Serious ZL1 Defects
 

Let me start by saying that I have referenced and researched Camaro5 for information involving both my early production 2010 2SS, and my 2012 ZL1. I have not until now felt that my voice or input was necessary but through the events of the past week I think it is time I put forth my 2 cents.

I ordered my 2012 ZL1 in mid-February at a local but small scale Chevrolet dealership with the hopes that they would come through with an allocation. Several months later and by chance they did receive an allocation and my ZL1 was produced. My ZL1 is number 1526 AGM Manual, and I took delivery of it June 23rd.

I followed the break in instructions to the letter, as per information obtained from Camaro5 along with the owners manual. I passed the 1500 mile point on the 4th of July and proceeded to run the car through some of its paces including accelerating above 4000RPM and a little faster then the 80mph restriction. I by no means drove the car to its limit, but soon found that I could smell some burning oil and as the car had not been driven above 4000rpm at that point I believed it to be normal. I proceeded to park it over night, with the smell of burning oil filling my garage. The next morning I found there was a quite heavy pattern of oil dripping from below the car.

Still hoping for the best I turned the car into the dealership I purchased it from for a post break-in period inspection, oil change, and hopefully to hear the fluid leaking was a normal issue. The spray of oil from the night previous covered a vast portion of the underside of the car and had wrapped onto the rear quarter panel and back of the vehicle.

Okay, so what happened at the dealership?

Every car malfunctions, its a part of life

and what happened? what was the source of the problem? what fixed it?

Probably oil filter not tight enough.

(Continuation)
After several hours of inspection and some preliminary diagnosing the service manager called me back and had come up with two possible causes for the problem. I drove to the dealership shortly after that and after placing die into the motor oil it was found to be leaking from the open port vents on right side of the bottom of the transmission. The possible causes named were either a defective Rear Main Seal or Oil Pan Seal. The Oil Pan Seal seemed to be the most likely culprit so the following day they dropped the front sub-frame, dissassembled the front fascia and pulled the Oil Pan Gasket which was lacking suffecient sealant so it was replaced and installed with the proper amount of sealant.

Several other issues were discovered as the front fascia was removed in order to get access to the Oil Pan, one of which seems to be a potentially dangerous flaw in production. Attached is a reference photo for the location of this flaw
Attachment 396881
In this area the service tech found what really could cause a major safety issue.
Attachment 396882
A wiring harness I highlighted in Red which he said controls the Electric Steering was found mashed between a support and a razer sharp corner of the engine block in the area I highlighted in Green. In his opinion if that harness remained where it was normal engine vibration or road movement could have severed the wiring harness which could leave the ZL1 without steering. He said he would be interested to know if this harness was misplaced during production or if other ZL1's have could have this harness placed in the same location.

That one hundred percent blows man.

Hopefully they get it put back together and running soon, and also find out the wiring harness on your car is a fluke.

(Continued)
I attached the images of just some of the damage caused by the oil leak. Including some heavy burn and scoring all along the exhaust and on primarily the right side catalytic converter. The tunnel was splattered and as I said the oil had wrapped around the back of the car so heavily the rear camera was useless until I wiped it off.

So the service tech replaced the Oil Pan Gasket, re-assembled the sub-frame and front fascia. He also found that several line supports and clips for cooling lines and wiring were improperly connected, or not utalized at all which I hope explained some of the odd noises I heard from the front end during break-in. He also found that a front end air duct that sends air to the radiator was literally loose in the front fascia so he installed it properly.

I picked up the car 4 days after I had dropped it off which was a very nerve racking 4th of July weekend. I picked it up around 5pm Monday July 9th, drove it for several hours once again putting it through its paces and sure enough the smell of burning oil came back sporadically. I was hoping it was residual from the scoring on the exhaust. I parked the car in my driveway around 9pm and when I had come out around 11pm there was what looked to be about a half quart of fluid which seemed to be motor oil in the relative location of the Oil Pan so I immediately drove it to the dealership. Tuesday the 10th of July the service tech proceeded to remove the exhaust system, and pulled the transmission to have clearance to try and locate the continuing leak.

They pulled the transmission to discover the plate on the back of the block appeared to have small fluid leaks around several bolts.

Attachment 396900

Also the flywheel which has a balancing fluid similar to motor oil was leaking severely from around the small weld.

Attachment 396902
Attachment 396903

The housing and clutch were both sprayed which has caused some severe scoring on the flywheel surface.

Attachment 396901
Attachment 396904

So here I am, with my ZL1 less then a month from date of delivery now spending its 7th night on a lift as replacement parts which I hope aren't on constraint are in the process of being shipped to the dealership.

Damn man, that sucks. I'd tell the dealership to keep that car and order you another.

That's horrible. They should replace anything that shows signs of the leak. For instance, that exhaust should be replaced. Keep track of everything and how long it stays in the shop in case you end up qualifying for the lemon law. I would not be happy.

What a nightmare!

I told the service manager several times to look the exhaust over and the best I have heard so far was that they are going to try to clean it with steel wool. I'm not happy with that sort of response to what I still think qualifies as "New"

Unfortunately I don't think they would be able to replace it with a limited production 2012 MY.

get a 2013 and chalk it up to bad luck....from what you have shown make them take the car back and chalk it up to a life experience.