NHTSA Complaint #11470308 — 2007 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

On 2/24/18 while driving the vehicle in first gear taking off from a stoplight averaging a speed no higher than 30mph and not yet entering 2nd gear the vehicle made a loud screeching noise from the motor area and then abruptly stopped and shut off the engine. A dashboard warning of reduced motor speed appeared and the vehicle stayed in accessory mode only allowing the interior electrical systems to operate. The roadway that I was on being 3 lanes wide and at time of engine failure I was in the middle lane, I was forced to attempt to take vehicle off main roadway onto a side street. Being that the engine abruptly stopped, speed was lost rather quickly putting me in a dangerous situation where the vehicles behind me and next to me could potentially hit me endangering my safety. Additionally I had to cross over in front of oncoming traffic as the only available safe stop was a side street was on the opposite side of road. At that point I was able to stop the vehicle off the roadway onto a side street where the vehicle was then towed back to our residence. The vehicle was then later towed to our mechanic where bore scope inspection revealed a thrown piston and rod. At that time we authorized a tear down to be completed by the mechanic that revealed a thrown piston and rod in the 1st cylinder, which we have since found out is a known and common cylinder to fail. The rod was thrown through the block and piston shattering which made this catastrophic motor failure not allowing repair to be completed and the only option being a full motor replacement. The mechanic advised this was due to a faulty valve in the cylinder head. Symptoms I feel may have been related and ultimately contributed to this failure date back as far as the date I purchased the vehicle on 4/2/16 where vehicle engine made irregular noises. Vehicle was seen 4/18/16 by Chevy stating noises normal and characteristic to alternator, as well as 11/14/17 when a cylinder 3 injector malfunction was detected.