marv

iTrader: (40)

Anyone ever had this happen?

Drove the car for the first time today in probably a week. Long story short, me and a friend were headed to lunch and about halfway there, car made a strange pop noise (almost like a very small backfire in the intake), started chattering pretty good from the passenger side valve cover and wouldn't run right. Idled up pretty bad and lacked power. Water temp was good. Oil pressure was fine.

Made it to where we were going (~ 1-2 miles from when it happened) and turned it off. Car would crank afterwards but idled high and eventually wouldn't hold an idle. Eventually had it towed home and began tearing it apart.

So, I pulled the passenger valve cover to find this:












These are the CNC LS6 heads from Texas Speed and Performance that I bought about 8 months ago brand new from TSP. Up until now, they have worked fine other than having to exchange one when I originally installed them (had a water jacket ported into). About three weeks ago, I installed the Harlands according to GM and Harland specs. Until today everything acted great and I had no problems. As you can see from the pics, the port work done on these heads results in the thickness around the rocker boss being extremely thin.

So anybody else had this problem? I haven't contacted TSP yet due to it being late when I got home, but plan to tomorrow. I'm hoping they'll work with me on getting this corrected.

So, let me know if this has happened to you. I'm hoping to have Jason from TSP chime in as well.

Looks like I'll be changing heads in the near future....

TVWilkes

Jason is out of town until friday.I would call TSP in the morning,I would think they will be very helpfull in getting this resolved.

marv

iTrader: (40)

Thanks for the info man. I'll try to contact them and see what they say.

I've had good service from them in the past and I hope this will be the same.

Thanks!

NHRAFORMULA00

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to see you having problems.That looks really thin where it broke.I had no idea they were that thin after porting,i might of gone a different route had this happened a month earlier.I just put a set of 5.3 heads on last week.

rons 00z

iTrader: (10)

yikes!

LS1Formulation

iTrader: (13)

Man, that is WAY too thin around the rocker stud area. I'm curious whether ALL of these castings have this issue or if it's just a problem with how the head was set up on the CNC machine. I can't imagine it was a problem with core shift in the casting, because with the new permanent molds they use, core shift should be close to nonexistent. This really makes me question whether I want to use the TSP 5.3 heads, if there's a chance this could occur. I am sure they will be excellent with their customer service and replace the head for you, but it's not exactly a simple job to swap out a head and THAT is what makes me wary. Once I put heads on my car, I want them on there until I do a rebuild. Time to ponder my choices again...

djsanchez2

iTrader: (14)

at least the rocker is still good. HAHAHA!! j/k that sucks man, hope things work out for you. If they do post it. I'm a big fan of good customer service, and i have been looking into that smae set of heads.

TA455

l would have never guessed that they would be that thin. Wonder if they are all like that or it's just a random digitized program screwup on a certain batch.

Sorry to hear about your problems. I'm sure they will square you away, though. From everything I have read, they are a stand-up outfit.

Seeing that pic makes me wonder about something else, though. If all the rocker studs extend that far into the runner, I wonder what the effect is on airflow?

Xtnct00WS6

iTrader: (8)

I cut the ends of my bolts off for that very reason. You just have to torque them down exactly the same each time. You also have to keep track of which bolt goes in which hole.

Good luck Marv! I hope TSP will take care of you.

Seeing that makes me feel not so crazy about reinforcing the area with JB weld

Proud2bSS

iTrader: (2)

Ed Zachary!!! There is no way in hell I would ever want my rocker stud bolt going into my ports!!! There is something seriously wrong with that.

Can you show us photos of the remaining ports with rocker stud sticking thru the roof?

dazman

damn... i have my set of ls6 tsp heads sitting right here....

mike

Xtnct00WS6

iTrader: (8)

By the way, those bolts don't seem to be the stockers. The stock bolts hang down further. I'm sure you add a little bit of flow by shaving down the bolt.

Marv, any other parts fail/get destroyed because of this?

ls2 bait

iTrader: (11)

i wonder if this is why tsp made the change to the 230 cc runner instead of the 237 cc runner.

Thimble

iTrader: (2)

You aren't the first one this has happened to...

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iii-internal-engine/605738-broken-ms3-cam.html

405HP_Z06

iTrader: (11)

And I was about to buy a pair of PRC LS6's from TSP......reconsidering after these threads. The head looks way, way too thin around the rocker boss area.

Didn't the GM CNC LS6 heads have similar problems that were fixed by welding around the rocker boss area?

Sorry to hear about the problem.

cobrakillerta

iTrader: (4)

I was thinking the same exact thing...after all that port-work, why would you then want a bolt sticking through?

Proud2bSS

iTrader: (2)

Yupp. Same intake port also. I would check your cam and lifter regardless for any possible damage to them.

I would also check the other head, as I assume the heads interchange right or left and that same port is going to be a potential problem as well.

GR33N GoblinM6

iTrader: (14)

whoa!!.. and the fact this is the 2nd one to let go since Nov. 06 (from the other thread).. I had my 241's sitting all nice and packaged in a box, ready for shipment to TSP for port work.. umm not any more.. not until this issue is corrected.. or their programing is corrected..

that sucks man.. but TSP is a good company, they should do you right..

GR33N GoblinM6

iTrader: (14)

after re-looking at that head.. it looks like it could have been slightly cracked once you torqued the rocker down since its sooo thin.. and the pressure of the pushrod and spring pushing back just blew it up...

Proud2bSS

iTrader: (2)

I am seriously considering shaft mounted rockers for my LSx ported heads (when I do them). Seems like very good insurance for the $ regardless of whether this is an isolated instance with aluminum heads and/or TSP, especially the way the rocker stud bosses sit right above those LSx intake ports.

BTW: I am going to look at my friends 5.3l ported heads (non-sponsor ported) and look at the rocker stud bolts, to see if he has holes in the roof for the bolts to play pick a boo through the port roof.