2002 WS6 Engine Rebuild Help!
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2002 WS6 Engine Rebuild Help! I Currently Have A 2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6, Automatic Transmission With Over 250K Miles. I Hit A Huge Rock In The Middle Of The Highway And Shattered My Oil Pan, Didnt Run The Car After Impact, Pulled It To The Side Of The Highway And Got A Tow Home. I Replaced The Oil Pan In Hopes To Getting My Car Back Running, However After 1st Startup The Engine Seems To Be Running, And Sounding Bad. It Does Have Good Oil Compression But I'm afraid I Might Have Spun Some Rod Or Main Bearings, Possibly Even Damaged The Crank...I Dont Know Yet, So The Plan Is To Pull The Motor And Go For A Complete Rebuild, Since I Wanted To Upgrade Heads,Cam, and Intake Anyway. Also Wanted Long Tube Headers. Whats My Best, Most Affordable Options For The Rebuild, as In Heads, Cam Size, Intake Options And Everythjing Else Im Gonna Need. Im Not A Motor Guy, just been reading and researching online to see what other LS1 Guys are doing. All Help And Comments Are Greatly Appreciated, I'll gladly take all feedback. Im not looking to go crazy, but 500HP would be nice. Thanks In Advance.
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
If you pulled it immediately to the side of the road as you said, and it was running fine prior to hitting the rock, I don't see how your bearings would have been damaged. How did you go about replacing the oil pan? Did you drop the cradle out? 4th gen cars are very tight to the K-member in the oil pan area. Just wondering if maybe something got installed incorrectly. The oil pump O-rings are somewhat finicky, did you install a new one of the same color? Oil it before install? Regardless of whether you see oil pressure on the gauge, I'd be wary of that O-ring.
As for best/inexpensive, those two words don't generally go together. However, the simplest combo is to have your factory heads CNC ported using your stock valves, Texas Speed does it for about $900. This includes a valve job and surfacing. Cam-wise, Summit's Pro LS cams are inexpensive and work well. Something in the 222-228 range on the intake side will be great for a milder set up. Intakes - check and make sure your car doesn't already have an LS6 intake. If it does, just run it. If it doesn't, look for a used one or a used FAST. The LS1 intakes are kind of crappy. I'd also bump your compression up if you do end up doing a full rebuild. 11.5:1 would be great for a pump gas street engine. A set of mildly domed pistons will get you there. Also: Do a LOT of searching on this forum, I find answers to questions all the time here and I've been on the site for almost 17 years.
As for best/inexpensive, those two words don't generally go together. However, the simplest combo is to have your factory heads CNC ported using your stock valves, Texas Speed does it for about $900. This includes a valve job and surfacing. Cam-wise, Summit's Pro LS cams are inexpensive and work well. Something in the 222-228 range on the intake side will be great for a milder set up. Intakes - check and make sure your car doesn't already have an LS6 intake. If it does, just run it. If it doesn't, look for a used one or a used FAST. The LS1 intakes are kind of crappy. I'd also bump your compression up if you do end up doing a full rebuild. 11.5:1 would be great for a pump gas street engine. A set of mildly domed pistons will get you there. Also: Do a LOT of searching on this forum, I find answers to questions all the time here and I've been on the site for almost 17 years.
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One thing you should check is the back of the block for oil leaks. A friend of mine bought 6.0 that had a broken oil pan. The pan was hit hard enough that one of farthest back small long bolts cracked into a oil passage on the back of the block.
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From: Corpus Christi, TX
Pictures go a long way a video sells it. Measure it 2x 3x 10x until your sure. And you didn't say how long you ran it maybe didn't let the system fill with oil? If your sure it's janked time to pull it and see what actually happened and do you know of machine shops to do the work? I regret not buying the Chilton manual for my LS's in the past it seems like it's a must for something you've never done unless you have a teacher. Idk why he mentioned 4th gen k member you even said ls1. Idk if this is the correct place for this but an ls1 warrior should spawn soon
Last edited by Guy with a Chevy; Feb 4, 2023 at 06:27 PM.
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From: Corpus Christi, TX
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Thank You for the Input, we did raise the car, unbolt the suspension and drop the oil pan, also replaced the pump, however I can't recall replacing an O Ring or pre-oiling. I did use a sketchy mechanic who didn't bother to come back and finish the job, after hearing it idle. The suspension hasn't been tightened and not even sure what else he failed to finish prior to getting the car ready for a test crank. Another valid reason why I'm more interested in pulling the motor and rebuilding since It was a High-Mileage Car. Also- I've had the Transmission rebuilt just a few weeks prior to hitting the rock.
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Man that's a good one no doubt and idk why I called him that guy I'm quite new to the forum somewhat new to entirely rebuilding motors more new to do it the right and exact way. He may have meant the chassis is a 4th gen design with the k member reference. And if you had an oil pickup tube it had to have an oring the steel to steel contact will not work on the suction side but you said it has good oil compression as in what psi while idling? If you just replaced the pan I wouldn't think you messed with the pick up tube. Next time photos or it didn't happen I'm kidding I'm sure you'll get this figured out but definitely do your homework
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I Currently Have A 2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6, Automatic Transmission With Over 250K Miles. I Hit A Huge Rock In The Middle Of The Highway And Shattered My Oil Pan, Didnt Run The Car After Impact, Pulled It To The Side Of The Highway And Got A Tow Home. I Replaced The Oil Pan In Hopes To Getting My Car Back Running, However After 1st Startup The Engine Seems To Be Running, And Sounding Bad. It Does Have Good Oil Compression But I'm afraid I Might Have Spun Some Rod Or Main Bearings, Possibly Even Damaged The Crank...I Dont Know Yet, So The Plan Is To Pull The Motor And Go For A Complete Rebuild, Since I Wanted To Upgrade Heads,Cam, and Intake Anyway. Also Wanted Long Tube Headers. Whats My Best, Most Affordable Options For The Rebuild, as In Heads, Cam Size, Intake Options And Everythjing Else Im Gonna Need. Im Not A Motor Guy, just been reading and researching online to see what other LS1 Guys are doing. All Help And Comments Are Greatly Appreciated, I'll gladly take all feedback. Im not looking to go crazy, but 500HP would be nice. Thanks In Advance.