my ws6 decides to be a piece be a shit all the sudden

[ws6prince91]

well here goes my shity story, i was driving about 20 minutes away from my house to the mall and i wasn't speeding , redlining or anything. All the sudden i hear a chirping noise from the front of my engine. It wasn't that bad at first and about two days later it got louder but it wasn't a over whelming noise. But I decided to bring it down the street to a local car shop that i knew. They checked it out and they found out it was a dry rocker supposedly. They didn't open the valve cover to check so.... they just assumed it was that a dried rocker and i need to replace one of my wheel bearings and hub in the front but that's not a big deal. The problem is how much am i looking at to replace my rockers with possibly aftermarket ones. The shop i brought it to doesn't work on eternal parts timing chain, valve springs, rebuild motors etc . I just need to get a estimate on how much it would be for parts and labor and is it ok to use aftermarket rockers with out a aftermarket cam or valve springs?and what aftermarket rockers do you recommend. I feel pretty disappointed in my car because it only has 109k automatic i dont beat on it and i just gave it a oil change 3 days ago before this shit happens its pretty irritating but please i would like to hear what you guys think , i know i have to start saving money cause this is going to be expensive i just don't know how much? I would want to kno if the valve train on the ls1 is weak ?p.s is there any good shops in rhode island or in mass maybe ct? p.s.s i also decided when i do fix this and something else big goes wrong im putting this car on craigslist and buying a gto thats all i know

[0rion]

how good is the shop you took it too? Could just be a tensioner or idler pulley. The fact they turned away work would make me question how good they are at diagnosing the problem. Got a video of the noise?

[ws6prince91]

tomorrow i will post a video but it deff sounds like its coming from the right side valve cover just like the shop wrote down, i only checked the main tensioner/idler pulley and that wasn't the problem, i used lucas oil stabilizer and that helped a lil bit but the chirping was still there , i could pull off the valve cover but i don't know what im looking for exactly. the shop i took it too does not work on internals of a engine, timing chain, valve springs etc.

[Too Fast]

Never heard of a ''dry rocker'' on these engines. You sure it isn't the belt/tensioner/AC compressor? It is a separate belt, take the belts off and run it for a minute or 2 and see if the noise is gone. Don't run it more than that with both belts off, the front one drives the water pump. You can run it all day long with the AC belt off.

[pajeff02]

This is also a first for me -- dry rocker? Stock rocker arms have been known to puke out their needle bearings. Pull the cover and visually inspect each rocker. If you don't see anything unusual, grab a hold of each rocker and see if any of them will twist side to side at all. Also, look in the valleys of the head for any foreign material. Expelled needles will also work their way down into the oil pan, so you can drain your oil and then either filter it through cheesecloth (or something similar) or go fishing in it with a magnet. If you find anything let us know.

[jiveass]

mine is chirping at the moment....anytime water gets on the ac idler pulleys it makes the chirping sound....id look into it.

[cobra12345]

never heard of a dry rocker. is it a chirp or some kind of ticking noise?as jiveass said i know when its damp out mine chirps after it burns off then its ok.wish my valavetrain didnt sound like a sewing machine on steroids though

[Knight]

I'd do as Jeff suggested, and pull the valve cover for an inspection, after checking the tensioners and AC belt.

[SuperSSguy]

Do you have Lt`s or an aftermarket header...or have the headers been replaced /removed?...Its probably a long shot and usually it makes more then a ''chirp'' sound BUT check to see that your header gasket doesnt have a small leak!

[Smittro]

If you did have a "dry rocker" then likely there would be even more noise than you're hearing.

Dry rocker I would take as a lifter colapsed, lifter roller issue, and or oil is not making it to the top of the push rod..

In any case as I was sayin' I would think you'd have a slew of other issues with it was any of those things.

I'll bet you're catching the begining of a rocker needle bearing failure.

Pull the cover, take a look see.

Oem replacements should'nt be that pricey imho if you desided to go that route.

But again can't really tell with the cover on.

Idler pulley issue is common on these cars as well..

[Smittro]

Hell the back bearing of your ALT could be going too, that would put the noise right where you're hearing it too.

[2002ssslp]

I'm going to wait for the audio before I put in my 2 cents.