I searched and didn't find anything on this. 2 out of 3 LS motors that I've torn apart now have scored push rod tips. The first one was a high mile ls1 and it somewhat made sense because of the way the rest of the engine looked. The second engine is a 81,000 mile L33 5.3 that otherwise looks pretty clean inside.

Is this common? What causes it? Is it a sign of other bad things (systemic lubrication problem)?

 

have pics? their bound to be a little marked up.

 

The one on the left is scored and the one on the right is shiny. I'm used to seeing shiny push rod tips on all the older engines that I've worked on. You can feel the scratches with your finger nail. You can also see the same scratches in the rockers.

4 out of 16 push rods on this engine are scored. All on the passenger side bank, 3/4 were exhaust.

 

Yeavshiny is normal that is not.... Id say it wasnt getting oil or the rocker wasnt tightened properly.

 

my 145k LM7 did not have the marks like the above pic. both ends were smooth on all 16 push rods.

 

Why me

3 LS engines and they're all POS?

 

I had two like that on my 5.3...that I had my kid brother (enthusiastically) tear down to the shortblock. Had no idea where the two came from and spent hours checking every rocker arm with nothing found. Put everything back and pulled the rockers at the first oil change and found nothing wrong with the hardened push rods...i'd say do the same.

 

It's normal. I see it alot.