I'm going to be doing heads/cam/tranny and new rod bolts soon. When I bought the car a while ago the oil pressure would always sit right around 22psi when warm and just fluctuate.....scary. So, I decided not to take any chances and put an oil pump in it and viola' problem fixed. 40-45psi warm.

Anyways I said all that to say this. Since then and more recently the car has been knocking when cold which I know is common with the LS1's and piston slap and such. When the car gets warm it pretty much goes away but I can still hear an ever so slight knocking sound coming from the motor. The car is a 98' so I decided that I wanted to do rod bolts while the motor was out for assurance and peace of mind and I was thinking why not just pull all the caps off and check the rod journals and bearings while I'm right there? And I wouldn't hesitate except for that everywhere I read they say that when you do rod bolts dont take the cap off. They say take one bolt out and leave the other torqued down. Then do the other side, but always leave one torqued down.

So I need to know if the knocking sound should be something to be concerned with and if I can pull the caps on the rods when I replace the bolts? They are going to be Katech bolts BTW.

Thanks!

 

I would never be comfortable if I put it back together knowing there is a knock and I did nothing about it. Now is the time to check things out.

 

That's exactly the way I feel but is there something that I need to know about taking the rod caps off?

 

i wouldnt remove the caps until i checked the clearences of the rod bearings to see if one is bad or possibly spun.. i dont know about the one bolt at a time thing

 

I highly doubt that one is spun. The knocking is very, very faint when warmed up and I've checked the oil numerous times...nothing there either. I just want to look and see what kind of shape the bearings are in.

 

I would like some other opinions or someone who knows about the removing the caps when doing rod bolts....

 

can anyone give me some more information on this? can i pull the caps off and then re torque them with the new kaetech bolts? will this hurt anything? I don't see why it would but I thought I remembered seeing something about it a while ago and now I can't find it.

Thanks

 

When installing Rod bolts, just TQ them one at a time. It's around 40 ft lbs if memory serves me right. And yes you can pop the caps off, but make sure you know what you're doing, or have someone there with you that does.

And just a FYI, rod bolts aren't going to fix a knock. All they do is insure you won't snap a bolt @ high RPM which 98's are notorious for doing.

Your knock could just be from weak/low oil pressure. 98's had terrible pumps and terrible oil pressure. However I would definately get this diagnosed before installing heads/cam on your motor. It would be a complete waste to do all that work and come to find out you've got short block problems.

 

I'm well aware that rod bolts aren't going to fix a knock. I'm doing rod bolts because I'm doing Heads/Cam. I just wanted to take a look at the bearings while I'm right there. I'm really not concerned with the knocking sound, it sounds more like a dieseling sound when it's cold then it fades away...from what i've read this is textbook piston slap. And as far as knowing what I'm doing when taking the caps off I guess I just want to know how you can screw that up? I mean really. Take them off and put them back on just the same way they came off, right? Do it one at a time to make sure they stay in order and make sure they are facing the same direction as when they came off. Is there more to it or is that it? I've taken motors apart before, is the LS1 different?

 

Not really different, but I don't know you or your skill set. There's a lot of people who try and do things themselves while getting in WAY over their head, and in turn they destroy their motor in the process. That's the reason for my comments above. Wasn't trying to insult your knowledge.

 

I understand that. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't one of those guys who screws up their motors not knowing something that they should've known, that's all. Trying to get all the facts before I dive in, ya know? I'm pretty mechanically minded. I just was confused on why people kept saying to ABSOLUTELY not let the cap come off when changing rod bolts. I thought there was something that I didn't know or wasn't aware of. It all seemed simple to me... They come off... and go back on the exact same way... End of story.

 

if i mised this i am sorry.....but is the engine out??? if so i would definatly check out everything.....even call a couple shops and get openions on the matter......and i mean shops that are ls1 based or something close......
if you play roulette and pit the heads and cam in ......it might make the problem become very ararent......meaning bad news......
as far as rods and bearings....if oil looks good you could be in the clear on that part.....

good luck

 

bump...i'm gonna be putting some rod bolts in too while motor is out of car, and i also wanted to know about checking the bearrings

 

Yeah, I'm pulling the motor out while I do all the work.

 

bearings arent that expensive......i got my cam bearings at dealer cost for 20.78 and my rod bearings for 28.17....
they are federal mogul.......find a buddy that works at a parts store and order them.....not expensive.....other than rings and mains....that is up to you.,.....if your arent going forced induction rings may be ok to leave.......mains are going to need to be in great shape to put back in

and........you might not have any parts needing replaced at all.....it;s your decision

 

If you're going to do it, now is the time. Why not check out all bearings while you are at it? I'd pop the timing cover off too and pull the cam and check out the cam bearings.