Long Term Ownership and Durability

[j o n]

I am well aware of the valve guide issue on LS7s, we caught my brother's 2008 z06 just in time...metal shaving throughout the motor at ~10k mi. Full rebuild insued: bearings, Mast heads, Comp cam, new oil plumbing, etc.... ~$10k later (with a Mantic twin disk), it now has 598 rwhp / 550 rwtq

Having bought my 2015 z/28 CPO'd at, my powertrain warranty is up in 2021... we'll see where I stand in 3 yrs (if the car is even still with me). I'm in no rush to void a warranty, nor throw more money at this car.

[hjdca]

Originally Posted by j o n

I am well aware of the valve guide issue on LS7s, we caught my brother's 2008 z06 just in time...metal shaving throughout the motor at ~10k mi. Full rebuild insued: bearings, Mast heads, Comp cam, new oil plumbing, etc.... ~$10k later (with a Mantic twin disk), it now has 598 rwhp / 550 rwtq

Having bought my 2015 z/28 CPO'd at, my powertrain warranty is up in 2021... we'll see where I stand in 3 yrs (if the car is even still with me). I'm in no rush to void a warranty, nor throw more money at this car.

fyi, I am using magnetic oil drain plugs (Gold plug). Here are some pictures of the magnetic drain plugs at around 9K miles with around 3.5K street miles on the oil. The minuscule metal sticking to the magnet seems normal. I am changing the oil again soon, so, I will post more pics. So far, so good.

Pick of dirty and cleaned oil plug




Here you can see the super small metal shavings.

[j o n]

Originally Posted by hjdca

fyi, I am using magnetic oil drain plugs (Gold plug). Here are some pictures of the magnetic drain plugs at around 9K miles with around 3.5K street miles on the oil. The minuscule metal sticking to the magnet seems normal. I am changing the oil again soon, so, I will post more pics. So far, so good.

Pick of dirty and cleaned oil plug




Here you can see the super small metal shavings.

Minuscle is correct, that's normal magnetic debris from any engine.

My brother's shavings were true 'shavings'. Large, sitting under valve cover.

[RyanR3KC]

I see. I was under the impression the LS7 deficiencies had been addressed due to the Camaro team having to make slight modifications to the LS7 to fit it in the engine bay. The Voodoo engines in the GT350s are having engine failures and oil consumption problems. It's a tracked spreadsheet now.

Sidebar, but anyone here with helicopter experience may remember the swashplate bearing issues CH-53Es were having due to the bearings not being machined properly. Downed the fleet twice.

[Zslash28]

So far, 4 known posts on the forum, and two 2nd hand possible discussed via Facebook. I dont think that is conclusive evidence to say there is or is not a problem. As of this moment in time, we are talking about (6) .33% (point 33%, not even a full 1%) of the 1801 Z/28s made. My eyes are open, and ears perked up, as I am very interested as we are a few years out from the last car rolling off the assembly line. We should be seeing more reported issues as these cars get more miles on them. The next few years will be telling!


Also, of all the info that ive read, not once has anything been mentioned about modifying the LS7 to fit in the engine bay of the 5th gen. I would want to see a source to that hear-say.

[MrRaZ28]

The only "modification" I know of is redoing the oil lines and designing special tri-y headers for it.

At 49.6K miles with me putting 6k and 3 track days where I drove relatively hard for my experience level, I should have noticed issues by this point. I have had zero since I purchased the car last October.

[macalot]

Originally Posted by Zslash28

Also, of all the info that ive read, not once has anything been mentioned about modifying the LS7 to fit in the engine bay of the 5th gen. I would want to see a source to that hear-say.

The only thing I remember being modified was a lip on the firewall to get the LS7 in the engine bay.

[MrRaZ28]

I have not. Honestly, I'm not interested in doing a tear down, nor doing a half ass job and going the wiggle test route.

It's covered under extended warranty so if it DOES go, new engine.

Edit: Honestly, I'm not worried about it. I *THINK* I've got the highest mileage Z28 right now. Mark is creeping up on me though lol.

[RyanR3KC]

I read about them having to redo the exhaust headers to fit. Made me wonder if they touched anything in else in the engine.

This is honestly good to hear that it's a very very small percentage of failures. The swashplate bearing issues in the CH53Es were narrowed down to a machine that wasn't producing the bearings right (just slightly out of round by like .002 or so). My rotorhead brain made me think of this as soon as LS7s were reporting failures.

[quickdrraw]

I lol at everyone worried about the LS7 issue. This has been fixed since 2012 and Chevy posted a bulletin about it. It took me half a second to search for answers. The issue was one of Katech's suppliers, fixed long ago. Sorry to the guy who tore his motor apart because of worry, hopefully you were planning to build it anyways.

[joelster]

Originally Posted by quickdrraw

I lol at everyone worried about the LS7 issue. This has been fixed since 2012 and Chevy posted a bulletin about it. It took me half a second to search for answers. The issue was one of Katech's suppliers, fixed long ago. Sorry to the guy who tore his motor apart because of worry, hopefully you were planning to build it anyways.

Agreed.

Look at all of the guys posting with 35,000+ miles on their cars. No issues. If the valve guides were bad and out of spec, or soft or whatever, then those engines would have some serious noises coming from under the hood. There's no way it will affect some cars within 500 miles, while other cars will run forever.

[Mark_Z28]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeROC

Have you tested the valve stem to guide clearance? I'd at least do that or have it done at a reputable shop, if for no other reason than peace of mind.

Where in Ohio are you? Do you know how to do this/would you be able to show me? I'm currently working in Wooster Ohio.

[Gbland60]

Dont know if this helps but heres some stats on a 2012 LS7 set of heads that was done at a reputable shop. Kinda gives you an idea. Been saving it for when i check mine before i modify in the future .

[z28rox]

Originally Posted by 1970judge

1) Fit and finish is great, paint and body is fine. The lower portions are subject to getting sanded due to the tires kicking up rocks. Buy the rock guards, get it wrapped, or dont worry about it like me. Some have complained about wear on the seat bolster, from the seat belt. Hasnt happened on mine, but eh..I wouldnt really mind if it does.



2) Of the members here, there has been a couple failure, overall <5 I believe. No worry item really.



3) All of those have dependencies. Do you track? Whats your skill level? What tires will you run? Street miles, the rotors/pads will last for a very, very long time. Throw some HPDE in there, it shortens the life...live eat and sleep at the track..shortens life even more. The Hardcore, track rats, who live and die at the road course get 10-15 track days on rotors before switching to steels.



4) Not that I know of..

I am a hardcore track rat and I very much disagree on the life span of the rotors I am in my 3rd year of track days and Time Attack events and my rotors are perfect. The pads last about 8-10 full track days or events as long as you change the fluid and pads regularly the rotors will last a very longtime. I also pushing 560 to the wheels so my straight line speed is way up compared to stock and the rotors have zero issues.