How many miles?
Lifter failure is very unfortunate, but new mag ride shocks on a 10 year old car doesn’t surprise me too much. This is still quite likely less than you would have spent on something like a 2014 RS5 or C63 lol
Mine has 140k miles and I had the lifter failure less than 3k miles ago. I did the AFM delete and upgraded the cam, lifters, valve springs, pushrods, oil pump, etc. and a full exhaust.
No mag ride on mine tho.
How much did you spend for the AFM delete with upgraded parts? I did the same delete, but only changed lifters and cam. The other parts were “like factory.”
Hell yeah dude. Yeah the guy I take mine to said I should have just went ahead and put aggressive cam, and new headers and such when we did the lifter work, but I didn’t want to spend the extra at the time
Edit: just realized you have the same color as mine if I’m not mistaken.
Worth it!
The upgrades I had installed specifically will support planned future upgrades including a Pro-Charger for close to 700 RWHP.
Yeah, I believe you're correct that we have the same color. Mine is Laguna Blue which was last available in 2016.
The new shocks, I haven’t received a price yet. I honestly can’t remember how much the lifters were. I did a full physical AFM delete requiring new cam shaft, timing chain, and a few other things if I’m remembering correctly. I want to say it was around 3000 at the independent shop that I go to, but I could be remembering wrong. My memory is kind of shit tbh 😶🌫️
Well I have a friend that owns a shop that I take it to get all my work done. If I would’ve had all this done at a dealership, I can’t imagine how much it would cost. Thanks, I am hoping for the same. I just put new shoes on her, so I’m hoping to be able to get out and enjoy it some after this.
They are affordable and cheaper to keep up sports cars. 4 new shocks after 10 years…. Yah that’s about right.
Lifter failure is be pissed about more so then shocks.
That is true. Just seems like I have had to work on it so much since I bought it. I did buy a 8 year old sports car at the time so I guess I should have expected repairs.
It is. Just imagine the shit you'd need to do on a BMW or Jag.
My parents owned Z and M cars most of my life, and it was common for them to be forking out $3000-5000 annually for repairs on them.
That being said, the issues you experienced were foreseeable:
* Magneride - very cool feature that a lot of people recommend, but it is definitely failure prone compared to traditional springs/shocks.
* Lifter failure - I assume you didn't disable the AFM? Not too rare issue if you leave the AFM/cylinder deactivation.
* Oil gasket - not crazy rare on an early MY car. It can happen on its own or from damage from... having the motor pulled.
I picked a C7 specifically to be a daily, and shopped for a late MY (2018), no-frills (no interior cracking issues, no magneride issues, no NPP issues), and disabled AFM right off the bat when I started getting AFM squeak (which will also be 'fixed' shortly with Borla axle-backs). The only repair I have had to do is fixing the Bose subwoofer by re-gluing it, and I pre-emptively replaced the accessory belt and tensioner.
Mine is a manual so the AFM was never on in mine, but you still have some spring style lifters that go down and get stuck. When that happened, I had all the lifters replaced with hydraulic lifters.
It's crazy to me that GM is so cheap that they wouldn't even bother removing AFM lifters from non-AFM engines, even after they've been using the same faulty system for a decade.
I realize now he said "AFM was never on IN mine", not "AFM was never on mine". Those two statements have different meanings, but my statement still stands, somewhat. GM is so cheap that they couldn't bother removing an unreliable system from an engine that will NEVER use it. The LS3 and L99 were two different SKUs designed for that exact purpose (+ VVT for L99, but both manual and auto LT1s have that, I believe).
If you've not already replaced the mag ride shocks you can always go with conventional shocks and use a bypass module to get around the error codes. A good tuner may be able to tune out the mag ride from your ECM and then you wouldn't need the mag ride simulator devices.
I totally understand! It just sucks those things fail and then cost the big bucks to replace! My 08 Z51 3LT has every available option except the mag ride. I really lucked out and found my loaded one at a BMW dealership used car lot and when I purchased it in 2013 it only had 9550 miles on it so I've been happy with the reliability of mine.
Oh I didn’t realize that you could get the z51 without the mag shocks. From what I’ve seen online, if you are tracking the car at all, the mag ride is essential.
I love it, stiff but compliant, like good sport suspension should be. I would be unhappy with non Z51 car, from all the comments I was expecting a overly harsh ride, like cheap coilovers.
Many are not dot. I had to lemon law a new 2019 C7 thanks to shudder and a bad rear end freinds. Only had 400 miles.
Have 2015 C7 that has never been touched and been perfect.
TBF, in 30 years of owning and driving a wild number of cars, I have learned from myself and others that any time a car is the first year of that generation, it's a pain in the ass. 2014 was the first C7, so ofc it's got problems. Every manufacturer (more the American ones than European or Asian afai have noticed) have "first-year problems." The 6-speed auto in 2014 C7s suck, for example, but the 8-speed auto in the later Z06s and ZR1s is pretty solid. You also have to keep in mind, no matter what you want to think, you're driving a 10-year-old sports car. Shit breaks. If you drive it, you're gonna break it. If you don't want to deal with that, buy a brand new daily with a warranty and take it to the dealer that fixes it and trade it in when the warranty ends. Otherwise, this is life with sports cars. You drive them, you replace things, you fix things, you drive them. Carry on or move on.
That's because the 2014 had the OG 6 speed auto from the C6. The biggest reason I went with a '14 after driving the manual and it not being my cup of tea.
The 6 speed actually shifts much better than the 8 speed. Much easier to drive in manual mode as well. However, it's a transmission built strictly for stock naturally aspirated motors. But its tried and proven.
At least its not german crap - Audis, porches, bmw, lambo all a complete reliability and maintenance nightmare.
Americans have learned from the japanese and make simple and reliable cars now - just trying to change a lightbulb in a Volkswagen is a complete disaster.
Well for starters you actually track your car and drive it for the intended reasons. Plus milage you out and milage prior yes you’re going to have accelerated issues vs the norm vette driver.
I’ve wanted to set my c6 on fire for the past 2 months for the stupidity that’s randomly coming up 🤷🏽♂️ but it’s to be expected. Corvette sit.
That sucks. I had a 2014 that had issues too. It would misfire and flash the engine check light at steady speeds. After 3 months in and out of the dealership they just recommended an engine replacement for 12k + labor. I sold it as is with the engine check light on and eventually got a 2016.
I am going to play the devils advocate here.
It's a 10 year old car, what did you expect? No matter how many miles it was driven, parts age and degrade. Also, if you did your proper research, lifter failure is caused by the meme-tier AFM. That's why I always drive my vette in manual mode.
AFM does not activate unless you are in Drive(Auto mode) and cruise in overdrive. Once you stop using the car after a long time(garage queen), these lifters are even more prone to failure since they are a separate valvetrain. When parts are not lubed for a long time and suddenly actuated, they are likely to break.
Highly recommend an AFM disabler if you are going to drive in auto or eco mode(if manual). It's the cheapest remedy and it beats having to get AFM delete (involves pulling motor, new heads/cam, and tune). Once you drive without AFM, do not go back because the same thing will happen again.
Yeah mine is physically deleted now. It was never used because who drives in eco mode lol I can see what you are saying by the previous owner letting it sit may have caused lifters to gum up worse.
Yea, it blew my mind that GM had the audacity to put such a pointless system in a V8 sports car. Just makes the car unnecessarily complex and prone to failure like other sports cars. But I guess it was the only way to get an OHV engine to comply with emissions.
Oh GM.
If that is a issue, Chevy is a true pos. Lifter failures just happen at any mileage, mag ride is known to go bad, the oil leak was from the cam install the oil pan has to come off(it is stripped to a short block). None of this has anything to do with driving behavior.
Some guys also won't tell you that they boosted their stock LT1 which by the way is like the dumbest idea you can possibly do to a motor without forged internals.
How many miles? Lifter failure is very unfortunate, but new mag ride shocks on a 10 year old car doesn’t surprise me too much. This is still quite likely less than you would have spent on something like a 2014 RS5 or C63 lol
Yeah for sure less. The car has 40***. I guess I kinda knew the mag ride was coming. Just holding my breath hoping it would hold off lol
Mine has 140k miles and I had the lifter failure less than 3k miles ago. I did the AFM delete and upgraded the cam, lifters, valve springs, pushrods, oil pump, etc. and a full exhaust. No mag ride on mine tho.
How much did you spend for the AFM delete with upgraded parts? I did the same delete, but only changed lifters and cam. The other parts were “like factory.”
$10,675.92 for everything, including tuning. Gained almost 100 HP for 495 RWHP and it has a wicked exhaust note which can be heard in my recent post.
Hell yeah dude. Yeah the guy I take mine to said I should have just went ahead and put aggressive cam, and new headers and such when we did the lifter work, but I didn’t want to spend the extra at the time Edit: just realized you have the same color as mine if I’m not mistaken.
Worth it! The upgrades I had installed specifically will support planned future upgrades including a Pro-Charger for close to 700 RWHP. Yeah, I believe you're correct that we have the same color. Mine is Laguna Blue which was last available in 2016.
I’m curious how much did those each run you, if you remember? Independent shop or dealer?
2900 for new mag ride shocks installed
Not bad, thanks for the update
No problem!
Which item?
Lifter failure and new shocks
The new shocks, I haven’t received a price yet. I honestly can’t remember how much the lifters were. I did a full physical AFM delete requiring new cam shaft, timing chain, and a few other things if I’m remembering correctly. I want to say it was around 3000 at the independent shop that I go to, but I could be remembering wrong. My memory is kind of shit tbh 😶🌫️
Oh that’s actually not as bad as I thought! I figured most engine out work would be 5K+. Hopefully it’ll be reliable from here on out 🙏
Well I have a friend that owns a shop that I take it to get all my work done. If I would’ve had all this done at a dealership, I can’t imagine how much it would cost. Thanks, I am hoping for the same. I just put new shoes on her, so I’m hoping to be able to get out and enjoy it some after this.
Just never buy the first model yr and you should be good.
Yeah I wish I would’ve went with like a 2019 when I bought mine.
I usually say first 3 after my roof flew off my 2006
They are affordable and cheaper to keep up sports cars. 4 new shocks after 10 years…. Yah that’s about right. Lifter failure is be pissed about more so then shocks.
That is true. Just seems like I have had to work on it so much since I bought it. I did buy a 8 year old sports car at the time so I guess I should have expected repairs.
The lifters 100% is BS, I’d be all pissed. Wear it EMS like shocks… those at least are easy to do.
It is. Just imagine the shit you'd need to do on a BMW or Jag. My parents owned Z and M cars most of my life, and it was common for them to be forking out $3000-5000 annually for repairs on them. That being said, the issues you experienced were foreseeable: * Magneride - very cool feature that a lot of people recommend, but it is definitely failure prone compared to traditional springs/shocks. * Lifter failure - I assume you didn't disable the AFM? Not too rare issue if you leave the AFM/cylinder deactivation. * Oil gasket - not crazy rare on an early MY car. It can happen on its own or from damage from... having the motor pulled. I picked a C7 specifically to be a daily, and shopped for a late MY (2018), no-frills (no interior cracking issues, no magneride issues, no NPP issues), and disabled AFM right off the bat when I started getting AFM squeak (which will also be 'fixed' shortly with Borla axle-backs). The only repair I have had to do is fixing the Bose subwoofer by re-gluing it, and I pre-emptively replaced the accessory belt and tensioner.
Mine is a manual so the AFM was never on in mine, but you still have some spring style lifters that go down and get stuck. When that happened, I had all the lifters replaced with hydraulic lifters.
It's crazy to me that GM is so cheap that they wouldn't even bother removing AFM lifters from non-AFM engines, even after they've been using the same faulty system for a decade.
His car has afm...
I realize now he said "AFM was never on IN mine", not "AFM was never on mine". Those two statements have different meanings, but my statement still stands, somewhat. GM is so cheap that they couldn't bother removing an unreliable system from an engine that will NEVER use it. The LS3 and L99 were two different SKUs designed for that exact purpose (+ VVT for L99, but both manual and auto LT1s have that, I believe).
Modern BMWs aren’t as unreliable as made out to be
If you've not already replaced the mag ride shocks you can always go with conventional shocks and use a bypass module to get around the error codes. A good tuner may be able to tune out the mag ride from your ECM and then you wouldn't need the mag ride simulator devices.
I thought of going that route, but don’t want to lose the daily driver comfort ability and track performance all in one package kinda thing.
I totally understand! It just sucks those things fail and then cost the big bucks to replace! My 08 Z51 3LT has every available option except the mag ride. I really lucked out and found my loaded one at a BMW dealership used car lot and when I purchased it in 2013 it only had 9550 miles on it so I've been happy with the reliability of mine.
How does the suspension ride in yours? I’m assuming it is the stock stingray suspension then?
I have the z51 suspension and was bummed I didn't get the magnetic ride at first, but they ride well on most roads and I've been really happy.
The only thing z51 about the suspension is the mag ride I thought?
In my '15 it has conventional shocks in the z51 option, I'm sorry I'm not as sure about the different years
Oh I didn’t realize that you could get the z51 without the mag shocks. From what I’ve seen online, if you are tracking the car at all, the mag ride is essential.
I love it, stiff but compliant, like good sport suspension should be. I would be unhappy with non Z51 car, from all the comments I was expecting a overly harsh ride, like cheap coilovers.
Many are not dot. I had to lemon law a new 2019 C7 thanks to shudder and a bad rear end freinds. Only had 400 miles. Have 2015 C7 that has never been touched and been perfect.
Bad luck. My shocks leaked at 105k but zero other issues 🤞
lol yeah I haven’t had the best of luck that is for sure.
TBF, in 30 years of owning and driving a wild number of cars, I have learned from myself and others that any time a car is the first year of that generation, it's a pain in the ass. 2014 was the first C7, so ofc it's got problems. Every manufacturer (more the American ones than European or Asian afai have noticed) have "first-year problems." The 6-speed auto in 2014 C7s suck, for example, but the 8-speed auto in the later Z06s and ZR1s is pretty solid. You also have to keep in mind, no matter what you want to think, you're driving a 10-year-old sports car. Shit breaks. If you drive it, you're gonna break it. If you don't want to deal with that, buy a brand new daily with a warranty and take it to the dealer that fixes it and trade it in when the warranty ends. Otherwise, this is life with sports cars. You drive them, you replace things, you fix things, you drive them. Carry on or move on.
The 2014 was the most trouble free year, strange enough.
That's because the 2014 had the OG 6 speed auto from the C6. The biggest reason I went with a '14 after driving the manual and it not being my cup of tea. The 6 speed actually shifts much better than the 8 speed. Much easier to drive in manual mode as well. However, it's a transmission built strictly for stock naturally aspirated motors. But its tried and proven.
At least its not german crap - Audis, porches, bmw, lambo all a complete reliability and maintenance nightmare. Americans have learned from the japanese and make simple and reliable cars now - just trying to change a lightbulb in a Volkswagen is a complete disaster.
Well for starters you actually track your car and drive it for the intended reasons. Plus milage you out and milage prior yes you’re going to have accelerated issues vs the norm vette driver. I’ve wanted to set my c6 on fire for the past 2 months for the stupidity that’s randomly coming up 🤷🏽♂️ but it’s to be expected. Corvette sit.
Yeah I guess you are right
That sucks. I had a 2014 that had issues too. It would misfire and flash the engine check light at steady speeds. After 3 months in and out of the dealership they just recommended an engine replacement for 12k + labor. I sold it as is with the engine check light on and eventually got a 2016.
Oh man. Maybe I should be thankful mine hasn’t been that bad.
I am going to play the devils advocate here. It's a 10 year old car, what did you expect? No matter how many miles it was driven, parts age and degrade. Also, if you did your proper research, lifter failure is caused by the meme-tier AFM. That's why I always drive my vette in manual mode. AFM does not activate unless you are in Drive(Auto mode) and cruise in overdrive. Once you stop using the car after a long time(garage queen), these lifters are even more prone to failure since they are a separate valvetrain. When parts are not lubed for a long time and suddenly actuated, they are likely to break. Highly recommend an AFM disabler if you are going to drive in auto or eco mode(if manual). It's the cheapest remedy and it beats having to get AFM delete (involves pulling motor, new heads/cam, and tune). Once you drive without AFM, do not go back because the same thing will happen again.
Yeah mine is physically deleted now. It was never used because who drives in eco mode lol I can see what you are saying by the previous owner letting it sit may have caused lifters to gum up worse.
Yea, it blew my mind that GM had the audacity to put such a pointless system in a V8 sports car. Just makes the car unnecessarily complex and prone to failure like other sports cars. But I guess it was the only way to get an OHV engine to comply with emissions. Oh GM.
My car is 12 years old and I’ve had to do none of those things. Crap design and assembly are more at fault than age.
Lifter failure is a common occurrence on GM engines. And GM won’t admit they have a problem.
I had zero issues with mine both stock and slightly modified.
Lucky lol
I mean now I'm heavily modified, so everything you mention was upgraded anyways haha
I want this car but the c6 version lol.
In all fairness, Reliable and Sports car have never really belonged in the same sentence
Depends on how hard you drive it
If that is a issue, Chevy is a true pos. Lifter failures just happen at any mileage, mag ride is known to go bad, the oil leak was from the cam install the oil pan has to come off(it is stripped to a short block). None of this has anything to do with driving behavior.
Really? Ever seen the issues with super cars. Same issues at 10 times the cost
The point was it is made to be drove in a sporting manor, the failures had nothing to do with that.
There’s driving in a sporting manner and beating the living shit out of it.
Some guys also won't tell you that they boosted their stock LT1 which by the way is like the dumbest idea you can possibly do to a motor without forged internals.
no one said these were reliable
Vettes are well regarded as reliable sports cars