Small knocking at idle while cold??
 

I have been searching for a long time to find the right camaro ss. Today I test drove a 02 SS 1 owner car with 56,000 miles on the clock. The car was parked and engine was cold. When the old man fired her up and I could hear a small ticking noise. Almost like a exhaust leak? I asked him about it and he said he never noticed it. I took her for a spin and got the engine nice and warm. When we pulled back in I couldn't here it anymore? Is this a common problem or something I should be concered with? The car was in amazing shape. Drove perfect with no problems. Do these engines just need to warm up for a second?? Thanks for the help!!

LS engines have the dreaded piston slap, Sounds to be perfectly normal LS1. you can search piston slap and find a bunch of ppl complaints. Mine does it and cold climates it sounds like a bomb is about to go off under the hood but once warm it has a sweet sewing machine sound and runs hard, been doing it since day one.

Very standard for these cars and other engines in this family... Piston slap occurs simply b/c when cold, the clearances between the internals are different. Theyre a bit loose in these engines when cold, but when they warm and expand they are tight and good to go. Piston slap also will only occur when the engine has a fairly neutral load. If the engine has a positive load(in the form of acceleration either by matting the gas pedal, or letting the gears slow it down) it will not do this b/c the "slack" is taken up...

Thanks Man! I did what you said and looked into it. I agree its piston slap. Makes me feel better. I swear my 02 Tahoe did the same thing. I guess I can live with it...

Yeah like I said, its apparent in alot of other vehicles, but when you here a sports car do it, its definately more noticeable simply b/c more people pay attention to that sort of thing.

Your Tahoe probly did, Now go buy the car and tear it up :D

most LS motors are noisy. a guy i worked with had a 4.8 silverado and it slapped louder than my SS or GTO.

FYI for anyone else, some LS1's will be worse then others, so do not go by sound alone. Also piston slap goes away after then engine is warmed up.

I'm super excited about getting a LS1. I have owned 3 Lt1 camaros. I been on this site for the past 4 months. I thinks it's awsome to find other people that have a true love for F-body cars. It's great that everyone helps eachother out on here!! I've been on other forms were it seems everyone just tries to out do each other and not help. So again thats for all the GREAT info.

Welcome to the piston slap club :D

A hollow sounding knocking that basicly sounds like a diesel engine running is piston slap. Ticking, clicking, tapping is lifters or valves, exhaust leak etc..........LS1 engines have alot of both.

piston slap
 

Just got my 01 Z28 and it has the same sound. I am now breathing a sigh of relief having read these posts. The noise is light but because I am anal, It will take some getting used to. This will be my first LS1. Traded my 93 LT1 back in 2001 and have waited 9 long years to own one again. I was figuring putting the SLP airbox on it but would like some ideas for headers and exhaust. Does anyone have any feedback? Car has a warranty with only 17K miles so I can't go too wild. I figured since SLP did worked with GM on Camaros and Firebirds the airbox wouldn't void the warranty. Exhaust is not covered so I guess I can put whatever on it. Thanks

If you heard my o2 when i bought you would have cryed, it was bad.......most of it was lifter noise though. It wasn't run for a very long time maybe 5 years and the lifters got very noisy. Honestly i thought it was gonna need to come apart but after some Rislone and a few oil changes its not too bad. Only had 31k on it, It has piston noise cold but gets quiet after 5 mins running time.

its been around 3 degrees here the last couple days and when i start my wifes 03 tahoe that thing sounds like its going to self destruct and when it warms up it sounds perfect, im thinking about running much thinner oil since its gonna be cold here for awhile

mine was alot more noticeable after the ARH L/T's were installed.

For awhile I was running my exhaust dumped before my axle, very loud, obviously masked my engine noise. I put a catback on it, and holy shit... Everytime I crank it up cold i think its gonna fall apart. Still noisy warm, but just the normal ticks and sewing machine crap.

Its perfectiy normal they all do that when there cold.

I've heard the AIR valves make noise cold too, can really sound bad.

mine seriously sounds like a diesal truck. it doesnt really go away on mine but gets MUCH quieter once warm. ive had mine about a year and no problems.