Engine Failure Problems of Chevrolet Corvette - part 1

We purchased the car in July of 2018 from arizona specialty motors with approximately 14,500 miles. We used the car as a 3rd vehicle/recreational driver since purchase. On Monday, 09/02/19 we were driving back from mt. Lemmon, az and the car quit running at approximately 18,500 miles halfway down the mountain on our return. Fortunately there was a pullout where we were able to bring the car to a stop although we had no power, otherwise we could have driven or pushed over the cliff. We had to have the car towed back and took it to watson Chevrolet in tucson, az. On Wednesday, 09/04/19 we were informed that the valve dropped in cylinder #2 which resulted in catastrophic engine failure. The car is currently sitting at watson Chevrolet with a completely failed motor and have been provided an estimated $20,000 in repairs. Gm posted a service bulletin in 2011 claiming this issue was fixed; however, there are numerous reports online that it is still occurring and now we are also a victim.

See all problems of the 2013 Chevrolet Corvette 🔎.

I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, I took my car with 27000 miles on it to a Corvette specialty shop to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had (2) intake valve guides outside of service specifications, (4) exhaust valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of (10) other intake and exhaust valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The car is being 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...

See all problems of the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette 🔎.

�takata recall� just bought a 2007 z06 Corvette and lately I've been seeing a lot of complaints about the valve stems breaking and causing catastrophic engine failture causing the power steering and breaks to fail so now I have to pay 5000. 00 + to get it serviced and every 10k miles do the same thing because the valve stem and guides get hot and start to wiggle.

See all problems of the 2007 Chevrolet Corvette 🔎.

I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads and speaking to numerous Chevrolet mechanics about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines. This has happened on completely stock vehicles. People with less than 20000 miles have lost motors. 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 was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, I took my car with 9500 miles on it to a Corvette specialty shop to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had (2) intake valve guides outside of service specifications, (4) exhaust valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of (10) other intake and exhaust valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The car is being 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...

See all problems of the 2008 Chevrolet Corvette 🔎.

Engine valve train subject to complete failure due to improper manufacture causing a total engine failure an possible loss of control at speed.

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.

See all problems of the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette 🔎.

I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, I took my car with 37,000 miles on it to courtesy Chevrolet / Cadillac to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had (3) intake valve guides outside of service specifications, (7) exhaust valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of (11) other intake and exhaust valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The cost of 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. Is something I simply cannot afford at the moment with the downturn of the oilfield industry. Please bear in mind, my car had a replacement ls7 engine from a dropped exhaust valve before I owned it, so this has already happened to my car once. It occurred at 22xxx miles, and can have the gm dealer print a copy of the ro line to prove it. This is occurring at an alarming rate, but after our warranty period, we the consumer are left out to dry. 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 was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, I took my car with 27000 miles on it to a Corvette specialty shop to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had (2) intake valve guides outside of service specifications, (4) exhaust valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of (10) other intake and exhaust valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The car is being 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...

Gm denies any sort of wide spread issue with respect to the manufacturing/assembly of the cylinder heads for the ls7 engine. There have been numerous catastrophic engine failures as a result of a broken valve head dropping into the cylinder and subsequently blowing a hole through the motor, causing fluids to leak all over the road, and complete loss of control of the vehicle. The symptoms are premature valve guide wear, which eventually become so worn that the valve closes on the wrong angle to the seat, and off breaks the valve head. The issue appears to be poor valve guide to valve seat concentricity, which leads to premature valve guide wear. My 2009 z06 Corvette at only 15,000 street driven miles was inspected by a reputable third party repair facility, and discovered that 14/16 valve guides were beyond gm's service limit, and the remaining 2/16 were right at the limit. This is something that shouldn't occur until 150,000 miles at least. . . Not 15,000. There needs to be an investigation before more catastrophic failures occur. There are hundreds if not thousands of documented occurrences.

Valve guides pre-mature wear causing engine failure.

I am extremely concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines causing a loss of control of the vehicle due to the engine stopping abruptly. 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...

Wear issue is with the valve guides in the cylinder heads. If the issue was not addressed, the hollow, sodium filled exhaust valve could break and destroy the engine. The repairs were made before the car had an engine failure while driving. Mileage on the car was around 32,000.

The ls7 engine has a defect that causes accelerated valve guide wear. Continuing to drive the car will eventually lead to a valve dropping and causing catastrophic engine failure. Once this occurs there will be a loss of power steering, power brakes, and water/oil could get on the tires leading to a loss of control of the car. In a few cases fire has erupted. . Read more...

I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, loosing a valve while driving will result in loss of power ssist for steering and breaking while on the road . I took my car with 13500 miles on it to a Corvette specialty shop to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had (8) exhaust valve guide and (3) intake valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of (5) other intake valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The car is being 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. I can provide data on the failed guides for documentation 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 was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, I took my car with 7800 miles on it to a Corvette specialty shop ( katech) to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had (5) intake valve guides outside of service specifications, (4) exhaust valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of (3) other intake and exhaust valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The car is being 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...

Wiggle test on all valves showed all exhaust valves with excessive guid where. . . . Safety issue. . . . !!! this can and has led to catastrophic engine failure at freeway speeds. . . . . . .

Abnormal valve guide wear in cylinder heads considering age and mileage of vehicle. Potential catastrophic engine failure from dropped valve if not addressed. Chevrolet should fix whether vehicle still in warranty or not as is believed to be poor quality control resulting in machining errors.

I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, I took my car with 27000 miles on it to a Corvette specialty shop to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had (2) intake valve guides outside of service specifications, (4) exhaust valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of (10) other intake and exhaust valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The car is being 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...

Checked engine heads and valves due to the ongoing engine failures of the ls7 engine. Number 7 inlet valve was found to be stressed to the point of imminent failure due to the factory machining being out of alignment with the valve stem and the valve seat. 2 other inlet valves were found not concentric and were replaced also. The exhaust valves were found to be out of factory specifications with the valve guides so all 16 valve guides and 8 exhaust valves were replaced also and the heads machined to factory specifications. When these engines fail, the engine stops and you have no power steering or vacuum power to the brakes so you struggle to stop the car and steer it to a safe place. The engine block, being aluminium, normally ventilates with a conrod out the side and oil and coolant is deposited on the road surface. Not a good situation in my opinion as we drive our car on major highways fairly regularly. General motors is aware of the situation and so far has done nothing to show any concern for the motorist who owns the car or the innocent motorist minding his/her own business on the highway.

While driving on the road at aprox. 45mph, my car exhaust valve dropped in the motor causing immediate engine failure also creating power steering and power brakes to stop working immediately. This same exhaust valve issues occurred with many other gm Corvettes with the 7. 0liter z06 motor.

The engine exhaust valve guides were outside of gm specifications and both cylinder heads were replaced under warranty because of this. This defect can cause the head of a valve to snap off and destroy the engine. The engine will stop working immediately, causing the power steering and power brakes systems to fail. The valve failure can cause a oil spill onto the road if the engine is destroyed. There have been numerous engine failures as a result of a dropped valve into a cylinder which can cause accidents and fires. Gm is very aware of this issue, but refuses to do anything about this huge safety risk to drivers, passengers, and nearby vehicles if the engine fails going down the road.

#1 azdanz06's avatarazdanz06 , 01-06-2015 11:27 am link to file complaint: https://www-odi. Nhtsa. Dot. Gov/vehicl. . . Nt/index. Xhtml I just filed a complaint with the NHTSA about the out of spec valve guide issue, I would encourage everyone else to do so as well, maybe just maybe it will force gm to finally do a recall and qc on parts. Here is my complaint: I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, 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...

Vehicle is completely stock with only 18,000 miles on it. It has never been on a track or used for anything other than a weekend toy. Complete engine failure as a result of a valve breaking off inside the engine while driving casually at 50 mph. As a result the engine stopped running taking with it the power steering and power assisted brakes. I was on a country road approximately 45 miles from the nearest gas station or service facility of any kind. There was also no cell phone service and was left stranded. I have since had a brand new engine put in at a total cost of over $ 16,000.

The 7l 427 engine has a valve failure problem. The valve heads break off inside the engine while running. This happened to me as I was driving along a highway at 60 miles per hour not accelerating braking or turning, in a very remote part of texas. The engine seized up. This is a known issue by gm with a much higher than expected failure rate yet has never had a service bulletin nor recall. The car had 18,000 miles on it at the time and had never been to the track or abused in any way. Oil was changed at 3,000 mile intervals by a certified shop. Between towing and repair the total bill was over $ 16,000. Because the car had been in service over 5 years despite the low mileage, gm picked up only 45% of the costs leaving me with over a $ 10,000 bill. This is a high performance very expensive sports car that had a complete engine failure at 18,000 miles.

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.

I experienced an engine failure. This resulted in a sudden and complete loss of power at an unexpected time. This occurred during a high performance driver education event at auto club speedway in fontana, CA. There was no warning before the moment the engine failed. The cause of the failure was the head of one of the exhaust valves separated from the valve stem and fell into the cylinder, destroying the cylinder head, piston and cylinder wall. The engine model in my 2009 Corvette is the ls7. A google search on �ls7 dropped valves� will fill many pages.

I experienced a total engine failure causing my nearly new vehicle to suddenly lose power and stop in the middle of a busy intersection nearly causing an accident. After having it towed back to the dealer I was told that there was some kind of failure dealing with the valves inside of the engine which caused metal fragments to be present in the oil, causing the engine to seize. I was shown a container which held some of the oil inside my engine and you could clearly see metal particles. They had to replace the entire engine.

Submission from constituent re repairs on his 2007 Chevrolet Corvette (the engine "dropped a valve") the consumer was informed, the entire engine needed to be replaced at a cost of $18,722. Instead of replacing the engine, at no cost to the consumer, general motors offered to pick up 45% of the cost, leaving the consumer to pay the balance of $10,630. The consumer stated gm issued an internal bulletin as far back as February 2008, that showed they were aware of the z06 engine failures and short life expectancy.

I was concerned about excessive valve train noise and after reading several Corvette forum threads about improperly machined heads by gm's supplier linamar, and that numerous vehicles have had valves drop and ruin the engines, I took my car with 40000 miles on it to a Chevrolet dealer to have my valve guide clearance tested. I had intake valve guides outside of service specifications, exhaust valve guides outside of service specifications, and a combination of other intake and exhaust valve guides at or near the maximum outside of service specifications. The car is being repaired with new heads and guides. Gm needs to issue a recall on this issue, there have been numerous engine failures as a result of a dropped valve into a cylinder which can cause accidents and fires. Gm is very aware of this issue, but refuses to do anything about this huge safety risk to drivers, passengers, and nearby vehicles if the engine fails going down the road.

On 09/03/08 I brought my car to a chevy dealer for noisy lifters , they replaced the rocker arms at the #8 cylinder which made the lifter noise not as loud. On 11/07/08 as I got onto the thruway , I accelerated in second gear to get into the flow of traffic ,I pushed in the clutch to shift into third gear . As I released the clutch with no throttle applied , the car began to shake very badly . I then pushed the clutch pedal in looked at my gauges which were all dead. Then I looked into the rear view mirror and there was a large cloud of white smoke behind me . Then I had the car towed to the chevy dealership and they called and informed me the next day that there was a hole in the engine block at the #8 cylinder . The dealership and gm refuse to repair the car under warranty stating that the car is used competitively of which it is not . I have found out that there have been many major engine failures with the z06 Corvette . Gm has a program for 2007 and 2008 z06 cars that have major engine failures where they send the car back to the factory where they repair or replace the engine . The document id # 2067130 and #pip4132b of which I have a copy of . If there was not a problem with these engines they would not have the program in place .

The ls7 engine is known to have bad 2 piece exhaust valves that come apart and fall into the cylinder resulting in a catastrophic engine failure that requires an entire new engine. This happened to me this past March 2015. Gm needs to issue a recall on this issue, there have been numerous engine failures as a result of a dropped valve into a cylinder which can cause accidents and fires. Gm is very aware of this issue, but refuses to do anything about this huge safety risk to drivers, passengers, and nearby vehicles if the engine fails going down the road.

This 2001 Corvette was taken to the dealer on Sep t12th, 2003 for engine failure. Pistons, rods, bearings & related parts were replaced. Vehicle was returned to me 4 weeks later. As of 10/22/03 vehicle has been returned to the dealer twice for related engine problems & is in their shop at this time with no estimated completion time. I have not been offered any substitute transportation. Gm customer assistance will do nothing and has refused to extend the warranty or provide compensation for lost use of this $52,000 vehicle.

See all problems of the 2001 Chevrolet Corvette 🔎.

Engine failed.

See all problems of the 1998 Chevrolet Corvette 🔎.