hy_bmw_freak

why so many engine failures with AHP heads.

I think AHP has the best of best heads or not !? I hope for you its not a big problem and not so expensive ...=leftKeep us informed

meanjoe

In for the fix.

xene106

Damn I didn't know your car has gone through so many components and motors from being on a road course. Thought you were still on original motor based on your previous posts about your tracking experience and recommended upgrades on the car. I calculated if the motor goes after 100 hours that is like 25 two day road course events which isn't much. At my rate that's like 5 years for the motor.

Apocolipse

Nothing to do with AHP and nothing to do with LS7. ANY car that is driven hard on a track will eventually fail...any and every one of them no matter what brand. Pay to play.

Racingswh

I have gone through 3 times as many LS7's as I have V10's. Same use. Same hours. Current car has over 100 hours of track time and still under warranty for another 2 1/2 years.

Your thought that an LS7 isn't fragile has not been my experience. Nearly every single one of them that I am aware of used in a track environment has failed. I can not say that about any other engine.

Couple how robust the V10 is with zero depreciation and the ACR-E is the cheapest track car I have ever owned. Not as quick as the Z06 though.

Apocolipse

That is actually extremely valuable information - thank you

Racingswh

Not saying I am right or wrong. Just my experience so far. Our Z06 hasn't been cheap but it is just amazing. Love the sound (V10 sounds horrible IMO), love the way it looks, love the way it drives, and expect to keep it forever.

No more truth in "pay to play" when it comes to the track whether you're regularly at the dragstrip or road course. Reasonable budget and regular track time don't go very well together especially in fast cars like the Z06.

Mordeth

It is still the original block. But I have pulled it out a number of times and rebuilt it, including installing forged pistons on the last go-around. Sustained heat and friction are the mortal enemies of an engine, and as you get quicker and faster on a road course the duty cycle and drive cycle increases not incrementally but exponentially, which correspondingly result in dramatically increased wear and failure rates on everything. Parts that were designed to last 100k+ miles are done for in a few weekends in these conditions, and that is simply the way of things, further exacerbated by an already inherently unstable scenario with failure prone systems. If I provided a list of the things I have replaced, repaired, fixed, upgraded, duct taped, stapled, screwed back in, replaced again, repaired again, upgraded again and so on, then it would be a VERY VERY long list. I assure you that you will never see a thread created by me relating .replacement of a coolant T, or some such thing, as mundane things like this are regular occurrences, even while on track. I used to keep track in a spreadsheet the repairs, but I've long ago given up on that endless, cyclical endeavor. On any given weekend half the car is torn apart to fix or replace something, sometimes severe but often times something stupid. And this is not counting routine maintenance like pads, rotors, oil, spark plugs and wires, valve springs, fluids etc. And when I hit the wall, then I just blew my budget for an entire year (and it is a LARGE budget).

One thing to mention is that my car is essentially a fully built race car, not a weekend track warrior (although it once was and I do miss those days). It is only driven on the street to scare the locals, otherwise it lives the entirety of it's destructive, abusive life on a race track from 4k-7k RPMS either WOT or threshold braking. It has full aero, full suspension, rides on Hoosiers or slicks and is driven 10/10ths in endurance conditions. I only mention this as my example is an extreme one and your results will differ. 100 hours for me is not necessarily the equivalent of 100 hours for someone else, just like 24 hours at Lemans in the C7R, which results in basically an entire new car being needed as everything is rebuilt, is not the same as me who can go longer. As I have pushed the car harder and longer, not surprisingly things break quicker and in a more severe way (like a randomly shredded torque tube while shaking the car down after some other random repairs). Nothing surprises me anymore and the minute everything is working perfectly is when I am most afraid. I used to joke that if it wasn't leaking then that means it likely didn't have any oil in it. To be honest though, sometimes I am surprised that certain mechanical parts last as long as they do considering the abuse. It's definitely a love/hate relationship with my poor girl, who is under the knife as we speak.

Racingswh

Fun as hell though!!!!

Can't imagine not doing it.

Mordeth

I agree with Steve except his last sentence. What I agree with is the relatively fragile nature of the LS7 and the seemingly bullet proof nature of the ACR-E. For example, at a track event I was at with him this year where he had his ACR-E, during lunch he was in his trailer sipping lemonade while I had half my car torn apart to fix yet another problem and this example is not the exception but rather the rule.

On his last sentence, don't let him fool you at all about how quick he is in that ACR-E or the hurting he puts on us at the track. He took me out easily, and worse yet on my home turf, in that ******* thing. I'm still licking my wounds Steve! He has some video of it floating around somewhere.

jvar07

What about a daily that may see a track once a year at most? I do run it sometimes against my friends when we are in Mexico. This thread just scared me, I love my C6z but the thought if it dropping a value after getting the heads fixed is making me consider selling her while I'm still ahead. Thought of buying something cheap until I save up enough for a GT350.

Apocolipse

Cause a gt350 wont have issues? Lol

jvar07

I never said that, but I haven not heard of having an issue like the dropped valve like our motors have. Maybe, I have not looked hard enough.

lamboworld

Just drive your car and do the necessary maintenance. These stories are few and far between if you consider how many LS7's are on the road.

Occasional track time is what these cars are designed to do. The problem with buying a performance car is that someone owned it before you did and you have no idea how bad it was abused or if it spent the majority of it's life on the track. You can do your best when buying it but it is impossible to know the full story. My best advice is that you should not own a performance car like this unless you have another car while your Z is down and can afford to come up with 10k, without going into debt, if needed.

Racingswh

All of the cars I am familiar with are run hard at the track. I just can' think of one of them that hasn't had some sort of engine failure starting 12 or 13 years ago at Summit Point Main when my buddy Dwight blew up his new 2006 Z06 with less than 2k miles on it. One time a couple years back I was having a conversation at the hotel on Saturday night with my friend about his C6Z and he was asking me what I thought should be his course of action to address the heads. The engine literally failed the next afternoon, 1st session after lunch. Many of them have even failed after they have "fixed" the heads. Mine did.

I highly doubt the same applies for well maintained cars that are street driven and used in a spirited fashion once in awhile. My point was/is if someone is going to the track for drag racing or road course work regularly these are not the cars I would choose to do it with on a limited budget.

FNBADAZ06

Agreed !!!! And, I highlighted that one part of your statement to emphasize even more as I see these cars becoming available to a younger crowd who don't take into account the "post sales" cost involved in these cars if they chose to "race" it....street racing or otherwise.
They see a 30-35K dollar C6 Z06, and don't realize that the initial purchase is only part of the financial side of ownership.

Unreal

Agree with cost of entry has got so low people who can't afford to maintain them are getting into them. I would plan $5-7k a year in maintenance on a c6z. If something major doesn't go wrong once year, add it to next years bank because sooner or later a $10-15k bill will come by. Plus items like brakes, tires, clutch, rear ends, etc etc are all costly.

Corvette_D

OP, my car just died, too (thread is https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-blown-up.html). Check your coolant tank to see if it's low (just open the cap and look in). Then check your oil dipstick. If your coolant is low and your oil looks like "chocolate milk/coffee", then you probably cracked your block somehow, which means your coolant got into your engine and mixed with the oil.

See my thread to see what the oil+coolant mixture will look like in that case. I also have AHP heads. For me the intake valve in cylinder #3 broke. Post 47 has some pics, especially the last one in that post.

KEZ06

Just a thought- I had my heads done recently for road course work and my builder recommended a jesel shaft set up. His justification was "never having to worry about the valve drop issue again". We will see.

jayyyw

Tell me about it.