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Comp 918 failure costs an LS1 it's life...

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Old 12-09-2009, 08:58 PM
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Wow these threads have me scared about the singles, even though I have pac 1218s...
Old 12-09-2009, 10:19 PM
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Originally Posted by BriancWS6
That's a possibility. It was sort of an aqua green.

So did the earlier 918s have a blue stripe? What color's on the newer ones?
Aqua green stripe beehives are OEM GM. Ive taken a ton of them off to put on 918s.

918s are a great spring, I run them on my junk and never worry a bit. But Ive taken the time to have a well thought out, light, valvetrain and set ever springs up to .060 from coil bind. Even with .621lift, not a bit of problems..
Old 12-09-2009, 10:35 PM
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Originally Posted by SweetS10V8
Aqua green stripe beehives are OEM GM. Ive taken a ton of them off to put on 918s.

918s are a great spring, I run them on my junk and never worry a bit. But Ive taken the time to have a well thought out, light, valvetrain and set ever springs up to .060 from coil bind. Even with .621lift, not a bit of problems..
Good point, I just took one of my old stockers out of the box and they had a weird green stripe.
Old 12-09-2009, 10:51 PM
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there is no reason for 918 springs to give up on a street motor unless its coil bound or over reved. valve float is like putting a jack hammer on your entire valvetrain. just my 2cents
Old 12-10-2009, 03:12 AM
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Originally Posted by PREDATOR-Z
No need to have single spring phobia. Most of the failures on single sprigs are either:
1- From improper install (not correct height
2- From improper use before reaching operating temps.
3- Spring is used past its capability period, for too many miles without checking pressures.

- A few can be from bad batch but that is not a regular occurance in singles.

All stock LS1/LS6/LS2 etc.. use beehives, and duals will not garantee to save your motor.

Bottom line, once you mod and cam, you have to have a certain amount of regular maintenance and springs have to be checked at least once a year or every 15K miles.
Also upon install, proper geometry, preload and install height has to be done. Otherwise life expectancy of the springs could be shortened.
Agreed.

This is a failure to properly set up and maintain a cammed engine, not a spring failure. It sounds from the descriptions above that they were probably not even 918s.
Old 12-10-2009, 04:28 AM
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If your friend only recently bought the car, was it from a dealer or private party? I am wondering if the prior owner swapped the springs before selling.
Old 12-10-2009, 02:44 PM
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You guys beat me to it,those are stock (OEM) springs. Now if they were the stock yellow stripped LS6 (02/04) spring then they probably wouldn't have failed at that lift. Don't start blaming suppliers about failed components until you have the facts...it only makes you look stupid!!
Old 12-11-2009, 12:26 AM
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Originally Posted by vettenuts
If your friend only recently bought the car, was it from a dealer or private party? I am wondering if the prior owner swapped the springs before selling.
It wasn't recently, it was the summer of 07, so 2.5 yrs ago, and it was from a member on this board.

Originally Posted by david vericker
Don't start blaming suppliers about failed components until you have the facts...it only makes you look stupid!!
And statements like this make you look like an *******. I didn't post this thread up flaming Comps products. I posted up to share the tragedy. Not once have I said anything negative about 918s.

Oh, and you know the facts huh? All the way in another state, you know all about these springs you've never laid eyes on

To everyone else, I have some stock LS1 springs, so I will compare them with the springs on my buddys car that had the failure and see what I come up with. However, I just looked it up and the previous owner had, you guessed it, Comp 918 springs listed in his sig from when he owned this car. So unless he pulled em out, which I seriously doubt it, they are 918s.
Old 12-11-2009, 10:43 AM
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They can't be stockers then, they would have never held up with that cam unless your friend never went over a few thousand RPM. I thought he had just purchased the car and this happened.
Old 12-11-2009, 11:15 AM
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2.5 years ago, Hmm so how many miles would you estimate on those springs?
Were they even checked once since your buddy owned the car?
228R is a XE-R lobed cam, while lift is .588 it has an agressive profile.
Old 12-11-2009, 11:19 AM
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Originally Posted by PREDATOR-Z
No need to have single spring phobia. Most of the failures on single sprigs are either:
1- From improper install (not correct height
2- From improper use before reaching operating temps.
3- Spring is used past its capability period, for too many miles without checking pressures.

- A few can be from bad batch but that is not a regular occurance in singles.

All stock LS1/LS6/LS2 etc.. use beehives, and duals will not garantee to save your motor.

Bottom line, once you mod and cam, you have to have a certain amount of regular maintenance and springs have to be checked at least once a year or every 15K miles.
Also upon install, proper geometry, preload and install height has to be done. Otherwise life expectancy of the springs could be shortened.
That is EXACTLY RIGHT!

I have seen more failures due to step 2 & 3 but since its a 918 spring, it has to be a manufacturing flaw.... right!?

This up coming spring I am going to check my springs. I got prob 5-8k on them but they been on the car 2 years this spring. It is a VRx4 from Vengance 228/230 cam.
Old 12-11-2009, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by PREDATOR-Z
2.5 years ago, Hmm so how many miles would you estimate on those springs?
Were they even checked once since your buddy owned the car?
228R is a XE-R lobed cam, while lift is .588 it has an agressive profile.
That was going to be my next question. Mileage also plays a part on the durability of a spring. With an aggresive cam profile, hard driving , and many miles I wouldn't keep my springs longer than 25k miles.
Old 12-11-2009, 12:49 PM
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Edit: Looks like another local car down the drain....

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Last edited by Joshiedoom; 12-11-2009 at 12:56 PM.
Old 12-11-2009, 03:00 PM
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Originally Posted by BriancWS6
It wasn't recently, it was the summer of 07, so 2.5 yrs ago, and it was from a member on this board.


And statements like this make you look like an *******. I didn't post this thread up flaming Comps products. I posted up to share the tragedy. Not once have I said anything negative about 918s.

Oh, and you know the facts huh? All the way in another state, you know all about these springs you've never laid eyes on

To everyone else, I have some stock LS1 springs, so I will compare them with the springs on my buddys car that had the failure and see what I come up with. However, I just looked it up and the previous owner had, you guessed it, Comp 918 springs listed in his sig from when he owned this car. So unless he pulled em out, which I seriously doubt it, they are 918s.
Anyone can write they that have bla,bla,bla in their sig that doesn't make it a fact. Just by the nature of your post it is implying that COMP 918 valve springs trashed your friends engine,and you consider that not being a negative statement? Several others have stated (posted) including myself that the springs you described are OEM. If anyone here is an ******* it's obviously you dude,have your facts prior to maligning suppliers.

P.S. I ran COMP 918 valve springs for approximately 12000 miles back in 2003/2007 and the springs went in with a blue strip and came out with the same blue strip...not with some green/blue colored hue.

Last edited by david vericker; 12-11-2009 at 03:19 PM.
Old 12-11-2009, 03:34 PM
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I really dont get on here much anymore but the title of the thread is "comp 918 failure cost an ls1 its life" It doesnt say faulty or anything, just that it failed. Anything can fail even after being properly manufactured. I guess we need to find out if they are 918s or stock, then look who to point to blame at. Cant get the engine back regardless so no point in getting all pissed off over things you cant change.
Old 12-11-2009, 06:10 PM
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that sux, just out curiosity though what length pushrods did he have? was that checked when the cam was put in?
Old 12-11-2009, 07:13 PM
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Didn't the 01 LS6 valve springs have a green stripe?
Old 12-11-2009, 08:04 PM
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I had bought a set of stock 243 heads and i beleive they had a yellow stripe on them, the 6.0 heads I'm using now came with a light blue/green stripe on them. The 918's I swapped those out for to use with my TSP 228R had a dark navy blue stripe. I let the car hit 100-120 degrees before she even moves and 180 before it goes over 2500 RPMs.
Old 12-14-2009, 07:10 PM
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I'm not even going to waste my time replying to the smart *** comments some of you are making. So, on to the subject at hand for those that are actually offering insight and not just being a dick pointing fingers and assuming things.

I stopped by my friends house today and took off one of the good springs, and grabbed the broken spring as well. I also have for comparison, a STOCK spring from a set of 241s. There is a significant difference visually.

Also, to answer some of the questions. The springs have around 12k on them. The guy he bought the car from had recently had the cam installed at a shop where he lives, and he said he had put around 2k on it since then. My friend has put 10k on the car since he has had it. It's not a daily driver, so it only gets driven in nice weather and for fun. The springs were not shimmed, and they had the standard 7.400 length push rods that TSP sends out with their cam packages.



Old 12-14-2009, 07:55 PM
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Question on my part as I don't know. The 918's had a blue stripe. What about the 915's? Does anyone know if they had a green stripe?

Last edited by vettenuts; 12-14-2009 at 08:01 PM.


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