My Motor Exploded - Now What?

[Nvincent4708]

Well I'm waiting on a GM District Specialist to call me.

I had an LS9 Cam and a tune. The engine is torn down..there are plenty of pics in the Camaro problems section of the forum.

It's nothing I did, The friend's dad is an ASE certified mechanic and he believes it was either a connecting rod casting flaw or the cylinder wall casting flaw which broke, let coolant in then caused a hydrolocked motor and..boom!

But do the District specialists ever help? I'm not expecting them to warranty my car, but I would like something to help me with this such as a short block or maybe even a little monetary compensation to build a new one. I'm more than willing to eat some of the cost of this. I mean the car had 12k miles and it's almost obvious it is one of their parts that failed.

UPDATE:

Link to pictures
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...31#post3279031

[mike25]

Hate to say it, but unless the rep is nothing short of stellar, they're gonna stick it to you.

[greenrail]

From what has been posted on here many times, I wouldn't hold much hope for something like this. You cammed and tuned your car. This may fall under y"ou pay to play" category.

Not what you may want to hear, but, that appears to be what you are facing.

[Ghost1LE]

I wished they were going to help you, but they have no true reason to help you and they won't. Companies are not like they used to be it's all
About the money they don't care about the customer. I wish you luck but i am almost positive they will
Do nothing because of the tune.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by Nvincent4708

Well I'm waiting on a GM District Specialist to call me.

I had an LS9 Cam and a tune. The engine is torn down..there are plenty of pics in the Camaro problems section of the forum.

It's nothing I did, The friend's dad is an ASE certified mechanic and he believes it was either a connecting rod casting flaw or the cylinder wall casting flaw which broke, let coolant in then caused a hydrolocked motor and..boom!

But do the District specialists ever help? I'm not expecting them to warranty my car, but I would like something to help me with this such as a short block or maybe even a little monetary compensation to build a new one. I'm more than willing to eat some of the cost of this. I mean the car had 12k miles and it's almost obvious it is one of their parts that failed.

My guess is that they won't do a thing in this case. Modded cam and a tune pretty much voids the warrantee...

Sorry to hear this happened...

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by greenrail

From what has been posted on here many times, I wouldn't hold much hope for something like this. You cammed and tuned your car. This may fall under y"ou pay to play" category.

Not what you may want to hear, but, that appears to be what you are facing.

I'm hearing the truth though, i'm just HOPING upon a miracle. haha

I'm honestly shocked that they have taken the case this far and put it to one of their specialists. Maybe that's a good sign?

[BlackenedSS]

Sorry to hear that....

Think you're on your own with any and all motor repairs but you already knew this right?

Time for LSX 454!!!!!!!

[DarkneSS]

You had a tune...hopefully they will work with you but be aware that the dont owe you anything. Even though your tune 99% probably didnt cause it they can easily blame it on it.

[Nvincent4708]

haha i WISH I could have the lsx454. Most likely out of my budget.. Actually, building a motor of any sort is going to be out of my budget for a little while. Lots of saving to do.

But i was thinking an iron block 6.2 with the ls3 heads. a little heavier, but more rigid

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by DarkneSS

You had a tune...hopefully they will work with you but be aware that the dont owe you anything. Even though your tune 99% probably didnt cause it they can easily blame it on it.

Yeah, thats what i'm hearing, the mechanic that helped me tear it down stated that it definitely was running rich and the tune could not have been why.

But I know i'll have to argue 'til i'm blue in the face to MAYBE get somewhere

[chevyk1]

Just curious how much do new Camaro engines cost?

[anthonyj9h]

you do realize ppl that the reason that gm took this case is to improve on their product, tune or not its peaked their interest

[anthonyj9h]

Originally Posted by chevyk1

Just curious how much do new Camaro engines cost?

turn-key? bout 13k

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by anthonyj9h

you do realize ppl that the reason that gm took this case is to improve on their product, tune or not its peaked their interest

Thanks for your optimism. That's kinda what I was thinking. I have EXTENSIVE pictures posted on this site for this. And GM has the pictures now. Jeff Morris (monitors this site) is a really nice guy for helping me get a case opened and such.

[HDRDTD]

It's possible that even though it doesn't qualify for warranty, the type of failure may have gotten the interest of the GM rep or engineer and they may want to see the damage for themselves to help them understand this particular failure mode.

Nonetheless I wouldn't bet on getting any assistance from GM unless they're so interested in studying the damage that they offer to pay to remove and replace the engine. Not pay for the new engine, just foot the bill for the labor so they can take the old engine back for analysis.

[LS1-Z28]

Originally Posted by BlackenedSS

Sorry to hear that....

Think you're on your own with any and all motor repairs but you already knew this right?

Time for LSX 454!!!!!!!

This

Originally Posted by Nvincent4708

haha i WISH I could have the lsx454. Most likely out of my budget.. Actually, building a motor of any sort is going to be out of my budget for a little while. Lots of saving to do.

But i was thinking an iron block 6.2 with the ls3 heads. a little heavier, but more rigid

Or this.

Or a 427(LS7) Which I believe is in the Corvette Z06. Mean motor. You have lots of options to choose from. You could also go LSX 454 with twin turbos and build the whole motor how you want to and be 1000+ RWHP. But maybe I'm biased

All in all sorry to hear about your motor. But hey gives you a reason to drop a new one in there. Good luck with whatever you end up doing!

[DarkneSS]

Originally Posted by Nvincent4708

Yeah, thats what i'm hearing, the mechanic that helped me tear it down stated that it definitely was running rich and the tune could not have been why.

But I know i'll have to argue 'til i'm blue in the face to MAYBE get somewhere

Knowing that I had almost no leg to stand on at any moment Id be as courteous as possible and work with them the best I can.

Good luck man i had my motor blow also, threw a rod, fortunately I was stock.

keep us posted! You have no idea how much this helps people who run into the same problem.

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by DarkneSS

Knowing that I had almost no leg to stand on at any moment Id be as courteous as possible and work with them the best I can.

Good luck man i had my motor blow also, threw a rod, fortunately I was stock.

keep us posted! You have no idea how much this helps people who run into the same problem.

Oh I'll definitely be kind. But i do have my ammunition of knowledge to hopefully help me along to prove that this is not a failure caused by me. I mean after all, isn't the LS9 a LS3 with the LS9 cam and a blower with forged internals..The heads are the same castings and such. I think the LS3 heads peak lift is .570 with stock springs.

And the motor is already out of the car, torn down, pictures posted. Would you guys want me to update the first post with the link?

[CC Performance]

where is the rod and can you post better pics of where it connects or connected to the crank... any bluing ?

what was the rev limit set to?


you have a few options on the rebuild..

[bthomp01]

Originally Posted by Skillz512

I wished they were going to help you, but they have no true reason to help you and they won't. Companies are not like they used to be it's all
About the money they don't care about the customer. I wish you luck but i am almost positive they will
Do nothing because of the tune.

I don't agree with this. Of course they care about the consumer, they want the consumer to keep consuming their products, but they also have to care about their shareholders.

It's a slippery slope... sure, maybe his cam and tune didn't cause the failure but if they replace his engine, then someone a little more modded has something go wrong, and they have to fix that...

Just hope for the best man. Hopefully you're not completely boned, but I wouldn't have expectations for anything other than paying for 100% of this repair.

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by CC Performance

where is the rod and can you post better pics of where it connects or connected to the crank... any bluing ?

The whole lower is taken apart now.

The rod was #3 and spun freely upon removal.

The 1st pic is the broken rod
The 2nd pic is the best I have of the rod being broken / shot through the block

[Nvincent4708]

Rev limit set to 6000 even. I made it less to be safe, I always do.

[ihaveacamaro]

ouch dude sorry! As others said, the tune is probably what killed your warranty :(

Wish you the best of luck!

[CC Performance]

no chance anything was left of the pin or anything on that end? How do the rest of the pistons look? you said you were using hptuners ? did you get much/ counts of knock?

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by CC Performance

no chance anything was left of the pin or anything on that end?

The wrist pin was the only piece that was 100% fine. It looks fine too, no blueing or anything.

What would be your guess on why it failed?