Some sad LS1 News!

**FORD/CHEVY** · 04-14-2007, 03:58 AM

Hi, I'm John, even though I was a GM factory trained tech in the '70's, and a GM ASEP trainer as little as 4 years ago, I'm still primarily a Ford guy, please don't hold it against me! LOL! A Corvette for me has been a want since 1967, and the C-5 is an awesome vehicle, and the LS1 engine is a truly marvelous powerplant, so I've succumbed and bought my second Chevy in 35 years! Great to meet Y'all, looking forward to getting to know each of you!

I was talking to my buddy in CT last night, and he relayed some sad news.
Back in October he had asked me to keep an eye out for a clean Z-28 for his son. Well, as luck would have it I found a MINT '98 Z in white, loaded with a ton of options, polished wheels, factory ground effects, 6 spd, t-tops etc. I sent him pictures, it was owned originally by a 50 year old, then sold to his 30 year old son, who happens to have been my son's driver ed teacher and track coach. Anyrate, my buddy, his wife and son came down to VA and bought the car. It had 45,000 on the clock, and was purchased for $9500. (I thought a pretty damn good deal)

It turns out his son blew the motor this week. It has serious rod knock and no oil in it. Now when my buddy got the car, he changed the oil with Mobil one as I suggested, and gave it to his kid. Steve heard the noise and checked the oil, it was so low it wasn't registering on the stick.

What would cause the engine to use that much oil? LS1's are good, bulletproof engines, (being a Ford guy, even I respect that) why would it use enough oil to cause engine damage? Yeah I know, the kid should have checked it weekly. Do you think he was revving the piss out of it on a regular basis? Could it have sucked enough oil into the intake from over revving to do this? Or perhaps a broken ring, the car never smoked though. Funny thing, I found him a '94 Z-28 for his wife with a very potent LT1, (the car was cammed and drag raced, and it's still going strong)

Anyrate, whats the best course of action? Should he just get a new short block from Chevy? A new engine would be big $$$$$. Anybody up in CT have knowledge of a decent LS1 for sale? Steve is ONE HELL OF BODY MAN and painter (he did my Mustang stripes) and is a good guy to know if you need ANAL paint and bodywork (and, he's reasonable). (a '62 'vette he painted took the Bloomington gold) So if anyone here can help us out with advice or an engine, give me a PM. Looks like I'll be wrenching in an LS1 when I get out of school for summer vacation up in CT! Thanks ahead!

John

**Killer_bluebird** · 04-14-2007, 05:51 AM

What was the amount of time between changing the oil and the motor going poof? Some earlier LS1 had oil consumption problems which GM fixed later on by using different rings, but if it is barely registering any oil in there that would mean he's missing 3-4 quarts. Most cars that did have consumption problem would end up been low between 1/2-1 quart between oil changes.

**Speedy_Gonzales** · 04-14-2007, 06:16 AM

welcome to ls1

**0rion** · 04-14-2007, 07:06 AM

first off, welcome to the site. Spun bearings aren't an uncommon thing with these engines, 98's in particular. Being extrememly low on oil doesn't help. I've read a few different possible reasons. Do you know what his oil pressure was before the bearing spun? The oil pump could've took a dump and caused it. The rod bolt quality was suspect on the 98's and got changed in 99 and again in 00 I think. The bolts stretch and the tolerance increases leading to a spun bearing. The fact he was that low on oil is probably the main reason it spun I would think. Open the throttle body and see if there's an unusually large amount of oil in there. The pcv systems are famous for sucking up oil and putting it in through the intake.
I would keep an eye out for a used engine in the for sale section. I see them go for 2500-3000. Good luck and keep us posted on what he ends up going with.

**FORD/CHEVY** · 04-14-2007, 02:46 PM

Thank you sir for the help! His oil pressure since he got the car was 60 psi, I found that unusual because the oil pressure in my '04 Corvette always hangs around 45psi, a little less when hot. That number seemed a little high to me, but the engine did have pressure. I knew the prior owners and I know the car wasn't abused. I can't say that about my friend's son (who owns the car) he blew the engines in (2) T-Bird Supercoupes, (1) 2.8L Blazer, (with a new GM engine) and smoked a tranny in '89 Cougar. He singlehandedly just about took out my friends "fleet" of cars! Thanks for the advice, maybe I can make a deal with him for my 30K mile LS1 in my 'Vette for $3K, and then I can kick in another $2K and have me a new LS2!

John

**Frankthetank** · 04-14-2007, 06:56 PM

98's have a bad problem with the oil pumps going out on em......
Ls1's burn through allot of oil....like he said above....epsecially 98's....
My first z28 was damn near the same thing....6spd z28 with ground effects.....I drove it from nc to texas and back and used about 2 mayb 2.5 quarts of oil......They are just like that......

LS2/6/7 motors dont have the same oil burning problem....
It doesnt make the ls1 a bad motor u just need to keep it in mind when u have that motor that its prone to do that.....

It especially doesnt get better when u have a heavily moded car....or even moderately like mine

**Frankthetank** · 04-14-2007, 06:57 PM

ohhh btw....I would pm u man.....but for somereason I cant access it....u sure ur profile will accept pms?

**FORD/CHEVY** · 04-15-2007, 03:11 AM

Frank,
Thanks for the info. I can't see where I can turn PM's on on the CP, each one of these forums are slightly different! My e-mail is listed in my profile, shoot me one. I'm surprised about the oil consumption, my '04 Corvette is PERFECT! I just drove to Florida from VA, 1800 miles round trip, didn't use a drop of Mobil I! I have heard on the Corvette Forum that these engines do tend to suck oil through the PCV breather line when revved. I'm easy on my car, so that probably is why I don't use oil, the car is so much fun to drive even cruisin slow, and I'm a corner guy, I spend my time ripping through banked corners in the Shenandoah mountains. I've got a line on a '99 engine with 52,000 miles on CF, for $1800. Sound like a good deal? Is it possible to drop the cradle/engine on the floor, without a lift? This guys like a brother to me, I always come through when it's wrenching time.

John

**traceymccabe** · 04-15-2007, 05:54 AM

Was Moble 1 used in this engine prior to the new owner using it?

I have heard of cars running on regular oil, and then switching to Moble 1 using more oil. Granted your case sounds extreme.

Just my 2 cents.

Tracey

**danziger** · 04-15-2007, 06:28 AM

If the engine is wasted, now's the time to upgrade. I'd at least do better pistons, rings, pushrods, timing chain and oil pump. Throw a cam in there and 400rwhp isn't out of the question...
Find a competent shop (there are a few here in the Tidewater area) that will do the shortblock and, depending on how mechanically-inclined you are, finish the rest yourself.

**Frankthetank** · 04-15-2007, 07:49 AM

1800?
Nah man id look around more.....I sold my 98ls1 with all the wiring to it for 1500....it only had 86k on it too

**Killer_bluebird** · 04-15-2007, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by danziger

If the engine is wasted, now's the time to upgrade. I'd at least do better pistons, rings, pushrods, timing chain and oil pump. Throw a cam in there and 400rwhp isn't out of the question...

C'mon with the kids history, handing him a 400rwhp engine is like handing him a lit stick of dynamite and telling him to go sit in the car. If he doesn't kill himself he will trash the transmission and rear end shortly after.

**wnmech** · 04-15-2007, 03:21 PM

possible to drop the cradle/engine on the floor, without a lift? Hey ford/chevy its not a hard job to drop the cradle out from the bottom. I was always old school by pulling eng/tranny from top and was scared when my 01 formula threw a rod. I put the car on jack stands and used my motorcycle jack for the cradle and my floor jack on the transmission and positioned my engine hoist over the front end and bolted chains from both shock towers and with the hoist I picked the body up real high and then let the jacks down and wheeled the combo out from under the car. Most of the engine wiring stays attached to the engine. Unbolt the computer and harness and lay it on the engine. When you get it done you will be surprized how simple it really was. Good luck with it

**2001hawk** · 04-15-2007, 09:25 PM

My cousins son was another one of these destructive little shits. It took probably a year for my cousin to break his son's habits. After his son had wrecked his truck twice and rolled it once he takes the thing mudbogging and sends the bottom end of the motor through the oil pan. So finally my cousin gets tired of bailing his kid out and they buy him a beat to hell honda. They also waited a year to fix the engine. The son drove the ranger for another six months without putting a scratch on it. I guess the moral is if you want to straighten a kid up make him drive a honda. LOL J/K

**FORD/CHEVY** · 04-16-2007, 01:46 AM

When my friend's kid started driving I suggested a '86 -'87 Dodge Aries K 4 door! I had a few as company cars, stodgy, underpowered but damn near indestructible.

His kid is making payments on the car, which makes me wonder.

I like the idea of a motorcycle lift, brilliant idea! I could pick the car up the rest of the way with my portable hoist, AKA, my Kubota!

John

**wnmech** · 04-17-2007, 12:29 PM

My motorcycle jack is rated at 1500 lbs and the runners were just wide enough to fit good on the cradle and for the transmission I had a piece of 2x6 between my floor jack and the trans oil pan. It worked out real good

**soljhaboy2c** · 04-18-2007, 10:48 AM

all of this stuff you boys are talking about is suprising to me, i drove my 98 trans am 4500 miles across the states with no problems. oil level didnt budge. then i drove it again 2300 miles or so, same thing. guess i got one of the few that didnt take a shit on me yet.

**2001hawk** · 04-18-2007, 04:51 PM

Hey that is good to hear. Most peoples 98's they say used oil and it is supposedly worse if you drive it around in a high RPM, low load situation (driving down main street at 6000 RPM). I run synthetic oil 5000 miles and it the oil level never moves. But then in 01 they used a different set of rings.