Rocker problem, need advise
Rocker problem, need advise Long story short, I took my car to a garage to have a head/cam swap and some other modifications, they were very underskilled for the job they took on, and half assed everything, I already paid another shop alot of money to undo some of their big mistakes. My new problem is the rocker retainers came apart and my engine started to knock. Pulled the passanger side valve cover off to find the little circle retainers that go on each side of the rocker, laying in there. After farther investigation, i found that some of the rockers, are not even tight, can move them back and fourth with a good amount of play in them. The rockers in my car currently are ls6 rockers. However, i have my old ls1 rockers that appear to be fine, are ls1 and ls6 rockers the same? The one that fell apart which is the first one on the drivers side, i would like to replace with my ls1 rocker, and just try toruqing the rest down, but i dont want to run into a problem, what do I NEED to do for it to be correct? Also, what are the toque specs, Ive been researching here and there on the internet and found different torques specs, dont know which is correct. Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks in advance
First off I do not know why people complaint about shops they do not do their research on.
The LS1/LS6 rockers are all the same and they need to be torqued down to 22lbs pounds\
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?category=1
every torque spec u wanted to know about ls1/ls6
The LS1/LS6 rockers are all the same and they need to be torqued down to 22lbs pounds\
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?category=1
every torque spec u wanted to know about ls1/ls6
The ls1/ls6 rockers are very good pieces so deffinately reuse your old ls1's. But before you install them look around for the threads about the trunion upgrades for them. I believe it was Thunder Racing who sells or even other sponsors. It will keep the rockers from coming apart.
The rockers are a semi common problem so I dont know that its something the first shop did wrong. I am not sticking up for the shop because if nothing else I dont even know who the shop was.
One last thing. Alot of the times when they come apart the needle bearings come out. Check your heads and oil pan for the bearings. Spending the time to take stuff apart and check/clean those bearings out now could save you money down the road.
The rockers are a semi common problem so I dont know that its something the first shop did wrong. I am not sticking up for the shop because if nothing else I dont even know who the shop was.
One last thing. Alot of the times when they come apart the needle bearings come out. Check your heads and oil pan for the bearings. Spending the time to take stuff apart and check/clean those bearings out now could save you money down the road.
You get what you pay for period.
I look at it like this, if I have heart surgery I am not going to go to any doctor for him to do it. I will research and make sure to get some type of references. Hell even do a better business bureau for any complaints. Now a days your car is your life line and should treat it as such.
How much longer is his car going to be down, how much more money is he going to have to put out for trying to save a buck or two as you said. Has he really saved a buck or two. How much more inconvenience is he having to deal with. I know people who know what they are doing and charge double to fix other peoples mistakes that way they learn their lesson.
Im sorry if I offended someone. I guess I got to suck up the fact I made a huge mistake, But, i think my $1500 extra so far, plus the month wait, and still reaching in trying to correct it, is making up for it, your right, I should have researched the shop better, they were local, the claimed to have good experience, & price was cheap, yeah thats where I should have stopped, in the same aspect, i viewed it in a way that they were slow on business, & wanted to build theyre name up by bringing in new costumers, which they did the oposite. Im here to fix my problems.
Im sorry if I offended someone. I guess I got to suck up the fact I made a huge mistake, But, i think my $1500 extra so far, plus the month wait, and still reaching in trying to correct it, is making up for it, your right, I should have researched the shop better, they were local, the claimed to have good experience, & price was cheap, yeah thats where I should have stopped, in the same aspect, i viewed it in a way that they were slow on business, & wanted to build theyre name up by bringing in new costumers, which they did the oposite. Im here to fix my problems.
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When you say the rockers are loose do you mean that the bolt that holds them down is loose? Or the rocker itself is loose? The loose rocker could be from incorrect pushrod lenght. If the pushrods are too short for your application this would result in inproper valve lash. That would definately make for alot of sound coming from the engine.
Just a thought
GL
Just a thought
GL
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Verdad Gallardo There were three rockers on the drivers side loose, one of which was the first "broken apart" one, I put my old ls1 rocker in replace of the broken one, kept the rest of the ls6 rockers, but torqued them down properly, Took the passanger side apart to find they were all tight, but atleast I'll sleep better knowing that. When I started the car, it seemed fine, no knock, however, didnt seem to want to stay running, I'm pretty convinced its my battery tho. I've been having trouble with it for the past few weeks for some reason. Painted the valve covers while they were off. I will know tomarrow if everything is correct, its to late to run it up and down the road right now, my neighbors hate me as it is lol.
Fixed a few more odds and ends today (missing bolts) put a new battery in & oil change. The engine is no longer knocking, but, it is still smoking. There is also oil coming out of the flange from the header to y pipe. Not really sure why just yet. The car still seems to want to stall easily once going into gear, its fine at idle.
What exactly was the work done on the car? Almost sounds like they didn't install the valve seals correctly but not sure if they touched them. Also, if they were stock GM rockers, the failure you describe may be a rocker issue. Your best bet may be to get the trunnion kit from Comp and have your spare set updated with the new trunnions and bearings then swap them all out at the same time.
All of the mods in my sig are what was installed at the same time at the shop that did a bad job. I drove it around today, it didn't break down, thats a good sign lol. I think its still smoking, but not as bad, I'm hoping its nothing serious. As for the rockers, I tightened the ls6 rockers, and replaced the one broken ls6 rocker with one of my stockers. Hoping that does the trick.