New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech - Would You Buy This Car?

Most of you are wondering what I'm doing here owning an 80 Z28, and 96 3.8L
Camaro.

Well, you're about to find out. I've been studying the LS series motor because
I'm in the market for a used car.

I've learned about piston slap, and the horror of over-revving these engines.
Non adjustable valve train sucks, but I'll fix that.

These engines also seems to be choked by factory filters and exhaust.
A few aftermarket upgrades to the filter and cat-back seems to unleash
some good power.

The only thing I really would like to know is the average maintenance costs,
and service costs.

I bet an ignition tune up must be a fortune with 8 coils!

It would be great if some of you could list some horror stories with repair costs,
and anything I need to watch for when buying an LS1.

Here is a link to a car I've had my eyes on. What do you think?

Leather, t-roof, 6 spd., aftermarket rims, fiberglass SS hood, Eibach pro kit springs, Flowmaster exhaust, 128,500 km. $15,000. obo.

http://images.trader.ca/autotrader/1/42/768282.jpg.fpx?large

For starters, an ignition tune up usually consists of buying 8 NGK TR55 plugs at $1.50 each.

Also knowing the year of the car would help. Since most of us here probably live in the US, knowing the miles, not the km on the car would help. And is that price in US dollars? Isn't there a difference in the value of US vs Canadian dollars?

there is no reason to do a tune up to the coil packs they are supposed to be maintenance free in the case of them going bad well then you have to buy all new ones, the biggest costing problem I have had to deal with was a tranny, it was a 4l60e($2700) so you don't have to worry about that, other then that tps sensor($30), NGK g-power($1.58*8), autolite plug wires($40), head gasket set including valve stem seals($140), tranny filter($20 or somewhere in there), that is about it in the way of maintenance. Really they are efficient cars and do farely well with gas and don't cost too much to maintain atleast stock maintain.

I've owned my car for four years/25k+ miles. Other than mods, routine oil changes, quite a few tires and gas all I've spent money on is power window motors (both sides) and some spark plugs. I did lose the 3-4 clutch pack and now have a $2k+ aftermarket, built 4l60E and I just spent $500 on new brake rotors/pads.

Really nothing but routine maintainence other than the tranny going out (caused by my driving and extra power from mods, mostly), and the two window motors.

Anymore, repairs are costly regardless of make/model car. Do your own maintenance and repairs. IMHO, the LS1/6 is not a good choice for someone who does not wrench.
Generally speaking, high rpm abuse applies to any factory stock engine
79,8xx miles What year?

15000/1.23= $12195 US

It has to be pre-2001
Just get the VIN #'s and do an inquiry on it's history. Ask for service history too.

What I've done before is to take it to a garage that specialises in this and give a point inspection report. It is not that expensive and worth it IMO. You can even have a compression and leakdown test done.

Get an insurance report.

Otherwise reading the plugs, checking for smoke on startup, smoke at WOT if you ride behind it. Any unusual knock (besides piston slap and injector ticking).
Questions to the owner as to last maintenance (when were plugs changed last, when was tranny fluid changed, rear oil change etc... A person that takes good care of thier ride will know all that. Remove air filter, if really dirty means carelessness. Take i for a spin check gear changes, clunking in differential, whining etc...

15000/1.23= $12195 US

It has to be pre-2001
Just get the VIN #'s and do an inquiry on it's history. Ask for service history too.

What I've done before is to take it to a garage that specialises in this and give a point inspection report. It is not that expensive and worth it IMO. You can even have a compression and leakdown test done.

Get an insurance report.

Otherwise reading the plugs, checking for smoke on startup, smoke at WOT if you ride behind it. Any unusual knock (besides piston slap and injector ticking).
Questions to the owner as to last maintenance (when were plugs changed last, when was tranny fluid changed, rear oil change etc... A person that takes good care of thier ride will know all that. Remove air filter, if really dirty means carelessness. Take i for a spin check gear changes, clunking in differential, whining etc...


I totally agree here. Definately worth the money to do atleast a leakdown and compression test. That will give you a general idea if the car has been taken care of. Generally, used LS1's have seen their fair share of abuse.

Look around you may find a deal for cheaper with less miles. Try to find a 2001 or newer.

If I recall, the model year is 1998 (I need to confirm that).

It's an M6.

Mileage is about 77,600

I'm surprised the tune-up period for coils haven't occured. I realize the coil
only fires 1/8th of the time over the same period, but there must be a life
span?

In any case, thanks for the tips. I'll give him a call can grab the VIN.

No doubt there is a life span. It's just more than what you are used to. They will last the life of the engine and even further in most cases. It's obvious you are used to old school, carbed engines; or you are just clueless. From your previous posts that I have read I'll have to go with the first assumption.

Based on the car your looking at the avg kms/yr is about 11000. It probably hasn't been driven that much which would explain why no tune-up was done.

The only thing I'd be worried about is that the 98 Camaros and T/A's were the first year in which the LS1 was used, along with minor changes to exterior and interior. So any problems or issues with the 98's (whether its customer or production related) would have been incorporated into the 99-02 models.

Unless you know the history of this 98 car your looking at, it would be wise to consider a 2000-2002 model since GM has upgraded the performance, reliability, and appearance.

Best of Luck

Tino is that you????

Based on the car your looking at the avg kms/yr is about 11000. It probably hasn't been driven that much which would explain why no tune-up was done.

The only thing I'd be worried about is that the 98 Camaros and T/A's were the first year in which the LS1 was used, along with minor changes to exterior and interior. So any problems or issues with the 98's (whether its customer or production related) would have been incorporated into the 99-02 models.

Unless you know the history of this 98 car your looking at, it would be wise to consider a 2000-2002 model since GM has upgraded the performance, reliability, and appearance.

Best of Luck

Points to consider before making more posts. In '97 the LS1 was used in the corvettes. 01-02 GM "upgraded" performance. The addition is a LS6 intake manifold and no EGR system. It also has a smaller cam for more low-end. All of these differences are negligable with any decent modding. The only real plus to a 01-02 car is the LS6 intake manifold. The exhaust manifolds are slightly better, but nothing to brag about. The reliability is the same, and absolutly nothing changed in appearance between 98's and the 99-02 models. Actually I guess one thing did. On the 98 ws6's there was one exhaust tip instead of two. :eyes:

I like how all of the new folks say the '98s suck. for whatever odd reason they may have.

Based on the car your looking at the avg kms/yr is about 11000. It probably hasn't been driven that much which would explain why no tune-up was done.

The only thing I'd be worried about is that the 98 Camaros and T/A's were the first year in which the LS1 was used, along with minor changes to exterior and interior. So any problems or issues with the 98's (whether its customer or production related) would have been incorporated into the 99-02 models.

Unless you know the history of this 98 car your looking at, it would be wise to consider a 2000-2002 model since GM has upgraded the performance, reliability, and appearance.

Best of Luck

Basically what 777 said. Get your facts straight please. Appearance is the same, reliability is the same, performance is very close and once you mod they all become equal. It is the second year of hte LS1, vette had it the year prior, and as stated they did not make any changes to the LS1 engine throughout their production life. (nothing that matters anyway, esp once modded)

Points to consider before making more posts. In '97 the LS1 was used in the corvettes. 01-02 GM "upgraded" performance. The addition is a LS6 intake manifold and no EGR system. It also has a smaller cam for more low-end. All of these differences are negligable with any decent modding. The only real plus to a 01-02 car is the LS6 intake manifold. The exhaust manifolds are slightly better, but nothing to brag about. The reliability is the same, and absolutly nothing changed in appearance between 98's and the 99-02 models. Actually I guess one thing did. On the 98 ws6's there was one exhaust tip instead of two. :eyes:

I like how all of the new folks say the '98s suck. for whatever odd reason they may have.


I being a newbie around here didn't say that the 98's suck. I was just stating my opinion on whether or not to buy a used 98 model.

You were stating incorrect facts. I can see your point on stating opinion, but your opinion is all based on things that aren't true. That kind of skews your opinion, wouldn't you say?

The 98 is just as capable as any other year of LS1, and has no mechanical problems that the 1999-2002 don't.

I was just stating my opinion on whether or not to buy a used 98 model.


As 777 pointed out, your opinion is based on incorrection information. ;)

Points to consider before making more posts. In '97 the LS1 was used in the corvettes. 01-02 GM "upgraded" performance. The addition is a LS6 intake manifold and no EGR system. It also has a smaller cam for more low-end. All of these differences are negligable with any decent modding. The only real plus to a 01-02 car is the LS6 intake manifold. The exhaust manifolds are slightly better, but nothing to brag about. The reliability is the same, and absolutly nothing changed in appearance between 98's and the 99-02 models. Actually I guess one thing did. On the 98 ws6's there was one exhaust tip instead of two. :eyes:

I like how all of the new folks say the '98s suck. for whatever odd reason they may have.

And also the interior changed starting from 2000-2002, that lovely black color instead of the grey. :hail: And bigger size fuel tanks from the smaller 15 gallon 98 version. Oh yeah and no egr for 2001-2002.

Fuel tanks are one of those little things. There are a LOT of little differences from year to year, more with 98's than some of the others. Some are good, some are not. 98 is the last year of the metal gas tanks. The 99+ have a larger capacity tank that is plastic and, although they hold more, are lighter.

True, as far as the main engine performance goes, they are all very similar.

You were stating incorrect facts. I can see your point on stating opinion, but your opinion is all based on things that aren't true. That kind of skews your opinion, wouldn't you say?

Hmm, let's see here;

When I bought my 02 Z28 back in 2002 I also considered a 98 Z28, the only difference was that the 02 had a M6 while the 98 had an A4, and had 60000 kms. The performance difference between the 98 and the 02 was minimal. However the 02 won hands down for the following;

1) The 98 model was the first year that the LS1 was used on the f-body, which is a major production change. All previous 4th gen models had the LT1. In my opinion the 98 with the major change to its engine (or powertrain) was considered as a first year model, thus a strike against it. Typically when looking at used cars, one of my rules is to stay away from first year models that underwent major changes since the manufacturers would make improvements in subsequent models (meaning 99-02). It doesn't matter how good the 98 model was, it just didn't fit with into my scheme.

2) GM has made changes in the f-bodies throughout the remainder of its production life (99 to 02). As you stated the impact of these changes were neglible in performance of a 98 vs 02. But, the big factor here is that these changes resulted in an up-to-date f-body, which basically tells me that GM wasn't content to sit on what they had in the 98 model. Of course it is subject to debate as to the true reasons as to why GM made these changes. Thus I wanted a Z28 that was up-to-date. Another strike against the 98 model I was evaluating.

3) Obviously the age of the car was also a factor in terms of purchasing. Had I bought the 98, then it would be at least 8 years old by the time I'd repaid the car loan vs the 02 which will be 4 years old when the payments are complete. The term "younger is better" applies here, so another strike against the 98 model I was evaluating.

There you have it. The 3 big reasons as to why I purchased the 02 Z28 over the 98 Z28. Please keep in mind that this done back in 2002, but this line of thinking would still apply to the main question of this post -"Would you buy this car?"

Good points "Switchblade"

I've pretty much thought of those issues and figured I'd post to get some
views.

With relatively high mileage, I was concerned that I'd be hitting a major
maintenance/repair cycle.

Still a couple of months to research, but this thread has been very helpful

Thanks to everyone that has responded.

If your willing to buy it, Im gonna do you a favor and sell mine for the same price :) 33k miles