LS1 developing a tick

[Shatterz]

I have a 02 Z28 with 10K on it. It seems the motor has developed a rather loud tick in the past few months. I've read all about piston slap and the LS1 tick but my situation seems a little different. The sound will start right after startup then continue steady even after warm up. Only after a long drive will it quiet down.

The motor never had this "tick" even 2000 miles go and even the previous owner(family member who took very good care of it) noticed it and said he never heard that niose before.

Car runs like new,has never been raced or beat on and uses Mobil 1 5w-30 with PF44 filter.

Is this sound I'm hearing the normal LS1 tick or something else. And can the tick develop even after thousands of miles?

[ss~zoso~ss]

is going to blow up, sell it

[ss~zoso~ss]

its completely normal, just valve tick

[Wesman]

its completely normal, just valve tick

I can hear my valves working loudly sometimes too. The whole valvetrain makes a clatter under a load, its just the way it is. Its normal for pushrod engines in general, nothing to worry about unless it becomes extremely, bad, like if the motor is low on oil.

Switching to a higher viscocity oil (lots of guys on here like 0W40) may quiet it down some.

[INMY01TA]

My car made alot more noises on Mobil 1 5w30 than it does on the Redline 10w30.

[ss~zoso~ss]

if it starts loosing oil pressure, gaining temperature, or loosing performance then you ahve a problem if its just a noise then its either piston slap or valve tick

[myk02k]

Valve tick? That's new. I'm a lucky one with piston slap. It acts just like how you describe your tick. It got worse for me when I went from Mobil 1 5w-30 to 10w-30. Seems like I'm going to have to live w/ it. I moved out to CA and most f-body owners out here has never personally heard piston slap...they said they've heard about it but it's because I exposed my block to really cold weather when I lived in NJ. Dead winter, start up your car in the teens and see how bad it sounds. It actually starts effecting the exhaust tone, and all you hear at idle to driving is "Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP"

I just read an article about the LS2 block at http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/features/0405htp_ls2_inside_look_feature/ and GM supposively fixed the piston slap noise.

http://gmhightechperformance.com/features/0405htp_ls2_08_z.jpgThe pistons are connected to cast rods via full-floating wrist pins. This was done to reduce the piston slap often heard in LS1 engines. Though not proven to be detrimental to the engine, the slap noise nonetheless caused customer complaints.

btw...the journalist made a discovery that you can get an extra 100 horses out of an LS1 just by staring cross-eyed at it. A new theory to test. :burnout:

[Street Lethal]

Valve tick? That's new. It acts just like how you describe your tick. It got worse for me when I went from Mobil 1 5w-30 to 10w-30....
Not new at all. Your valvetrain will "tick" during a cold start-up, as the oil needs some time to circulate throughout the system (remember, we're still employing pushrods). The ticking usually goes away within a few minutes. If it doesn't, your rockers simply need to be adjusted.

To the original poster: The original owners never heard it, because they probably didn't know what it was, let alone even notice...

they said they've heard about it but it's because I exposed my block to really cold weather when I lived in NJ. Dead winter, start up your car in the teens and see how bad it sounds. It actually starts effecting the exhaust tone, and all you hear at idle to driving is "Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP"...

Ahhh, this is a different noise your referring to here. The folks over in Cali are quite right. This noise occurs during the colder temperatures, especially when you start driving her right away without allowing the engine to reach normal operating temperature. Remember, in open loop, the PCM runs the engine based on a pre-determined AFR configuration...

[Duke of Cruel]

I have a 02 Z28 with 10K on it. It seems the motor has developed a rather loud tick in the past few months. I've read all about piston slap and the LS1 tick but my situation seems a little different. The sound will start right after startup then continue steady even after warm up. Only after a long drive will it quiet down.

The motor never had this "tick" even 2000 miles go and even the previous owner(family member who took very good care of it) noticed it and said he never heard that niose before.

Car runs like new,has never been raced or beat on and uses Mobil 1 5w-30 with PF44 filter.

Is this sound I'm hearing the normal LS1 tick or something else. And can the tick develop even after thousands of miles?


With 99% chance of piston slap, and it comes from the pressed piston pin.
Gm has solved this problem by putting a floating pin.
DoC

[myk02k]

sooo your saying i'm experiencing noises other than piston slap? is there any sound clips of what piston slap sounds like?

[myk02k]

http://www.pistonslap.com/photos.htm

found 1

[Shatterz]

I'd like to hear a few more LS1 cold start up of others peoples cars with piston slap or valve noise to compare how bad my car has it. If anyone else could get a sound clip up of their car with this tick I'd appreciate it

[kealap]

Might want to pull your valve covers and make sure your rockers are in one piece too. My car has 25,000 miles on it and I had 3 rockers come apart. Had the bearing needles attached to the drain plug. Made a lot of ticking noise. Got the yella terra roller rockers and all good so far. Mine is a '99 though. Don't know if they updated the rockers.

[tonyjnjz]

mine had a ticking noise once in a while at start up which went away after a few mins while running mobil 1 5w-30 then i switched to 15-50 like lingenfelter recommmended and it sounds prrrrrfect now...i know...thats a very heavy weight oil..maybe they recommend it because of the noise..yes it sounds like valves...pistons are forged and what not to..maybe its cuz my moving parts are heavier they recommend it....i think its normal...i wouldnt worry about it

[ss~zoso~ss]

lmao. www.pistonslap.com
\
:lmao:

[gillbot]

Check your oil pump, I know someone who pulled his motor because of a tick and it turned out to be the oil pump.

[INMY01TA]

lmao. www.pistonslap.com
\
:lmao:
What's funny?

[INMY01TA]

This thread is not

[INMY01TA]

about piston

[INMY01TA]

slap.

[INMY01TA]

:Poke:

[myk02k]

I'm going to check my rockers when I put in a new set of plugs and wires, so I'll check your theory to see if my rockers are working as they should.

[aintright]

mine's a 2001 ls1 in a trans am. What I've learned is that year model wrist pins caused a lot of warranty rebuilds, but no damage was ever reported, just an incredibly annoying tick. the rebuilds never fixed the problem because they were using the same factory parts. Mine was rebuilt under warranty byt the previous owner, it only had 47k when i bought it two years ago. The only solution is to replace the rods, pistons, and wrist pins with an aftermarket setup. Two others in town confirmed this, and I'll be doing a rebuild after xmas. i've used every oil and additive, regular, and synthetics. The best syn-royal purple, the only thing that really seems to help, is regular valvoline 10w 30.

[LS2Tuner]

Yeah GM's awnser is some BULLSHIT!!!!!:cuss:

[myk02k]

I just got a VERY reputable opinion on the ticking from my car...valve springs apparantly.

[INMY01TA]

mine's a 2001 ls1 in a trans am. What I've learned is that year model wrist pins caused a lot of warranty rebuilds, but no damage was ever reported, just an incredibly annoying tick. the rebuilds never fixed the problem because they were using the same factory parts. Mine was rebuilt under warranty byt the previous owner, it only had 47k when i bought it two years ago. The only solution is to replace the rods, pistons, and wrist pins with an aftermarket setup. Two others in town confirmed this, and I'll be doing a rebuild after xmas. i've used every oil and additive, regular, and synthetics. The best syn-royal purple, the only thing that really seems to help, is regular valvoline 10w 30.Some LS1's tick. No big deal. Mine has for like 30,000 miles. You're gonna pull the motor and tear it down for this?

[Silver Streak]

Mine has started to get louder in the last few weeks.. gonna pul the valve covers to make sure everything is tight.

[Lawdawg4623]

My Trans Am had a ticking problem, wouldnt go away. Pulled the heads off and a valve seat was coming loose! Might give it a thought before one drops all the way out and smacks a piston. Specially if the car has ran hot or has been driven hard for a long time. Trust me, It just happened to me about a month ago.

[vettenuts]

You are not alone!!! :brick:


Other Ticking Threads (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1519337)

[myk02k]

If anyone is in an area where it gets under 30 degrees and have this noise PLEASE take a video. I think this is the same noise I've got, but sounds EXTREMELY bad in very cold temps!