Camaropar

iTrader: (1)

Anyone ever try this stuff for a typical piston slappy LS1? My car only has 48k miles but has alot of slap when it's cold. It's particularly bad in the winter. Normally I run 10-30 mobil 1 (like now). Last winter I ran 15-50 mobil 1 and it helped alot when the car was cold however there was a significant power loss. I'm considering trying some lucas additive to my 10-30 mobil 1 this time. Only thing I'd be concerned with is if this stuff has 'stop leak' kinds of additives which my pristine seals do not need...

mean_greenZ

iTrader: (1)

That crap is purely a marketing scheme. Search it. No certain oil will cure piston slap. Some make it quieter than others. I have found that thicker oils make it worse. I run mobil 1 5w30 and mine stays pretty quiet.

Camaropar

iTrader: (1)

Not trying to cure it, just trying to add a little more protection when it's cold. If yours got worse with thicker oil it sounds like you're confusing lifter noise for piston slap...

Blk98Vert

iTrader: (2)

Don't run the Lucas. Try some German castrol, most say it quiets the piston slap

Gray86hatch

iTrader: (83)

Thicker oil when cold is not good. Thinner is better. Gm puts 5-30 in them for a reason.

My dads 6.0 has had piston slap since day 1. 160k still run prefect 1/2 quart in 4000 miles.
Tim

ls1 1990 VN

Since when did the 6ltr have piston slap!!

If it did have slap from day 1, why was it not fixed under warranty? Why run the car for 160k, only an idiot would do that. Pretty sure if it had slap from day 1, extremely unlikely it would have gotten anywhere near 50k let alone 160k.
More lilkely the oil is going inside his manifold.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

The Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer is just 80 weight oil with soap added. This is why it foams up when tested. Pass on it.

I'll second the nod for German Castrol. It did reduce my piston slap. It's actually one of the best oils on the market. It has a very high temperature rating. Easy to find these days at Pep Boys and AutoZone, it's 0W-30 weight and must say "made in Germany" on the back.

Grab a good filter too like a Mobil One extended or K&N.

smg267

iTrader: (23)

What made you think 15-50 was even remotely fine to use? Mobil makes a 0-40. But I'll stick with my penzoil 5-30

bczee

iTrader: (12)

+1, I've read the same about it foaming up and causing oil starvation due to the air getting in to the system due to the foaming.. so, I never tried it for that reason.

But I guess it works for some.. ??

BC

fastsspr

iTrader: (49)

I use the lucas on every oil change to my cars it help a lot in a coul start. My oil presure is like 10 psi higher when i use it. My use it in my Silverado SS since her first oil change @ 3000 miles. I like it and going to continue using it.
I vote for Lucas oil stabilizer.

14k

can you explain why 0w-30 quiets it down??

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

The "0" in 0W-30 is the cold flow viscosity. The lower the number, the better it flows at lower temperatures. Piston knock is (normally) heard at cold start up because the cold oil is thicker and really doesn't make it's way to the piston skirt. A more free-flowing oil at colder engine temps gets to the skirts easier.

When hot (at operating temps) oil flows like water.

EDIT: Piston knock is also related to the skirt/cylinder fit sizing and piston expansion at operating temps. It all ties together.

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

fastsspr, have a look at pics 6 & 7 here:

http://web.archive.org/web/201009261...ucas/lucas.htm

Foaming oil = air in the oil. Air does NOT lubricate engine bearings, rings & stuff very well. Get that stuff outta there.

Oil manufacturers invest heavily in their oil formulas and blends. Don't ruin it with some magic additive.

Blk98Vert

iTrader: (2)

Everyone is so obsessed with PSI. I'm at 60 cold start with 5W30 M1 High Mileage on my 124K mile motor. Why I would need more? GM spec is 10 psi for every 1000 rpm. So most of us need 70 at most AT REDLINE. Oil needs no additives except maybe zinc for older motors. I've never heard of a manufacturer recommend an additive. They are wastes, just buy a good oil and filter and your pressure will be fine

Zmg00camaross

iTrader: (11)

Correct. I use 0w30 Amsoil sso, has great pumpabilty in cold climates but is the proper viscosity at temp. The first number is measured a 0 degrees. Guys useing a 50 weight is not helping you. Doesnt flow well and bet if you had a oil temp gauge it be excessive and oil is not getting where its suppose to be on start up on a timely fashion and causeing unnecssary wear. Piston slap is something we deal, Just cam it on you wont hear it as much

superbean

Here is the reason behind oil purchases...

In the 50s/60s muti grade oils were about non existent.. they had oils rated at 20w 30w 40w that went into everyones cars (hence why motors were burnt up at 100k)

now I would say every car on the road has some kind of multi viscosity oil to suit that engine. Most cars reccomend 5w20 and 5w30 for the perfect blend of cold start protection (as a lot of cars are over head cam) and a mid weight oil for decent top and bottom end oiling efficiency. A lot of old timers are scared of these lighter oils because they think they are too "thin" and that a sbc HAS to use a 50w oil to build oil pressure. Oil pressure is merely a number. whereas some people may think that 25psi at idle is low, that meets standard for about 90% of the cars on the road today. So if the car reccomends 5w30, they want to put 10w40 in it so when its warm it has marginal better oil pressure.

What they dont realize is that IMO, the difference between 30psi oil pressure and 40psi under cruise will have no difference as long as the oil pump doesnt fluxuate and the oil is kept clean.. oil doesn't break down persay.. it only gets burned and dirty.

A whole new can of worms is going to a heavier oil weight when an engine is "high miles" can cause a lot of leaking and oil consumtion properties. if the seals have been worn to a certain oil weight, then changing it will effect the quality of how well a seal can acutally seal, hence rear and front main failures, oilpans leaking and excessive pcv blowby.

What should be done is study the quality of the FILTER. If the oil relys on being clean to be efficient, more should cut open their filter each change(as i do) and study what they see. I've looked at so many race engines and daily drivers with various brands of filters and it will tell a lot about what the engine did or didn't do.

Run the reccomended viscosity oil for your car (factoring in climate and what the car is used for) dont use 20w50 for a car pulling 7000 rpm doh, run a thinner oil so your crank doesnt starve itself.

I've seen a change of 12 psi by simply swapping to a different BRAND of oil filter. Imo the best quality I have seen as far as filters are AMSOIL, ACdelco-bosch-mobile 1 (all made by champion)

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1662838

DMM

Umm...don't know how to tell you this man, and I don't know if you are being serious or sarcastic, but GM engines have had piston slap ever since they went to low drag pistons (with almost non-existant skirts) across the board in everything from the 2.2 four bangers and 3100 motors all the way up to the LS motors. You can definitely hear it more on some platforms than others though.

GM did have a TSB on them, last one I remember working on was a Denali 6.0....basically you had to time the piston slap to determine if it was bad enough to warrant having the pistons replaced with coated ones that helped to stabilize the pistons during initial thermal expansion on start up. No customer ever opted to have the pistons replaced to fix the noise, if you were wondering.

BTW - The piston slap you hear is caused by nothing more than cold piston clearance (rocking) in the cylinder b/c the skirts are not doing enough to stabilize them until the piston and cylinder are at operating temperatures...not really sure how any lubricant would help as the cylinders are not pressurized, which would be the only way oil could tighten up a tolerance. I have never seen (or heard of) a GM engine failing due to (or in part of) piston slap.

ls1 1990 VN

Well mate...I don't know how to tell you, BUT GM had hundreds of pre 02 LS1 engines that were sold off cheap due to piston slap warranty. I assume they were sold to individuals that bought in bulk.
I ended up with one unbeknown to me.
After a head swap the slap was that bad the engine had to be rebuilt. Is that an engine fail...YES. There were many LS1s here in NZ that also had the pistons replaced under warranty...Is that a fail, YES

DMM

If GM warranted every motor that had piston slap on cold start up, they would be out of business. They would have to replace every motor, then replace every replacement motor, then again...

Since you mention pre 02 models, find a 3100 V-6 the same model year (Malibu, whatever) and tell me what you hear the first minute or two after starting. Those motors will go 200k plus miles also with normal maintenance and intake gaskets.

I started working at a GM Dealer (Lustine Chevrolet) when I was 16 and have seen thousands of motors with piston slap since, none of which ever caused any problems...to include my own personal vehicles.

It certainly does not surprise me that parts may have been warrantied without an actual failure, there are lots of tech's that replace parts that are not broken or defective all the time. Also, GM accounts for parts that are installed on warranty basis (especially big ticket parts like motors and transmissions) and charge the dealers back for items they did not retain so I question how you came to the arbitrary conclusion that there must have been a batch of warranty motors that got sold on the market. That's simply just not how the GM warranty PNP operates.

It also does not surprise me that you bought a used motor and it went **** up...sure it happened to someone before and it will probably happen again. However, I do find it somewhat odd that it only failed after a head swap with no other possible explanation, but whatev's.