Looks like my 2020 C8 may need its third new engine. It has 14K miles but about 60 track days. The first engine basically exploded after 12 track days and was replaced under warranty. The car has also had emission issues. Both cats burned up and after the second one went it through debris and fouled the muffler which needed to be replaced. At my last track event the car stalled after coming off the track. It looked like smoke was coming from a cat and I got an email that there was an exhaust issue. After 2 hours the car started and I quickly loaded it on the trailer and took it to the dealer. Turns out the engine was to blame. The #1 piston was missing pieces and there was a major oil leakage. The engine is currently dropped and GM wants them to put the car back together to get some forensic info, although I don’t understand why. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I’m thinking they are possibly gonna deny warranty. My service guy pointed out that the radiators were filled with track debris and this might effect cooling. Although nothing is definite, I got the impression from speaking with him that they may use this to deny coverage. In fact, for the first year or so the car did run hot on the track. It seemed to run a good 10 degrees hotter than the 2021 cars. When the first cat went they told me they were seeing other cars with cat issues. At some point there was an update that addressed the problem and the car now runs 10 degrees cooler. So I don’t see how the radiators could be an issue if the car wasn’t overheating. Although I do track this car quite a bit I did follow all of GMs track guidelines, even replacing the tranny fluid every 25 hours. The only mods were wheels, tires and brakes. The oil had just been replaced at the start of the season. I checked it the day before the event and it was down 3/4 and I filled it up and checked it the morning of the incident and it was OK. I will keep you guys informed going forward.

 

this is interesting, i have 4 to 5K track miles on my C8 and the engine doesnt really consume any oil and i havent had any real issues with the coolant system. Do you have any pictures of your radiators you can post? I change the oil after every 2 to 3 track days....

I have changed the tranny fluid one time in mine; but have lost count on oil changes.

Interested to hear more as you et more info! good luck!

 

If you were running telemetry while tracking it would be cool to show them it wasn't overheating.

My alfa engine blew and they tried claiming i ran it low in oil lol. I had started running video the moment it blew and even cycled through the infotainment showing the oil level, coolant temps etc. Glad i did.

 

im sure the cars black box has all the info, but as far as I can tell it wasn’t overheating. The one time it did was last year when it was 100 degrees out, but since the update it’s been fine.

 

Update.
car does need a third engine and being covered under warranty. Feeling sad and happy at same time.

 

what was the diagnoses?

 

Both feelings are understandable. You have had terrible luck.. Maybe GM will be able to learn something. Maybe both were freak occurrences, or maybe they will find a oiling or cooling problem that occurs under very specific circumstances that occur rarely, but can be prevented by a simple fix (say an extra quart of oil).

 

I dunno. It had a fractured piston. It will be sent to GM for analysis, but I doubt I’ll ever know the cause. I tried to find out what happened to the first one that blew but got no answers.

 

Yes and no on the lucky. I was lucky to get it in March 2020, so I have enjoyed it for some time, and I’m still high on the brand. Should be getting the Z06 by end of the year. In the meantime, my 718 Boxster GTS will be coming outta retirement once again.

 

I would ask if they replaced the oil cooler with the first engine. I'm not a C8 blown engine expert. I have replaced several blown-up dry sump Corvette engines. They all have crap in the tank, cooler & lines.

 

What were the weather conditions on the track on the day of the failure?

 

nothing extreme. Probably 65-70 degrees.

 

Even if it was caused by overheating, the engine ECM should have placed it in protection mode.
Broken pistons sounds like detonation from an intermittent lean condition.

 

Right. The computer did show a timing issue. Unfortunately, like last time I’ll never know the cause, but they are replacing it and that’s all that matters. How many other manufacturers would replace 2 engines in a car that was heavily tracked?

 

Maybe they should change the ECM out also. We really need tuning abilities for this car on the track. Would help a lot for us track guys. I'm on about 14 track days and running great so far.

 

You must be following all the instructions. There was a guy on the forum with a 2017 Grand Sport that blew an engine on track and they denied the claim saying he didn't use the oil recommended in the owners manual for track use (15W-50 at that time). He used 0W-40 but that wasn't recommended in his owners manual for track use. You've been very fortunate.

 

You make your own luck, or at least put yourself in a position for good things to happen. I knew I was going to track the car extensively, so I did follow their recommendations religiously, and I let the dealer do the work so there was a paper trail. I even change the tranny fluid every 25 hours as recommended.

 

I'm assuming you have to do another 1500 mile break-in before you can track again, correct?

Sounds like that would be painful for you...

 

Correct! In fact I’m working on it today. I picked the car up this morning and I need to put 1500 miles on it before heading to Watkins Glen on Thursday. I’ve got 200 easy going miles so far. It’s actually a lot tougher than you would think. Third time I had to do it.

 

This is from the dealer invoice.