LS1 piston question about oil usage
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 143
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From: great white northeast
LS1 piston question about oil usage Hi guys,
Just rebuilt an 2001 Vette motor LS6 block, for installm into my Volvo. I bought this motor from a Chevy dealer who had replaced it under warranty for using oil. The tech at the dealer who traced the usage before replacement told me that it was not excessive, about a quart in 1000-1200 miles. Said the owner rode them until they replaced the engine. Motor had 21,000 miles on it.
I tears it down and measures EVERYTHING. Crank mains, rods were quite loose for an LS1 so I used -.001 bearings. The piston/bore was .002". Had the block finish honed at a race shop who does Nascar LS2 blocks for the Camping World series. Said it was fine and I'm confident he knows what he is talking about. I re-ring it with Speed-Pro rings and put H/C setup, mild 220 cam and 5.3 heads from well known sponsor on this forum.
The car absolutely rocks. Big power for me and runs like a scalded skunk!
I still uses a quart in 1000 miles.
Trying to figure out why? The only thing I noticed when apart is the pistons have NO oil return holes in the oil ring lands. I thought this was kind of weird and should have replaced the pistons. They were like new so I left them alone so I would not have to rebalance the entire assembly.
Have about 3000 on the engine now and am quite sure it is all well broken in. Actually I am on my 6th
set of used rear tires this summer!
This has most likely been covered before. Any ideas?
Thanks, John
Just rebuilt an 2001 Vette motor LS6 block, for installm into my Volvo. I bought this motor from a Chevy dealer who had replaced it under warranty for using oil. The tech at the dealer who traced the usage before replacement told me that it was not excessive, about a quart in 1000-1200 miles. Said the owner rode them until they replaced the engine. Motor had 21,000 miles on it.
I tears it down and measures EVERYTHING. Crank mains, rods were quite loose for an LS1 so I used -.001 bearings. The piston/bore was .002". Had the block finish honed at a race shop who does Nascar LS2 blocks for the Camping World series. Said it was fine and I'm confident he knows what he is talking about. I re-ring it with Speed-Pro rings and put H/C setup, mild 220 cam and 5.3 heads from well known sponsor on this forum.
The car absolutely rocks. Big power for me and runs like a scalded skunk!
I still uses a quart in 1000 miles.
Trying to figure out why? The only thing I noticed when apart is the pistons have NO oil return holes in the oil ring lands. I thought this was kind of weird and should have replaced the pistons. They were like new so I left them alone so I would not have to rebalance the entire assembly.
Have about 3000 on the engine now and am quite sure it is all well broken in. Actually I am on my 6th
set of used rear tires this summer!This has most likely been covered before. Any ideas?
Thanks, John
Is there oil in the intake manifold. Take the throttle body off and check. If there is a good bit. Get your self a catch can to plum into the pcv system. that will allow you to seee where some of the consumption is going. Got any pic's of you ls6 volvo?
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 143
Likes: 0
From: great white northeast
Yea I forgot. It does need a catch can. I was going to make one from an old F-body A/C drier, just have not gotten around.
It's wierd, our 06 GTO pukes oil into the intake also but doesn't seem to use any oil. I am convinced it is a piston/ring problem and not the heads. Haven't gotten around to a leakdown test yet.
I wonder when and why GM went to coated pistons with oil return holes? Seems like I read a TSB on oil usage in Alldata.
Qwik video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II7PmaKv_XU
It's wierd, our 06 GTO pukes oil into the intake also but doesn't seem to use any oil. I am convinced it is a piston/ring problem and not the heads. Haven't gotten around to a leakdown test yet.
I wonder when and why GM went to coated pistons with oil return holes? Seems like I read a TSB on oil usage in Alldata.
Qwik video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II7PmaKv_XU
