MurphyTex

I have the imfamous LS1 tick.

I haven't paid it much attention (had the car two years) but I did an oil change last week and switched from Mobile 1 to Castrol German 0-30 and it got worse.

I figure since it got worse with a different weight oil that it porobably isn't an exhaust leak or loose spark plug (I will check those thing first though) and I kinda figure (hope) it might be a weak lifter or bent pushrod. The car is a bone stock '01 SS with 66k miles.

So, I'm going to check the plugs, look for an exhaust leak then pull the valve covers and look for bent pushrods or broken/loose rocker arms.

I've looked at some of the how-to's for swapping rocker arms (I'm just pulling my stockers and putting them back on) and it looks like all I have to do is unbolt the RAs, check them and the pushrods out, then bolt them back down to 22 ft/pds.

Is it that easy? Or do I have to rotate the engine to make sure both valves are closed before torquing the rocker arms down?

Thanks for any advise!!!

And anything else I might want to look at while I'm checking things out? The tick was bearable but since the last oil change it's getting aggrivating and I want to get it solved.

baxsom

iTrader: (6)

follow the service manual.
it says to make sure the #1 cylinder is at TDC and then tells you to torque various intake and exhaust rockers, then turn the crank a specified amount and torque the rest.

Darkman

iTrader: (2)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/14707266-post2.html

usmcz28

iTrader: (3)

Dont reuse the stock bolt get new ones they are cheap enough. It's 6 in one hand half dozen in the other with wether or not to reuse the stock TTY bolts. I'd er on the side of caution and just get some new ones.

If it's ticking change the oil back to some thicker weight oil. Check your oil pressure etc etc.

GIVE EM' THE BIRD

iTrader: (1)

GM quoted me almost 4.50$ per ******* rocker bolt today! And that's supposed to be at dealer cost!!! I told them I'd wait lol.

Where can you get the stock rocker bolts?

Darkman

iTrader: (2)

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SME-143005

ZeeOSix

Don't know why you'd need new rocker arm bolts ... the Service Manual says nothing about them being a one time use fastener. Besides, they are probably grade 8 strength, and only torqued to 22 ft-lbs ... can't see that causing any real fatigue on them.

mannyman84

iTrader: (2)

U don't need to replace the bolts. 22ft lbs isn't a lot. Just put a bit of threat locker (medium) and torque them. Why would u change to 0-30??

JaYZeig

iTrader: (11)

have re-used my rocker arm bolts PLENTY of times..youll be fine

ZeeOSix

Service manual says nothing about having to use thread lock on the rocker arm bolts. Just clean out any excess oil from the mounting holes before assembling.

MurphyTex

Lots of of folks seem to swear by German Castrol 0-30 and claim that it has quieted their noisy LS1. So I gave it a shot.

I'm not impressed so far, my motor is noisier. Which seems to make sense to me being that 0-30 is thinner than 5-30. But I figured I would give it a shot with all the rave reviews it gets. And with winter on the way I kind of thought a 0-30 wouldn't hurt.

But I'm no oil expert, I'm sure there will be lots of opinions on this. I kinda thought a 5-40 would do more to "quiet" a noisey valve train but that's probaly an argument for another day...

mannyman84

iTrader: (2)

Not sure if u know this. First number is viscosity when cold and second is when hot. 5 is about what engineers want it to be since it's ideal for this engine. Just stick with 5w30 and u will be ok.

Darkman

iTrader: (2)

An 0W-30 is not necessiarily "thinner" than a 5W-30. You can compare the effective visosity of motor oils by checking the specification for Viscosity @100C. The Castrol 0W-30 spec for that is 12.21 as compared with Castrol's 5W-30 spec of 10.7 and Mobil1 5W-30's 11.0. So, at normal operating temperature (100C, 212F) the Castrol is "thicker."

ZeeOSix

Exactly ... the "30" in 5W-30 rating covers a specific viscosity range at 100 deg C, and all those oils fall into that range (9.30-12.49 cST). Just so happens the Castrol is a bit thicker at 100 dec C than the others.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/viscosity-charts/

chrisfrost

iTrader: (8)

All those ratings are the "on paper" ratings and don't always convey the true thickness in my opinion as all multi-weight oils seem to fall a little short in their ability to morph to a different thickness or viscosity at a given temp change ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,all this just my findings in a hot climate of Phoenix summer time . Best way is to use single weight oils if they had a 0w or a 5w or a 10w oil available for cooler temps but in my area they don't so I guess were stuck with multi-weights . It might be possible that after You're oil change for whatever reason You lifters may not all have pumped up ,,,,,,,,just a thought .

baxsom

iTrader: (6)

true it does not, however it wont hurt anything if you do. although you can resuse the bolts they do get worn. I actually used antiseize to make sure my torque value was accurate.

ABQ99TA

iTrader: (17)

I've had my stock rockers off 4 times and still on the same bolts they will be fine.

MurphyTex

Thanks for all the input so far...I appreciate the help!

I didn't get to pulling the VCs this weekend but I checked the plugs and wires, all tight. I did find something unrelated but interesting.

The original owner (a 50ish lady who absolutely babied the car) had the plugs changed 20k miles ago at one of those quick lube places. I kind of figured a place like that might not do the best work and usually uses the cheapest parts. So I pulled one of the plugs figuring they would be cheapies. They installed iridium AC Delcos. I have a new set of NGK TR55s I was gonna put in but I'm thinking with iridiums with only 20k on them I should be set for quite a while, so I left them in. They were gapped at .035 though, is that normal for iridiums? The NGKs I had planned on doing at .055.

And considering the car was never run hard, I know it has a lot of carbon build up. When I do occasionally get on it I usually see some carbon blowing out behind me. How likely is some of the ticking/tapping coming from carbon build up? I bought some MCCC (Mopar combustion chamber cleaner) and I'm gonna run that through the car soon. I also figure that won't do the plugs any favors so I might be back to putting the NGKs in afterall.

One more consideration. The lady who owned this car before me changed the oil religiously. The most miles she put on it between changes was 3050. But she used convention oil. I put Mobile 1 in it my first change and 6000 later (100 miles ago) put in the GC 0-30. Would the changing to full synthetic be causing more valvetrain noise after being a dino oil car all it's life and should I consider going back to a conventional?

ZeeOSix

Back in Dec 2003, GM put out a Service Bulletin (TSB # 03D-J-171) that changed the spark plug gap from 0.060" to 0.040" for the LSx engines.