NerdOfRage

I have had a clanking noise in my 01 trans am for a few months and I took it to a few mechanic and we reached the general consensus it is a lifter tick, how ever the mechanic I just had it to said you have to replace the camshaft & heads + a full set of lifters to "properly" Fix the issue. He Quoted me $4500 Which seems obscene to me. I have about $1000 to work with and don't have enough expertise/ tools/ shop space, to do this myself. Anyone have any input? Do you need to replace all of that or can you just do the lifters?

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

I seriously doubt you'll need new heads for lifter tick. Besides the tick how does it run, is it down on power..?
IMO, I'd look for a different shop since it sounds like that shop wants to soak you for as much as possible, without even opening up the motor!
I first check for a bent pushrod, if you've over revved the motor(missed shift or wrong gear with M6 trans, manually shifted A4 trans), or possibly a rocker spilled its needle bearings or maybe the rocker bolt just came loose. Both are easy to check for with just removing the valve covers.

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

lol why would you ever need new heads, you can get a whole new longblock for less than 4500. the cam is likely fine but it should always be inspected with lifter issues.

but if you're replacing lifters why I would atleast have the heads/springs checked along with new valve seals. also this would be a perfect time to do a cam you can easily get a cam package for around 750 and if you install it yourself a tune would just barely put you into the 1k-1500 range

2000RedBird30

Could it be Piston Slap?

redtan

iTrader: (5)

A $500 lifter swap turns into a $4500 job? This guy is trying to rape you with no lube.

Even if you needed new heads and cam (which is very unlikely), those parts are an extra $500 not $4000. For that kind of money you can do some sick h/c/i.

garygnu

I say remove your heads ,and the lifters .inspect the lifters ,to see if they are bad.look down the lifter bores and inspect the cam lobes for any marks .you can buy new lifters for a good price at Texas Speed .you can get the gaskets and head bolts there also.if the cam looks suspect ,consider a new cam .how many miles on the engine ?if alot ,consider a valve job.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

$4500 for a cam job is ridiculous. I'd flat out tell him that's a rip off and never go back to him. What a crook.

RockinWs6

1000 tops to replace lifters, If the cam is damaged figure another 300 for a stock cam. If the cam isn't damaged there is no reason to change it.

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

seems like they are quoting you on a job they will never do,
they will only replace the lifters if indeed that is your problem.
once the engine is together and running, there is no way for you to ever know if they replaced the camshaft. the shop can just show you some other camshaft laying around the shop and say that was yours, same for the heads or give you some excuse.

yes you can replace just lifters and continue to re-use your original camshaft.
to replace lifters, you do have to remove the cylinder heads, but you don't have to buy new cylinder heads... unless there is some obvious problem with your current heads. same regarding the cam shaft. unless the rollers on your lifters show obvious wear which means possible damage to a camshaft lobe, then consider replacing the cam shaft.

the LS1 has lifter retainers which means you can replace your camshaft without having to first remove the lifters like in traditional small block V-8's. And on the LS1 because you have to remove heads to remove lifters, since you don't need to remove lifters then you don't need to remove the heads in order to do a camshaft change.... making it easy on an LS1 to remove and replace camshaft. doing it while motor is still in the car is a different story.