i nees some help

**danrun** · 02-03-2012, 01:15 PM

ok, i have a 99 trans am. 79k my ls1. oil pump went out about a week ago, it ran for maybe a min and a half. got the pump replaced along with the water pump. drive it maybe 30 miles and it started ticking and screaching loud so i took it back to the shop and they said it was the lifters. myself i've NEVER heard lifters sound like that, but they are the GM mechanics.... Anyways they put a bottle of something in it and it stopped. then today a belt started SCREAMING and under the screaming i heard that same dreadful ticking. i got the belt prob fixed and the ticking is erratic now. any help?

**mark21742** · 02-06-2012, 03:11 AM

I'd say your gonna have to tear it down....if you ran it for any time with no oil pressure your gonna need more than just lifters.

**pajeff02** · 02-06-2012, 03:45 AM

A "bottle of something"? That makes me suspicious. Like Mark said, you may need to go deeper into it to see just what the problem is. A tick generally indicates something in the valve train as a rod will usually make a knocking sound. The engine bearings run on a thin film of pressurized oil and when the pressure goes away this film rapidly diminishes and you get metal to metal contact. Oil is also pumped to the top of your engine to lubricate the rockers and valvetrain. Again, when the pressure drops so does the lubrication.

You can use a piece of wood as a stethoscope of sorts to help narrow down the source of the noise. Press one end against a part of the engine, say the driver side rocker cover, and then carefully press your ear against the other end. This will amplify the noise and as you move the wood around the engine it will help you narrow down the location of the noise. Just be careful that you don't get tangled up in the belts.

Do you have good oil pressure now?

**2002ssslp** · 02-06-2012, 05:13 AM

90 seconds is a very long time to run without any oil pressure. Your bearings have a thin coat of lead, copper then the steel cap, thats it. When you lose oil pressure the steel crank makes short work of the lead and copper then you are down to the cap and you are done. It sounds like you are ready for a rebuild. Sorry. But now you can look forward to building the engine you want in your car. Look at it as the glass half full.