Blown Engine
 

I have an '06 Z06 and the engine blew during a track day. No previous oil problems or any other engine problems. Anyone have any similar experiences? Looking for feedback.

Were u on stock tires? Mods?

No mods. R6 Hoosiers.

seems like most of the engine failures are coming from hpde events.

And many on sticky tires. Although, there have been a few on the factory rubber.

Let me guess - high speed (maybe banked) left-hand turns?

But doesn't a dry-sump eliminate oil starvation issues? I thought positive pressure oil systems weren't affected by centrifigal forces?

Can we get some more details? What do you mean by "engine blew"? Got a box that looks like this:

http://i42.tinypic.com/1zn95c6.jpg
Or something less catastrophic?

Is the car at the dealer or a shop now?

The engine literally blew up. Two connecting rods blew through the oil pan and were found on the track. The oil had been consistently checked and was up to level, although the car did take 2 and 1/2 quarts of oil between the first and second day on the track.

what track?

Dreamin -

That box looks very familiar.

You burned over 2 quarts of oil and didn't think to stop ???....

Hindsight is 20/20. You can be sure it won't happen again. That's why I posted here to make others aware of the potential problem.

I can burn ~1 quart per track day (1/4 qt per 20-30 minute session)... is that not normal ?

(Not sure if OP means 2.5 quarts over 2 days, or 2.5 quarts in one day)

what track?

2.5 quarts over the 2 days -- 250 miles the first day and about 200 miles the second.

That sounds like a normal amount of oil to consume over that many track miles.

Did you check and refill oil after every session?

Depends on the driving style and to some extent the partcular car. My car burned very little oil at the track for the first 3 years, then a little bit more - but I'm not doing lap after lap at an almost constant 6500+ rpm. I tend to keep the car in a higher gear when it's going at a constant speed around the bend (like turns 2 and 8 at Big Willow). It will also burn a little more on a hot day.

20k track miles on the 06 Z06, doesn't use a drop of oil. I rarely go over 170 though.

The oil was checked after every session. Sessions lasted about 20 to 40 minutes. Not a particularly hot day.

That is not your motor is it?

What track?

:bigears What Track? :bigears



Also, DavidF and Opel, what oil are you each using?

Was it Watkins Glen? There was an '06 that blew up and end of the day on Sunday that was stock with only R6s.....

That IS an LS7 rod in that box richie........:eek:

You needed an upgraded oiling system with reduced friction and more oil for high speed banked turns to be safe and you still might blow one. Pan upgrade, reduced friction lines and filter upgrades and an ARE tank.

Note the ARE tank below:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...p4-4-09012.jpg

Jim

Not yet :smash:

Yes, those are LS7 bits...

Nice post! I like it. Good attitude! Keep on hammering!

Jim

If OP's car is under warranty...he may not want that known...

I had a post not too long ago titled "Another LS-7 bits the dust". I lost the motor on a track day as well. At the time I did not know the cause of failure. Now I do. It was due to oil starvation on 3 of the rod bearings at the crank. The bearings were obviously overheated from lack of oil but the failure appears to have taken place over a period of time rather than all of a sudden. One of the bearings broke apart and a piece of metal was lodged in the oil hole of the crank causing the oil pressure to go to zero before I finally got off the track.

Based on what I have been reading on this forum and my own experience I conclude that the LS-7 motor is a lemon. It has technical flaws that a reasonable person should not expect to exist.

During my various track days (about 10), my motor has seen oil temperatures no higher than 270 degrees but I am told this is not excessive for Mobil 1 oil. I watched my oil pressure constantly while on the track and it never fell below 40 psi. I ran HPDE events at Pacific Raceway, Portland Internation Raceway, Texas World Speedway, Motorsports Ranch and finally Eagles Canyon Raceway. 6 of the HPDE's were at Pacific Raceways in the Seattle area. I have been road racing with the SCCA for about 15 years. I have ran Chevrolets, Nissans, BMWs and Mazdas. I have never had an oil stravation problem like I experienced with the LS-7 motor and the other others have seen far more abuse and heat.

So, if you are going to run a stock LS-7 on track days more than just a few times - know this:

1. You will most likely have rocker arm failures. Check you drain plug often for the needle bearings.
2. You will starve the engine of oil at various times depending on the track and other conditions. YOU WILL lose an engine, this is a fact. If you have not lost one yet it is only a matter of time before you will.
3. If you cannot afford to replace the engine at your own expense then STOP running it on track days now.

I wanna see the hole that thing left on it's way out. :eek:

How are the non dry sump motors holding up? (LS2/LS3)

Be interesting if they do better without the highly touted dry sump system.

WOW ..... thats depressing :ack:

:cheers:
DH

Man, that is one FUGLY box!

The LS7 is it a Lemon or not, just how many "blown engines" are there?, before I trade up I would like to hear what the owners have to say...I dont plan to track the Z, but will drive the dang thing...Thanks

With all these facts, could you please post your data you must have logged while on the track. It would really give us some great insight. Thank you

If you aren't going to track there is pretty much no way you will run into this problem. It only occurs due to sustained lateral G-forces in a constant direction at a high speed. For instance a long high speed turn. Driving on the street almost never compares to the abuse of the track. If you stay on the street the ls7 is pretty bulletproof.

Thats the catch 22 isn't it? You cannot appreciate these cars just driving them on the street, or your pretty stupid if you try. However you risk blowing up the motor and having to drop major $ to fix it and make it right. It's a real shame Chevrolet did not develope a real dry sump oiling system for this car. We all would have been happy to pay for it.

I had the same thing last Labor Day, Gm covered the entire repair, they were awesome, 09 engine heading to the track this weekend for the first time since this happened
good luck

also it is mostly high speed banked turns from what i read posted where this happens not on flat spots of tracks

Curious if it was up to level, when did it loose 2 plus quarts of oil. Reason I ask is that I know of two engines that failed one was missing shift and dropping a valve and the other was down nearly 3 quarts of oil and had bearing damage. Just turned 80,000 miles with mine without any issues other than 7 sets of tires. Zero oil comsumtion but tricky to get an accurate read, that was the cause of the upper statement.

It would be nice to know how many blown motors GM has fixed, and how many they have denied warranty on.

There are a surprising number of blown motors. many that seem to get repaired. And a few that don’t.

There are also a heck of a lot of people who drive the snot out of basically stock Z's, with no problem.

I bought my Z because of all the great things I herd about it. I already had a nice vette, and just thought I would try it. After driving it at the track, I have very little interest in driving it on the street. Its like kissing your sister.

I drove mine last year at 4 track days, and didn’t even go through a set of brake pads. So I don’t drive it too hard. If I couldn’t track it, I would likely sell it.

dg144 -
Wondering how it was presented to GM . . .
Was it obvious that it happened on the track?

Agreed.

I don't understand people that whine when they've blown their LS7's during aggressive track days.

Any time you run a motor hard, at high rpm the instances of failure rates increase exponentially.

There is no such thing as a reliable, high performance 'racing' motor, regardless of the parts you use.

How many racing cars do you see with engine failures during events?
Some of them have the best parts and engineering today's technology has to offer, even at the F1 level.

'You got to pay if you want to play'. Man up people, and stop your whining.

I appreciate all the input and interest. Still dealing with the issues of insurance and warranty. After all has been resolved, I will post how things played out . . .

I'm surprised the LS7 hasn't been dropped already

^that's a bit harsh. i still love mine. i think as long as you are not taking your z to hpde events than the LS7 is fairly stout.

I look forward to seeing how long mine lasts with h/c setups.

I told my dealer I was doing HPDE, my car is bone stock and the tech at the dealership made it happen, 14 days after dropping the car off I picked it up with an 09 engine and running and looking like new

I have an 08Z and I blew my motor today. I was going straight doing about 110 in third, bounced off the rev limiter once and didnt do so again because there was hellfire coming at me from under the hood. There was a 10' fireball from under the car that bubbled and peeled the paint off the rear bumper. The motor seized and locked up the rear tires causing the car to go into a skid that made the rear end kick out to the left. I controlled the skid and came to a stop safely. My rearview was full of fire. Nobody was hurt and all is well for now. I havent contacted gm yet but will be doing so on monday. I have some souvenirs eheheh

Hopefully they can put a motor from an 09 in the car and it wont blow again.. kinda scary

Is there any LS2 or LS3 at these track. How do they hold up?

Where you on the track that had turns or just on an open road? I understand you where going staight when it blew I am just curious about right before it blew.

Joe

Since the American taxpayer is now backing your warranty, I wish you'd stop blowing engines.:flag:

did you get the new 09 oil resevoir as well?

I was behind him when it blew...there was a puff of smoke, a small fire then a catastrophic fire. Not in the least bit reassuring that this is GM's once-flagship motor. My student managed to get to a stop about 50 yards behind him. No injuries but MUCH smoke and fire. They found wrist pins/piston parts and ring bits ON THE GROUND. Think about that for a minute...not only block chunks but ring and piston landing bits. He was in a straightaway when it happened. No corner starvation at all. Was not overdriving the car at all in the previous sections...

Real shame. Interested to see how you all come out with these. So sorry for everyone's loss. These are amazing cars and I am amazed they are having ANY troubles let alone these sorts.

Cassidy

I'm having deja vu all over again.:crazy:

I KNOW :ack:

Waiting for the call to take a ride to Neptunes Nest :thumbs:

:cheers:
DH

mine died last week
 

http://qik.com/video/1645334

crank/rod bearing #3 and 4 toast.

oil pressure fine until this happened, then dropped to 30 psi and alot of noise


Rune

:lol::lol::lol:

I take it your engine was NOT covered then? :(

:lol: but soon to be true. :(

:steering: Whoa, any pictures? :D

Not right now... but there will be plenty to see .. stay tuned!

Mine was the same but I didn't hit the rev limiter