Ticking noise, valvetrain not getting enough oil
10-01-2010, 10:40 PM
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Ticking noise, valvetrain not getting enough oil Got my car in the shop right now. They took the passenger valve cover off and the valves were all down (LS1 01' T/A 15k miles). Was told that isn't normal-I have no clue what is/isn't normal. They said they turned the motor over and very little oil was getting to the valve train. Now I know there's a TSB out about a cut or slit screen on the oil pump that allows air in the oil and froths it up and I'm wondering if that may be why there is little oil getting to the valves. Was told it's going to be about $600 to take the thing apart to get to the oil pump-guess it's quite a job? Don't know but that's a crapload of money to replace a screen on a pump. Does anyone have any clue if this sounds right pricewise,right diagnosis wise or possible? I really have no idea how the oil makes its way up TO the valvetrain. Was told the pump is producing good pressure,40psi or so so it's good. Is any of this making sense? I'm clueless with all this. So ANY help would be MUCHO appreciado!!
10-02-2010, 03:04 AM
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Ive never done it but Ive heard its one of those things thats very time consuming. check this out and if your game you could probably save your cheddar for another mouse 
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=4
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=4
10-02-2010, 02:22 PM
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im pretty sure the shop you took it to has not seen a oiling system on the LS engine before. there is a specific name but im not to sure right now, the rockers only drip out little oil and not squirt oil all over the place like a 350 chevy would. is the car making a ticking noise? what are the symthoms to your problem
10-02-2010, 09:59 PM
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The sound is a ticking sound like maybe the rockers on top would make if they were loose. They are not. It's not a deep thunk or tick,it's more of a high pitched type tick,not a piston slap or anything like that or a knock. And at times there is more than one tick involved. It's there all the time. To me it seems like it could be the TSB where air is in the oil that could prevent it from getting up in the valvetrain and allowing metal on metal. The valves were all down when they took the valve cover off,indicating the hydraulic lifters were empty or close. They cranked the engine till the batt was near dead and saw very little oil getting up to the valvetrain. I talked to the mech today again and he said he very likely thinks it's the o-ring problem the TSB mentioned. So Monday he's going to try to drop the oil pan to get to the feed tube from the oil pump so he can replace that O-ring. I'm hoping and praying he can do that because otherwise he'll have to go through the front of the engine which is alot of extra $$$. If he can simply drop the oil pan and get to the tube, that's the hope. The oil pump is showing 40psi or better so don't think it's that. He did mention it could be a cam bearing that is leaking and keeping oil pressure from getting up to the valvetrain but he doesn't think that's it. It also could be something is plugged somewhere but the valvetrain is clean as a whistle so don't think there's any gunk in there. If this don't fix it,I may try to change oil to a thinner type to allow oil to get up to the valvetrain. Don't know what other I can do....
10-05-2010, 01:12 AM
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You're not gonna believe this because I don't believe it:
Want a good laugh? The problem with the car....was what looks like cottonwood tree seed in the oil pan that got caught in the oil pumps uplift tube screen! It looks exactly like a bunch of cottonwood seeds,the white cottony stuff that floats all over from those trees. The mechanic is completely baffled, and has never seen anything like it. They took the screen off and tube and rinsed it all off and a bunch of that stuff was rinsed away but they caught some of it and I saw it. TOTALLY bizarre! We spent about 15mins racking our brains trying to figure out where the heck cottonwood seeds or something that looks alot like it, could get in the pan. The mech said the bolts appeared to never have been removed. Now how the hell does something like that get in the oilpan? They removed it, ticks completely gone. Thing is running like a champ. Just a completely bizarre, unreal deal. We're thinking maybe it was some kind of packing material or something from I don't know the build of the car when they were making it....don't have a friggin clue.
Want a good laugh? The problem with the car....was what looks like cottonwood tree seed in the oil pan that got caught in the oil pumps uplift tube screen! It looks exactly like a bunch of cottonwood seeds,the white cottony stuff that floats all over from those trees. The mechanic is completely baffled, and has never seen anything like it. They took the screen off and tube and rinsed it all off and a bunch of that stuff was rinsed away but they caught some of it and I saw it. TOTALLY bizarre! We spent about 15mins racking our brains trying to figure out where the heck cottonwood seeds or something that looks alot like it, could get in the pan. The mech said the bolts appeared to never have been removed. Now how the hell does something like that get in the oilpan? They removed it, ticks completely gone. Thing is running like a champ. Just a completely bizarre, unreal deal. We're thinking maybe it was some kind of packing material or something from I don't know the build of the car when they were making it....don't have a friggin clue.
