jackjohnson_218

Sold my C5 and looking to get into a C6 z06. The one I'm eyeing is a 2006 with about 18k miles. Looking at it later this week and its all stock. Are there any members on here who haven't had the heads rebuilt? How many miles are on your car?

If it works out, I will definitely get the heads done but I'm also wondering what kind of damage has likely been done to date. Is there a good way for me to look out for issues other than listening for valve noise? Much appreciated.

Frankie15

Hey Jack,

I'm sure there are quite a few who haven't had their heads rebuilt. Its definitely not a 100% failure rate. I absolutely would get the heads done right away though. I wasn't even going to purchase my Z06 unless the heads were already fixed because I was terrified at the idea of it even happening on the drive home with it. . One of the benefits of buying a Z06 from these forums is that many owners HAVE had this issue addressed which is great. I'm glad I was able to purchase mine off a forum member.

Not really much you can do to determine if the issue is present unless you do a wiggle test with the valves. Valve train noise isn't really indicative of the problem IIRC.

Best of luck on your search for a Z06. They are truly phenomenal cars.

AzDave47

My 09Z valvetrain was not "unusually noisy" as far as GM was concerned at 46K miles, but 14 of 16 valve guides were out of GM spec of .0037, many by 2X that.

Unreal

Depends on how you define the problem. If you define it as out of spec and excessively worn guides, then it is close to 100%, but if you are talking about popped motors from dropped valves, it is much lower.

Nowanker

Bought mine at 42K, original heads. Bought a set of low mile heads to send in for rebuild. The guides were complete trash, supposedly with only 8K miles.
Pulled my original heads for the swap... guides were still fine.
Smiled anyway... knowing is much better than wondering.

NotreOkc

I am probably one of the few who owned a Z06 and never had them checked and tracked the car hard 4-5x a year. It was an 06' as well. I bought it with about 12K miles on it and when I traded it in on my Centennial ZR1 it had 48K. Never had one single issue.
Do what you feel is best! Good luck!

dhpeck

i've driven my 07 about 2k miles after purchase, has 25k on the clock now. I may have the heads done over winter. I'm torn, but don't really want to take the chance.

Pounder

I would at least have them checked !!!

UmCanesZ06

I've had 3 z06s and never touched the heads or had issues with them. My current 08 has 30k miles and the heads havevt been touched

Frankie15

Spending $2,000+ is much better than the cost of a new engine.

fizzer07

My 2007 was purchased with 38k, now has 51k, been tracked at least 4 times per year. Regular excursions above 6500 rpm. No issues/ noise.
The car does consume close to a quart of oil per track weekend.

SivaSuryaKshatriya

Previous owner of my car had a failure on his '08 Z06 at 21k miles. Got the motor replaced in 2016 with a crate LS7 from GM. When I bought the car, the motor had 1k. I've put 8k on it in 4 months and I'm starting to hear some clicking - and this is on a brand new LS7 as well. That being said, clicking doesn't mean a failure.

Anyway, the consensus on the forum is that you should definitely get the valve guides fixed. I think the real question you should be asking is how many have had failures AFTER the valve guides have been replaced with aftermarket units.

TomcatMF

I got my 2007 in 2012 with 15K on the odometer. I haven't had my heads checked or reworked, and so far no problems at 82K.

winzerguy

I have owned 2 C6Z06 Corvettes. I drove my 2006 for 156,000 miles before I sold it and purchased a new 2013 which now has 90,200 trouble free miles on it. Both Velocity Yellow, were never "tracked" and never had any engine mods. I have never had any engine or driveline issues. Still love my 2013 and have no plans for a C7 even though I just made my last payment on the Best Corvette of the nine I have owned.

powerlineman

I have 2009 Z06 with 41000 on clock.Its stock and runs good but I decided to install
modern muscle cam and Kooks1 7/8"x3" Headers.Also a Killer Bee ram air induction.
The first thing the shop checked was wiggle test and inspection of valve guides.
The exhaust valve guides showed much wear .(intake OK)So new bronze guides are going in with new springs and pushrods.I feel head work is a must before major modding.

B Mac

I bought my 2007 Z06 with 77,000 on it in May of this year. Motor had never been touched from what I can tell. I was informed about the valve issue the day after I brought it home. The dealer I got it from kept stressing and pushing me to get a aftermarket warranty. Now I know why. He bought the car from a auction in TX where the car was a one owner car from Dallas. Me only had it a few months and didn’t drive it much. I think he learned of the head issue and got scared of it. Worked out for me though cause I got a hell of a deal on it.

I ordered AHP heads the second week I had it. Did it as a just in case thing. I have switched them and switched cams as well. I did a core exchange deal so I could drive it waiting for mine. Anyway I performed a wiggle test on my stock heads after removing them. Way out of spec.

jackjohnson_218

Thank you all for the replies. I was feeling like I was going to need to flatbed the car home and to the shop once the heads came in. I am feeling a lot better now and can probably put the head work off till the spring as it is going to snow anytime now where I am.

I have contacted a local shop who can do the head swap for me, who also advised me to change the needle bearings depending on the year (06-07?) as I am also looking at an 09 now. The question I have now is that I am planning to go with AHP Package #4. Is this straight forward as removing the old heads, and putting in the new? I have seen in other threads where some people are needing to replace rods and other things as well. I am not looking to do any further mods to the motor.

B Mac

Call Kohle at AHP. He super helpful for me. He will suggest changing the Pushrods and lifters. At least he did for my mileage car. I went with His Cali 116 cam and love it. It’s still super drivable and has the get down and go power when I want it.

furiousox

07 Z06 purchased with about 35k on the clock two years ago, now sitting at almost 60k. Zero issues. I drive the car hard (i.e. redlining gears) on a daily basis as it's my daily driver.

Not sure if previous owner addressed the heads but so far so good for me (knock on wood)

The active handling issue, however, is another beast. Read up on that OP. Basically car could freak out from time to time and your steering wheel / brake / gas pedals could do their own thing for a quick second or two before the car returns to normal. There is a part that can be replaced but it does not ensure 100% fix. This issue happened to me maybe 5-6 times over the last two years, thankfully at very low speeds in parking lots. To my understanding this is an issue for C6s that have the telescopic wheel option

Lowkey I've considered selling my car on more than a few occasions due to the active handling issue. It keeps me up at night sometimes. It's very annoying. The C6Z was my dream car since 2006 and now that I finally have it I really don't want to get rid of it. I also don't know what to get in place of it. First world problems, I know. Well, not so much if the active handling issue kicks in when I'm in the canyons and fly off the cliff. Hmm

AzDave47

The active handling issue re telescoping steering wheel was an early Z06 problem (06 and 07?). I have not heard of people having the proscribed GM fix continuing to have the same problem.

I've not had a problem at 54K miles with my 09 re the AH.

... but at 46K miles 14 of 16 valve guides were out of spec, some by more than 2x the spec.