thumpstick

The engine is an 2001 f-body ls1 with approximately 100k miles that was put into an Rx7. The thing fired right up after the install. I put a few miles on it and felt some missing/hesitation. the coolant seemed to be over pressurizing and running a little warm. So after some more tests... blown head gasket. I then began the fun process of removing the heads and when I pulled the valve covers off I noticed some damaged valve tips. One valve was flatted down so much the rocker was hitting the retainer. a couple other valves were marred. I had the valves repaired/replaced at the machine shop, but I don't want to reassemble the engine if something else is causing the problem (IE lifters or rockers). Upon visual inspection, they all look fine. The cam lobes look smooth with no signs of uneven wear. has anyone else ever faced this problem?

thanks,
-John

thumpstick

Forgot to say... When the engine was running before the disassembly, It ran very quietly with no ticking or knocking of any kind. It sounded great.

thanks again,
-John

DietCoke

iTrader: (18)

You can't repair those valves, they will have to be replaced (as will the rocker arms). Given the condition of the upper head area, the corrosion and oil... ****/residue/burnt gunk present, looks to be a general lack of maintenance. Use a quality oil, change it regularly, and you wont have issues.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

Did you inspect before you dropped the motor in? If so how did it look?

I agree with DietCoke, but what cam are you running? If really aggressive lobes with high lift and stock rockers, you could have valve tip scrubbing that poor oil/maintenance does not help.

thumpstick

The engine is bone stock, and the valves that were damaged were replaced. I did not open it up before installing it (really wish I had now) and it really was pretty gross down inside. I have two sets of heads (the ones off this motor and the ones off my old motor which was hydrolocked) both sets were sent to the machine shop and both are good to go now). My old valve train components look great so I could use them, but my engine had a tick that I didn't like.

thanks
-John

.boB

iTrader: (1)

What do the tops of the pistons look like?

thumpstick

They look good. No signs of damage or impact from the valves.

studderin

iTrader: (28)

valve float, shitty oil

thumpstick

I went ahead and got a complete set of lifters. I am going to use the lifters off of my old engine. they look great with almost no signs of wear. I guess that's the downside to used engines. You never know if it came from a car that was maintained well.

thanks for the help guys,
-John