I Have A Problem With My Ls1!
 

Hey i own a 99' Trans Am 6 speed, everything stock no mods of some sort... first, i been racing my TA since i bought it but one day I fucked up my crankshaft bearings so i decided to get another lS1 engine.... Ok now to the point, i stopped racing after i got my other used LS1 engine but i sometimes give it a punch once in awhile when im driving, all of a sudden i hear a noise coming from my engine like a "TICK TICK TICK" noise but very rapidly when i press the pedal to the metal or when i just press it half way... when it reaches about 4000rpm it makes the noise then it stops and then again but it does it very rapidly....

Ok now i went back to the auto shop that changed my engine n asked them whats goin on! they responded with a scratch on their heads... so they send my car to a pontiac dealer and also they responded with a scratch on their heads... so my mechanic said since i have a warranty on the engine, they were gonna get me another used engine so i said ok.

Ok now i got me another used ls1 engine (2nd engine). I been having it since October 2007.
Everything seems perfect when im driving normal, if i rev my engine it sounds perfect, when im cruising its smooth, when i shift gears is smooth too... now i with this 2nd motor i just put in i never accelerated or raced it... but just today coming from the houston auto show... i pressed the pedal half way when im cruising lets say doin 40mph n the rpm goes from 2500rpm to 4000rpm n UP the stupid noise came back again!!! WTF! the same stupid noise from my last engine was doin it again with my 2nd engine!???

Please if anyone had this kind of problem before and know about it or are/is familiar with it PLEASE tell me! i love my Trans Am i want to get it fixed... Please feel free to ask me any questions, i will tell you what i know! Thank you for your time reading this!

Danny

well maybe its not the engine and something connected to the engine vibrating

take your car to a knowledgable ls1 tuner.
Its almost impossible to diagnose this over the internet.

Pull the AC belt and drive it and see if you hear anything. Otherwise, take it to a tuner familiar with LS1's like he ^^^ said. :D

Me engine makes a fairly quiet tick tick tick when I get on it. I don't think too much of it. Some people say it may be a AIR leak or some kind of vacuum leak?

Could be a exhaust leak?? Just a guess.

does it happen only under load??

I am now on my third F car and in all three of them i have had some kind of "valve chatter" of sorts with acceleration. Im not saying to ignore it by no means, but i have never had a critical problem in any of the aforementioned cars. Also i have eard from many other F owners that they have the same noise, also with no catastrophic failures.

yea it does...

hey thanks for the info, im thinkin the same thing cus just FYI im still in high skool senior year, n im takin auto class n i asked my instructor about the problem with my 1st engine n he said the it could be comin from my valvetrain n told me to adjust my lifters, so i did but nothing really helped... but the way u said it i think i have that problem... did u lose any performance cus of that problem?

Are there air bubbles in the oil on the dipstick? Does the sound come and go no matter if it is cold or warm? Does it sound like a collapsed lifter?

one or more yes'es probably needs an oil pump.

nah no bubbles in the oil on the dipstick... yea the sounds comes n goes, its retarted cus when sometimes it does it n sometimes it doesnt n it doesnt matter cold or warm...

is it a clatter or a tick? Sounds like it could be pinging a bit under a load.

"There is a metal gasket in between the AIR pipe and exhaust manifold. Be very careful not to damage this gasket. If it is broken or missing a piece you will get a loud ticking sound when the engine is under load". When i changed my plugs and wires,the above warning was given to me from Install University,sounds to me like thats what you may have.good luck