Modding does not kill motors.

[HookemHorns]

Great post SUX2BU -

If you have concerns about your engine blowing up, then don't touch it. If you can't afford to fix it if it does blow up, then don't touch it.

These are some simple rules to follow.

[Camaro_hx]

You can enjoy it ALOT with only simple modifications, and you'll still have a huge PERMA-GRIN

[Moorepheus]

Originally Posted by SUX2BU

If a motor has a bad lifter, oil pump or other defect it will fail if your grandma owns it and only drives it on Sundays or if you own it and mod the hell out of it. Obviously if you mod it it will put more stress on the part and it may fail quicker but it will still fail in a stock car none the less. I would say that the majority of catastrophic engine failures in these relatively low mile motors are due to defective factory parts. Obviously I am not talking about cars that are extremely modified with power adders and such. I'm talking about moderate mods like intakes, ported heads, a nice cam, exhaust and a GOOD tune. I know that when you open up the motor you can do something that willl adversely affect it but as long as you know what you are doing or have a competent shop do your work you will be fine.

It really seems to me that a large population of 5th gen owners on this site are new to modding cars and so they are easily frightened. They see a few "my engine blew up" threads and they think it's because it was modded. The truth is this is a Camaro enthusiast site and most of the cars on here will be modded. It's all a numbers game, if there is three times as many modded Camaros as stock Camaros on here then just by statistics alone there will be three times as many failures in modded Camaros. That does not in any way mean that you are three times more likely to have a failure if you mod your car. Also, everyone flocks to a "My engine blew up thread" like a bad car wreck. Sure you probably passed by a few thousand cars that weren't wrecked on your way to work today, but you are only going to think about and talk about the two you saw in that wreck. I'm sure there are hundreds of completely stock Camaros out there that have had similar failures, they just don't frequent this site.

I have worked on a lot of cars and people that don't know much about cars always ask the same questions. "Why did my xxxx go out? It only has xx,xxx miles?" Cause it was a defective xxxx. "What's the next thing that is going to go out on my car?" If I could see the future I wouldn't be working on your car, I'd be out buying lottery tickets.

It does suck that GM is not honoring warranties if you have certain mods or a tune, but it's not like none of us weren't warned when we bought the car. If you start to tinker with something you can't expect GM to fix it if it goes bad.


Not really sure what the point of this post is, I'm just ranting and I'm not sleepy yet.

While I agree that if a part is bad it is bad, and even grandma's car will fail with a bad part. However, if the parts in these motors are speced for the performance in which the car/engine was designed, changing the car's specs via a TUNE, CAM, or etc, these things could put these parts at risk of failure becuase now the performance of the car/engine is outside the acceptable threshold of these parts. We all know that cars will beak down, its designed too, otherwise we would still be drive the 1970 Camaro.

The big concern I have seen over the past year or so on these forums, is that I only see people who have MODDED their car with a TUNE, CAM, etc having major engine failure. In the same breath on these forums, I see is that the Camaro was built to be modded. Now, it might only be 1% of the Camaros that have been modded that we are seeing issues with, but these 1% of issues/failures don't show a good picture for the Camaro engine as an engine that can be modded, because they stand out like a sore thumb.

I have done nothing to my car, I am just not into it. Yet, I have had issues with my car, but nothing even close as to total engine failure. And, I don't think, I have yet to see anyone with a STOCK Camaro to have total engine failure like we have seen with the MODDED ones.

As for GM not helping the people who have modded, I would agree, they should at least stand by the part that is/was not affected by the modification or is known to be defective. But it seems that once you touch the engine, you are on your own.

[DarkneSS]

Thats why I was so glad my car was BONE stock when my engine blew, they couldnt say a thing!

[Moorepheus]

Originally Posted by DarkneSS

Thats why I was so glad my car was BONE stock when my engine blew, they couldnt say a thing!

What kind of failure, I don't remember seeing you post about your failure in the forums, maybe I just missed it.

[Nvincent4708]

Is this targeted at me? I mean i did have the bad lifter.. haha

Oh well, my car was resurrected..and going to be meaner than before

and it STILL won't stop me from modding.

[Tricky's SS]

I wonder how many people have had a bone stock v8 blow up.

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by Tricky's SS

I wonder how many people have had a bone stock v8 blow up.

There is atleast 2-3 that i've read about on this site. one of which was a lifter failure and one had a bearing failure.

[GretchenGotGrowl]

Originally Posted by Moorepheus

While I agree that if a part is bad it is bad, and even grandma's car will fail with a bad part. However, if the parts in these motors are speced for the performance in which the car/engine was designed, changing the car's specs via a TUNE, CAM, or etc, these things could put these parts at risk of failure becuase now the performance of the car/engine is outside the acceptable threshold of these parts. We all know that cars will beak down, its designed too, otherwise we would still be drive the 1970 Camaro.

The big concern I have seen over the past year or so on these forums, is that I only see people who have MODDED their car with a TUNE, CAM, etc having major engine failure. In the same breath on these forums, I see is that the Camaro was built to be modded. Now, it might only be 1% of the Camaros that have been modded that we are seeing issues with, but these 1% of issues/failures don't show a good picture for the Camaro engine as an engine that can be modded, because they stand out like a sore thumb.

I have done nothing to my car, I am just not into it. Yet, I have had issues with my car, but nothing even close as to total engine failure. And, I don't think, I have yet to see anyone with a STOCK Camaro to have total engine failure like we have seen with the MODDED ones.

As for GM not helping the people who have modded, I would agree, they should at least stand by the part that is/was not affected by the modification or is known to be defective. But it seems that once you touch the engine, you are on your own.

Good engineers always build in healthy safty margins. Throwing on headers, CAI and tuning it will still be within those margins. You may find defects more quickly, but you aren't going to break non-defective parts with bolt ons and a tune.

[Jamie Mac]

Originally Posted by GretchenGotGrowl

Good engineers always build in healthy safty margins. Throwing on headers, CAI and tuning it will still be within those margins. You may find defects more quickly, but you aren't going to break non-defective parts with bolt ons and a tune.

[Moorepheus]

Well, it seems in these cases, they are not, right?

[shockandawe]

Yes,but Modding does kill Warranties!

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by shockandawe

Yes,but Modding does kill Warranties!

Amen!

[motorhead]

So to me what the OP is saying is that our cars are more less junk from the factory and that modding them only made the problems show up sooner.