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[Z06] Purchased "fixed" heads from vendor, still dropped a valve <500 miles
C6 Corvette ZR1 & Z06General info about GM’s Corvette Supercar, LS9 Corvette Technical Info, Performance Upgrades, Suspension Setup for Street or Track
Purchased "fixed" heads from vendor, still dropped a valve <500 miles
I have a 2006 C6Z that has about 41k miles on it. About a month ago I decided to order a stage 2 cam and fixed pre-assembled heads cause I've heard too many stories of dropped valves. I let an ASE certified mechanic install the heads/cam/tune. Well the other day I was in 2nd when I felt the RPMs hiccup and instantly fall to 0. I see white smoke coming from behind me. I let the car coast to the side of the road when I see a giant trail of coolant and some oil. I had the car towed to a mechanic here in town who inspected it for me. He says the car dropped a valve which went into the piston and pushed a rod thru the block. I guess my question is, am I just completely out an engine, or does the vendor hold any liability? I understand there's in inherent risk with these sort of things but I have to imagine there was some sort of defect on the supplied heads. Thanks for any input.
Last edited by BrandonScott; 04-20-2017 at 11:31 AM.
My mechanic just examined the car tonight so I haven't talked to the vendor yet. I was just wondering if other people had any sort of similar experience or advice.
Valve float and valve head kissed a piston, or valve head broke off? Were the springs compatible with your cam and the valves that were installed in the heads? What valve broke (int/exh)? Were they reused stock valves? Were they inspected before reusing?
Seeing how the vendor did not perform the actually head/cam swap, or tune it afterword, I think you are S.O.L. for any sort of compensation from the vendor. If the head is intact, and you can get some measurements off the head that proves gross error in the part of the machine work, you might have a good argument.
Your tune calibration should also be reviewed. Was the rev limiter increased?
The installer also shares some of this, until you can figure out exactly what failed, and why.
Not knowing anything about the Vendor, you or what was actually done for the tune. I would find it very unlikely that they will offer any compensation. Why would they or more importantly, why should they? If the vendor completed the install, tune, etc...yes, I would expect them to stand up. But, they didn't and you have no idea if it was something they did, if it was in the tune, or what? I wish you all the luck but all I see is people pointing fingers at each other saying "it wasn't what I did that caused it to fail". I don't have near the build knowledge that others have but it seems like common sense to me.
On a side note...this has nothing to do with the LS7, factory valve/value guide issue. This is an aftermarket install not OEM. It's hard to lump them all together IMO.
Not knowing anything about the Vendor, you or what was actually done for the tune. I would find it very unlikely that they will offer any compensation. Why would they or more importantly, why should they? If the vendor completed the install, tune, etc...yes, I would expect them to stand up. But, they didn't and you have no idea if it was something they did, if it was in the tune, or what? I wish you all the luck but all I see is people pointing fingers at each other saying "it wasn't what I did that caused it to fail". I don't have near the build knowledge that others have but it seems like common sense to me.
On a side note...this has nothing to do with the LS7, factory valve/value guide issue. This is an aftermarket install not OEM. It's hard lump it all together IMO.
Again Good Luck!
I find it unlikely they will do anything as well. I'm just trying to gather any advice people are willing to share, whether that be contacting the vendor or just taking the loss and moving on.
The car was bone stock prior to the heads/cam install, and that was all that was installed.
Until the engine is disassembled and the cause of the failure is confirmed, you're just feeding the sharks.
If the valves were reconditioned or replaced by the vendor, then maybe you have a leg to stand on if the failure is from what most people have assumed. However, I'd think a vendor could legitimately claim their only responsibility is to replace the defective head(s). Collateral damage is usually not covered by any warranty.
I have a 2006 C6Z that has about 41k miles on it. About a month ago I decided to order a stage 2 cam and fixed pre-assembled heads cause I've heard too many stories of dropped valves. I let an ASE certified mechanic install the heads/cam/tune. Well the other day I was in 2nd when I felt the RPMs hiccup and instantly fall to 0. I see white smoke coming from behind me. I let the car coast to the side of the road when I see a giant trail of coolant and some oil. I had the car towed to a mechanic here in town who inspected it for me. He says the car dropped a valve which went into the piston and pushed a rod thru the block. I guess my question is, am I just completely out an engine, or does the vendor hold any liability? I understand there's in inherent risk with these sort of things but I have to imagine there was some sort of defect on the supplied heads. Thanks for any input.
Sorry to hear that! I unfortunately had same thing happen to me after I had new heads installed. The vendor didn't refund or compensate me in any way. Hopefully you will have better luck then I did.
Until the engine is disassembled and the cause of the failure is confirmed, you're just feeding the sharks.
If the valves were reconditioned or replaced by the vendor, then maybe you have a leg to stand on if the failure is from what most people have assumed. However, I'd think a vendor could legitimately claim their only responsibility is to replace the defective head(s). Collateral damage is usually not covered by any warranty.
You were correct. I contacted the vendor and was told that I must have over-revved my car and broke a rod which then hit the cylinder head and broke the valve off. I'm 100% positive I didn't but like the vendor said, there is no 100% way to verify which part broke first. I was told at most, if I could prove the head was bad, that they would replace the head and nothing else that it affected and maybe give me a discount on a short block since mine is toast.
04-19-2017, 11:35 PM
Purchased "fixed" heads from vendor, still dropped a valve <500 miles
