hnic91

Omw way back to work from lunch I heard a rattling took the car out of car the noise stopped and the car died.

The car will only turn on now if I give it gas and it runs very rough. No check engine lights or anything. I looked and I am not leaking out. I tried to to turn the car on it was running at like 600 rpm and I took the car off and it actually still ran for 5 seconds.

I have been cammed for about 3 years, and the car has 100k miles. Can any of you think of what could be wrong? I'm thinking mechanical as I heard the rattle beforehand. Wondering if it could be electrical best case. Any help would be great. Wondering if I should bother taking to the dealer if a performance shop can figure it out.

Becker

iTrader: (4)

If it was my car I would not force another start, Pull the oil drain plug and inspect for carnage. Check your coolant color, and maybe also pull the oil filter to look. Assess the situation after that. Also, pull the plugs if youd like.

On a cammed car (depending on how aggressive and what else was added) I would suspect springs, prods, retainers, lifters could be a likely failure culprit. Especially springs.

2007V

iTrader: (2)

X2 on springs. I bet that is all it is.

hnic91

I'm hoping it is just springs. I believe when I got the cam done I stressed for the installer to use double springs. I'm hopping I didn't drop a valve. I won't start it again and will have it shipped to a shop for diagnosis.

Maybe this is a good time to order new heads.

Becker

iTrader: (4)

could be a good time, figure out the amount of damage done first. That sucks man, yah depending how aggressive the lobes are it could have broken a spring.

ryridesmotox

Its not hard to diagnose springs. Take the coil pack rails off, and then take the valve covers off. They have a reusable rubber gasket. They really aren't that bad to do yourself.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Right, doing springs isn't difficult, but a broken spring tends to spread metal all around the motor and if a valve dropped even a little, now you're looking at head and piston damage.

ryridesmotox

I had a stock spring let go, it didn't drop the valve. The one broken one was replaced under extended warranty. I went ahead and did the rest a few weeks later. They don't always drop valves and send shards of death into you engine. Since the OP said he was cammed, perhaps he has dual springs and he is safe. My #5 intake spring broke and it ran like more or less like he was saying

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, I was searching around one time for the benefits of dual vs. beehive and although most believe that dual is "safe", I found a couple posts about the inside spring failing while the outside spring was fine, so the valve was good, but the inside spring broke into pieces and mucked up the guy's motor. It's worst case scenario, but I'm just saying, having dual springs does not save you from any failure, necessarily.

hnic91

I will have the car towed the 40 miles to the shop today and let you guys now how it goes. Hoping I didnt drop a valve but preparing worst case.

What would be a cheap way to rebuild the engine complete?

What would be a cheap way to rebuild the top end?

I've always wanted to stroke the engine but no need to if the bottom end is okay. It seems as if at the least if one spring in gone, I should replace all springs, push rods, lifters maybe?

Thank you for all your posts.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

No way of telling the "cheap" way until you know the damage. Too many variables right now.

ryridesmotox

Agreed


If it is just a spring, just do all the springs. Metal generally will fatigue at a steady rate. Assuming all the springs are from the same lot, one may go again soon. I know you sent it to a dealer but I got a set of springs from lingenfelter for $70-80... I don't remember. They were OEM LS9 springs. Probably of no use to you depending on the cam you have. But I'd do all of them with a new set of springs.

SIXLITR

iTrader: (4)

Same here. Pulled the heads and the piston looked good and AI reused the valve with the broken spring. Do yourself a favor and take the 15 minutes to pull the valve covers. It is really easy and you will know for sure.

hnic91

Thanks guys I had the car towed to the shop that did the cam install for me. He will let me know later today. If it turns out to be a spring and no other damage I will order all new springs. I assume I would order new retainers as well?

tmonttt

iTrader: (10)

The spring retainers are reusable, although it might not hurt to have a few extra on hand in the event you lose one. They aren't very much from the GM dealer.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Are you sure you aren't confusing retainers with valve locks? You can't (or at least shouldn't) use factory retainers on dual springs. Stock valve stem locks are fine, but aftermarket are thicker.

ryridesmotox

He already had dual springs, or at least that's what I gathered from a previous post. The stupid little locks/keepers are so damn frustrating. I got like 10 from the local dealer. I'm glad I did... I lost like 3 where the headers merge on each side, they get slippery with oil and assembly lube while wearing rubber gloves. Little bastards. Luckily someone at gm had the foresight to make the oil drainback holes in the head smaller than the locks/keepers.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Yes, that's what I'm saying. They're using the word "retainer" to mean "lock." Two different things.

Becker

iTrader: (4)

Oh yea I remember those locks......haha I launched a few out of the car, after that I think I used a magnet when removing them and some oil when installing them. I had a very slow spring compressor so I had a lot of time to mess it up

tmonttt

iTrader: (10)

My mistake on the retainers vs. locks. I was speaking of the little locks that hold the valve stem to the retainers that everyone loses. As far as the actual retainers, that's something you'll need unless you already had dual springs.