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collapsed LS7 lifter

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Old 04-19-2007, 11:52 AM
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Default collapsed LS7 lifter

Just installed new heads & lifters.I noticed my oil pressure was lower than before..It wont make beyond 40-50 psi hot,& it drops below 20 at idle(closer to 15).
After about 200 miles, The engine starts to make a TAK-TAK-TAK sound..Holy **** it's loud!
It's coming from the the area right under the newly installed LS6 vally pan & behind the front cover /water pump..I pulled the #1 rocker arms & noticed very little oil splash on the #1 intake rocker.It's a Harland rebuild & the bearings inside the fulcrum are shot...As if it wasn't getting oil from the pushrod..
The oil pressure was fine before I did the head /lifter swap..Now it's not.
The oil pump is an LPE ported unit & I run Mobil 15-50 weight in accordance with what LPE told me to do.
Any ideas?
I'm at a loss & dont want to just start throwing parts at it...
Old 04-19-2007, 04:06 PM
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Nothing to offer brother except for the fact that i feel you!!!
Been there, done that.. Damn, i hate to hear that...

Obvious thing is th pull the head... maybe it was pre-load or lack there of on that particular lifter...

I too used the LS7 lifters with my engine build..

But i let LGM do mine..

Good luck..
Old 05-01-2007, 10:11 PM
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Update...
The engine runs suprisingly well on one bank of cylinders...For a few miniutes I had the only 4 cylinder 4th gen in the world...It allowed me to determine I do, in fact, have a bad #1 intake lifter.I hooked up a mechanical pressure guage using an adapter where the filter goes..The needle buzzes around between 50-70 cold & falls to 25-45 hot.
We went a step further & removed the rocker arms & pushrods on #1 & pulled them up into their retainers using a pen magnet...We hooked up the 3,5,& 7 coils & ran it.
No noise.
Bad lifter
This is a brand new(<200 miles) GM LS7 lifter,PN 12499225
Old 05-02-2007, 12:09 AM
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I'm thinking these new GM lifters are made in Mexico now.
Old 05-02-2007, 05:27 AM
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In all fairness...These lifters have a great track record..I feel like I'm the only guy on the planet to get a bad one.
Old 05-02-2007, 08:31 AM
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Are these the LS7 lifters or the Cadillac Racing lifters???
Old 05-02-2007, 08:58 AM
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Originally Posted by WKMCD
Are these the LS7 lifters or the Cadillac Racing lifters???
Old 05-02-2007, 09:01 AM
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Default LS7 Lifter

The part number indicates that this was a set of the LS7 lifters instead of the Cadillac lifters.
Old 05-02-2007, 09:06 AM
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funny thing, I had a brand new BAD LS7 lifter when the chevelle went together last year. that sucks. at least you have it narrowed down, it took me 6 months. the car would run and drive until it reached 4psi boost then it would lose a cylinder!
Old 05-02-2007, 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by scatillac
The part number indicates that this was a set of the LS7 lifters instead of the Cadillac lifters.
I feel better - thanks.
Old 05-02-2007, 06:31 PM
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Still doesn't explain the low oil pressure?I'm guessing the pump or the o-ring is the reason it failed.Low oil pressure can kill a lifter.
Old 05-02-2007, 06:50 PM
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The lifters are part of the oil flow..If a lifter malfunctions..It won't pass oil properly.
Old 05-03-2007, 11:21 AM
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WOW....i am in the middle of the same project...makes me wonder weather ot not i should go with a comp lifter instead of the ls7....my salesman @tsp told me they are comprable but lower in price....when buying a 4500 dollar package...shaving 80 or 90 bucks is great....hope it doesnt come back to bite me in the a!!!@#
Old 05-03-2007, 11:37 AM
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One lifter failed in ByeRice's engine.....Some perspective: Across the world, GM sells thousands of these lifters on a daily basis, as they are the replacement lifters for all the LS motors. Put them in and enjoy

ByeRice: Have you purchased a lottery ticket lately?
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Old 05-03-2007, 11:38 AM
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I replaced broken COMP R 875-16 lifters with the LS7's.
I run comp 850's in my other car & they've been fine.
To the readers of this thread, don't start second guessing your parts selection..Mine might be an isolated issue.If someone else posts a similar problem..then that's a trend.
As of yet ,there isn't one.
Old 05-03-2007, 12:48 PM
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Hey Bye Rice Did You Have Any Problems Getting Your Fast Intake To Sit Right On Your Tsp 5.3 Heads......mine Dont Look Like They Are Gonna Snug Up Right.....i Even Had To Bend The Coolant Tube They Sent Me To Get The Tb To Clear
Old 05-03-2007, 01:36 PM
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The FAST should fit just fine. The coolant pipe has to be bent on a stock car. There are some minor modifications to fit the FAST on any car.

The LS7 lifters are a very good option for guys doing motors, camshaft swaps, ect. We believe this is an isolated issue and should not cause any concern for guys running or looking to purchase these lifters. I do think BYE RICE needs to do some looking into a possible underlying problem that could have lead to this part failure.
Old 05-03-2007, 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by BYE RICE
I replaced broken COMP R 875-16 lifters with the LS7's.
I run comp 850's in my other car & they've been fine.
To the readers of this thread, don't start second guessing your parts selection..Mine might be an isolated issue.If someone else posts a similar problem..then that's a trend.
As of yet ,there isn't one.
Two lifters on the same motor has failed! That should tell you something right there. If it was the same lifter bore, then I suspect your lifter bore is out of tolerance or damaged.
Old 05-03-2007, 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Red99C5
Two lifters on the same motor has failed! That should tell you something right there. If it was the same lifter bore, then I suspect your lifter bore is out of tolerance or damaged.
It's not that simple.
The Comp 875's suffered from broken retainers common to those specific lifters.Some of my retainers (3) were merely cracked,while one (#2 Exhaust) had completly fallen apart & made it's way to the drain plug magnet.
Those lifters fail usually because of incorrect setup that results in too much pre-load. Comp doesn't do a very good job of explaining how to properly set them up.The only way I found out how to do it was by talking to the right guy in their tech department after the fact.Those lifters ended up being warrantied through Comp.
My LS7 lifter failed on #1 intake.
I'll have the heads off soon & I'll know for sure then.

Last edited by BYE RICE; 05-03-2007 at 10:00 PM.
Old 05-03-2007, 09:45 PM
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If you had a lifter come apart and you found some pieces of it on your oil pan drain plug, then that is probably why you have loss some oil pressure. You probably had some metal go thru the oil pump, and scored it up. Hopefully the filter stopped any from getting to your bearings. But there is no filtering for the oil pump itself.
It's possible a tiny piece a metal has found its way into a lifter. I hate to tell you this, but you probaby should disasemble the whole motor, clean out all of the oil passages, and put it back together with new bearings, and a fresh hone job with new rings. Otherwise, you may keep having failures of parts now if you have metal floating around in the oil passages.
Do you still have the oil filter that was used when the Comp lifter came apart? If you do, cut it up and look see what comes out.
I wish you luck.


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