Chevrolet News:Corvette Z06, 427 Owners File A Class-Action Lawsuit Against GM

[William Maley]

19 owners of the 2006 - 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and 427 models have filed a class-action lawsuit against General Motors against an engine issue. The lawsuit says the 7.0L V8 fitted in these models have excessive valve guide wear that leads to engine failures. The suit goes on to say that GM is aware of this problem, but hasn't come up with a solution.

 

According to Law360, General Motors began testing vehicles equipped with the V8 and were able to replicate the problem. The issue is that GM didn't go any further with the tests as it “would lead to more repair and investigations than it wished to perform.”

 

If this suit goes forward, it might lead to lawsuits dealing with the new Corvette Z06 and its engine issues. As The Truth About Cars points out, a number of outlets have had issues with the Z06's engine.

• Towards the end of last year and early this year, a number of Z06 owners were having their engines fail with under 1,000 miles on the odometer.
  • Gary Gastelu of Fox News in July had his Z06 tester experience engine failure
  • In response, GM asked owners to follow the break-in procedure and change the oil when the vehicle hits 500 miles.
    

  [*]Motor Trend in their 'Best Drivers Car' test had the Z06 in DNF due to engine issues.

  • "It didn't work. The damn Z06 retarded spark by 8 degrees, and the 1.7-liter TVS supercharger refused to make boost. No one knows why," wrote Motor Trend’s Jonny Lieberman.
  • General Motors said the problem was bad gas, but this seems somewhat dubious as all of the vehicles - including two other GM products (Cadillac ATS-V and CTS-V) got the same gas.
    

  
  

Source: Law360 (Subscription Required), The Truth About Cars

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[El Kabong]

Ok. So if the lawsuit involves the LS7, why would they mention the LT4?

[William Maley]

Ok. So if the lawsuit involves the LS7, why would they mention the LT4?

 

Because like the LS7, the LT4 is having 'similar' engine failures.

[aurora97]

I could be off a bit here, but I think a class action requires a minimum of collective damages for all plaintiffs totaling $5M.

 

Assuming that each plaintiff may get a completely new car as compensation, 19 x $100,000 = $1.9M.

 

I guess the lawyers are fishing for another 31 owners to make things interesting.

 

RRP

[daves87rs]

Could get very interesting.....

[hyperv6]

The fact is a class action will do little to help any owners. All it does is enrich the lawyers. The owners will not get new cars and are very unlikely to even see a new engine. At most they may see a modest repair or get some kind of free oil change or discount on a new car.

So little real info is out there as we know there are failures but so few people have put much together and GM in nearly all the cases has stepped in and taken care of the problems. I have not seen were they have refused a customer a repair at this point unless I missed one.

It would be nice to see more data on many of these cases to see a pattern of failure and know just what is going on. I have read of several failures and info was limited and not always the same.

My boss has one and his is still running at this point with no ill effects. Several other near where I live are still on the road too.

[aurora97]

Yes, this is true.  But the lawyers need to generate enough of a potential payout to get the class certified and move on for any type of formal litigation.  Yes, this is only for the benefit of the lawyers who will get 30% of any settlement amount while the owners will continue to get screwed.

[G. David Felt]

Interesting, but this is going to be a waste of time, GM V8s have had a knock for the last 15 years upon start up till the lubricants get through out the motor and common sense drivers just drive them easy till the engine warms up and everything works fine.

 

Do I like hearing a knock when the engine is cold? NO 

Have I tried to get GM to address this knock? YES

 

Plenty of threads out there on it and some people just say it is not right yet these engines do continue to run long life when breakin and proper change of the lubricants are done. Supposedly this is all part of the design that GM did and what is considered acceptable wear.

 

My Trailblazer AWD SS has 60K mile on it, does not use a drop of oil and run fine other than the knock in the morning. Weird part is that the knock is almost gone when the Mobil 1 oil change is done and very noticeable when you get to 25% engine life but always goes away within a min or two of starting the car.

 

I suspect that due to the close tolerances of the engine, during initial break-in they were changing the fluids every couple hundred miles and checking for contaminants and so the mules did not experience this issue, but like all things once in the wild, you get people who think they can just trash their engine in the first 1000 miles and not have things go wrong when it is all new and tight.

[FordCosworth]

Never has a user name been more appropriate

[ccap41]

Interesting, but this is going to be a waste of time, GM V8s have had a nock for the last 15 years upon start up till the lubricants get through out the motor and common sense drivers just drive them easy till the engine warms up and everything works fine.

 

Do I like hearing a knock when the engine is cold? NO 

Have I tried to get GM to address this knock? YES

 

Plenty of threads out there on it and some people just say it is not right yet these engines do continue to run long life when breakin and proper change of the lubricants are done. Supposedly this is all part of the design that GM did and what is considered acceptable wear.

 

My Trailblazer AWD SS has 60K mile on it, does not use a drop of oil and run fine other than the knock in the morning. Weird part is that the knock is almost gone when the Mobil 1 oil change is done and very noticeable when you get to 25% engine life but always goes away within a min or two of starting the car.

 

I suspect that due to the close tolerances of the engine, during initial break-in they were changing the fluids every couple hundred miles and checking for contaminants and so the mules did not experience this issue, but like all things once in the wild, you get people who think they can just trash their engine in the first 1000 miles and not have things go wrong when it is all new and tight.

That knocking sounds more like an oil filter issue not an oil issue. Cheap filters with cheap anti-drain back valves or none at all will allow more oil to drain back and you'll start your vehicle with little to no oil already in the system. What oil filter do you use?

[G. David Felt]

 

Interesting, but this is going to be a waste of time, GM V8s have had a nock for the last 15 years upon start up till the lubricants get through out the motor and common sense drivers just drive them easy till the engine warms up and everything works fine.

 

Do I like hearing a knock when the engine is cold? NO 

Have I tried to get GM to address this knock? YES

 

Plenty of threads out there on it and some people just say it is not right yet these engines do continue to run long life when breakin and proper change of the lubricants are done. Supposedly this is all part of the design that GM did and what is considered acceptable wear.

 

My Trailblazer AWD SS has 60K mile on it, does not use a drop of oil and run fine other than the knock in the morning. Weird part is that the knock is almost gone when the Mobil 1 oil change is done and very noticeable when you get to 25% engine life but always goes away within a min or two of starting the car.

 

I suspect that due to the close tolerances of the engine, during initial break-in they were changing the fluids every couple hundred miles and checking for contaminants and so the mules did not experience this issue, but like all things once in the wild, you get people who think they can just trash their engine in the first 1000 miles and not have things go wrong when it is all new and tight.

That knocking sounds more like an oil filter issue not an oil issue. Cheap filters with cheap anti-drain back valves or none at all will allow more oil to drain back and you'll start your vehicle with little to no oil already in the system. What oil filter do you use?

 

GM, My wife drives it mostly since I take the bus into work, so the local Cadillac dealership who also does my Escalade which also has the same knock does both Mobil 1 synthetic oil changes. $79 dollars everything else checked, washed, vacuumed and ready to go. The wife likes it so why bother with Grease monkey or Oil Can Henry. For the small difference, might as well keep it GM serviced.

[ccap41]

 

 

Interesting, but this is going to be a waste of time, GM V8s have had a nock for the last 15 years upon start up till the lubricants get through out the motor and common sense drivers just drive them easy till the engine warms up and everything works fine.

 

Do I like hearing a knock when the engine is cold? NO 

Have I tried to get GM to address this knock? YES

 

Plenty of threads out there on it and some people just say it is not right yet these engines do continue to run long life when breakin and proper change of the lubricants are done. Supposedly this is all part of the design that GM did and what is considered acceptable wear.

 

My Trailblazer AWD SS has 60K mile on it, does not use a drop of oil and run fine other than the knock in the morning. Weird part is that the knock is almost gone when the Mobil 1 oil change is done and very noticeable when you get to 25% engine life but always goes away within a min or two of starting the car.

 

I suspect that due to the close tolerances of the engine, during initial break-in they were changing the fluids every couple hundred miles and checking for contaminants and so the mules did not experience this issue, but like all things once in the wild, you get people who think they can just trash their engine in the first 1000 miles and not have things go wrong when it is all new and tight.

That knocking sounds more like an oil filter issue not an oil issue. Cheap filters with cheap anti-drain back valves or none at all will allow more oil to drain back and you'll start your vehicle with little to no oil already in the system. What oil filter do you use?

 

GM, My wife drives it mostly since I take the bus into work, so the local Cadillac dealership who also does my Escalade which also has the same knock does both Mobil 1 synthetic oil changes. $79 dollars everything else checked, washed, vacuumed and ready to go. The wife likes it so why bother with Grease monkey or Oil Can Henry. For the small difference, might as well keep it GM serviced.

 

Not trying to be a jerk but that had nothing to do with what oil filter you're using. If it is their standard "pro" filter then it might not have any anti-drain back value. If it is the conventional one you can buy off any Walmart shelf then by the time you change your oil the valve may have wore out the slightest and allows oil to slowly drain over night while it is parked for extended periods.

[G. David Felt]

 

 

 

Interesting, but this is going to be a waste of time, GM V8s have had a nock for the last 15 years upon start up till the lubricants get through out the motor and common sense drivers just drive them easy till the engine warms up and everything works fine.

 

Do I like hearing a knock when the engine is cold? NO 

Have I tried to get GM to address this knock? YES

 

Plenty of threads out there on it and some people just say it is not right yet these engines do continue to run long life when breakin and proper change of the lubricants are done. Supposedly this is all part of the design that GM did and what is considered acceptable wear.

 

My Trailblazer AWD SS has 60K mile on it, does not use a drop of oil and run fine other than the knock in the morning. Weird part is that the knock is almost gone when the Mobil 1 oil change is done and very noticeable when you get to 25% engine life but always goes away within a min or two of starting the car.

 

I suspect that due to the close tolerances of the engine, during initial break-in they were changing the fluids every couple hundred miles and checking for contaminants and so the mules did not experience this issue, but like all things once in the wild, you get people who think they can just trash their engine in the first 1000 miles and not have things go wrong when it is all new and tight.

That knocking sounds more like an oil filter issue not an oil issue. Cheap filters with cheap anti-drain back valves or none at all will allow more oil to drain back and you'll start your vehicle with little to no oil already in the system. What oil filter do you use?

 

GM, My wife drives it mostly since I take the bus into work, so the local Cadillac dealership who also does my Escalade which also has the same knock does both Mobil 1 synthetic oil changes. $79 dollars everything else checked, washed, vacuumed and ready to go. The wife likes it so why bother with Grease monkey or Oil Can Henry. For the small difference, might as well keep it GM serviced.

 

Not trying to be a jerk but that had nothing to do with what oil filter you're using. If it is their standard "pro" filter then it might not have any anti-drain back value. If it is the conventional one you can buy off any Walmart shelf then by the time you change your oil the valve may have wore out the slightest and allows oil to slowly drain over night while it is parked for extended periods.

 

I understand what you are saying, I do know as I did crawl under both and check that they are stamped GM on the filters, so they are not a 3rd party filter, but the actual GM filter for the vehicle. Figure in todays world, might as well keep GM accountable for my auto.

[ccap41]

 

 

 

 

Interesting, but this is going to be a waste of time, GM V8s have had a nock for the last 15 years upon start up till the lubricants get through out the motor and common sense drivers just drive them easy till the engine warms up and everything works fine.

 

Do I like hearing a knock when the engine is cold? NO 

Have I tried to get GM to address this knock? YES

 

Plenty of threads out there on it and some people just say it is not right yet these engines do continue to run long life when breakin and proper change of the lubricants are done. Supposedly this is all part of the design that GM did and what is considered acceptable wear.

 

My Trailblazer AWD SS has 60K mile on it, does not use a drop of oil and run fine other than the knock in the morning. Weird part is that the knock is almost gone when the Mobil 1 oil change is done and very noticeable when you get to 25% engine life but always goes away within a min or two of starting the car.

 

I suspect that due to the close tolerances of the engine, during initial break-in they were changing the fluids every couple hundred miles and checking for contaminants and so the mules did not experience this issue, but like all things once in the wild, you get people who think they can just trash their engine in the first 1000 miles and not have things go wrong when it is all new and tight.

That knocking sounds more like an oil filter issue not an oil issue. Cheap filters with cheap anti-drain back valves or none at all will allow more oil to drain back and you'll start your vehicle with little to no oil already in the system. What oil filter do you use?

 

GM, My wife drives it mostly since I take the bus into work, so the local Cadillac dealership who also does my Escalade which also has the same knock does both Mobil 1 synthetic oil changes. $79 dollars everything else checked, washed, vacuumed and ready to go. The wife likes it so why bother with Grease monkey or Oil Can Henry. For the small difference, might as well keep it GM serviced.

 

Not trying to be a jerk but that had nothing to do with what oil filter you're using. If it is their standard "pro" filter then it might not have any anti-drain back value. If it is the conventional one you can buy off any Walmart shelf then by the time you change your oil the valve may have wore out the slightest and allows oil to slowly drain over night while it is parked for extended periods.

 

I understand what you are saying, I do know as I did crawl under both and check that they are stamped GM on the filters, so they are not a 3rd party filter, but the actual GM filter for the vehicle. Figure in todays world, might as well keep GM accountable for my auto.

 

I guess what I'm saying is I would try a high end oil filter and see if it changes anything.  Also, wouldn't AC Delco be a 3rd party? As far as I know GM doesn't produce their own filters they use AC Delco. But, I'm not saying AC Delco makes poor quality filters, just maybe they aren't suitable for your application as well as others.

[G. David Felt]

I understand what you are saying, will look at some aftermarket filters and talk with the dealership more. Thank you

[cp-the-nerd]

ACDelco is typically GM's shop brand. I find it strange you have "GM" stamped oil filters.

 

Anyway, all ACDelco filters have drain back valves, HOWEVER, in recent years, ACDelco started rolling out "e" label filters that are cheaper. I believe I had a thread about this here or on MT at some point. The "e" filters are actually rebadged Fram e-core junk. They have back flow valves, but everything about the filter is low quality. I had to switch filters because they stopped selling the good ones in a lot of sizes. Very disappointing.

[ccap41]

ACDelco is typically GM's shop brand. I find it strange you have "GM" stamped oil filters.

 

Anyway, all ACDelco filters have drain back valves, HOWEVER, in recent years, ACDelco started rolling out "e" label filters that are cheaper. I believe I had a thread about this here or on MT at some point. The "e" filters are actually rebadged Fram e-core junk. They have back flow valves, but everything about the filter is low quality. I had to switch filters because they stopped selling the good ones in a lot of sizes. Very disappointing.

Actually, I don't think those "e-core"(as they are called, if I remember correctly) don't have the anti-drain valve. Those are the cheapest of the cheap. I would HOPE they would still use the regular PFXX filter if he's paying for an $80 oil change but that doesn't reall mean anything other than they could take an extra couple bucks by using the "e-core".

 

Well I started a thread over at Bobistheoilguy.com because I'm on that forum as well.. I'll see if anybody has anything other than what I was thinking. Confirming or disproving.

[cp-the-nerd]

 

ACDelco is typically GM's shop brand. I find it strange you have "GM" stamped oil filters.

 

Anyway, all ACDelco filters have drain back valves, HOWEVER, in recent years, ACDelco started rolling out "e" label filters that are cheaper. I believe I had a thread about this here or on MT at some point. The "e" filters are actually rebadged Fram e-core junk. They have back flow valves, but everything about the filter is low quality. I had to switch filters because they stopped selling the good ones in a lot of sizes. Very disappointing.

Actually, I don't think those "e-core"(as they are called, if I remember correctly) don't have the anti-drain valve. Those are the cheapest of the cheap. I would HOPE they would still use the regular PFXX filter if he's paying for an $80 oil change but that doesn't reall mean anything other than they could take an extra couple bucks by using the "e-core".

 

Well I started a thread over at Bobistheoilguy.com because I'm on that forum as well.. I'll see if anybody has anything other than what I was thinking. Confirming or disproving.

 

 

I wasn't guessing, I know they have the drain back valve. Like I said I have researched and made a thread somewhere about this.

 

E-core on the left. Standard ACDelco in the middle. Premium filter (rebadged Mobil 1 EP) on the right.

[cp-the-nerd]

There are tons of cut apart filters in reference to ACDelco E filters if you google it. Try PF48 vs PF48e. That was my filter, it's a common one.

[ccap41]

Nice call! Well I said that because if it was a rebadged Fram E-core those used to not have an anti drain back valve.  See I could see some of his issue being just a cheap filter with repeated use wearing down. Those cheap valves aren't made of the same material the higher quality ones are.

[G. David Felt]

 

 

ACDelco is typically GM's shop brand. I find it strange you have "GM" stamped oil filters.

 

Anyway, all ACDelco filters have drain back valves, HOWEVER, in recent years, ACDelco started rolling out "e" label filters that are cheaper. I believe I had a thread about this here or on MT at some point. The "e" filters are actually rebadged Fram e-core junk. They have back flow valves, but everything about the filter is low quality. I had to switch filters because they stopped selling the good ones in a lot of sizes. Very disappointing.

Actually, I don't think those "e-core"(as they are called, if I remember correctly) don't have the anti-drain valve. Those are the cheapest of the cheap. I would HOPE they would still use the regular PFXX filter if he's paying for an $80 oil change but that doesn't reall mean anything other than they could take an extra couple bucks by using the "e-core".

 

Well I started a thread over at Bobistheoilguy.com because I'm on that forum as well.. I'll see if anybody has anything other than what I was thinking. Confirming or disproving.

 

 

I wasn't guessing, I know they have the drain back valve. Like I said I have researched and made a thread somewhere about this.

 

E-core on the left. Standard ACDelco in the middle. Premium filter (rebadged Mobil 1 EP) on the right.

 

So I will admit that I use GM and AC Delco interchangeably. I am working from home today so I went out to check and sure enough on both vehicles, they have the blue AC Delco or what I call a GM filter on the. Was not aware of the black premium AC Delco filter. Will have to see if I can get that on the auto when I do the next oil change and see how that affects the morning tap.