I've been reading around a bit about the LS1, and I came upon a few threads where the LS1 seems to have died not from overrevving, but a good amount of revs within its stock capacity.

Is there any sort of preventive maintenance that can be done to prevent spun bearings and such? Were the engines that died not properly maintained?

 

One weak area is the push rods. If you miss a shift they tend to bend. The valve springs will float at high RPM also. If you plan on run the motor high in the RPM range you might want to replace these things.

 

- Hardened push rods
- Stronger valve springs

Anything else? Also, when you say "high in the RPM range", are you referring to past the stock redline, or just high within its normal bounds?

I'm saying this because the LS1 i'm putting into my Rx-7 will be seeing a lot of track use, which means high revs for the most part.

 

if its in a road race car you are going to have to watch the oil moving itself away from the pick up... apparently some of the magazines pissed off GM by trying to drift the GTOs when they came out and locked up motors

valve springs are a major weak spot on the LS1. if you are going to be working on it... replace the cam (there are much better grinds out now) and valve springs. rod bolts are also a weak point replacing those parts should allow you to set limiter at 7k id say.. personaly id leave the stock pushrods in there so that if something does happen, it bends a pushrod and not destroy more... just my .02 there are other guys out there that have more experince and more knowledge than me though

 

I would definitly install the valve springs and pushrods for track use. People have bent the stock rods missing a gear or bouncing on the rev limiter. What year ls1 motor is it?

 

It's a 2002 from a camaro. 40k miles.

Anything I can do to combat the oil moving away from the pickup problem? Dry sump?

Also, will the GM performance C5 transmission cooler work with the T56 from the camaro? I'm going to try to cool pretty much every fluid possible with this car.

 

i think the "winged" corvette pans keep the oil from moving away

 

^ Can someone confirm this?

They would bolt up to the Camaro's LS1, right?

 

Run an extra quart during racing events.

 

If you are dropping it in an RX7 you should visit this site, it's dedicated to RX7 swaps.

http://www.torquecentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11\

For one thing I don't think the Corvette oil pan can be made to clear the RX7 subframe/ steering rack.
I have an LS1/ T56 in my '89 RX7 and the forum above was a GREAT help.
Good luck !!

 

I'm on there too

I was just wondering if you guys had any input about it.

 

OEM connecting rod bolts are also suspect when used in conjunction with hi-performance applications. And, as mentioned above, mechanically induced over-revs caused by missed shifts cannot be controlled by the PCM/rev-limiter.

The stock oiling system is actually pretty fair. The gerotor-design oil pump is very efficient. GM engineers were careful in NOT designing in too much oil pressure, as it ties up HP in pimping losses, and increases oil consumption which can lead to higher emissions. The oil pans are equipped with windage trays, which helps to reduce parasitic power loss by keeping the crank counterweights from becoming oil-coated, and slinging oil all over the crank case bays.

F-Body LS1 factory pressure relief setting is 60 psi @ 5,000 rpm, and the rear sump oil pan has a capacity of 5 to 5.5 quarts. Recommended oil is Mobil 1 5W-30.

 

Doesn't matter if it bolts up or not Phil. The wings won't fit on our cars.

 

Oh. Well, **** then

Anything else that could be done to prevent oil moving away from the pickup? Also, does anybody have anything more about the windage trays that bitchin95redta mentioned? I figure they're already in the LS1, but I'm just interested in how they work.

 

I think that you will only have a problem with oil moving away from the pickup in certain "high lateral g-force for extended periods of time" applications. In other words, if you are just driving aggressively driving or drag racing, you dont have much to worry about unless you are going hella-fast!

-Matt

 

"high lateral g-forces for extended periods of time" is pretty much what this car is going to be seeing. It is, after all, going to be my autox/track car

 

I doubt autoX will cause you any problems. I ran my car plenty with just the stock oiling system with no issues. Track time mihgt be another story.

If it's just going to be a track car then look into a dry sump. It's $$$$ but exactly what the situation calls for to do it right.

http://www.drysump.com/ls1.htm

There are other cheaper alternatives that will work just fine. Most people overfill the pan for the event and keep their fingers crossed. Check on it between runs. You should also have a ballpark idea of what kind of consumption rates your motor has. If you know it consumes a half quart in 30 minutes of use then you know how long you can go before needing to top it off.

An accusump is a decent compromise, but not foolproof, and as you know there isn't awhole lot of extra room in the FD engine bay after you drop in the LS1.