I own a 96 Collector Edition LT4/6 speed. I bought it new and have only
16,000 miles on it.It is kept in a locked garage when not in use. I have religiously had this car serviced by Chevrolet and have used only Mobil 1 synthetic oil. About one month ago, I started hearing noise from the left valve conver. I brought the car in for service and the mechanic replaced 3 rocker arms and three pushrods. The oil had been freshly changed.Within 100 miles I experienced an engine failure.The same noise started from the valve train and within a few miles the motor stopped. The engine temp at the time it stopped was 198F and the oil temp was 210F but the oil pressure had dropped to nearly 0 psi The failure was due to the fact that the engine oil had turned to a thick sludge and the mechanic says that the engine is ruined. Unfortunately, up to now, the dealership insists that they have no responsibility for fixing (or replacing) the engine. I have taken a sample of the sludge and sent it to a lab for analysis to try to find out why it turned to sludge.
I have several questions for the group:
- Has anyone ever heard of such a thing happening?
- Since the LT4 engine was a limited edition motor and seems not to be available anymore, if Ido have to make an engine swap, can anyone recommend an aftermarket or crate engine that will fit this car without modifications?
Any advice from the group on how to proceed? Please reply off list to me at snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net.
Thanks, Steve Reichlyn