I am getting a very light tapping/ticking noise coming from what sounds like the engine bay. It is not really noticeable unless I'm driving (can't hear it when parked form the wheel wells or anything) and it occurs pretty much after the "pistion slap" sound goes away. It ONLY happens when driving at VERY low rpm (1200 rpm or so) and it seems to go away with throttle application. I can sort of reproduce the sound when parked but it is very hard to hear and I have to hold the rpms right at or around 1200-1500 rpm. It almost sounds like a gentle tap when driving. I notice it mostly at around 25 mph and 1200 rpm or so. Any ideas?

 

it could be your lifters making noise, pretty typical for an ls1 especially if your running a lighter weight oil like 5w30. but could also be a bent push rod, is your car a m6 or a4 if it is an m6 it could have been over reved and bent a push rod

 

A4 here. I just recently switched from conventional oil to 5w30 castrol syntec synthetic. Could that be loosening things up in there. I have only used syntec for the last two oil changes.

 

It could be knock from too much timing in your tune.

 

Well I went to the dealer and he said that it didn't sound like lifters really. Maybe pushrod, spun bearing etc? He wasn't sure though and wanted me to bring it back in tomorrow morning for another guy to take a look. I don't know if my third party warranty will take care of it unless something fails? This sort of sucks *** How big of a job to change out a pushrod, or spun bearing?

 

try some heavier weight oil. i switched from 5w-30 castrol to 10w-40 and my lifter tick that I had went away. Something with these lifters and high lift cams they don't stay pumped up like they should.

 

Yeah because it really makes me wonder why it just started out of nowhere (I don't race). The ONLY thing I can think of that I have changed recently was the oil (from conventional oil with an additive, over to Castrol syntec with no other additives). This sound could possibly be coming from this oil, even though the weight is the same of both oils, synthetic does not act like conventional oils with the additive do. I'm sure I'm probably sweating it for nothing, but being apprehensive and proactive costs much less than waiting for the "boom" . Thanks guys, I'll try to keep posting up more details and my progress, as I know that a lot of us LS guys hear all kinds of **** and would like to know what we're hearing.

*Also, I don't see how it could be a spun bearing if it doesn't fluctuate with rpm change and in fact goes away after 1500 rpm or so.

 

also my previous oil was synthetic and now i'm using 10w-40 conventional and valvetrain is quiet. also the longer i go without changing my oil the louder my valvetrain gets. i know it sounds crazy but I guess my car has a mind of its own. i was told by several top notch vendors that synthetic wasn't necessary as long as oil gets changed regularly.

nice BTW i love black TA's

 

Pushrod=easy fix.

Spun bearing=just pray that it isn't

 

What is the oil pressure like when you are driving the car?

 

Yeah it seemed quieter back when I was using conventional Could I add the additive to syntec I wonder? Or better yet, what about going to a heavier weight synthetic? 10w40 say?

Thanks for the compliment man, I'm a sucker for the black birds too. Took me forever to find one around here.

If it's a spun bearing I think I'm going to go with an Ls3. But since oil pressure is good and the sound doesn't change with rpm, I doubt that would be the case.

Oil pressure is higher when cold (obviously) but even at operating temp it sits right around the 1/2 way point on the guage when idling, and under load it's closer to the 3/4 point on the guage. From other fbodys I've drove, it seems good to me But I could be wrong, and also I think sometimes the oil pressure can be high and the bearing could still be spun.

***Pisses me off because as soon as I get one problem fixed it's like the car knows and moves onto the next issue I refuse to let it win, even if it takes every damn cent and extra minute I have. It may prove to be worth it someday.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, it is definitely something that can frustrate the hell out of ya. I on more than one occasion thought about selling it over the last couple years, but I dare not because with my luck I'll have to see it running around town every day, for YEARS to come, while running like a champ lol!

If it is a spun bearing, and I decide to go with an ls3 (honestly doubt it though), I guess I may as well drive it till it blows right?

 

Does it sound like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgGswwCaQkg

 

dont sell bro, you will regret it. I really think your fine. if it was a spun bearing it would be alot louder than your description. i dont know a single ls1 that doesnt tick, even vettes, its just the nature of the beast. like sscamaroburn02 said the lifters are hydraulic and with lighter weight oils they just dont stay pumped up as well, not really a big deal just alittle noisy. the best thing to do is just change out your oil to a heavier weight and noise will go away. your like me i freak out about every little thing on my car.

 

Well sort of, but mine seems to be masked at idle and the rpm window seems to be from about 1000rpm to 1600rpm or so (give or take). I think the reason why I don't hear it after 1600rpm or so could be due to the engine/exhaust/road noise overpowering the ticking sound-dosn't mean it's not there though I guess? The ticking sounds higher pitched than standard piston slap. I got a guy with a stethoscope lined up for me this afternoon. Hopefully he can tell me what to do next. Thanks man. Ps- what did your sound end up being? Could be the same thing for all I know.
Yeah I do tend to freak a little If it is major job I'll be parking the bugger in storage until I can afford to build a "frankenstein" and ressurect it, bigger, badder, louder!

***it sort of sounds like paint can rattling at around 1300 rpm at slow speed cruising.

 

Just for clarification- I have put the stock tune back in and let it relearn and there was no changes to the sound. Therefore = not tune related.

 

Did you also just switch to a fram oil filter?

 

No idea. Drives fine with fine oil pressure and still pulls hard. Been over a year now.

 

Ok just a quick update. I brought it to the dealer (reluctantly ) again to have a guy listen to my rattle sound. He stalled the car up to about 1200rpm in gear holding with the brake (since the sound may be more pronounced under load). He had his scanner plugged in and just monitored it for a few and asked how my oil pressure has seemed- which I answered that it was fine-as far as I could tell. The small flutuations that I see on my guage don't resemble that of other guy's I've seen ( ones that really bounced around) that had oil pressure problems. I told him that I had recently switched to 5w30 castol syntec and that the piston slap now has gone away but this "valve like" clatter has gotten louder. He went ahead and added some GM supplement (I think previously eos???) which he claims they use on a lot of these engines due to the noisey valve trains. He recommended that I go back to my conventional oil and see how it sounds (since I figured it was quieter while using it). He said it sounded like valve or lifter noise when I asked what it seemed like in his opinion. He didn't seem overly concerned and I think it's going to boil down to whether I can get it quiet enough for it to be tolerable (for me). Just thought I'd let you's know where I am with this. It really doesn't sound major and has no "bass" to it at all. It is relatively high pitched as far as engine tapping goes and it's only during low rpm situation (especially when you first let off the throttle for a second). It goes away at idle and at higher rpm (under acceleration.) I think using the synthetic loosened some **** up in there and now that all the gunk is gone I'm hearing everything. Maybe a little carbon build up too.

 

I have been running 5w-30 Pennzoil platinum and I have a pretty good tick myself. It has been the same for 15k miles so I figure it is a lifter or something. I think I may try some 10w-40 in it and see what happens. 10-30 synthetic doesn't seem to change it any, but I have decided to go back to conventional anyways.

My noise is most pronounced at idle, but goes away around 1500 or so.