CT5-V CT5V BW Burning 4qtz/Thousand miles

[Wrigy1]

Been lurking for a while now, never felt the need to post... but decided to add to the motor/oil consumption problem trending.

24 5vBW with 22k miles - Im the second owner - Bought at 18k miles/CPO - 6 speed MT

About 600 miles into ownership, my first "check oil" message came up. I assumed that the tech just shorted me on oil or the dealer just lied about doing the oil change during the CPO inspection. So I naturally took it to my local Cadi dealer and had my oil done "officially"

800 miles later, my oil light comes back on again.... So I call my dealer and have a consumption test started. ----- Oil is changed, miles are logged, oil is logged 3.7qt low and I was told to drive the car another 1000 miles or until the light comes back on.

Another 750 miles later, same thing. Didn't make it to 1k miles. Car was almost 4qts low.... scoped the cylinder, major evidence of burnt oil on the piston heads and one of the spark plugs was found to have a missing Electrode strap... and couldn't be found within the cylinder via borescope.
- At this point, my dealer initiated a maintenance/warranty ticket with GM. To GMs infinite wisdom, they wanted me to perform ANOTHER 1000 mile oil consumption test even though we had plenty of data to get the ball rolling, and they said "this time, dont do any "excessive" engine braking" all accusitory as if im beating the hell out of my car... Even though its literally marketed as a "track ready" car.

Im 600 miles into my 3rd leg of the "consumption test" and now my car has started majorly misfiring, though is throwing no codes. Im suspecting its eaten another spark plug and ive kept the car under 4k rpm the whole time.

Come Monday, I plan to call my dealer to get this going again, and I will update this thread.

Reminder... my car is consuming 4 Qtz/Thousands...... that is 20qtz per oil change at the recommended rate.... absolutely insane. Its downright insulting that GM engineers are trying to tell me and the dealership that this is "normal, for the manual cars"

Im beginning to feel like I should have heeded the "stay away - motor problem" warnings, but I had a C7 Z06 and really liked the LT4. Jokes on me.

 

[doublethebass]

why don’t we have a thumbs down button

no leaks?

 

[Wrigy1]

why don’t we have a thumbs down button

no leaks?

Absolutely zero leaks. --- which my dealer investigated and confirmed.

 

[DCV]

It happens. I night a brand new GT350 and at 6K miles needed a new engine due to oil consumption. At the end it was burning a quart every 200 miles. Ford made me do two 500 drive tests. But I got a new long block and it never really burned any oil.

 

[Wrigy1]

It happens. I night a brand new GT350 and at 6K miles needed a new engine due to oil consumption. At the end it was burning a quart every 200 miles. Ford made me do two 500 drive tests. But I got a new long block and it never really burned any oil.

I appreciate the vote of confidence, but my question to you is this. In your experience, was Ford trying to tell you "its normal" the whole time? Like GM is doing to me?

Im not very confident this is going to go my way without a fight.

 

[DCV]

By 2019, lots of 350s were turning into diesels. Ford replaced them and kept the bad engine. They never made a public announcement as to why it was happening. But many suspect it was due to bad rings. They also did a compression test, leak down and bore scope of my bad motor. Ford lost their asses on the 350 given the number of engines replaced. They also had issues with the 2020 model where the cam chain tensioner was not fully articulated and blowing up engines. So once Ford approved it, I dropped the car off and picked it up 5 days later with new engine. The dealership seemed to have experience in doing the removal and install. Pretty sure they dropped the whole front cradle instead of taking it out from the top

 

[USMC1911]

Was the Z06 reliable?

 

[Wrigy1]

Was the Z06 reliable?

Oh man, best car I've ever owned. It was an updated 2017 M7 with the updated blower setup.

I was VERY hard on that car. Drove it in the SoCal canyons and tracked it at Willow Springs... all while it was my daily. After 60k miles, only thing ever to go bad with it was an airflow sensor in the early days of ownership.

It did burn alittle oil, 1qt per 5k, which to me was plenty acceptable for how hard I was on the car.

Miss that car every day

 

[USMC1911]

Oh man, best car I've ever owned. It was an updated 2017 M7 with the updated blower setup.

I was VERY hard on that car. Drove it in the SoCal canyons and tracked it at Willow Springs... all while it was my daily. After 60k miles, only thing ever to go bad with it was an airflow sensor in the early days of ownership.

It did burn alittle oil, 1qt per 5k, which to me was plenty acceptable for how hard I was on the car.

Miss that car every day

No reason to believe the LT4 in this car would be anymore or less reliable. The whole "stay away" garbage is well overblown. The LT4 are all and have been built in the same plant and are/have been assembled by one person no matter if it went into a Z06, CTS-V, Blackwing, ZL1 or Escalade V. In general, they are fairly reliable for a high preference supercharged V8. I would be more interested in how it passed as a CPO car or what it's service history looks like as this problem obviously didn't just start.

 

[BlackwingSwanny23]

Annoying situation but I’m assuming within a few weeks, you’ll have a fresh motor and blower to enjoy in a 2024 5v BW. Enjoy the car and enjoy it even more after they make you whole via a fresh longblock

 

[Wrigy1]

No reason to believe the LT4 in this car would be anymore or less reliable. The whole "stay away" garbage is well overblown. The LT4 are all and have been built in the same plant and are/have been assembled by one person no matter if it went into a Z06, CTS-V, Blackwing, ZL1 or Escalade V. In general, they are fairly reliable for a high preference supercharged V8. I would be more interested in how it passed as a CPO car or what it's service history looks like as this problem obviously didn't just start.

Not to sound combative, but i don't believe you're correct about them all being built by the same person. Ive come across a thread of people posting different names of "who built my motor," i just cant seem to find it. Though, i know that cadi was saying in 2021 that they were all hand-built by one person... im not sure that's true these days. ---- Not that it matters all that much.

I thought it was overblown as well... Otherwise I wouldn't have bought one.... but over the last six months specifically there have been alot of posts popping up on the facebook group and here, specifically regarding oiling issues. ---- My dealer told me they have replaced 2 BW motors for oiling issues, and they are a small family owned dealer.

I did do a review of the Carfax before I purchased it and nothing really jumped out at me that concerned me. Though, ive not asked my service adviser to see if they have an internal record.

Like you, I also find it hard to believe this issue is "new" to this machine specifically. I just find it hard to believe the first owner lived with it chugging down this much oil for 15k miles.

 

[Wrigy1]

Annoying situation but I’m assuming within a few weeks, you’ll have a fresh motor and blower to enjoy in a 2024 5v BW. Enjoy the car and enjoy it even more after they make you whole via a fresh longblock

That's my hope. If I end up with a new engine, I'll be happy as a peach and write off the problems.

My concern is raised with GM giving some pushback on the matter right off the rip. Doesnt really give me any warm and fuzzies

 

[TruckeeTaurus]

Not to sound combative, but i don't believe you're correct about them all being built by the same person. Ive come across a thread of people posting different names of "who built my motor," i just cant seem to find it. Though, i know that cadi was saying in 2021 that they were all hand-built by one person... im not sure that's true these days. ---- Not that it matters all that much.

I thought it was overblown as well... Otherwise I wouldn't have bought one.... but over the last six months specifically there have been alot of posts popping up on the facebook group and here, specifically regarding oiling issues. ---- My dealer told me they have replaced 2 BW motors for oiling issues, and they are a small family owned dealer.

I did do a review of the Carfax before I purchased it and nothing really jumped out at me that concerned me. Though, ive not asked my service adviser to see if they have an internal record.

Like you, I also find it hard to believe this issue is "new" to this machine specifically. I just find it hard to believe the first owner lived with it chugging down this much oil for 15k miles.

Pretty sure you mistook built by one person (the engines are built by one person, that person’s name will be on a lil plaque with their name on that engine) for one singular person builds every motor that comes from the factory (that would be one exhausted mofo, but would explain why it takes so long to get the cars built!).

 

[TruckeeTaurus]

Pretty sure you mistook built by one person (the engines are built by one person, that person’s name will be on a lil plaque with their name on that engine) for one singular person builds every motor that comes from the factory (that would be one exhausted mofo, but would explain why it takes so long to get the cars built!).

My engine was built by a dude named Brett.

Thanks Brett!

 

[Wrigy1]

Pretty sure you mistook built by one person (the engines are built by one person, that person’s name will be on a lil plaque with their name on that engine) for one singular person builds every motor that comes from the factory (that would be one exhausted mofo, but would explain why it takes so long to get the cars built!).

Ohhh man, no clue how i mistook that context LOL!

Thanks for setting me straight!

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

Given how long this has been going on I think we can eliminate a single bad engine builder from consideration. Given the fact that various engine failures are still affecting cars from 2022 through to present it's probably not even a materials or supplier problem. That pretty much leaves it as a fundamental design flaw that is too expensive to fix until they design a new motor (battery pack?)

It's unfortunate for a brand's performance halo car to suffer like that considering how much they are investing into WEC/IMSA and F1, as I assume you (and others) will not be a repeat Cadillac buyer.

On the other hand I suppose it could be worse.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a64539871/ferrari-458-spider-burns-1-hour-after-delivery-japan/

 

[Wrigy1]

Given how long this has been going on I think we can eliminate a single bad engine builder from consideration. Given the fact that various engine failures are still affecting cars from 2022 through to present it's probably not even a materials or supplier problem. That pretty much leaves it as a fundamental design flaw that is too expensive to fix until they design a new motor (battery pack?)

It's unfortunate for a brand's performance halo car to suffer like that considering how much they are investing into WEC/IMSA and F1, as I assume you (and others) will not be a repeat Cadillac buyer.

On the other hand I suppose it could be worse.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a64539871/ferrari-458-spider-burns-1-hour-after-delivery-japan/

Well, thats just the thing about it all... i was pretty invovled in the Corvette world for the better part of a decade, and never did I see the amount of posts/talk about failures on the LT4 in the C7 Z06.

Granted it was a dry sump system... but, i cant imagine it making that much of a difference?

 

[quikag]

Your engine was likely abused by previous owner. A few overrev events can loosen an engine up and over time, it can fail in one way or another.

GM is being a little cautious, but you're going to get a new motor eventually. Insist on a decent loaner every time you bring the car in and just beat the piss out of the loaner. That is what I do to feel better.

Every engine can fail. The LT4 is an overall solid motor. My '22 I've had for 3.5 years has been perfect and I've flogged it like the naughty girl deserves.

 

[USMC1911]

Not to sound combative, but i don't believe you're correct about them all being built by the same person. Ive come across a thread of people posting different names of "who built my motor," i just cant seem to find it. Though, i know that cadi was saying in 2021 that they were all hand-built by one person... im not sure that's true these days. ---- Not that it matters all that much.

They are not all built by the same person. Each motor is built by one single person. Just to clarify.

 

[FLYARMY]

Back in 2021 I do believe that only 120 5 BW's were built for the inaugural production year. So, one person technically could have built those engines.
*****Today I am on the hunt to find the best price for an extended warranty for my 2022 5BW. Only has 6000 miles. I have gotten 2 quotes so far. My local guy for 7yr/56,000 100$ded for $3800 and Knapp in Texas for $2157. What a big difference !