Ok....well this post is for a buddy of mine...I have not seen the car...I just have what he told me to go on..so here it is. He has a 9lb vortech kit with aftercooler on a 98 z-28....he has run this setup on his car for over 20k without any problems...he recently purchased the MMS stage 2 blower heads and MMS Stage 2 blower cam...(I belive specs of this cam are 224/224 .564 .564 on a 114 lsa. So he gets the heads and cam on yesterday and here are the problems he is having. By the way I belive he got the 918's springs on the heads. He is having serious tapping noises coming from the valve train area...he says the noise increases with trottle and doesn't go away...also his oil pressure is REALLY low...and finally after driving the car about a 1/4 the temp gauge was pegged so he stopped driving it. The car only has tuning for the 9lb vortech but to me these don't seem like problems that can be fixed with tuning....he did the install all himself and it was his first time...but told me he followed detailed instructions VERY closely and he did do his complete vortech kit with aftercooler by himself so he is a fairly decent mechanic...I am up for suggestions and things we should try...I belive he is still running stock pushrods..and a stock timing chain....could these be problems...also its a m6...with no mods to the t-body...I think thats it...if you need more info. just ask. Once again thanks for the help and LS1TECH kicks ***! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

 

bump for ya.

Maybe he's a little low on coolant, but that doesn't explain the ticking. Possibly the valve spring retainers are hitting the underside of the vavle covers?

J.

 

A knock or a tap?
A knock and low oil pressure would be a spun bearing.. Just a tap? Maybe an exhaust/header leak??

Stock pushrods should keep that valvetrain pretty quiet.

 

for the tapping noise i guess he didn't adjust the rockers correctly.

 

What you just described is what it sounds like when you run an engine with no oil in it. I would focus on the low oil pressure.

Loud tapping because the lifters aren't pumping up correctly.
Very hot because the engine isn't getting adequate lubrication (probably damaged something)
If it started after the cam install, I would look for a spun bearing.

A broken valve spring will cause the same symptoms (with the exception of the oil pump). When I broke a spring, the engine clattered like hell, and overheated within a few minutes.

Good Luck

 

may have gouged a cam bearing on the instal?. I doubt this but I have seen where a customer knocked a cam bearing out by forcing the cam in. doh! just a thought. ps. a broken valve spring made it overheat? wow.

<small>[ July 14, 2002, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: zombiedude ]</small>

 

If he recently installed H/C combo he could have a vapor lock in the cooling system. Some times when you put and engine back together an air bubble becomes trapped in the head passage or somewhere. The knock could be an incorrect vavle train setup. My 2 cents.... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

Doug
00 Pontiac

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by zombiedude:
<strong> ps. a broken valve spring made it overheat? wow.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">When the spring broke, it bound down with the valve hanging slightly open.

It decorated my piston, and put the temp through the roof on two separate occassions. (I started it twice because I'm a moron <img border="0" alt="[Fluffy]" title="" src="graemlins/fluffy.gif" /> )

I'm still curious as to what would cause his oil pressure to be ridiculously low.