LS lifters and thick oil...
LS lifters and thick oil... What is the heaviest weight oil I can run without running into problems with my lifters? I have the comp lifters. I need to run a thicker oil if possible but am hearing the LS lifters have problems with any of the thicker oils. Thanks in advance for any info on this.
Running morel 5315 lifters with 5w40 valvoline synpower euro formula and no issues.
Fyi LS lifters are the same as SBC lifters. That is one of the few parts that never changed design. SBC, Gen 2 LT1, Gen 3 & 4 LS all use the same style of lifter. Bearing tolerances are what determine oil thickness to run anyway. Many race motors are built with wider bearing tolerances to run 20w50 race oils....SBE LS stuff is normally fine with 30&40 weight synthetics.
Fyi LS lifters are the same as SBC lifters. That is one of the few parts that never changed design. SBC, Gen 2 LT1, Gen 3 & 4 LS all use the same style of lifter. Bearing tolerances are what determine oil thickness to run anyway. Many race motors are built with wider bearing tolerances to run 20w50 race oils....SBE LS stuff is normally fine with 30&40 weight synthetics.
As in post 4 above, bearing clearance determines oil viscosity. Why do you need to run thicker oil? Most 30-40's hold their viscosity up through 230*F actual engine oil temps. Unless on road course, oil temps generally run 15-20*F lower than coolant temps. Only time we use 20W-50 is on road course where oil temps can reach 300*F.
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Yes it may be the same style lifter but its NOT the same lifter. Some years the LS1 lifters were poorly matched and bleed down way fast. I have a 01 and the lifters get very noisy with heavier oil. I'm not talking ticking and tapping, they actually start to RATTLE every time the cam train unloads using heavier oil. I tried 10-40 once and the engine rattled so bad on deceleration I changed it back to 5-30 within a 100 miles.
Now if you don't have the stupid azz fast bleeding lifters your experience probably will be completely different. ALL of my 5 LS1 cars had these lifter bleed down problems and running heavier oil didn't help any of them. My experience says a lighter oil helps, adding 8 ozs of ATF to 5-30 quiets my lifters quite a bit. But ATF is hydraulic oil and its thin enough to get into the lifters fast enough to keep them free of air. regular engine oil is slower getting in there.
GM dealer fix for noisy lifters for years was to add ATF to the engine oil.
Another thing you may want to try is a high quality synthetic oil like Castrol Edge. It very thin and can get in to the lifters easier to get the air out and keep them quiet. Also thin oil may result in lower oil pressure because it bleeds past the bearings faster but it also results in cooler running bearings because of the added oil flow past the bearings.
Now if you don't have the stupid azz fast bleeding lifters your experience probably will be completely different. ALL of my 5 LS1 cars had these lifter bleed down problems and running heavier oil didn't help any of them. My experience says a lighter oil helps, adding 8 ozs of ATF to 5-30 quiets my lifters quite a bit. But ATF is hydraulic oil and its thin enough to get into the lifters fast enough to keep them free of air. regular engine oil is slower getting in there.
GM dealer fix for noisy lifters for years was to add ATF to the engine oil.
Another thing you may want to try is a high quality synthetic oil like Castrol Edge. It very thin and can get in to the lifters easier to get the air out and keep them quiet. Also thin oil may result in lower oil pressure because it bleeds past the bearings faster but it also results in cooler running bearings because of the added oil flow past the bearings.
Yes it may be the same style lifter but its NOT the same lifter. Some years the LS1 lifters were poorly matched and bleed down way fast. I have a 01 and the lifters get very noisy with heavier oil. I'm not talking ticking and tapping, they actually start to RATTLE every time the cam train unloads using heavier oil. I tried 10-40 once and the engine rattled so bad on deceleration I changed it back to 5-30 within a 100 miles.
Now if you don't have the stupid azz fast bleeding lifters your experience probably will be completely different. ALL of my 5 LS1 cars had these lifter bleed down problems and running heavier oil didn't help any of them. My experience says a lighter oil helps, adding 8 ozs of ATF to 5-30 quiets my lifters quite a bit. But ATF is hydraulic oil and its thin enough to get into the lifters fast enough to keep them free of air. regular engine oil is slower getting in there.
GM dealer fix for noisy lifters for years was to add ATF to the engine oil.
Another thing you may want to try is a high quality synthetic oil like Castrol Edge. It very thin and can get in to the lifters easier to get the air out and keep them quiet. Also thin oil may result in lower oil pressure because it bleeds past the bearings faster but it also results in cooler running bearings because of the added oil flow past the bearings.
Now if you don't have the stupid azz fast bleeding lifters your experience probably will be completely different. ALL of my 5 LS1 cars had these lifter bleed down problems and running heavier oil didn't help any of them. My experience says a lighter oil helps, adding 8 ozs of ATF to 5-30 quiets my lifters quite a bit. But ATF is hydraulic oil and its thin enough to get into the lifters fast enough to keep them free of air. regular engine oil is slower getting in there.
GM dealer fix for noisy lifters for years was to add ATF to the engine oil.
Another thing you may want to try is a high quality synthetic oil like Castrol Edge. It very thin and can get in to the lifters easier to get the air out and keep them quiet. Also thin oil may result in lower oil pressure because it bleeds past the bearings faster but it also results in cooler running bearings because of the added oil flow past the bearings.
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Verdad Gallardo Yes it may be the same style lifter but its NOT the same lifter. Some years the LS1 lifters were poorly matched and bleed down way fast. I have a 01 and the lifters get very noisy with heavier oil. I'm not talking ticking and tapping, they actually start to RATTLE every time the cam train unloads using heavier oil. I tried 10-40 once and the engine rattled so bad on deceleration I changed it back to 5-30 within a 100 miles.
Now if you don't have the stupid azz fast bleeding lifters your experience probably will be completely different. ALL of my 5 LS1 cars had these lifter bleed down problems and running heavier oil didn't help any of them. My experience says a lighter oil helps, adding 8 ozs of ATF to 5-30 quiets my lifters quite a bit. But ATF is hydraulic oil and its thin enough to get into the lifters fast enough to keep them free of air. regular engine oil is slower getting in there.
GM dealer fix for noisy lifters for years was to add ATF to the engine oil.
Another thing you may want to try is a high quality synthetic oil like Castrol Edge. It very thin and can get in to the lifters easier to get the air out and keep them quiet. Also thin oil may result in lower oil pressure because it bleeds past the bearings faster but it also results in cooler running bearings because of the added oil flow past the bearings.
Now if you don't have the stupid azz fast bleeding lifters your experience probably will be completely different. ALL of my 5 LS1 cars had these lifter bleed down problems and running heavier oil didn't help any of them. My experience says a lighter oil helps, adding 8 ozs of ATF to 5-30 quiets my lifters quite a bit. But ATF is hydraulic oil and its thin enough to get into the lifters fast enough to keep them free of air. regular engine oil is slower getting in there.
GM dealer fix for noisy lifters for years was to add ATF to the engine oil.
Another thing you may want to try is a high quality synthetic oil like Castrol Edge. It very thin and can get in to the lifters easier to get the air out and keep them quiet. Also thin oil may result in lower oil pressure because it bleeds past the bearings faster but it also results in cooler running bearings because of the added oil flow past the bearings.
I talked to my tuner about it and he said he sees the best overall results with 0w-40 on LS motors. Given the sheer number he sees, I'll be giving that a go next oil change
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From: Lees Summit Mo
yeah you probably got that run ATF in your oil back when they used to do that in the old diesel engines to keep the injector pump and injectors cleaner. I run Mobil 1 and have for 188000 miles and never had any lifter noises. years ago GM did have a bulletin to run mobile 1 in a engine for a noisy lifers or piston slap. after when it was time to change the oil then go back to what the customer was using before. the thicker the oil the harder it is to get to the parts that needs the lubrication. that's why GM got away from 10-40 oil and went to 5-30. because they bought a lot of cams back in the 70"s
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The bad cams were from improper heat treating on the lobes. Some lobes were too soft and would fail.
Back to LS1 lifter noise, mine can be noisy as hell. If I add about 8 ozs of ATF DexIV its quiet as a mouse for a long time. That alone tells you thinner oils helps lifter noise in these engines. Part of the problem is it takes so dam long to get the oil up into the gallery AND the lifters bleed off way too fast.
Back to LS1 lifter noise, mine can be noisy as hell. If I add about 8 ozs of ATF DexIV its quiet as a mouse for a long time. That alone tells you thinner oils helps lifter noise in these engines. Part of the problem is it takes so dam long to get the oil up into the gallery AND the lifters bleed off way too fast.