Engine Failure problems of the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette

The cylinder heads have valves that are out of spec with 23,000 miles. The car is out of warranty due to age, and I was forced to purchase aftermarket cylinders heads to fix the worn valve issue to insure I don't drop a valve and have a catastrophic engine failure.

Valve guides pre-mature wear causing engine failure.

I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several accounts of improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop, resulting in engine failure. As a result, after having been rebuffed by Chevrolet, I took my car with 36,000 miles on it to a Corvette specialty shop to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had several exhaust valve guides outside the maximum service specifications, indicating that a catastrophic engine failure was imminent. The car was repaired with proper re-machining of the heads to make the valve guides concentric, new intake and exhaust valve guides installed, as well as new seals, valves, springs, etc. 88% of the Corvette forum members who have had their cylinder heads tested for excessive valve guide wear, were out of service specifications. . Read more...

I had a friend who had an engine failure on this same engine due to a failed exhaust valve. The valve guides were extremely worn on his car causing the valve failure. Due to his failure and many others like it, I removed my heads and inspected. Sure enough, they were significantly beyond general motors published tolerances and required machining to repair. This was at significant cost to me and out of pocket. Gm knows of this issue and refuses to participate in repair costs for cars out of warranty even though it's a design flaw and safety concern. If and when the valve catastrophicly fails, the engine will have a complete shut down, large amounts of smoke out the exhaust clouding the other drivers vision, and has the possibility of leaving oil slicks on the road surface.