Engine failure

[scott borelly]

So, love my 09 z06, it is my third but today the engine failed. Car has 6003 miles, purchased last year with 1900 miles. I was showing it to a coworker, car was basically idling and made a loud bang. Engine is froze, and a big hole is blown thru the air cleaner assembly. Car is stock except for shocks. I want the car to be fixed as quickly as possible, but am not sure my local dealer is the best place. How can I accelerate the process, and what should I watch out for? I just want it fixed properly.
thanks

 

[Huskerman]

I can not begin to imagine what could have happened..........I'm thinking that is still under the powertrain warranty and Chevy should be all over that......keep us posted. On those handbuilt engines I don't know what the process would be but someone here will know.

 

[catbert]

There is a 100,000 mile drive train warranty. Take it to a Chevy dealer, you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[LLC5]

So, love my 09 z06, it is my third but today the engine failed. Car has 6003 miles, purchased last year with 1900 miles. I was showing it to a coworker, car was basically idling and made a loud bang. Engine is froze, and a big hole is blown thru the air cleaner assembly. Car is stock except for shocks. I want the car to be fixed as quickly as possible, but am not sure my local dealer is the best place. How can I accelerate the process, and what should I watch out for? I just want it fixed properly.
thanks

If you want it repaired under any GM warranty it needs to go to a GM dealer and diagnosed as to why the engine froze on you. The dealer will then determine if warranty is available. You can call GM cust service and let them know what happened, but they are going to tell you a dealer needs to look at before they can help you. Good luck with it.

 

[scott borelly]

If you want it repaired under any GM warranty it needs to go to a GM dealer and diagnosed as to why the engine froze on you. The dealer will then determine if warranty is available. You can call GM cust service and let them know what happened, but they are going to tell you a dealer needs to look at before they can help you. Good luck with it.

Thanks for responding. I had it towed to a local dealer but I don't think they are qthe best to work on it. I live in the Phoenixville pa area

 

[96gs917]

Hi Scott, Welcome to the forum. Sorry to here about your car but I am sure GM will take care of it for you.
Just speculation on my part but it sounds like you may have dropped an exhaust valve. I thought GM fixed
the valve guide issue on the LS7 engine by 09??

In any case have your local Chevy dealer start the process, and keep us informed of the progress.

Good luck.

 

[Hib Halverson]

There are two known issues with the LS7. Both are exceedingly rare. The first is a problem with rocker arm trunnion bearings which affected a small number of engines built in early 2007.

The other is improperly machined valve guides which affected a very small number of engines built in 08, 09, 10 and very early 11.

It is possible the failure discussed in the OP could be related to either of those, but it is unlikely because both those problems will result in significant engine noise for a time prior to any catastrophic failure.

If I had to guess, without seeing the car, considering the engine failed at idle, blew a hole in the air cleaner then seized, I'd be looking at a timing chain failure.

That said, I hope the Scott Borelly comes back here after the cause of the failure is known.

 

[Chevy Customer Service]

So, love my 09 z06, it is my third but today the engine failed. Car has 6003 miles, purchased last year with 1900 miles. I was showing it to a coworker, car was basically idling and made a loud bang. Engine is froze, and a big hole is blown thru the air cleaner assembly. Car is stock except for shocks. I want the car to be fixed as quickly as possible, but am not sure my local dealer is the best place. How can I accelerate the process, and what should I watch out for? I just want it fixed properly.
thanks

scott borelly,

I'm sorry to hear about your Corvette. Please let me know if you are planning on taking your Z06 to a GM dealership to have your engine fix? Feel free to PM me if you need me.

Evan, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

[Toms007]

Thank you Evan for stepping in here to offer your help in this situation.

 

[scott borelly]

So the local dealer can't even look at it until Thursday and they said it will be at least a month to fix. That is totally unacceptable so I contacted another dealer that has quoted less than two weeks. The local dealer is just too small

 

[6 Shooter]

 

[toppthat]

I know what damage is done. I would demand a completely new engine. Then i would rebuild it right.

 

[scott borelly]

Update

Engine update.

So, when the car failed (in parking lot) their was a large bang and the air intake forward of the mass air flow was broken into about six large pieces, and the entire unit was cracked everywhere. Looking at the fractures it apears that internal pressure caused it to break. I tried to start the car, but it would not crank.

When the dealer got the car they removed the debri from the mass airflow sensor and the car started. It had no abnormal sounds so they went and ordered a complete new air intake, sensors, and a mass air flow unit. The only codes were for the broken sensors and misfire codes. They also said the car was low on fuel.

After putting in the new parts everything seemed fine. No explination as to what happened but they agreed that their was some sort of backfire thru the intake. They ran the car quite a bit in the shop and all was well.

Here is where it gets strange. After driving about 1/4 of a mile the car starts to run rough, seems to be running on 6 cylinders. I happen to be infron of a gas station so I pull in and fill up. The car took just over 16 gallons, so their were just under 2 still in the tank. Start the car back up and it is still running rough. After a couple minutes it seems fine so I head down the road. After about 1/2 mile it starts running SUPER rough, I get a service active handling, ABS failure, and all kinds of warnings on the display along with an engine light. I pull into the restuarant where my wife is waiting and eat dinner.

After dinner I planned to take the car back to the dealer. Much to my surprise it runs perfect so I head home. The next day I take it to the dealer for them to look at it. They run a code scan and the only code is for a misfire. Since picking up the car two days ago I have been about 120 miles with only the above issue.

Before I bought the car in April it had only been 1900 miles in 3-1/2 years. I have put another 4000 on it. Being low on fuel could cause the pump to pick up some junk, but the filter should catch that and the car had been run quite a bit at the shop without issue.

I would like to say GM was extremly helpful. They contacted me thru social media, and gave me frequent updates on my car. Excellent customer service from my perspective.

Scott

 

[Huskerman]

So I'm thinking bad gas is the cause maybe? I'm glad the engine is good. Run a couple of bottles of Techron through it. One bottle each for a couple of tankfuls.....also when is the last time you had the battery checked? I was having some rough running problems with my GS when I would start it up in the mornings. I took it in and they could not find anything wrong so I had read about Techron on the forum and tried it and the problem just went away.........I like those magic fixes.....

 

[Hib Halverson]

This thread really has me confused. The OP stated the engine was frozen, ie: locked-up, but...that's not the case? How does a seized engine "unseize"? Is it that the engine was incorrectly diagnosed as being locked-up?

As for use of a fuel additive, my guess is the current situation with this car does not involve fuel contamination. I say that because the misfire is intermittent. If there was bad gas in the tanks, the engine would run poorly until the bad fuel was used up.

The discussion of a sudden onset of warning lights coming on along with a rough running engine and a history code for misfire has me thinking there is an electrical problem somewhere.

A big intake manifold "backfire" could do the damage described. A big backfire could be caused by an intermittent problem with grounding or B+ voltage or a short or open in the primary side of the ignition system. Perhaps RFI or faulty ignition triggering could be an issue as well.

My guess is it's going to take a dealer with good electrical diagnostic skills to find the problem.

Hopefully "c4c5Specialist" will see this thread and comment.

 

[scott borelly]

I originally thought it had dropped a valve and seized because it would not crank over, and I pushed in the clutch, let it roll and released the clutch. My buddy was watching the wheel and said it didn't roll.


I am in agreement that bad gas doesnt make sence. A misfiring injector will not cause a backfire, it needs an ignition source, either an ignition misfire, or a valve not fully seated on a firing stroke (unlikely unless a valve is bent and then it would always happen).


I want to believe it is fixed, but I don't have a good explination of what happened and why.

Scott Borelly

 

[ltmax]

A Realistic Consideration

Some strange symptoms you describe here that seem to be related to combustion one way or the other. You mentioned that the car had basically sat around for how long - 2 or 3 years? Did you drain the fuel that was in it when you got it or just run it out? Here's a thought - ethanol in today's crap fuel. Since ethanol, which NOBODY asked for, attracts/absorbs water ( the reason that they have to ship it by truck, can't transfer by pipeline ), is it possible that a certain amount of water accumulated in your fuel system over the time and then detonated all wrong as you run it now? HIB - is that possible? Do you think you still have some residual water in your fuel system? I wonder if you should drain every drop of fuel from the whole system ( use for the lawnmower or something ) and go get the best NON-ethanol fuel you can find.
CAC members who have worked at dealerships/on these cars... do you think this should be done? I'd think that residual water in the fuel would definitely cause serious combustion problems.
I think we can all agree that the federally mandated ethanol contamination is the biggest fraud in the history of the national fuel supply system, but brazen fraud seems to be the norm these days, eh?

Keep us posted on this problem and its resolution. You definitely chose the RIGHT CAR!

 

[Hib Halverson]

(snip) is it possible that a certain amount of water accumulated in your fuel system over the time and then detonated all wrong as you run it now? HIB - is that possible? (snip)

Yes.
Water contamination is possible and plays hell with how the engine runs. The only way to fix it is to either 1) do as you suggest and drain the tanks or 2) use a pour in product with absorbs the water. Christy "Dry Gas" is one Red Line "Fuel System Water Remover & Antifreeze".

I think we can all agree that the federally mandated ethanol contamination is the biggest fraud in the history of the national fuel supply system,

I agree.

but brazen fraud seems to be the norm these days, eh?

Only because a majority of voters in this country allow it.ad

 

[c4c5specialist]

Engine update.

So, when the car failed (in parking lot) their was a large bang and the air intake forward of the mass air flow was broken into about six large pieces, and the entire unit was cracked everywhere. Looking at the fractures it apears that internal pressure caused it to break. I tried to start the car, but it would not crank.

When the dealer got the car they removed the debri from the mass airflow sensor and the car started. It had no abnormal sounds so they went and ordered a complete new air intake, sensors, and a mass air flow unit. The only codes were for the broken sensors and misfire codes. They also said the car was low on fuel.

After putting in the new parts everything seemed fine. No explination as to what happened but they agreed that their was some sort of backfire thru the intake. They ran the car quite a bit in the shop and all was well.

Here is where it gets strange. After driving about 1/4 of a mile the car starts to run rough, seems to be running on 6 cylinders. I happen to be infron of a gas station so I pull in and fill up. The car took just over 16 gallons, so their were just under 2 still in the tank. Start the car back up and it is still running rough. After a couple minutes it seems fine so I head down the road. After about 1/2 mile it starts running SUPER rough, I get a service active handling, ABS failure, and all kinds of warnings on the display along with an engine light. I pull into the restuarant where my wife is waiting and eat dinner.

After dinner I planned to take the car back to the dealer. Much to my surprise it runs perfect so I head home. The next day I take it to the dealer for them to look at it. They run a code scan and the only code is for a misfire. Since picking up the car two days ago I have been about 120 miles with only the above issue.

Before I bought the car in April it had only been 1900 miles in 3-1/2 years. I have put another 4000 on it. Being low on fuel could cause the pump to pick up some junk, but the filter should catch that and the car had been run quite a bit at the shop without issue.

I would like to say GM was extremly helpful. They contacted me thru social media, and gave me frequent updates on my car. Excellent customer service from my perspective.

Scott

Hi there,

Ok, first, lets start with the basics. I see 3 things that make me wonder.

#1, Was a fuel sample taken ????? You had 2 gallons left, which tells me that there is not a low fuel LEVEL problem, but maybe a fuel QUANTITY or QUALITY problem. Ethanol more than 10% can yield drivability issues but certainly not backfiring through the intake. Also, be aware that ethanol encapsulates moisture so adding more drygas can create hesitation and lower power from your engine. The ethanol in the fuel would be enough to take the moisture out of the tank and burn it accurately without issue, UNLESS you got more than a cup or 2 of water.

#2, you stated there was a misfire code. What was the code number? Even if it was a basic P0300 misfire, the misfire DATA within the engine control module will tell you WHICH cylinder was misfiring the most so you can focus on that cylinder. Certainly, I would be very interested in that data. You can reference the picture below to understand the data I speak of.

#3, if you had all those warning lights, THERE WILL BE other codes within the control modules of the Corvette. These codes, while some can overlook, SHOULD ALWAYS be documented and verified. They can give you hints as to where to proceed for diagnostics and point you in a solid direction. NOTE: a misfire can cause a 'service light' although, I would seriously dig deeper here.

A couple of notes from my point of view.

I would be looking at the fuel trim data as well as the information on the misfire data. There is no question that if there is a fuel issue, the fuel trim tables will either be adding or taking away fuel from your engine.

DO NOT DISCOUNT ANYTHING, as this low mileage dictates that nothing be overlooked.

Allthebest, Paul

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

If I understand the time line correctly, the car had 1900 miles on it a year ago when the OP purchased it. In that year he added 4000 miles, so it seems unlikely that old gas full of water would be possible.