F-Body Europe

I called the master mechanic at Opel/GM today. He said he is gonna do me a favor and replace the engine again, only this time I have to pay for the installation... He said something in the neighborhood of 2000 Euros... What in the hell have I gotten myself into? Does anyone else have this type of shitty luck? I told him not to install the cam, because that will only help me break another engine, assuming I decide to keep the car... Anyone know someone looking for a fast LS1 with a new engine?

If its under warranty why are they trying to screw you out of E2000? I would call GM warranty in the states and see what they say and then take your case to JAG and sick the German Lawyer on them. If its under warranty its under warranty.

Thats BS man, I hope it works out for you.

Wow that sucks I bet it was something simple lifter or something?

Actually they changed out the lifters and then installed the camshaft. After that, they started it and it was making a new noise. He things it was a connecting rod or something. Oh well, sometimes you have to pay to learn...

did I talk to over at the 95th MP battalion in Mannheim?

My best advice for you is when all else fails, go back to stock. forget aftermarket for now.

there is something many people tend to forget.

before you do any mods, make sure your car is 100%.

Mods will only amplify any prior hidden problems and seriously have a negative effect on dependability.

Mods work, and they work well -IF YOUR BASE MODEL/SET UP is 100% to begin with.

Don't do any mods, give your car some time, give your car some mileage. Let those internal components go through a couple hundred more heat cycles.Give your car a summer, Give your car a winter. Once it's 100% through the test of time, then GO FOR MODS.

I've had alot of mods for a long time.. I started out with induction/suspension. It was good until I did a round trip to Mannheim at 160+ MPH- THE WHOLE WAY!!!

So what's the status Jack?

160+ round trip to Mannheim? No wonder you need a new engine. The LS1 is a great engine and the Camaro is a great car, but it is not a fully prepped race car. If you want to do things like that, you need to study how they prepare cars for NASCAR. That is about the only motorsport where they run the cars that long at speeds close to that. Up to 120 or so, you should be OK, at least according to FBodFather. But remember that the wind resistance increases by the square of the speed increase so it really creates a lot of load on the car. If you want to cruise at those speeds, you need to be looking at all forged components in the engine, a larger oil pan and a good oil cooler. Our engines are designed to perform really well, but not at those speeds for long periods of time. Especially when the engines are low mileage and still really tight.

hhhmmmmmmmm........

forged pistons......hardened crank.......

yummmmmm........

I drive 100 MPH and it is pretty dependable. I do every once and a while run it up for fun or to get a kill.

Jerry, thanks alot man. That is exactly what I needed to hear. I just get carried away sometimes. This should teach me a lesson.. I will get to studying those NASCAR cars...

Hey Jack, Here is what you do, if they want to charge you for the install then tell them that you just want the engine uninstalled and I will put it in for you for half that price and your old engine. I have all the capabilities at my house.

What you do is get ramstein towing to tow it to my house and have USAA pay for the towing if you have it on your insurance, if not I do.

I have leave coming up in september so I could do it then. If your interested let me know and we can work something out (prices, situation, etc.).

Let me know
John

Thanks, but they're keeping the old engine. Only HALF, plus the old engine, huh?? You've got to be joking.... If I had the option, I'd keep the old one. Sorry man, but that's quite alright..

Jack, I know what you're going through. They gave me the hardest time. At first they didn't want to cover it under warranty, then they didn't want to do the work. I know that the GM regional office was called several times to get it worked out. Let me know if I can help.

to reiterate what KC said, the GM pushrod V8 design is an amazing and wonderful engine and has earned respect worldwide.

as with many high performance motors, they are designed to work best under a load.

That means hard (in this particular situation, you already had some mileage and first inspection on it) really HARD acceleration AND decceleration, through out it's entire powerband.

this causes the internal components to resonate,heat, flex,cool, and have "good wear" caracteristics -

which add to engine life, flexability, durability of the components to include the internal stresses in the metallurgy of the components themselves.

to cut costs, your motor doesn't have the neccessary upgrades to tolerate sustained speeds over 160 mph.

with the necessary upgrades and a "generous and educated" break in phase, sustained speeds above 160 mph will be a walk in the park.

Even though my background and experience is in modified big bore high performance motorcycles (Hayabusa-210+MPH) There is a lot more to High Performance than seeing how pretty she looks and seeing how fast she will go.

what impresses me about the f-body website is that there are many people here that really know what they are talking about, and they practice what they preach.

And each of their machines are personally sharpened by them. And wanna be's with their under prepped, underutilized cars step aside(or run away) whenever they roll in.

Don't subject your engine (especially a NEW ENGINE) to sustained high speeds without proper guidance from someone experienced with this matter in question.

same goes for mods.

Jack, I can't tell if you were being a smart a$$ or not. I didn't mean to offend you, I was trying to help you save some money.
The way I seen it was you could get an engine under warranty and had to pay for it to be installed, I was just offering to install it cheaper. I have a hard time dealing with watching dealers make bank off something someone else could do but for less.
AS for the old engine I would have been taking a chance that it was internally scarred and beyond repair, plus like you said "they're keeping it anyway."

If I offended you I am sorry for offering.

me too

Can I just say "Error, no action defined" because this is all I ever seem to get when posting. Watch this one post OK.

I want to suggest going to Kazaa and downloading "Gotta Pull Myself Together" by The Nolan Sisters. This will make you realise nothing can be worse as you crank it up and jig about the room in a 70's funk.

John, you didn't offend me. I am just frustrated with this whole situation.. I didn't have my car all Summer, and it sucks hearing about all the great meetings, knowing I can't be there. I appreciate the offer, but they've been working on the car already, and know exactly what they've done(hopefully). I will definitely NOT take it back there for any future problems.

so when the LS1 runs out of gas, you just get a new one? What a concept, the disposable engine!

Couldnt resist, sorry. HEH

GM makes a deep skirt 6 bolt main block, and now the top end wont stay togethor. D'oh!!

Hope you get it right Jack, best of luck.
Hopefully the insides will stay inside the next go'round.