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Ls7 heads dropping valves

Old 02-18-2013, 03:48 PM
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Originally Posted by jdb8805
Why is the guide wear only on the exhaust side?
Service limit is .0037.
What is "high enough to cause breakage"?

.0050? .0100? .0200?

Many people are finding clearance at or above .0100 and no obvious increase in noise.
Because of heat. The exhaust valve is not doing what it was intended to do with transfering and distributing the heat within the sodium filled part. If it were doing the job it was suppose to do we wouldn't have the issue which is the excessive heat causing the guides to wear quicker then normal. Add in any HP upgrades, tunes, headers, cams ect. ect. and you have a disaster waiting to happen!
Old 02-23-2013, 10:58 AM
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So again, @katech
What clearance is high enough to cause breakage?
Many are shocked to find .0100 clearance and those people have no excessive noise.

I even saw a thread in which GM stated that you would get a check engine light if your guides were worn beyond the service limit. I laughed.
Old 02-23-2013, 11:12 AM
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My 2007 Z06 with 8000 miles, just dropped a valve last week. Its in the shop and they are going to replace them in both heads.
Old 02-23-2013, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by ramairws6
Because of heat. The exhaust valve is not doing what it was intended to do with transfering and distributing the heat within the sodium filled part. If it were doing the job it was suppose to do we wouldn't have the issue which is the excessive heat causing the guides to wear quicker then normal. Add in any HP upgrades, tunes, headers, cams ect. ect. and you have a disaster waiting to happen!
Took the ls7 heads I mentioned earlier and put them on my z06.

The current heads on there have 107k miles.

No failures from either.
Old 02-26-2013, 07:05 AM
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Originally Posted by blackonblacksls
Took the ls7 heads I mentioned earlier and put them on my z06.

The current heads on there have 107k miles.

No failures from either.
Well at least so far you have a little luck on your side. I'm glad that you believe in them enough to not worry about taking out a $15,000 motor. Me, not so trust worthy, especially hearing from all the upper end head guru's saying they are a ticking time bomb
Old 02-26-2013, 07:33 AM
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Originally Posted by ramairws6
........especially hearing from all the upper end head guru's saying they are a ticking time bomb
Head gurus chasing $$$ head job business ?

How many 1000's of Z06 out there operating without issues for.......100k plus?
Old 02-26-2013, 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by rsz288
Head gurus chasing $$$ head job business ?

How many 1000's of Z06 out there operating without issues for.......100k plus?


on corvetteforum

Willing to bet the total number of Z06s with 100k plus is LESS than the total number of dropped valves.
Old 02-27-2013, 08:25 AM
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Originally Posted by jdb8805


on corvetteforum

Willing to bet the total number of Z06s with 100k plus is LESS than the total number of dropped valves.
You got it sir. It's been going on since the begining but is first starting to reer it's ugly head, and mark my words, it's going to get ALOT worse!
Old 02-27-2013, 08:43 AM
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Originally Posted by ramairws6
You got it sir. It's been going on since the begining but is first starting to reer it's ugly head, and mark my words, it's going to get ALOT worse!
Sounds like alot of conspiracy to me.
Old 02-28-2013, 07:28 AM
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Originally Posted by blackonblacksls
Sounds like alot of conspiracy to me.
Really? 3 set of heads with all wore out guides on the exhaust side here. First set was actually from way back in 2006. I was one of the first guys to jam an LS7 in a F-Body in these here parts
Old 02-28-2013, 07:29 AM
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Originally Posted by blackonblacksls
Sounds like alot of conspiracy to me.
Trust me you'll see, i feel sorry for ya that you will learn the hard way but i guess some of us just have thick skulls
Old 02-28-2013, 07:32 AM
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Originally Posted by rsz288
Head gurus chasing $$$ head job business ?

How many 1000's of Z06 out there operating without issues for.......100k plus?
Nah, if you knew Richard from WCCH you would laugh if someone said that. He will let you put any combo together, it's your call. Hell the SS valves are cheap and that is what he recommends. I wanted to go all out with TI valves and he wouldn't even let me. Wasted money is what he told me
Old 02-28-2013, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by ramairws6
Really? 3 set of heads with all wore out guides on the exhaust side here. First set was actually from way back in 2006. I was one of the first guys to jam an LS7 in a F-Body in these here parts
Maybe you were doing it wrong?

Care to explain why I had one set of ls7 heads that lasted 107k miles then?

If its some kind of design flaw why isn't it every one?

You keep drinking the "buy this!" "Buy that!" Koolaid.

I'll stick to using the same parts that I haven't had not one issue with.
Old 02-28-2013, 01:00 PM
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Originally Posted by blackonblacksls
Maybe you were doing it wrong?

Care to explain why I had one set of ls7 heads that lasted 107k miles then?

If its some kind of design flaw why isn't it every one?

You keep drinking the "buy this!" "Buy that!" Koolaid.

I'll stick to using the same parts that I haven't had not one issue with.
Ya, all 3 of my sets must have been a coincidence and your set was just set up just right from the factory
Old 02-28-2013, 02:20 PM
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Originally Posted by rsz288
Head gurus chasing $$$ head job business ?

How many 1000's of Z06 out there operating without issues for.......100k plus?
What is the sample size? All LS7 years?

100K vehicles is probably closer to total Corvettes produced since 2006. Z06 models and Grand Sport production probably isnt even half that.

So consider a only "a few hundred cars" dropping valves is an alarming #. There not that many LS7s out there. Not considering...How many of those rack up more than a few thousand miles a year?? A lack of driving them can also hide a potential problem.
Old 02-28-2013, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by badazz81z28
What is the sample size? All LS7 years?

100K vehicles is probably closer to total Corvettes produced since 2006. Z06 models and Grand Sport production probably isnt even half that.

So consider a only "a few hundred cars" dropping valves is an alarming #. There not that many LS7s out there. Not considering...How many of those rack up more than a few thousand miles a year?? A lack of driving them can also hide a potential problem.
They made ~28000 zo6s with the bulk of them being 2006-2008

The issue affects all years 2006-2013.

There are a couple of 2010-2011s stock with dropped valves on cf.

There are over 200 cases of guide wear measured beyond the service limit on cf.

At first it was thought tunes and mods were the issue. Since that time, many stock cars with 20k miles or less, never tracked, are showing documented excessive guide wear.

The cars don't smoke, use oil or show any other usual valve guide wear symptoms other than possibly excessive valvetrain noise. We all know that's subjective.

Last edited by jdb8805; 02-28-2013 at 02:45 PM.
Old 02-28-2013, 02:41 PM
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My z06 heads were toast at 28k miles. Valve guides were 5x the service limit. Friends car was close to that at 18k miles. Other friend dropped a valve destroying the block/crank/rods/piston at <20k. The guy who bought my stock shortblock was on motor 3 because he dropped 2 valves already. So out of 4 local cars 2 dropped valves and 2 with very severly worn guides. I would say that is more than 1% effected.
Old 02-28-2013, 06:48 PM
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Like i said before, it's all just a coincidence
Old 03-05-2013, 07:28 AM
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Originally Posted by jdb8805
So again, @katech
What clearance is high enough to cause breakage?
Many are shocked to find .0100 clearance and those people have no excessive noise.

I even saw a thread in which GM stated that you would get a check engine light if your guides were worn beyond the service limit. I laughed.

There are many factors here. I can't answer that question.
Old 03-05-2013, 08:15 AM
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What is it that typically fails Jason? Locks, retainer, springs, valve? All? Even with zero abuse?

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