LIZ28SS

Just joined LS1TECH. Great site. Wish I would have found it a long time ago.

I have a pretty much stock 1998 Camaro SS with just a Lid, K&N Filter, Loudmouth Exhaust and Air Mod that runs awesome. It has 82K miles and doesn't burn a drop of oil, doesn't ping one bit and consistently gets 20 MPG.

I also have a 2000 Camaro SS that has quite a bit of work done to it. This is the one I need help with. I bought it off eBay in December 2000 and have had nothing but issues that I can't seem to resolve.

It only had 270 miles when I bought it and had it shipped from Vegas to South FL. This was before eBay had its current processes to make sure the transaction went as planned (i.e. approved mechanics to check out the car and escrow accounts). The car had some serious work done to it by a local Vegas NASCAR shop. This is what I think was done to it from memory and an invoice that came with the car:

Lunati 382 Stroker Kit
LS1 GM ASA Racing Cam
Polished and Ported TB
Granetelli MAF
SLP Undedrive Pulleys
SLP Speedo Recalibration Unit
SLP Strut Tower Brace
SLP SFC
SLP Torsion Worm Diff w/ 4:10 Rear (car has a M6)
High Volume Oil Pump
Ed Wright Custom Computer Programming
Magnaflow Exhaust

I think that about does it. Since then I added a SLP Lid w/ K&N Filter and SLP Line Lock System. I have also purchased Autotap AT1 and MAFT for testing. You can definitely hear the CAM and the car feels very strong. You can tell the difference between the 98 and 00.

Here is where my problems come in... The car will not and has never stopped pinging (you can hear it over the cam and exhaust) or blowing/burning oil (now about 6 full quarts between oil changes)!!! I have 24K miles now and have stayed under 4K RPM just to keep the pinging to a minimum. Now I rarely drive the car in fear of damaging the motor (or further damaging it). The tail pipes and my garage door are black with sprayed out black soot like stuff. It also had a problem of trying to find idle and keep pulsating between 700 and 1800 RPM. That is the only problem I fixed (not exactly sure how).

Here is what I have tried so far...

For the idle problem I played with the TB until I was blue in the face. Swapped out the IAC idle control. I even bought a new TB from Pace GM and the car would not even run. I put the old unit back on and cleaned it, tickled it, kissed it, and prayed and it was better. Don't ask me.

For the ping problem the Autotap is telling me that everything is wonderful and within spec. I am not an Autotap expert and only know what I have read on LS1.com. The LTRIM's look fine and the Knock Retard is all zeros until about 4000 RPM even though you can clearly hear the ping past 2000. Based on the soot I thought it was running rich so I picked up the MAFT and looked at the Autotap again. It looked like it was running on the lean side of normal so I adjusted the MAFT to dial it in perfectly. No progress. I started using NOS Racing Octane Booster ($12 a tank!) and went through about 30 tanks using it because I think it made a SLIGHT difference. Finally I stopped using it and realized I was throwing money away.

I brought to car to my local Chevy dealer and found the proclaimed LS1 expert... all I accomplished was getting my Granetelli swapped for a stock unit and then the guy telling me he turned my unit in as a core. Arrggh! I bought another.

After reading as much as I can I have noticed the following about my cars build out and think they may be contributing to the problem. The car has the stock plugs and wires, stock fuel system (injectors/rails/pump) and stock exhaust manifolds. Also the polish and port job on the TB is scary. The plate is far from round (the gap on the bottom is very uneven) and they also drilled a hole the plate I guess to help with the idle problem.

Where do I go from here... I picked up a set of SLP long tubes about a year ago and have yet to install them because I know the soot will just coat them. I have been considering pulling a head to see what the top of the pistons looks like but fear what I will find. I have been looking at the new SLP 36# injectors and Holly 255 fuel pump but am afraid to invest more money if it won't resolve my issues. I contacted Diablo Sport which is in my backyard to see if they would Dyno and custom tune the computer. That is an option. The car should be putting out 550+ horse when setup correctly. I read all these articles about folks with similar setups in the high 10's....

PLEASE HELP!!!! THANK YOU!!

blk~2000~Z28

This option is what I would try first. Dyno that thing on a wideband and see what the actual power level is. The wideband should give you an idea of why it is pinging like it is. I think eventually you will need to tear into the motor to find the oil consumption problem and fix it. There have been many things on LS engines that have been blamed for burning or losing oil, rings and PCV systems. Since you have a stroker I would not think that the rings would be to blame unless they to were set loose like stock rings.

I am not sure about that Ed Wright tune being able to be changed. I think he locks the PCM (not sure what is involved with that but have read that many times here). You might try posting your A-tap log files in the PCM/TUNING section and get some of their opinions.

LIZ28SS

Everything you just said is what I feared. Give me a carb and a screw driver and I would be in the 10's already! So you would start with a Dyno... I was thinking that would be the last step. I will call Diablo in the AM to see if their Dyno is "wideband". I am not sure what that means but will ask. Any other feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for the quick reply.

Mike K.

You could also try a leakdown test to rule out any piston/ring issues.

foff667

iTrader: (2)

let me get this straight for 23K+ miles over 2000rpms you car has pinged and you havent blown a head gasket or anything? Obviously there are alot of issues with this car that need to be worked out...as stated I would definitly get it tuned on a dyno thats your first coarse of action as who knows how much timing was pumped into that motor. Dont be dissapointed if the car makes less than 500hp tuned btw im not sure if youve got ported heads or whatnot but the setup doesnt sound all that monsterous that itll make 550 na. This is a great thread for people wanting to buy a car used with alot of mods done to it lol DONT DO IT lol I find your usually better off taking a car off the hands of someone that didnt know much about cars other than it needs to be taken car of as far as oil and tranny fluid changes lol...and ebay forget about it you can find local cars for the same if not better prices if you look hard enough.

lata
Bill

blk~2000~Z28

I would only start with the dyno if I didn't feel there was a major oil burning issues. The Dyno SHOULD give you an idea of exactly where your A/F ratio is and that would help determine the cause of the ping. More than likely the car was not tuned even close to where your A/F should have been and the rings were beaten to death every time the engine detonated. Having f-ed up rings might cause oil consumption IMO.

LIZ28SS

Mike - I did a search on leakdown testing and found your post that you did this on you car and found a bad cylinder. Was the ring the problem? Is performing this test difficult? How far is Lakeland from Ft. Lauderdale?? ;-) Just kidding.

Bill - With only 270 miles I picked it up for $26K which is what a brand new stock one cost. I though it was a killer deal - like getting the upgrades for free. Low and behold the phantom issues that came along with it. As far as the HP rating goes - SLP has a crate motor with a similar setup that is rated at 550. One can hope.

blk~2000~Z28

More than likely a FWHP not RWHP. Most HP ratings on LS1tech are done at the wheels but since SLP sells just engines they sell them with FWHP ratings.

Mike K.

Its either a ring/piston issue with my #3 cylinder or if I am very lucky and God is shining his grace down I will have a blown head gasket.

Its probably a ring/piston issue that will require me getting a new block and costing me a fortune but the leakdown did narrow it down.


It is pretty easy once you get the hose hooked into the sparkplug hole but getting it in there is a real PITA!!!!

LIZ28SS

I spoke with Brian at Diablo Sport today and they do not Dyno/Tune onsite any more. They only use the Dyno for product development. He referred me to Paul at Razors Edge 954.917.9200 in Margate, FL who has a Dyno. Paul sounded like a nice knowlegdable guy. I told him what was going on and he thought a leakdown test would just show what we know needs to happen and that is pulling apart the motor. He thought I should save that expense and just dive into it. That makes me nervous becuase that opens a Pandora' box with no prediction of cost. He said he was all booked up and I should call later in the week to set an appointment for next week to come in. Any other ideas before I go that route would be GREATLY appreciated.

LIZ28SS

Update - Went to Razor's Edge this past Thursday. Nice shop and Keith is awesome! To bad their primary focus is Ford... I gave them grief don't worry.

First we pulled all the plugs to see what they looked like. Man they where rough! It had Denso PTJ16R15 gapped at .060. They all looked bad but #7 looked REAL REAL bad. It appeared to be caked with aluminum and was coated with oil :-( We did a compression test on that one first and it held... 249 psi!! That is like 12:1! Without knowing the cc of the heads I do not know how to find out for sure. We did the leakdown test and it came back at 18%. Bad but not that horrible. The rest of the cylinders where < 10 % and held > 240 psi. Becuase of the compression we decided to go with Autolite AR93's @ out of box gap .028. I have never seen these before - they have a different design so that gap is not really that crazy and are 3 steps colder then stock.

We felt that because of the shape of the plugs we would run the car for a few hundred miles and then test #7 again to see if the leakage got better. We took the car for a few road tests hooked up to their Mac Tools scanner. The first trip it still pinged a little but then in no time it went away and during two more hard road trips there was no pinging at all. I have been driving it the past couple of days and it hasn't pinged once! Knock wood! Our game plan from here is to test #7 again and if it is better then do a base line dyno. He picked up that the car was running with 26* advance which seemed pretty conservative but based on the compression made some sense if it was to run on pump gas. After that we will install the SLP LT headers, SLP 36lb injectors and Walbro in-line 255lp fuel pump from LS1SPEED. Then dyno/tune it.

I am not sure if I should buy LS1Edit and have them use that or have them use the Diablo system and then buy the Predator (no choice) for tweaking at WOT afterwards.

Please share your thoughts. If any of this is off base or I am heading in the wrong direction PLEASE let me know. Thanks for all your help!