2011 Camaro LS3 cam/lifter problem/upgrade
2011 Camaro LS3 cam/lifter problem/upgrade Hi everyone. So I personally rebuilt a bone stock gen 3 5.3l so I've been in a motor but know nothing about LS3 specifically or mods.
My friend has a stock 2011 Camaro SS with the 6 speed manual. It has 85,000 miles and just developed a noise. He had the dealer diagnose it and it's the problem where the lifter is pitted and chewing the cam up. I understand this is a known problem with this model car. We are going to undertake the repair together since dealer repair costs are too high. We figured since things are getting changed we would install a cam upgrade that will maintain good street manners but have a nice gain, nothing crazy since he commutes with the car during the week. I have also heard of problems with the LS3 timing chain tensioner so we want to upgrade that as well.
Neither of us know how to pick a cam, lifters, springs, or timing set beyond stock. All I know is when its all together he will need a retune.
I did the assembly on my 5.3 so with the books I have I'm confident we can do the build but its parts selection I'm at a loss for.
Can an any of you who have been through this recommend any companies to call or parts to use? My friend called crane cams and their customer service sucked.
All help is appreciated
Thank you
My friend has a stock 2011 Camaro SS with the 6 speed manual. It has 85,000 miles and just developed a noise. He had the dealer diagnose it and it's the problem where the lifter is pitted and chewing the cam up. I understand this is a known problem with this model car. We are going to undertake the repair together since dealer repair costs are too high. We figured since things are getting changed we would install a cam upgrade that will maintain good street manners but have a nice gain, nothing crazy since he commutes with the car during the week. I have also heard of problems with the LS3 timing chain tensioner so we want to upgrade that as well.
Neither of us know how to pick a cam, lifters, springs, or timing set beyond stock. All I know is when its all together he will need a retune.
I did the assembly on my 5.3 so with the books I have I'm confident we can do the build but its parts selection I'm at a loss for.
Can an any of you who have been through this recommend any companies to call or parts to use? My friend called crane cams and their customer service sucked.
All help is appreciated
Thank you
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 22,303
Likes: 3,619
From: Central Cal.
Call WS6Store, a sponsor/vendor here. He will lead you down the path of performance happiness for a great price and top notch service.
He might lead you to their High-lift HotCam, which sounds great but still has great manners.
He might lead you to their High-lift HotCam, which sounds great but still has great manners.
EPS has a cute little 218/232 cam that would drive civil with very minimal tuning It would even work with all the factory exhaust as well. Geoff sells t chain push rods and valve springs too
I second the WS6Store. These guys are at the top of their game! I am currently running the above mentioned high lift hot cam in my ls1 and it is awesome. Give them a call you won't be disappointed.
Thanks for suggestions. He will call ws6store Monday. I'll let you all know the result.
Do you guys think the heads will need to be planed at the machine shop? I'm guessing so but I don't know. We will drop them off there to have the springs, guides and seals done but we want to know what to ask them to do.
Do you guys think the heads will need to be planed at the machine shop? I'm guessing so but I don't know. We will drop them off there to have the springs, guides and seals done but we want to know what to ask them to do.
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Thanks guys. WS6store hooked us up with what we need as far as parts go.
When you guys swapped your cams did you have to get the heads plained or are they just checked to be flat? We have to take the heads in anyway to have the springs and valves done but we want to know what work to ask for.
When you guys swapped your cams did you have to get the heads plained or are they just checked to be flat? We have to take the heads in anyway to have the springs and valves done but we want to know what work to ask for.
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Here is an excellent guide on swapping a cam/springs on a 5th Gen Camaro
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125123
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125123
Thanks Blake. I've read that and it's a great write up. That guy left his heads on and ours have to come off for a lifter swap. Machine work on the heads is the last thing I need to figure out to be ready (I hope)...
The car is all back together. We went with a cam, new timing, lifters, push rods, and springs from WS6 store. While in there we put in a new Melling oil pump. I took the heads up to Midwest engine in Duluth, Mn. Despite needing almost all the valves replaced and all the other work it was less than $500 for both heads and they turned them around in 4 day’s. The machineist said he almost always needs to replace the intake valves on these heads and there was one bent exhaust valve. Then we installed new plugs, wires, and long tube headers with 3 inch exhaust. The car runs great and sounds mean. Only the tune is left to be done. It dies when you come to a stop light unless you feather the gas but the guy from WS6 store warned us of that since the cam is different, the tune will fix that right up.
The oil pump install with the engine in the car was the hardest part. After getting my butt kicked by it we broke down and ordered a girdle for the pick up tube. That thing is worth it’s weight in gold when it comes to seating the pickup tube. No doubt it was the best $18 spent on the whole project.
Thanks for the help!
The oil pump install with the engine in the car was the hardest part. After getting my butt kicked by it we broke down and ordered a girdle for the pick up tube. That thing is worth it’s weight in gold when it comes to seating the pickup tube. No doubt it was the best $18 spent on the whole project.
Thanks for the help!
Last edited by Root2812; Jun 18, 2018 at 12:14 PM.
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 79
Likes: 2
The car is all back together. We went with a cam, new timing, lifters, push rods, and springs from WS6 store. While in there we put in a new Melling oil pump. I took the heads up to Midwest engine in Duluth, Mn. Despite needing almost all the valves replaced and all the other work it was less than $500 for both heads and they turned them around in 4 day’s. The machineist said he almost always needs to replace the intake valves on these heads and there was one bent exhaust valve. Then we installed new plugs, wires, and long tube headers with 3 inch exhaust. The car runs great and sounds mean. Only the tune is left to be done. It dies when you come to a stop light unless you feather the gas but the guy from WS6 store warned us of that since the cam is different, the tune will fix that right up.
The oil pump install with the engine in the car was the hardest part. After getting my butt kicked by it we broke down and ordered a girdle for the pick up tube. That thing is worth it’s weight in gold when it comes to seating the pickup tube. No doubt it was the best $18 spent on the whole project.
Thanks for the help!
The oil pump install with the engine in the car was the hardest part. After getting my butt kicked by it we broke down and ordered a girdle for the pick up tube. That thing is worth it’s weight in gold when it comes to seating the pickup tube. No doubt it was the best $18 spent on the whole project.
Thanks for the help!
The machine shop said that there wasn’t enough material left to grind them to a new seat. They were doing a 3 angle valve job (I think that’s what he called it). He showed me the valves he took out and there was some pitting that would have taken a lot of material to make smooth. He said he sees it all the time on 5.3 and 6.0 so he wasn’t surprised to see it on an LS3. It cost an extra $100 or so for all the valves.
I figured I’d give you all an update. The car got dyno’d and Tuned last night. We are really happy with the end product. Rear wheel horsepower came in at 459.9. The tech said if it wasn’t so humid it would have pulled 470. Estimating 15% power loss in the drive trian that’s around 530-550hp at the crank. Even if that loss estimate is high we still gained 100 horse. The car is a real monster now.
Thanks for all your help! I attached the dyno sheet for your viewing pleasure.
He changes the oil pretty religiously with amsoil. This problem is known with these motors so there isn’t much he could do. The roller in the lifter came apart. Like chunks missing. I think GM had a bad batch of lifters.
The GM master tech who diagnosed it said he sees this all the time with the LS3.
