discombobulator

Dont know but piston slap ticking , pistons too small oil rings not sealing
Is it me or is it bad quality control?
I just got a 2001 z28 w/ only 74,000
i hope i didnt make a mistake.
5.0 still goin strong 240,000 miles never apart stock car.
Is it ok to have smaller pistons .
I see everyone is concerned as guess it aint comforting .
Will these engines see 200,000 miles?
5.0 burns oil too though.
Whats the rear end prob i been hearing about some seal problem?
Why cant z28 have true dual exhaust like old 5.0 had?
Just wondering not criticising.
thanx

remauto1187

iTrader: (1)

My 99 vortec 5.7l will be rolling over to 240k sometime in the next 7 days! Never had her open except for those pain in the a$$ intake gaskets once. Felpro problem solver gaskets to the rescue!

theevette

iTrader: (2)

Piston slap is normal you'll get use to we all worried. The rear end I believe oreillys sell a sleeve kit no big deal. Twice the car as your 5.0

O2Form

Most people mistake lifter noise for piston noise. Piston noise sounds EXACTLY like a diesel engine. Lifter noise is ticking and clacking. You can't compare a high tech aluminum engine to that old design cast iron 5.0. Aluminum is weak and can't EVER take the punshment a cast iron block can. Aluminum blocks are also very noisy so get used to it. They are also very light which make them faster that cast iron blocks. Personally I think aluminum block engines are cheap junk made to fail easily and cost lots of money to replace. I'd say your 5.0 is a well built long lasting low tech engine, the LS1 is a high cost high tech engine that can be durable if handled carefully. Bad sheeeet happens easily in these engines.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

Thats a misdirected statement, sure a cast iron block is stronger because well, it is iron but to say the ls1 is a high tech engine that "can" be durable is not correct.... They are noisy but as you said an aluminum engine will transfer more harmonics because the metal is less dense. I've never heard of an ls1 cracking it's block or warping because someone over heated it or over revved it and had the rod just snap. In fact I believe texas speed holds the record for stock internals with doing 9's in 1/4. Tell the people with stroked 4xx aluminum motors that they're weak I dont think you'll like the response that you get seeing as those motors easily go into the 500whp area. People also boost aluminum blocks all the time in upwards of 10psi without issues does that mean they are as strong as iron and will handle 20lbs or 800whp? No, but they do hold power very well they certainly arent cheap junk, I mean hey theyve been around since the 60's and not many people have complained...

LS1 blocks will crack if you throw a rod for whatever reason whether its hydrolocking or having a rod bolt let go but that is not specific to the ls1. MANY people go over 200k without an issue I have friends with 190k ls1's that spray a 100 shot weekly and theyre fine. The same rules apply keep up the maintenance and do the little things and the ls platform will reward you with great service.

As far as piston slap goes its very real and a little more common than what you state. Tell all the people who bought their cars brand new that they just came with bad lifters. I dont think that would go over so well. I've replaced the lifters in mine and still have that noise so its definitely piston slap. The fact of the matter is when gm started making the l platform they stopped sizing all specific pistons to specific bores like they had done it the past which allowed for tighter tolerances, combine that with a shorter piston skirt that is used in the ls1 to help it rev and wala you get a rocking piston causing piston slap... It doesnt hurt anything as like people have stated the motors go over 200k very regularly.

So imo dont worry about it you should be fine the ls1 is a proven engine time and time again and should be right there with reliability with the 5.0 you have.. Not knocking the 5.0 as they can be made to have great power but in stock form an ls1 is far superior..
Dan-

iniviate

i have an all iron 6.0 with 295,000 miles on it in my mud truck. when it first starts up, most people think it's got a rod knocking, but it's piston slap. once it's warmed up, the noise is gone.

i beat on this engine harder than most people on here beat on stuff. i will hold the throttle wide open for 5+ minutes at a time, turning ~5500rpm. (i doubt anybody on here is beating on a motor that hard. just for a simple fact that they don't have a cooling system that can keep it cool for that long)

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

A friend of mine has a procharged forged ls1 puttin down over 700whp @ 14psi with no issues. Many people underestimate how strong the ls aluminum block actually is. I think its because the 5.3 and 6.0 blocks are so abundant/cheap, nobody thinks about a big hp
ls1 build anymore.

O2Form

Cast iron blocks are just about bullet proof, Aluminum blocks are crap. They are high tech, fussy and full of problems. I've seen cast iron block ran WITHOUT coolant that melted the cam bearings into the mains AND after freshing up up they still run fine. Aluminum blocks are touchy, just ask gm how many they toss out in a production run.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Wow. And off topic.

OP, Piston slap and some lifter noise is common on a lot of modern GM engines but they don't hamper performance or longevity. LS1's are noisy engines, but just forget about it and enjoy the the power. 200k is not unusual.

Clearance issues make dual exhaust a little tougher than on some other cars. But it can be done and is done all the time. Go to the External Engine forum and do some reading and you'll learn up on that.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

Ya I'm not sure what that guy is getting at.. Some moron ran a car without coolant and melted the bearings all that proves is that iron is harder than aluminum which isnt really anything new of course aluminum wouldnt hold up but if that actuallly happened I'd hate to see the cylinder walls of said motor iron or not.. Someone should probably go tell gm that the ls9, ls7 and all other high hp motors they have planned should be scrapped because the aluminum block is terrible...

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

why dont you tell us how many GM throws out...probably just as many as the cast iron blocks they pitch.

and go tell the top fuel guys their engines are high tech fussy and full of problems, cause it looks to me like they do just fine pushing 8000 horse. i dont see any cast iron blocks doing that, oh and thats being run WITHOUT coolant.

on a side note...if top fuelers ran coolant, it would be dexcool. nothing but the best for the most powerful cars on earth. have a good day.

O2Form

ANYTHING will run for a few 1/4 miles..............thats nuttin.......like I said Aluminum blocks are fast but don't last very long.... you just ALL proved it!

Oh and have a nice day
YOURSELF!

Grimes

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, this make absolutely no sense whatsoever. For the majority of applications the aluminum block is more than strong enough. If you are building a sick turbo or supercharged or N2O car, then yeah, go iron. But to totally dismiss the aluminum block is just not an educated response.

1999transamls1

iTrader: (5)

how did we all "prove" that they dont last very long?

and OP, my t/a has piston slap aswell, its very common and nothing to worry about, im at 168k and still going strong

O2Form

Excellent post O2form! you handsome sob.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

15 1/4 mile passes with 8000 hp is the equivelent of about 500k miles on an LS1...

LS1aiden

these cars can make it well over 200,000 if you maintain them right. and piston slap really isnt anyting to worry about. you should only get slap when you first start it cold and it should only be a quick second any more then that i would investigate into my engine and not beat on it.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

no, they are junk if you cant neglect something and have it last. ask 02Form.

LS1aiden

any car will quit on you if you dont take the necessary steps to prevent that.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

WTH does that mean and btw how did we prove it exactly? OP I bought my camaro with 100k on it and it now has 121k and its been great even with the slapping. I'm doing an engine swap this summer but thats just for more power motors still running great.