lifter tray oil drain?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
From: oklahoma city
lifter tray oil drain? my heads, cam, chain, stall, lifters, etc. are rolling in today! anyway, to the question.
i got my lifter trays in. i saw a thread once of a guy drilling oil drain holes in them.
what is the importance of this?
also, if it's so important, then why doesn't GM already have this drain hole?
Thank You.
i got my lifter trays in. i saw a thread once of a guy drilling oil drain holes in them.
what is the importance of this?
also, if it's so important, then why doesn't GM already have this drain hole?
Thank You.
The idea of drilling holes in the lifter trays presumably relates to the reputation of LS engines to accumulate too much oil in the top of the motor such that the low end of the motor can actually suffer from oil starvation at sustained high rpm operation. Since the oil pump lives in the low end of the motor it also can run out of oil and create an oil pressure "flame out."
The theory is that drilling holes in the lifter trays will allow oil to return to the low end of the engine more quickly. The counter theory is that since the oil trays hold a finite amount of oil, once they become full the rate of oil returning to the low end of the engine will actually be unaffected by the holes in the lifter trays.
I personally have no opinion as to which theory is correct.
The theory is that drilling holes in the lifter trays will allow oil to return to the low end of the engine more quickly. The counter theory is that since the oil trays hold a finite amount of oil, once they become full the rate of oil returning to the low end of the engine will actually be unaffected by the holes in the lifter trays.
I personally have no opinion as to which theory is correct.
I didnt drill mine, and plenty of people that are running cam only never even touched their stock lifter trays. I have never had an oiling issue with any LS1 that ive owned due to not being drilled.
