Charlie@LsXperts

iTrader: (12)

use a small dowel rod and put one end in your ear and one end above each cylinder on that valve cover and you can pinpoint if it is one problem area.... if all of them do it i wouldnt sweat it but if its just one then hmm...... on the the trouble shooting

spazzyfry123

iTrader: (4)

Dowel rod? I ask because I have some pretty hardcore ticking right now with a bent push-rod I do believe. I'd rather do this than take out each of the push-rods to see which one it is.

Fast Eddie's 02 T/A vert.

KevsLS1,

I bought my T/A new with 4 miles on the odometer and it had the exact same ticking you describe. It made the ticking noise when the engine was warmed up. Anything above 1500 rpms and the ticking went away. I took it to many performance shops and two dealers and they all said it was a lifter. They all told me to drive it and not worry because many LSx based motors do this.

At 10,000 miles I changed my motor oil to Amsoil 5W30 and the ticking went away. I noticed after driving it for a few days with the new oil change that the ticking had totally stopped.

It is NOT piston slap, it's lifter noise. I would try a different oil. Mobile 1 is to thin.

DrewSG

iTrader: (1)

I always wondered this. For the duration I've owned the car, I'd always heard ticking noises, but couldn't pinpoint if it was something with my lifters, piston slap or bad oil. On my next oil change, I'm going to switch from Mobil 1 5W30 to something else.

Carter Hays

You really think the manufacturer of the vehicle is going to tell you that their design and quality control sucks?

**** poor quality control..That is why some slap and some don't. These motors have cast pistons and some sound like farking diesels. It is not normal, don't listen to GM they sold you the car!! You think they will admit to anything?

Hone the cylinders, fit the pistons and the noise and oil consumption problem goes away. But, that is another day another dollar.

Oh and it will start knocking hot as time goes on. Good luck on the resale trying to explain that "short skirts, more power" etc.. is what that noise is. GM farked up in the QC dept.

BLKWS.6

My 5.0 has a bit of a tick, engine builder said normal, called ford when it used 1qt of oil ever 1500 miles. Ford says that the probe forged pistons are built to looser tolerances and I should expect a motor with forged pistons to burn a bit of oil. FYI, my compression is 147-155psi in all cylinders, my plugs are clean, and when i plug the PCV and remove the oil filler neck I only feel the faintest wafting of warm air (signifying hardly ANY blowby imho?). All in all, engines are funky animals, just live with it If you want perfection, go buy an ENZO. Good luck getting over speed bumps in the movie theater parking lot.

PS, any comments on forged pistons/oil usage? I htought it a bit odd, but googled it and it seems common, several mechanics i know say 1qt per 1-2000 miles is normal, agree/disagree? (motor and block are new crate, not bored, still 302, new production from ford, oil used is shell rotella T 15-40 based on UAO's observed from LS2 engines and from the fact that it quiets my lifters a bit, which are noisy with my cam (aluminum RR's).

blacksnake

My car makes the same sound, it has 11,000 miles on it. Piston slap, noisy lifters, a little metal robot pullin' his pud in my motor somewhere, who gives a ****. Seriously, I've never heard any convincing argument that the noise in your clip is something you need to worry about.

I've heard plenty of LS1's making that noise. I also hear the noisy ones are faster.

BLKWS.6

If it runs strong, has good oil pressure, negligable blowby, and good compression, give it up, its good.

Carter Hays

A stock lsx engine is not a forged setup. Have you heard some of these motors? They knock so loud you would think a diesel is under the hood. Look, don't get me wrong your motor will last many thousands of miles, but there is no excuse for GM to put cars/trucks out with an audible knocking sound under the hood. These are street motors not forged all out loose race engines. The worst I heard was a Truck you could hear it from 50 feet away.
And none of this helps with oil consumption As far as a convincing argument goes..try and sell a piston slapper to someone who isn't a "car guy" they will walk away no matter how much you explain. Resale value is something I worry about.

I like my Z28 but I will never buy another new GM product again.

Doski

my 2002 ws6 does it too.... when i start it doesnt slap, after about 1 min it starts to slap...and after a few more minutes it almost goes away. Then if i drive for a while and stop for 5min and turn on the car the slap comes back, and goes away again.

98A4LS1

iTrader: (1)

Exactly!!

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

new cam in yesterday = large ticking noise in the valve train for 10 min after starting then it disappears, mobile one is in the car for the first 1k, kind of got me wondering if that's what it is making the lifters tap...hmmm....

BLKWS.6

my X303 makes my 5.0 sound like a big sewing machine

bluehawk2

iTrader: (74)

That noise is not a problem. My car makes the same ticking tapping noise all of the time. It has never thrown any code because of this. I've never had any problem with the car. It was ticking when I bought it. Now, 40k miles later, no problems and it still ticks. Do a search on here for "ticking". I ran across a post the other day that explained why our cars tick and tock. It's got something to do with the lifter trays. I don't know much about engines, so you will have to find the post. Basically some cars make the noise and some do not, either way it is not a problem.

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

well idk what mine is but it's not the sewing machine tapping, i have that constantly and you can't hear it will driving the car. the tapping i have is in the valvetrain and goes away after about 10 min. kinda geeks me out but oh well.

Wesmanw02

iTrader: (4)

Good reasoning. Seems like the whole issue gets blown out of proportion due to a few extreme cases of extra loud "piston slap". I've personally never been around an engine that does it, but I don't doubt the condition exists on many cars. I've also never heard of an engine blowing up or becoming damaged due to this condition, so I don't think its something to really worry about. Its just annoying.

As for the author, KevsLS1, I think the easiest thing you can do to determine of its lifter noise or "piston slap" is to change the oil. Fill it with Mobil 1 Synthetic 10W-30, since its going to be slightly thicker than the factory 5W-30. Maybe even add in some Lucas Synthetic oil treatment, just to see if it helps quiet down the lifter noise, should that be the issue at hand.

If you do all that and its still making the noise, chances are its the "piston slap" issue. I don't know what you can do about it, perhaps someone else has some insight on the issue and how it can be resolved.

BLKWS.6

15W-40 Rotella T is what I run, love it! Runs cooler than M1 10-30 did and it has MUCH less lifter noise. Oil pressure is about 10-15 psi higher at idle and about 5-10 at a cruise.

Wesmanw02

iTrader: (4)

Isn't that diesel oil?? Thats some pretty thick stuff, my Dad used to run that in his '89 Chevy G30 350, then it blew up while backing a trailer up my driveway

I just think its too thick for gas engines, I don't see how it can provide adequate lubrication to all the internals, especially at startup.

If it works for you, thats cool though.

BLKWS.6

It seems to do quite well, dad has run it in his 4.6L cars and gotten 200+ K out of ever one of them (he used to run a pilot car service). Also, Keith Craft recommends 20-50 in all of their motors. my motor is dead silent on crank-up as well. Also runs a lot cooler than it ran with M1 10-30. (1 half of a line cooler, ford uses idiot guages, lol). Besides, deisles have the same tolerances as gas engines, the mains are not looser or anything of the nature. Not that I am aware of anyways. Can you provide information contrary?

PS. on one oil analysis of a LS2 GTO I saw, 15-40 rotella T dropped wear metals by half over M1 full synthetic 10-30.

BLKWS.6

Most manufacturers recommend the LIGHTEST POSSIBLE OIL that will meet your engines lubrication needs, even if just barely. Ever notice that on the performance versions of some cars the weight rating is higher? (ex. Ford Focus SE vs. Focus SVT). DO they make the engines purposefully looser? I doubt they race hone everything...

Point is, whatever they can do to up their MPG and HP ratings and not cause immenant failure, they will do. Helps them qualify as LEV and makes you feel good about getting 1 mpg more on that window sticker.