PrecisionHD

New to site and LS1, what issues are prominent on this model and some I should keep an eye out for?. The one Im looking at has a lifter knock. The owner says hes not 100% sure it is the lifters but he has LS7 Lifters for it. The knock gets increasingly louder when it is revved. Another is white smoke coming out of the exhaust. He says it misfires when he starts it so that it is most likely the head gasket. I plan on doing a top end engine rebuild for it once i get it so I can make sure it is good. The owner didnt say anything about the clutch (6 spd manual) but when i test drove it, i had to give it a lot of gas for it to engage and it was hard to shift from 1st to 2nd. Thanks.

celtsean

iTrader: (1)

If I were you I'd stay away from one that has knock that gets louder with rpm. I know you want to do the top end rebuild , just make sure that it's not rod knock. And the clutch probably has issues. Although my TA is an a4-m6 swap.
It has the same symptom of heavy gas to engage first. It always has.(through two clutches) A little grabby on first to second but not hard. I think it's due to mechanics improperly shimming. I will never let a mechanic touch my car again. Unless I have to.
They use the fact that my tranny was swapped as an excuse to not put it in right.
Rear gear whine or noise, power window motors,you can do a search and find a nice list of f-body weaknesses and things to look for.

RockinWs6

Run Away!

PrecisionHD

Im trading my Dakota for it. I have time at my shop at school with all the tools, equipment and AllData. I dont mind rebuilding it, atleast i will know it is done correctly.

celtsean

iTrader: (1)

If it's rod knock you'll be rebuilding a lot more than the top end. I'd be concerned with the fact it gets louder with throttle. And I hope the trade is a fair deal,meaning value for value. If it's not , try to get him to include some cash in the trade. You will be buying a lot of stuff in that rebuild. Unless you are going to put used stuff back in. And I wouldn't do that.

PrecisionHD

Ill look up external sources but do you know a good way of determining rod knock?

celtsean

iTrader: (1)

I'm not an expert . But, you can check the oil pressure. Where is the sound coming from ? Under the engine or up top near the valve covers? Get a mech stethoscope listen to dif spots on the valve covers as well as the oil pan etc. if he'll let you , you can pull a plug wire off each cylinder till you find the one that makes the noise stop. If it's rod knock it will stop the sound on its cylinder when you pull the plug wire off. That is a pain considering the 6and 8 plug wires are a bitch to reach. Google ls1 rod knock symptoms. The Google search function works better . Watch ls1 rod knock videos on you tube and read the comments to see if they found it out for sure. Finally someone else will pop in and help you more than I can. Good luck. Be a little patient. Also post up the trade you want on Craigslist and the Facebook f-body pages. F-body empire, f-body for sale etc... Good luck bro. You should be able to find someone willing to trade.

PrecisionHD

Thanks, man. I really appreciate the reply.

celtsean

iTrader: (1)

Maybe this will help. I didn't want to post the link because it's off another site.

Firebrian

There are some excellent old posts in the "new LS1 owners" section giving all the weak items to look for on these cars. If the engine has problems then the trans and rear end could as well.

Here's one such thread with an excellent link from RPM WS6 on all the differences of the various model years.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-o...what-look.html