Blown Engine
Safety Car
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 4,629
Likes: 19
From: Chesapeake VA
Subscribed. Hope the OP is able to find out the root cause of the failure. Curious to know. As many have said... could be a few things: timing chain, dropped valve (rocker arm or spring), stuck injector, etc.
The fact that the car hesitated and wouldn't accelerate is interesting... usually a broken timing chain or dropped valve is just sudden catastrophic failure.
The fact that the car hesitated and wouldn't accelerate is interesting... usually a broken timing chain or dropped valve is just sudden catastrophic failure.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,596
Likes: 120
From: East Tennessee
Subscribed. Hope the OP is able to find out the root cause of the failure. Curious to know. As many have said... could be a few things: timing chain, dropped valve (rocker arm or spring), stuck injector, etc.
The fact that the car hesitated and wouldn't accelerate is interesting... usually a broken timing chain or dropped valve is just sudden catastrophic failure.
The fact that the car hesitated and wouldn't accelerate is interesting... usually a broken timing chain or dropped valve is just sudden catastrophic failure.
You would think the cloud of smoke would have been a tip off but it was a dry sump car and luckily he didnit drive over the oil and lose it. But it jut goes to show when someone is concentrating on something else sometimes obvious things can be over looked, my driver was concentrating on winning, the OP was concentrating on getting pulled over safely so you can miss a few things.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,761
Likes: 240
From: Saint Louis MO
St. Jude Donor '14-'15
We all need to keep in mind that this incident is bad but at this point it certainly doesn't provide data indicating a systemic problem with the 6.2. Several years ago I was driving back to Cosby TN after dark in my nearly new 1991 GMC pickup and I had a sudden flat with lots of odd noise. When I took the pickup to a shop the next day to have the spare tire mounted on the regular aluminum wheel and to get a new tire for a spare the shop found a very slightly used disc brake pad which had fallen off someone's car and gone inside my tire and stayed inside the wheel. Surprisingly the aluminum wheel was fine but it shows what kind of odd things can happen. I could have understood a brand new pad that had never been installed but this one had slight use and thus apparently separated from someone's brake assembly.
So there's a silver lining, but I'm still sorry to the OP. Perhaps you'll get more than a new engine out of it if you push a bit.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 8,615
Likes: 60
From: Haymarket Virginia
So with the guy behind you crashing, who's insurance covers that? Yours or GMs?
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,761
Likes: 240
From: Saint Louis MO
St. Jude Donor '14-'15
Insurance companies aren't responsible for catastrophic manufacturer defects or the results thereof. I'm not sure if that's on a state-by-state basis, but a personal injury/liability attorney could certainly chime in here.
That's why I (and most likely many of you) carry an umbrella policy, just for weird stuff like this.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,187
Likes: 309
From: SIMSBURY CT
St. Jude Donor '07 thru '25
Crappppppp .... just heard about this ... after seeing you and the car several times over the last few weeks (including Monday) hard to figure how this could have happened! GM should step-up!
** For those that don't know Zing, no mods and car driven gently.
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 68
Likes: 11
Strange
So, today I'm entering the freeway ramp and I get on her pretty good, when all of a sudden I loose RPMs; almost felt like I tapped the rev limiter but was not in the high RPM range. It stuttered, and then recovered slowly; after that no issues. However, a bit freaked out now given this current thread as it's very similar to what I experienced minus the blown engine. VERY interested in the outcome and root cause...
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,960
Likes: 1,106
So, today I'm entering the freeway ramp and I get on her pretty good, when all of a sudden I loose RPMs; almost felt like I tapped the rev limiter but was not in the high RPM range. It stuttered, and then recovered slowly; after that no issues. However, a bit freaked out now given this current thread as it's very similar to what I experienced minus the blown engine. VERY interested in the outcome and root cause...
When it senses loss of traction or stability the electronic throttle closes, timing is retarded, and braking will be selectively applied as needed.
Last edited by NSC5; Jun 5, 2014 at 04:15 PM.
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 68
Likes: 11
No nannies
Sounds like the stability/traction nannies may have woken up for a moment. Hard acceleration while making the normal slight turn while following an on-ramp/merging is a perfect way to get the rear end slightly loose, especially if the tires are a little cool. Just like ABS this system, particularly when not in a competitive driving mode, will react before you even realize you are losing traction.
When it senses loss of traction or stability the electronic throttle closes, timing is retarded, and braking will be selectively applied as needed.
When it senses loss of traction or stability the electronic throttle closes, timing is retarded, and braking will be selectively applied as needed.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,960
Likes: 1,106
It isn't unusual to find more "foreign material" on the on ramp pavement than you will find in the normal lanes so acceleration that wouldn't break the tires loose on the road will do so when trying to enter.If you try this in PTM mode 4 or 5 then be very prepared to do your own traction management and stability control. Or as GM says these are for use on the track where if you are lucky there will be a grassy runoff instead of a 80,000 pound semi.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,269
Likes: 25
From: Simi Valley Ca
Modes 1 through 3 still have active handling enabled though in lesser amounts as you go up numerically. I am waiting to order a C7 until the Z06 has been out for a few months so I cannot speak from C7 experience but from experience in other cars it is pretty easy to get a high power RWD car to start merging into the normal lane faster than you want it to It isn't unusual to find more "foreign material" on the on ramp pavement than you will find in the normal lanes so acceleration that wouldn't break the tires loose on the road will do so when trying to enter.
If you try this in PTM mode 4 or 5 then be very prepared to do your own traction management and stability control. Or as GM says these are for use on the track where if you are lucky there will be a grassy runoff instead of a 80,000 pound semi.
It isn't unusual to find more "foreign material" on the on ramp pavement than you will find in the normal lanes so acceleration that wouldn't break the tires loose on the road will do so when trying to enter.If you try this in PTM mode 4 or 5 then be very prepared to do your own traction management and stability control. Or as GM says these are for use on the track where if you are lucky there will be a grassy runoff instead of a 80,000 pound semi.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,418
Likes: 1
From: Chicagoland Area IL
If not, what if you toss a rod because of supercharger, oil road down, cause a multi vehicle pileup? What if somebody tries to sue you into oblivion? Are you going to go after who supplied your kit? Or maybe GM because they did not add sufficient safety margins to cover 0.01% of possible applications.
It’s attitudes like this that cause manufacturers to set aside $XXXX funds for possible litigation. Just look at general aircraft industry, in some cases 40% of purchase price is set aside for potential litigation (that’s why this industry is all but dead). I could go on, but with attitudes like yours, killing off a vehicle we all like is in the cards, if not sports cars a whole.
If a plasma TV fails, are you entitled to pain and suffering?
