HotSilverBird

Go buy a used stocker and be happy with your car. Guys shoot their foot with all these mods they don't understand and end up with a money pit. Fun car= trouble free.

Go get a cheap used engine and be happy with your car!

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

I agree with you man, 100%. I have had a few highly modded cars over the year: a 1971 Mach 1 Mustang, an '87 Buick GN, and a couple Trans Ams. The car that I actually enjoyed the most out of everything was the NBM '01 Trans Am A4 with just bolt-ons. Sadly that car was destroyed when it got t-boned by a drunk driver one night. It only had about 45k on the clock at the time too. Then I went out and bought this one and was happy with it for a good while with just spray. I regret the turbo install and auto conversion now immensely!

1979rs/z28

iTrader: (21)

I hope you get it figured out man, I don't have nearly as much tied up in mine but I could only imagine your frustration right now.
This makes me want to stop in my tracks as to doing any more mods to mine, sometimes I really do think I enjoyed it more stock...

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

Started it today after not running it for a few days and the cold oil pressure was just above 60 psi. Took it a little longer to drop as low when it got hot but it did eventually after running for a while.

slap(A)hoe

iTrader: (2)

my car has a new motor in it and makes this ticking noise and it drives me crazy to . i just got the car dyno tunned 2 nights ago and they tell me it sounds normal but damn it drives me nuts sounds like its gonna fly apart at 2500 rpm from sitting inside the car but at idle its quiet as a mouse

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

Mine is more notacible at idle because it's not masked by the sound of the loud exhaust as much. It does tap faster the higher the RPM though.

slap(A)hoe

iTrader: (2)

i talked to a place that builds ls1 motors and they told me you will hear more noise from the lls based motors than u will from a conventional motor due to everything being aluminium so the noise will actually sound worse than it really is

98z-28redcamaro

iTrader: (3)

lifters hanging up is not a constant noise and i believe thats what it is...esp w the low oil pressure....oil pressure is measured in the lifter valleys.....low oil pressure could b a faulty oil pump...low oil....and could b a lot of things

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

I'm running 6.5 qrts of 15W50 "pancake syrup" Mobile 1 right now so I don't think it's the oil itself. What could make a lifter just go bad like that?

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

Could a bad spark plug on that cylinder cause lifter issues when it got hot?

caseypryan

iTrader: (10)

didn't read through the whole thread but sounds exactly like my loose rocker arm did. happened a couple days ago now fixed

blsnelling

iTrader: (4)

Have you even had the valve cover off yet? I've seen a lot of suggestions in this thread, but don't see where you've checked any of them out. If you've got 5 PSI of oil pressure at times, you shouldn't be driving the car, and have a lot more serious problem than just the little tick you're hearing.

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

No dude, I haven't been driving the car around while it's fucked up. I just started it a few times. The reason I haven't gotten much done on this is #1, I have been busy as hell with work and going back to school, and #2, I haven't done much internal motor work at all before and I'm waiting on a good time for me and a more experienced friend to break it down and look at it. Either that or I just need to save up a little and get it towed to a local shop for them to inspect. That's why I have the car up for sale right now also. Either way, this thread is very helpful in making me aware of what to look for and what could be causing all this.

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

If the turbos were passing oil through the seals, would that hurt the engine's OP?

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

We looked at the motor a little today and now we are thinking that it may in fact be a bottom end issue. I think my oil pump might be getting hung up. How can I tell if the bearings are shot before I change the pump?

KevinR

When was the last time you changed the oil? Any metal shavings? What color were they?

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

Just changed the oil last week for the 4th time in 2 weeks. It looked clean as a whistle with no metal shavings at all. Would cam and rod bearings getting spun produce metal shavings though?

KevinR

If you have a spun bearing you will probably have metal shavings in the oil.

bluebird71

iTrader: (54)

This is soooo frustrating! I don't want to have pull the whole damn motor and break it all down just to find out what is causing this pressure to drop. I just read somewhere that some of the original owners manuals say that it is normal for the OP to drop below 5 psi on a hot day and not to worry as long as the pressure goes up with rpm. I don't know how much truth there is to that, but mine always goes up with rpm. If it was a bad bearing or bad pump would it still go up significantly with rpm? Which ports exactly do I need to run the mechanical gauge into?

msydow

if this issue started all at one time i would lean towards an oil pump issue. esp with the oil looking clean. see if you can cut one of your oil filters open and see whats in there. just to make sure i have this right the tapping shows up only when the engine is around 210* and the oil pressure is around 5 psi? with only 40 psi cold start i am leaning towards an oil pump issue. ive changed them without pulling the engine. how long has this been going on?