It happens. I like to do my own work. When I die someone is getting some very nice expensive tools. I always let oil come up to temp before even thinking about more than 1/4 throttle. The R8C delivery is very well worth it. Shane and crew at the museum do an excellent job. My ZR1 delivery there in 2018 was a great experience. A buddy of mine went with me and then bought him a ZR1 and had it delivered option R8C. Whether or not those first few hundred mile really makes a difference with some cars, who knows? But I like to follow the recommendations of the engineers that built the vehicle. After all, Corvette has some of the best engineers in the business!

 

I had to chuckle at this from Motor Trend - especially in light of all the LS7 comments in this thread. I went through the early C6 Z06 broken valve spring issues that GM was able to correct fairly quickly, as well as the later valve misalignment issues. Valve springs in a high RPM motor (the LS7 was 7000 rpm) are especially critical and are often made of exotic materials that may have vulnerabilities if not operated in the regime for which they are designed (break-in, operating temperature, unloaded rpm, etc.). You could probably design a heavier, more durable (operator proof) spring, for example, but at the expense of optimum performance. I am only slightly concerned by the early LT6 failures (for whatever reason), as I know GM will fix the problem if there is one - like the LS1 ring tension improvement, early LS7 valve spring improvement, LS7 needle bearing failure fix, and - not so much - the LS7 head machining and dropped valve issue. I suspect there is an operator learning curve that will also help Hopefully early failures result in early fixes.

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LMAO....... Now that's a good one!!!!

 

Quick update - as some of you have seen - I had a new motor installed and I started the break in again. Kept revs under 4k for the first 900 miles and then took the car in for a motor oil change and trans service before a track day and they found a coolant leak. I assume it wasn't tightened down from the new motor install. Luckily I didn't take it to redline or have it on track or it could be up to motor #3. The coolant leak was found from the trans service and glad the service advisor suggested it as part of my first free service.

I did not take the car to redline until 1,500 miles as a precaution. I drove the car for 1 to 2 hours per night to make the last of the break in miles before VIR on Feb 18/19th. (Videos are up on the forum - Steelankles YouTube).

Car ran great but had a check engine light for P0700 on my 5th session and cut my weekend short. Dropped it off at the dealer on Feb 19th (my local dealer I bought it from). I let them know my next track day was March 4th and 5th (which I missed with the Z06 - took my G80 M3 and it didn't break by the way). The dealer recommended taking it to Hendrick Chevy due to having the best Vette tech in the area. They required a GM field engineer be present when they worked on the car. The car was transported to Hendrick on Feb 27th. I did open up a case with GM customer care.

I called this afternoon and they said the car was ready for pick up! They fixed the motor oil leak and I asked about the trans service and software update. They asked why it needed that and I said thats what my original dealer was going to do. Long story short, they did nothing to address my P0700 code. My biggest concern is having this issue again when I'm on track and I told them that I'm going to beat on it before trailering it 9 hours to NCM. They understood and were empathetic to my situaton. I was told the car was driven and there were no trans issues / codes after the motor oil leak was remedied. I knew I should have objected more but frankly was ready to get the car back.

Drove the car home this evening, let it get to temp and about 5 minutes from home (30 minute total commute in rush hour), I tooks it to redline and you guessed it. Check engine light again. Trans would only shift in even numbers (2,4,6 and 8) like it did at the track (PDR footage). Wasn't able to use the paddles or go into manual mode. 3 codes for P0963. Needless to say I'm losing my patience since the car has been at the dealer longer than I have had it in my garage. Wasted 2 hours of my day getting the car and then taking it back to the dealer.

If you were a betting man/woman, what's the over under on getting a new trans? What's the odds the car makes it to NCM in early April? And lastly, that it makes it through a full track weekend?

 

^Wow....I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing these issues and I really hope GM takes care of you asap!
My usage would likely mirror yours, so this is all quite disturbing..

 

Just an FYI, the LS7 did not have forged pistons.

 

Unless you're willing to drive it as is, not likely it makes it to NCM in early April.
Just too short a time period, though GM may surprise.

 

Based on the fact that 2023 SRs are still having transmission issues and replaced transmissions, I'd wager quite a bit on your car needing a new transmission. If it does, I'd honestly request a buy back. Unless you find someone with money burning a hole in their pocket and a Scrooge McDuck vault full of extra coins, I think it would be very difficult to sell this car with a replaced engine and transmission.

And if that tech was the "best" Vette tech, I feel sorry for all the Z owners. Again why the Corvette, regardless of how much they want to price it, will never be equal to those higher-priced super cars. Chevy dealers and techs are incompetent. Good luck!

 

I had a similar problem in a stingray, although I don't recall the specific codes. They did the flush procedure and I had them do the filter change. It worked fine afterwards.
Good luck with your car.

 

Why would cold oil have a lower viscosity? Cold oil is MORE viscous, meaning a GREATER viscosity or a greater resistance to flow. Hot oil is LESS viscous, meaning it flows easier.

 

What was the source of the oil leak? What a joke they can’t provide competent service.

 

It sounds exactly that NXTFAZE’s car has the Solenoid issue in the DCT that yours had. The flush and filter/oil change is the procedure to have done prior to anything else. If that doesn’t work, then Solenoid replacement is next, although I’m not sure GM is allowing dealerships to do that (yet), and just replaces the transmission.

 

Service manager said there was no smoking gun on the motor oil leak OR the trans. They wouldn't tell me if they knew.

i was told the car will most likely get a new trans. They have to drive the car and reproduce the issue - which they will not have an issue doing now. It will get a new trans because (as you mentioned) GM won't allow them to dig into a Z06 trans.

The value of my Z06 keeps decreasing. Someone will get a great deal on my car in Jan 2024...lol

 

Do you have a price in mind?

 

You need a new dealer… if there’s a a leak, I want to know exact issue and solution. It’s not rocket science. If I’m tracking a car I’d need to know. Oil leaks lead to fires and / or crashes on track.

 

 

Improper break-in, owner abuse. Nothing to see here...

Owners with engine issues should start listing the name of the engine builder. Another data point.

 

My $$ is on these engine failures as the reason they virtually stopped production in February. Could be anything...a design flaw, manufacturing issue or assembly issue. Whatever it is, I think they looked hard at it and hopefully have come up with a solution going forward.

 

Hopefully the case for all future owners.

 

I would like to see the engine codes on the last reported failure. If they are misfire related on one bank like some (all?) of the others, and with the "ticking" sound, I still suspect valve train issues. Valve train components built to sustain 6400-7000 rpm are one thing - 8500 rpm is another. Exotic materials with closer tolerance on things like operating temperatures are required. I have been living the C6 LS7 "conspiracy theory" for 12 years. I am not anxious to go through that again. If one of these failure cars was mine, the first thing I would do is pull the valve covers and run a borescope down the spark plug holes and take a look. As far as I know, owner investigation (without disassembly) of a failure should not void your warranty! Inquiring minds want to know. There may not be a real issue, but if there is, I would appreciate GM being forthright and informing customers of the problem and the fix so we can get on with enjoying the car without lingering doubts about reliability. We know there have been failures, but keeping a secretive lid on the causes does not instill much confidence.