Cadillac CTS-V - Broke a valve spring *PICS*

So a month or two ago I started hearing a louder than normal ticking form the driver side of the engine. I chalked it up as me being hypersensitive. About three weeks ago I was going WOT and at 5000rpm the car acted as though it hit the rev limiter. it completely dropped power. I thought it was an issue in the tune so I finally made it to SNL today to get my problem dealt with. After some data logging it cylinder 5 was misfiring. We swapped the plug and plug wire, no difference. Opened up the valve cover and BINGO!

They swapped it out for a new one and now its good as new. :drive:

By the way, my springs are PRC dual spring .675".

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n6/whisler151/2007%20CTS-V/IMG_0456.jpg?t=1283630305

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n6/whisler151/2007%20CTS-V/IMG_0463.jpg?t=1283630340

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n6/whisler151/2007%20CTS-V/IMG_0461.jpg?t=1283630365

What are your seat pressures?

Do you always let the engine temps rise to a normal operating range before you drive it? If don't let high pressure springs get to normal temps before operating they snap easier!

What are your seat pressures?

No idea. I'll as SNL.

Do you always let the engine temps rise to a normal operating range before you drive it? If don't let high pressure springs get to normal temps before operating they snap easier!

Yep, always let it warm up to 150 before leaving parking garage. I'll let it warm up to 170 from now on. I never get on it till it's at 190.

things do happen lol glad its fixed

At least you had dual springs as well... sometimes that is a nice little insurance policy

Glad to hear nothing broke, it could of gone alot worse.

Patriot duals here reving to 6800 :D

WHOA...happened to me 1 month ago!

Looks like you are fine!

NO PISTON SLAP?

Do a compression test and swap the springs, your good!

Who is doing the work?

Good to hear it man! I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious

Why not be safe and upgrade the whole set? I thought that was a common thing but i could be wrong. I hear that with higher lift cams every 2 years you should really upgrade to be safe.

Good to hear it man! I'm glad it wasn't anything more serious

I been meaning to tell you that I love your sig "My sexy bitch only likes 2nd gear pulls" and I have to admit I used it the other night when a dude in a Mustang wanted to race me from a dig.....sorry didn't mean to highjack the thread

I been meaning to tell you that I love your sig "My sexy bitch only likes 2nd gear pulls" and I have to admit I used it the other night when a dude in a Mustang wanted to race me from a dig.....sorry didn't mean to highjack the thread

Haha... I've been waiting to get a chance to use it my self.. hope u handed that stang his ass..

Why not be safe and upgrade the whole set? I thought that was a common thing but i could be wrong. I hear that with higher lift cams every 2 years you should really upgrade to be safe.

Really?, What do you consider high lift.
ause I though it was more like 30-40k.

I would definatly call PRC up and try to exchange the hole set . Could be a bad batch.

Especialy if the car was warmed up and you didnt hold it at the limiter to a short period of time. Theres no reason the spring should of poped.

I figured higher lift was .600. I guess if it hasnt been abused too bad then id imagine you could go longer then 2 years. Im sure thats just cautious people that ive read on here and some other places.

My lift is well above .600. After assessing the situation we just replaced the one. There was no other damage done and the one that broke was more than likely a random bad spring.

My springs have around 10,000 miles on them. If anything else happens then you know I will have all replaced under warranty. These are great springs, if there is a problem with them Texas Speed will stand behind them. http://www.texas-speed.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=1013&catid=48

Shit happens when you mod...I'm not worried about it.

I agree when you mod, breakage is fair game lol. Even the best quality parts dont always last. Good luck hopefully you wont have any other problems.

Yep, always let it warm up to 150 before leaving parking garage. I'll let it warm up to 170 from now on. I never get on it till it's at 190.

ECT is not a good indicator for spring heat after a cold start. If you plan on getting into it, monitor the oil temperature as it is the medium for spring coolant as the engine runs.

Normal operating oil temperature achievement should be your guide.

Although higher lift is a factor in spring life, the ramp rates are more critical indicator and a combination of the two commands attention . More severe rates will require closer monitoring and a replacement schedule recommended by the cam designer or engine builder.

it seems as though i entered this post a few months late, but still i have a question for you (OP)

did your tick sound almost like a slight exhaust leak that you heard more in lower gears but still was a steady consistent tick?

sounds are always hard to specify without videos i know, and i can not get a video of my sound i dont think, but will try if requested.

if anybody else can shine a light on the situation it would be greatly appreciated!

it seems as though i entered this post a few months late, but still i have a question for you (OP)

did your tick sound almost like a slight exhaust leak that you heard more in lower gears but still was a steady consistent tick?

sounds are always hard to specify without videos i know, and i can not get a video of my sound i dont think, but will try if requested.

if anybody else can shine a light on the situation it would be greatly appreciated!

I actually just had another spring break. The springs were all replaced with the PRC .650" duals. Apparently there was a problem with some batches of the PRC .675" duals.

What gave away the broken spring was when I would hit 5k rpm, the rpms would not go any higher. The engine would flutter and it felt like a dramatic loss of power. This is due to the backup spring being maxed out. If you are able to go to red line I would wager to say that your springs are fine.

Regarding the exhaust leak sound, i'm not sure. I do remember hearing that sound at low rpms. I will check later today to see if that sound is still present.

I actually just had another spring break. The springs were all replaced with the PRC .650" duals. Apparently there was a problem with some batches of the PRC .675" duals.

What gave away the broken spring was when I would hit 5k rpm, the rpms would not go any higher. The engine would flutter and it felt like a dramatic loss of power. This is due to the backup spring being maxed out. If you are able to go to red line I would wager to say that your springs are fine.

Regarding the exhaust leak sound, i'm not sure. I do remember hearing that sound at low rpms. I will check later today to see if that sound is still present.

i appreciate it. if you could pm me about it that would be great; im looking to at least take a few stabs at it myself before "investing" some more money into the car at the moment because 1000$ just went into him today and well... it's not every day a Welsh man such as myself is fine with spending that much money in such a short amount of time.

my second guess would be a lifter?

Note: my car goes over 5k rpm with ease and without hesitation~ my situation isn't really causing me problems i can describe besides that noise. on my way home from getting all my brake work etc done today, i listened and noticed i hear the sound in every gear even over my longtubes, cam, and full exhaust. the sound is still "quiet" as far as sounds go, but noticeable. i will see what i can do for a sound clip/video if possible tomorrow morning when i do my radiator flush and fuel filter replacement.

well this is a coincidence, i just noticed we have the same springs. maybe i have some of the bad batch too :(

Here's a Plan B if you need it: Just wondered if instead of a bad spring, maybe you have an exhaust leak and the header bolts need to be snugged up a bit. Happened to me, but after fifteen minutes with a wrench, mine quieted right down.

Just a thought.

well i'm not seeing any visual signs of an exhaust leak being the common black marks around any hole(s) etc. but i will go play around with snugging up the bolts before doing anything radical :)

also an exhaust leak almost sounds more like a "sputter" compared to this.. maybe it's just the other sounds due to my exhaust etc that are making this sound different, we'll see.

on one of my old lt1's i had, i replaced the header gaskets while everything was still together... took me FOREVER and i nearly gave up just because leaning over the car into the engine bay like that for so long was killing my back. I am 5-7 and it was still straining 0_0

As I think was mentioned before, make sure your oil temps are in operating range. Your coolant system may be getting to temp well before your oil does.

In my experience, exhaust leaks are rarely visible, and can sound like a mechanical tapping depending on the size and location of the leak. I wouldn't rule it completely out.

further analysis shows it's not a lifter or spring thank goodness. sounds more like a leak either in the cluster for my drivers side long tube (which i heard is either a pain or impossible to fix) or the previous guy might have doubled up on the gaskets.... another discovery was my valve cover gasket has a very small leak and we found a spot where it's slowly dripping on.