Broken pushrod, where do I go from here?
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 622
Likes: 2
From: Calgary Alberta
Broken pushrod, where do I go from here? Well my options are, either pulling out the broken pushrod, replacing, and starting it up. OR pulling the head, and see if theres anything else wrong.
Now I am very mechanically inclined, so putting it all together, and then ripping it all apart again, really isn't a big deal to me. But I don't want to replace the push rod if the odds are that theres something more serious wrong? What would have caused this pushrod to break? The rest are fine? The engine is stock, has a stock rev limiter, although I do push it at the track every once in a while.
Here's some pictures :
Now I am very mechanically inclined, so putting it all together, and then ripping it all apart again, really isn't a big deal to me. But I don't want to replace the push rod if the odds are that theres something more serious wrong? What would have caused this pushrod to break? The rest are fine? The engine is stock, has a stock rev limiter, although I do push it at the track every once in a while.
Here's some pictures :
congrats on it not doing much damage to your head i've seen some f'd up pushrod guides to bent/broken pushrods if you really wanna be on the safe side take it apart and make sure everything is good to give you that piece of mind but if you collected both pieces of the pushrod and it doesn't look like it's missing a big chunk i'd probably run it like everyone else has stated
Last edited by beezer1519; Jan 16, 2009 at 01:03 AM.
Similar thing happened to me before I put a cam in. 1 Broken pushrod, and a nicely bent one too. Just replaced and kept on trucking. We had to use a magnet to pull out the small remaining piece of the pushrod.
Oh snap! That happened on a stock motor and rev limiter? Im glad I have a set of comp cams pushrods coming. Putting on some ratio rockers also. I would just upgrade instead of just replacing that one. I only paid $92 shipped for the comp cams pushrods off flea bay....
Last edited by 99_Z28; Jan 16, 2009 at 06:39 AM.
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Replace the pushrod and disconnect your coil packs when you put it back together. Put a high powered battery charger on there and crank it over. If its not making any noise then give it hell
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Launching!
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 224
Likes: 1
From: Westminster, Md
At least you diidn't break it....that could have been nasty. Even though the LS1's can take years of abuse compared to other vehicles....the pushrods are not made from chromeoly material. I would recommend aome 7.4 chromeoly pushrods, even you don't wanna mod it out...one of thr best upgrades are the hardened rods. Get some. lol
Did you retrieve that piece of the head that appears to have broken off around the edge of the pushrod guide? That would determine wether or not I'd pull the head off.
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 38
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length isn't the problem. ls1's are known for the valves hitting the pistons.
when this happens with stock pushrods the pushrods bend and normally don't hurt the valve. when you upgrade the pushrod it no longer bends and the valve/piston get hurt.
The whole problem is weak valve springs. If you upgrade the springs this problem doesn't occur
when this happens with stock pushrods the pushrods bend and normally don't hurt the valve. when you upgrade the pushrod it no longer bends and the valve/piston get hurt.
The whole problem is weak valve springs. If you upgrade the springs this problem doesn't occur
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2022
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congrats on it not doing much damage to your head i've seen some f'd up pushrod guides to bent/broken pushrods if you really wanna be on the safe side take it apart and make sure everything is good to give you that piece of mind but if you collected both pieces of the pushrod and it doesn't look like it's missing a big chunk i'd probably run it like everyone else has stated
What do you mean by big chunk? I rescently broke a push rod on my l99 from an over rev.. what is your advice? I am getting a full valvetrain rebuild. From the cam/ lifters and up.. should I be worried about any of the fragments that broke off of push rod? Mechanic was able to retrieve 99% of push rod but there is still those little fragments
