2001 piston slap
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Teching In
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 6
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2001 piston slap Does anybody have any info on this cold piston slap ive heard about. Is it something that needs to be fixed or just ignore it. I just picked up a 01 ws6 with 20k on it and it has a rattle ( when idleing when i slightly depress and release the gas ) is this the piston slap people talk about. it goes away about 80% once the car warms up? ( but if listening for it you can still hear it) The car has 80psi oil when cold and about 60psi warm. Is it time for engine removal or is this a common thing.
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 102
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piston slap is very common in the 01/02 cars and has nothing to do with your oil pressure. My car has a loud case of slap until it warms up and I've learned to live with it. I have 60k on the clock with no notice problems or oil consumption.
When I bought my Z it had the notorious piston slap. I bought an extend warranty at the dealership I work at and during the winter I pulled the engine. With the heads off I examined the cylinder walls. Their was minor scoring on #7 cylinder but nothing to warrant it being bad. It still had the cross hatching on the sleeves. The fix for this is Gm made a piston that has Teflon on the piston skirts to prevent any noise but eventually it will wear off. With my case I ended up with a new short block and all I had to pay was the deductible.
My 99 slaps noticeably when cold, but goes away when warmed up. It's really nothing to worry about, and it just rolled over 94k miles.
Look at this way. Because LS1's are pretty loose, the pistons have more expansion room during tough use such as multiple high speed runs or lots of racing. That way, they won't expand and score the cylinder walls, which is why alot of 150k+ LS1's still have the original cross-hatch. On the other hand, the 03/04 Cobra motors are pretty tight. Most don't seem to have that cold piston slap even though they have forged pistons. But when they start running more boost, things heat up in there alot more, and they'll start scoring the cylinder walls. There have already been some people with bolt on type cars who have run compression tests, and noticed uneaven compression outside of the + - 10%.
Jason
Look at this way. Because LS1's are pretty loose, the pistons have more expansion room during tough use such as multiple high speed runs or lots of racing. That way, they won't expand and score the cylinder walls, which is why alot of 150k+ LS1's still have the original cross-hatch. On the other hand, the 03/04 Cobra motors are pretty tight. Most don't seem to have that cold piston slap even though they have forged pistons. But when they start running more boost, things heat up in there alot more, and they'll start scoring the cylinder walls. There have already been some people with bolt on type cars who have run compression tests, and noticed uneaven compression outside of the + - 10%.
Jason
