WhosNXT

As the title says I have a catastrophic failure at 70k mikes on my 02 ws6. It’s an original mileage car. I bought it with plans to one day do a moderate heads and cam weekend cruiser as I’d done with my previous T/A. I had to sale the Z06 for money issues. This car was rarely driven. The previous owner had messed around with the air intake and had used electrical tape to seal the factory air intake. I’ll add pictures tomorrow as I’m writing this at night. But I think I found out the reason a rod slung through the block at such low miles. As I was taking the air intake off and unbuttoning the wiring harness prepping to get the engine out. The trottle body inside had a awful lot of corrosion witch was odd so I removed it and the intake manifold was full of water! So is that the reason why when the car was started it decided to blow? I’m pretty sure it is, either way I’m stuck having to replace the engine. My plans are to take the Lq9 out of my dads old work van and have it bored and put a new rotating assembly in it and a nice heads/cam package. Or should I use my ls1 heads and have them ported and polished on the Lq9 with a cam? Also I am thinking about using one of the new Holley ignitions and engine management instead of the factory Ecm. Like Cletus has on Leroy.

Gripenfelter

iTrader: (1)

Flood car? Hydrolocked?

WhosNXT

Not in a flood. The car sat in the driveway and was driven a few times a year while I was saving up to build it and keeping miles off it since it’s a low mileage specimen. When I took the air intake off to start the disassembly for a engine swap I noticed the intake manifold was full of water. Which I guess is the reason it was last started it blew a hole in the block. I’m guessing it slung a rod.

Gripenfelter

iTrader: (1)

I can't see how the intake would fill with water even if there were tears in the air intake.

I have the same miles on my car. I've driven through rain storms and I removed the baffles on my ram air hood. My intake manifold is dry.

Do you have an aftermarket air intake like the fast toys ram air or chris1313 intake and maybe drove through a puddle?

gagliano7

This has happened to a good amount of camaros and firebirds. During rain the hood lets water in and the intake seals that have leaks let water into the engine.

Bspeck82

I thought that more of an LT1 issue with the opti. Never heard of water leaking through seals in an ls.

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

On the 4th Gen LS1 cars eventually the intake manifold gaskets start to fatigue and don't seal well. If the car sits outside in the rain some of the rain water that runs off the hood between the hood & wind shield will puddle at the base of the intake manifold. If the intake manifold gaskets are past their prime they can leak and allow water into the engine. When the unsuspecting owner starts the car the motor hydro-locks and puts a rod out the side of block.

After seeing the horrible condition of the intake manifold seals on my 99 TA after 18 years, I'm a big fan of replacing the gaskets if they are 15 years old. The old gaskets were noticeable in how compressed they were.

My guess is the old intake manifold gaskets allowed water into the motor of the OP's engine.

WhosNXT

You can see the water. Sticking my hand in there is about 1/4 inch deep