BJM

iTrader: (1)

I agree with you fully. I am simply trying to lessen the noise. For anyone in a warm climate where for most of the year the temperature is 60 F or above, its a non-issue. I use my car regularly down to maybe 20 F. The difference in noise is tremendous, like nothing I have ever dealt with before. My other cars have to deal with the real winter, down to -30 F, the Camaro would sound like an old locomotive at those temperatures. In the summer my car is perfectly liveable, I could happily ignore the 1 minute of odd sounds. At 20 F however, its a full 20 minutes before it sound like a normal car. Thanks again GM.

BJM

iTrader: (1)

I agree with you fully. I am simply trying to lessen the noise. For anyone in a warm climate where for most of the year the temperature is 60 F or above, its a non-issue. I use my car regularly down to maybe 20 F. The difference in noise is tremendous, like nothing I have ever dealt with before. My other cars have to deal with the real winter, down to -30 F, the Camaro would sound like an old locomotive at those temperatures. In the summer my car is perfectly liveable, I could happily ignore the 1 minute of odd sounds. At 20 F however, its a full 20 minutes before it sound like a normal car. Thanks again GM.

dailydriver

OK, but that begs the question; if our motors are built that "loose" shouldn't GM/whomever be telling us to use higher viscosity oils like the euros use?? Or is it that our motors still have very "tight" tolerance crank/cam main bearings which require much thinner oil (as well as the small MPG/CAFE benefits from lower viscosity oils)? I always thought that the euros built their engines with "looser" tolerances so that at the sustained uber speeds they run on their highways, there was room for a thicker oil to get in between the bearings and protect them without breaking down as easily. Am I wrong on this?? Any engineers in here?

rich Z

My piston slap is louder with the Euro Castrol 0w30 compared the american 10w30. With non-synthetic oil the piston slap isn't there. When I once used Redline 10w40 it was the loudest with that oil.

RussStang

Yep, we definetly got it straight. Warm piston slap here, and I dont have an 01/02 like most slap motors are. It is definetly something you can hear pretty easily, and if the amsoil helps quiet some, I will definetly give the amsoil a shot.

My car is my daily driver, all year long. For anyone who lives up north, and has to deal with single digit (or colder) ambient temperatures in the winter, the cold slap is unreal. I can deal with it, because it does go away mostly compared to how it sounds at startup, but the car really does rival diesel sound at those low temperatures, and it really does take almost 20 minutes before it is warm enough where I feel comfortable bringing it past 1500 rpm. My car doesn't consume any oil (yet) with 43,000 miles on it, but I really can't ignore the fact that piston slap occuring that hard in the cold must be causing some damage to the sleeves or pistons. Next year when the motor comes out to be bored over (probably going 402) I will be very interested to see the condition of the cylinders.

slow3hoe2

iTrader: (3)

originally ran mobil 1 5w-30, then went to pepboys (proline) 5w-30 and the piston slap got quieter, no change in valve train noise. now im running gc 0w-30 and my cold start up piston slap noise got louder but the valve train got much quieter. it also seems to use less oil. performance didnt change between any of the oils.

Patman

FWIW, I've seen oil analysis reports from LS1s with piston slap and the engine wear numbers don't look bad, so it's more of an annoying noise than anything harmful to the engine's overall lifespan. Just turn up the radio.

BJM

iTrader: (1)

Here is my oil history, maybe others can add their experiences.

German Castrol 0W30 Nov 2004 - Cold weather around 30F, car slapped like crazy.

Pennzoil 10W30 May 2005 - quieted the car a lot but warm weather (60-70F) had already helped a lot anyway. Overall definitely quieter.

Royal Purple 10W30 Oct 2005 - Initially more noisy but after 2 days seemed to go back to what the Pennzoil did. Purple coulour was gone in the 400 km I used it.

Pennzoil 10W40 Oct 2005 - Noisiest oil I have ever heard. Sounded bad the instant I started it. Temperature (30-40F). I took it out after 2 days, way worse than the Pennzoil 10W30. Valve train made tickity noises even when warm.

Amsoil 10W30 Oct 2005 - Seems good so far, a bit better than Royal Purple. Temperature in the low 30's F today and rattle is bad (oil can only do so much) but its better than the other oils. When warmed car sounds fine, nice and smooth.

Camaro99SS

iTrader: (4)

The piston/wall clearances are different then main and bearing clearances. That's just an issue of machining specs. Bearing clearances is up to the person/machine assembling the motor. The LS1, like previous small blocks, is looser than most production when it comes to main and rod bearing clearances. This is why these motors generate the best wear numbers on 40 weight and near 40 weight oils. But in order to keep the bureaucrats at CAFE happy, U.S. automakers recommend thinner oils for gas mileage reasons.

Jason

RussStang

I guess I will have to tell everyone else around me in the parking lot to turn their radios up as well, as it can be pretty embarassing. Parking in a garage sucks. Besides, I would turn up my speakers, but my crappy Monsoon sound system blows them out faster then I can get the cash to replace them.

BJM

iTrader: (1)

I am probably luckier than most, my motor idles quite normally so I don;t get odd stares. My rattles happen only around 1500-2500 RPM.

I would happily give up a few horsepower to have the motor be quiet. Maybe I can trade my "high power block" to someone.

dailydriver

If that's the case, does anyone make a decent 0W-40 synthetic, or is that not possible without killing it with viscosity improvers??

Notime383

iTrader: (6)

I have Royal Purple 10W30 and I really didn't notice a difference from what ever the original owner had in it! The piston slap drives me crazy, but at 74k I think this motor would have blown up if it were really damaging! My engine gets a rattle/slap/noise precisely at 2000-2500 rpm regardless of temp but much quieter when warm, then just goes away all the way up to redline! It's getting cold up north and I've noticed the sound even more! After reading this thread I still can't make up my mind! What would be the best oil/weight to go? I guess a rebuild would be the only solution!

Patman

Why don't you try 5w40? There are lots of good 5w40s out there. (Amsoil, Redline, Mobil 1, Castrol)

Camaro99SS

iTrader: (4)

German Syntec has proven to be about the best thing out there for LS1's with stock clearances, and this has been true for a very large number of them too, which likely includes motors that have piston slap. I think Mobil1's new 5W40 15000 mile oil may be a good choice, but I don't have any analyses or experience to back it up. I'd rather stick with oils available at local stores instead of ordering stuff. I mean come on, for a street motor is it really worth it to buy anything from Amsoil, Redline, or even Royal Purple that costs $6/quart + shipping? German Syntec, at under $5/quart and available at Auto Zone, is already a pretty exotic oil when you look at the specs, making it a bargain.

Jason

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

Its true GC is a great bargain. I do believe it to be that best bet in terms of engine protection. but if its too embarassingly noisy, its not gonna be fun to drive. What good is it to have a well protected motor that you dont enjoy driving? I dont see it being the kind of thing where my engine will fail 50% faster because i started running amsoil or M1 vs. GC. If I can get 99% of the protection with another oil that will quiet my slap, its a worthy sacrafice to me... But if you dont have a noisy car with GC, theres no reason to get anything else.

dailydriver

I guess you're right, that 5W difference (between a 0W-40 & a 5W-40) is probably not going to mean anything (especially in super high spec synthetics), even in <-10 degree start ups.

BJM

iTrader: (1)

In winter for my daily drivers I have never used anything lighter than 5W30 dino oil in winter down to -30 or so. I do use a block heater but the cars have always started even without one as long as the battery was in good shape.

tirefryer

just use the the 5W40 Amsoil and you will be fine, regardless of outside temps. It flows great in the cold and protects in high heat. It also quiets the slap down. What more could you want? Try it you won't be disappointed.

dailydriver

Might just do that. I am an Amsoil believer, as I've used the Series 2000 0W-30 since break in. I'm just wondering if the Redline 5W-40 out specs the Amsoil 5W-40 on the top (high heat performance) end??