I just bought a camaro z28 and the engine has a clatter to it from idle to 1.5k~ and I'm a little concerned can someone please help me

 

I had the same problem. My first thought was timing chain due to the milage on my engine. Went to change the oil and found nuggets in it. So id go and check that. Mine ended up being the cam bearings and 2 rod bearings.

 

could just be piston slap especially if it dissipates after 1500 rpm. a bearing would be there all the time

 

Is the cam stock? If the guy you bought it from put an aftermarket cam in, it will make noise. Mine generally quiets up around 1500-1700. Prior to the cam install, it was quiet

 

Seafoam the top of the engine to break up any possible carbon buildup. Change the oil and run 1 quart of dextron 3 in place of 1 quart of oil for a couple of hundred miles. If there is anything built up in the lifters or oil passages the trans fluid will clean it out. Report back and let us know how it turns out.

 

Its common, most likely lifter noise. If the oil looks clean and no metal in the oil filter I wouldn't be too concerned. My 01 WS6 has a clatter at idle that goes away above 1000 rpm, been like this for 50k. It's lifter noise possibly caused by a slight leak at the oil pump oring. Small amount of air leaking past the oring mixes with the engine oil and when that small amount of air gets into the lifters they get noisy.

Also some of these engines have a bit of piston noise, sounds almost like a diesel engine sound at idle. <Normal noise.

What year is your car? 01 was a bad year for lifters they had a lot of noise issues. Can you post up a video or sound sample? Only way to get a good opinion.

 

Post up a vid if you can & someone will give you the possible answer

 

I will post a video tomorrow and it mainly comes from under the car. I go to an automotive school and my teacher said its normal noise. There are metal filings that are very fine on the tip of the drain plug when I did the oil change. this is my first chevy and first ls1. I've always had Ford's but this car was a great price from old people who were second owners. I couldn't pass it up but being my Ford's were quiet the noise concerns me

 

Mines terribly noisy but runs fine, been like this for a long time. I may dig into it and replace the oring and oil pump but I have a bad feeling it won't help.

I did a little testing today, I started the engine cold and let it warm up a bit. Of course the lifters were noisy, stopped engine and checked the oil dipstick for air bubbles. Few small bubbles, then I drove it till it was hot and checked it. No air bubbles on the dipstick. so that's normal operation.

Usually if its a leaking oring it will be quiet at idle but start to get noisy-ticking -tapping when running above 1000 rpm and higher. The reason this happens at idle there isn't much air entering the oil stream and the lifters fill up with only oil. As the rpms rise more air enters the oil stream and when it enters the lifters they start to collapse.

Mine seems to be noisy at a idle but quiet revved up and while driving SO for me its more likely the lifters themselves are worn or poorly made. Some years had poorly constructed lifters. Mines a 01, they had lots of lifter troubles that year.


But like all mechanical things sometimes you need to dig in and start eliminating things before you find a fix.

 

put a rubber hose to the valve cover ,and listen for maybe a lose rocker .maybe a rocker loosened ,or some trunnion bearings are missing .

 

Here is the video I took

 

Sounds like piston slap and some lazy lifters, like the car sat without the engine running for lengthy periods of time.
GM didn't start Teflon coating the piston skirts until mid 03-04 year to help quiet the skirt slapping noise.
Hopefully someone didn't try a thicker oil 10w30 or 20w50 to help quiet this sound as that just makes it worse as the thin/low tension rings struggle to pull the heavy oil up the bores. 5W30 is the correct stuff.

 

Sounds like every other stock LS1 to me, mine is much worse but I think I found some relief for mine. I put some TransX in the oil to swell the pickup tube oring and it really quieted down.

Yeah like A R Shale stated heavier oil in a LS1 just doesn't work. I tried 10-40 once and WOW the engine was noisy, drained it the next day and put the 5-30 back in.

 

Thank you guys for the help. I'm better able to sleep at night now! I owe you guys one

So am I able to run the car hard at times and go on road trips and not worry?

 

YES! but one thing I must warn you about. Check your engine oil once a week and ALWAYS keep it full. LS1's can use a lot of oil at times and the number one killer of these is low oil level. I would get in the habit of checking it at least once a week.

I would also seal the windshield cowling so rain water doesn't drip onto the engine<do a search for info about this> Also buy a cheap inch lb torque wrench and tighten the intake manifold bolts, I guarantee they are loose.

 

Will do. I love this car already and I want to make it last

 

The noise has gotten worse and I dont know where to go with it. My neighbor who owns a c5 corvette and works for gm said its normal. He added stp oil treatment and the noise got worse. What do I do????

 

How is the oil pressure and if it got worse post up another video. Try running it till its warmed up, shut it off pull the dip stick and check for tiny air bubbles in the oil. If the oring starts leaking the engine will get very noisy. These cars are getting old and if the oring was never replaced its a good bet its deteriorated to the point air is starting to leak past it. If the oring is leaking stp should have helped it some. I put a seal sweller in mine and it helped quiet it down but I was sure the oring was leaking.

 

Maybe I missed it but you didn't say if the noise went away when it was at operating temp. If so, it's just piston slap.

 

Its at operating temp and its the same noise just louder. The oil pressure is normal and stays the same. its at 40 psi at idle and 60 when driving.