Lifter Noise on startup at 97k on 99 LS1

Rob99ta · 10-31-2005, 07:14 PM

Daily driver 99 TA with stock LS1 motor and has been solid as a rock. Car has been fully synthetic since 6k with 60k on Mobil 1 and the remainder on Royal Purple. A couple of weeks ago I noticed some lifter noise that quickly goes away at startup. Thought nothing of it with the cooler weather we have been having. However over the last couple of days it has become extremely worse (multiple cylinders). The majority of them quiet down almost immediately but one continues to tick for about a minute or so and then goes away. The gauge is registering good oil pressure right at startup as well.

Is a lifter replacement in order to prevent this? Has anyone successfully done this?

Thanks in advance ..... andYes, I have searched the forums but nothing seemed to fit my scenario.

**Redphoenix1998** · 10-31-2005, 10:42 PM

might ben bent pushrods. The best way is to pull the valve covers and check all your pushrods. Very common problem with LS1's and if they're bent, just replace them with chromoly's.

Rob99ta · 11-01-2005, 05:09 AM

That thought crossed my mind but they quiet down after a minute or two so I ruled that out. I just hate the thought of pulling my heads to swap lifters and really fear that I will start using oil after re-sealing the heads back down due to the mileage.

Then on the other hand I am thinking what better oppertunity than to put some better heads and a stronger cam in it just so I can hang with the stock ZO6 vettes :-(

**Zboner** · 11-01-2005, 05:12 AM

do it!!!

**Sarge** · 11-01-2005, 06:22 AM

STFU zboner you lil shit.....
OK...what weight oil we using here? It probably will not come as a suprise when these LS1's get some miles on em we need to reward them with some thicker oil.....if you are running any 30 weight go get yourself a good 5-40 or 10-40 of your choice ( great pourability/pumpability down to -30f)....the other item that will cause our motors to "get noisey" is a poor flowing oil filter....what filter you got in there man......stick with a Mobil1/KN/Purolator or AC Delco...if you have a FRAM in there I will send Zboner over to your house for a week of sleepovers.....thirdly......if the "noise" remains after you have your 40 weight in there...lets clean that son of a gun up.....over time it is possible even with great synthetic oils to get varnish build up...varnish doesn't allow oil to lubricate critical parts......get some of this.. http://www.auto-rx.com/ Run a cleaning phase....a rinse phase then put your synthetic back in.......
I would bet you we get some quitness out of this exercise......dont forget what I said about running FRAM....Zboner has a bed wetting problem you know.

**Zboner** · 11-01-2005, 06:36 AM

yea like that night when i gave ya a golden shower

Rob99ta · 11-01-2005, 06:59 AM

I have been running the thinner weight Royal Purple and recently tried Mobil1 15-50w to see if that would make a difference which it didn't. As far as the filter goes I am sure it is as generic as you can get as it was done at a Texaco Car Wash/Lube center. When searching this forum for similar problems I ran across other posts where you were talking about the AuotRX and plan on giving it a try as I am guilty of taking the synthetic oil up to 5k miles between changes. Thanks for your help.

Pepe LePew · 11-02-2005, 02:02 PM

I've got 115K on my LS1 and I only get cold tapping when I use synthetic. about 50k miles ago, I stopped using synth and only use brand-name 5w30. Sometimes when the oil is cold and thickened up, I will get a few seconds of tapping, but it's quite minor.

my theories...

1) synth is too "slippery" to stick to your cylinder walls, so you start up with less lubrication after sitting all night than you do when you use non-synth.

2) oils thicker than 5w30 (in general) will take more time to work their way up into the tight spaces in the upper cylinders to prevent noise.

Synth might be great for race cars that run flat out for half a day without an oil change, but I drive in real-world conditions and I won't use it in my car any more. It's cheap-o 5w30 from now on!

Hell...I say try it. It's a whole lot cheaper than experimenting with synthetic 15w50....jeez dude!

Rob99ta · 11-02-2005, 02:18 PM

I hear you Pepe, but what gets me is it just started? If I have had the noise for a years it would not bother me so.

Oh well, I just received the new Pontiac Performance Special Edition magazine in the mail where their Halo car is the Torrent so maybe I will just trade up for one of these ..... NOT ! What is Pontiac thinking?