07,08 Z06 oiling problem

[XCESSIV]

I saw first hand the destruction of a Z06 motor at work, it kicked the rods out the side of the block this was a stock Z06 driven daily. If you have one of these be carefull there is a problem but there is no recall on them. The 2009 have a refined oil tank and engine. Just wondering if anybody has had one blow up.

[Lowend]

I know on the earlier Z06 GM instructed you to add an extra quart of oil if Auto-Xing or open-tracking. I wonder if this is the case with the new units

[68sixspeed]

The new tank adds another couple (3?) quarts to the tank, Lingenfelter also offers a upgrade tank that has extra capacity for $299. (+core) http://www.lingenfelter.com/store/l300046006.html

That being said, some people blew them up by being idiots and running cold oil. any system with a cooler takes a long time to warm up. On the street mine never gets above 150 this time of year which is a bit scary. It is interesting that the 09 z06 and zr1 have extra capacity added.

[silver69camaro]

Now I would think GM would use a thermostat bypass for the oil cooler. I never run one without a 'stat.

I thought the new motors used the ZR1 tank which had the additional capacity only for the supercharger. More oil usually capacity normally isn't a solution unless if there is a restriction somewhere on the return lines. Weird.

But isn't it possibly it could still be due to operator error?

[Randy67]

Now I would think GM would use a thermostat bypass for the oil cooler. I never run one without a 'stat.

It's not a thermostat/oil cooler issue so much, just it takes a while to heat up the oil in the dry sump tank. In racing, its common to see heaters being used on/in the tanks to get the oil up to temperature for a race. Always a good idea to have everything warmed up before putting the hammer down.

[jaybee]

I wouldn't overlook the possibility of a ID10T error. New engines are way closer to bulletproof than they used to be but you can break anything if you're insensitive to the equipment and beat it hard enough.

[68sixspeed]

so far the only major ls7 issue I'm aware of is on 07's with the needle bearings falling out of the rockers on motors built in a given period. Thank Torrington for sending production from the US in 06 to Mexico in 07. There is a lot of good reading on the z06 motors and who's blown what on the corvetteforum.com under the c6z06 secion. There have been more than a few people post with toasted motors, but most had a cam change, tune, etc. The tuned ones scare me in a way, if the motor starts detonating and the tune does not pick it up... boom. I've discussed putting the bigger tank in mine to be safe, but say good-by warrantee at that point.

[Nine Ball]

The failure rate is only a fraction of a percent, when compared to the LS7s still working perfectly. We only hear about the bad stories on the internet, most happy customers do not take the time to write about good things.

BTW, the needle bearings falling out of rocker arms has been around since 1997 with the LS1's too. The little stamped metal side caps have been known to fall off, spilling the bearings into the engine. Again, this is a rarity, but it does happen.

[Restomod]

I think I will stick with my C5 Z for a while...........