Pulled the lifters and cam out tonight and I saw some weird marks in the motor I can see throught the lifter bores. Any Ideas? Looks like someone had taken a drummle to it

 

aliens?

 

Looks like something was obviously grinding enough to shave the aluminum off. Check your carm or even the lifters. It might be a mistake made from a previous tear-down.

 

Thats on top of the lifter valley, there is no possible way for the cam or lifters to even touch that. Has the car been pulled apart before you owned it that you know of?

 

The Cam and lifters look great, nothing but normal wear. The guy i bought the car off of had the engine replaced by the dealer at about 15,000 miles (it was the ticking noise that the early LS1s get) I am not sure What they replaced but I do know it had 241 heads on it, which come from 01-02. Its also weird that there are no marks like that on the other side ( this was looking at the driver side through the passenger side lifter bore)

 

Could those marks have been made by a bent/broken pushrod?

 

I dont think so I have never had a bent or broken one and its like that on every lifter bore down the whole side.

 

Hmmm all of them? How about the other bank?

The damage looks more like peening, something that looks like a pushrod hammering away, than it does grinding.

Maybe the rocker arms came loose at some point and the pushrods went flying. (Before you owned it.) Is there any damage around the rockers or on the valve cover?

 

The other bank looks fine, just that 1 side. all the lifters, rocker arms look great too.