear from them...