outhouse

They are not terrible, and your cam may have wiped out the lifter.


Just built a 600hp Ls7 and I'm bought new OEM lifters because they are a decent lifter.


Better can be had but the price jump is 2-4 X the OEM

Synacks

Some people like them, some people don't. I can't get a straight answer now. I just want to get this fixed with reliable parts and never experience this again.

rjacobs

Are you putting a factory cam back in? No real reason to deviate from GM lifters.

Even if you are putting a mild cam in, GM lifters are ok as well. Im running a BTR Stage 2 cam which is on the bigger side of mild and i went with GM lifters. Had I gone to a bigger cam I would have explored some of the different lifter options.

With MOST of the after market lifter options you will also need new push rods.

Synacks

It would just feel weird putting back in the same parts that screwed up. I feel like it would be another gamble.

Unreal

TONS of cars run those same lifters. All the camaros, vans, trucks, etc. There is a TON on the road.

The problem is you don't know if the cam failed or lifter failed. I had one fail, and put stock ls7 lifters back in. No regrets.

outhouse

Again, it probably was the cam that ate the lifter. It is that more often then lifter failure.


These lifter wheels are generally a 300,000+ mile lifter.

Synacks

If that's the case then which cam would be the best replacement? Going for pure reliability here and no tuning.

Unreal

Stock.

Synacks

So out of all of these LS7s having problems did GM ever recreate a better stock lifter or cam? Or did they continue to use these parts and people keep having problems? I want this to be a one time thing and that's it. Thanks.

rjacobs

out of what all LS7's having what problems?

IMO lifter and cam issues on stock motors are pretty rare.

LS lifters have had a few revisions, all relatively minor. The current lifter is used in all LS motors(LS1/2/3/7/9/A). I helped a local guy last spring replace his factory LS2 lifters and we put in the current lifters, they were slightly different(the new lifters have a full skirt around the roller axle, his factory LS2 lifters did not have the full skirt). I dont remember if the factory LS7 lifters I took out of my motor were any different than the replacements I put in this spring.

Michael_D

I would not call the LS7 lifters horrible. They are quite frequently used as an upgrade to other other LS platforms. The "caddie" lifter is another GM option. I just prefer the larger wheel, so that means aftermarket (or Ford in some cases). Bigger the better. I also think that is more important with this engine because of the 1.8 rocker ratio. I like Morel. They've been good to me for many years. Doesn't mean they are best, just what I like to use when Jesel are simply too expensive for the build. A lot of guys speak higher of Johnson, but I have not used them, so I don't have an opinion. I will however say that there are vendors who talk smack about Morel, but they don't sell them, and can't get a dealer licence to sell them. Morel has a very small dealer network. To weed out the BS recommendations and opinions, you can always call Kip at CamMotion. He sells both Morel and Johnson, and will shoot you straight on your options, including the use of OEM lifters. Just don't get short travel lifters, whatever you do.

outhouse

They are long life parts they are also high lift and tied to an aggressive valve train being a very high horsepower engine.


They generally don't have a lot of issues or bad reputation.


Failure is not a norm, valve guides? well yes that is a problem also dynamic tied to aggressive valve train and lack of QC on GM's part. Cam and lifters not so much.

Katech_Zach

Pontiac GTO.R Katech LS2, 24 Hours of Daytona 2005, 2006 - stock lifters
Pontiac GXP.R Katech LS2, 24 Hours of Daytona 2007, 2008 - stock lifters with ceramic check ball (predecessor to GM High Speed)
IMSA PC Spec Katech LS3, 24 Hours of Daytona 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 - GM High Speed lifters

Maybe it's not the lifter. Maybe it's the valvetrain dynamics.

Unreal

Or since it was a bone stock car, just a freak accident and move on. The stock stuff is as reliable as it gets IMO. You can spend 4-8x as much, but odds of failing are not going to be less.

I think the vast majority of the time the lifter is the victim in a poor setup, and poor valve train dynamics like Jason said. My first lifter that failed I believe was from a crappy setup, because I had a hack local shop spec a cam. They picked the most aggressive race style lobes possible with no concern for it being a street car, or daily driver. That killed a lifter quickly.

KM177122

Bummer, sorry to hear that this happened!

Synacks

spy2520

I had a lifter fail and eat the cam as well. Pulled motor. All new bearings etc.

KM177122

Likewise. Bad deal!

Undy

In a LOT of cases it's a soft/bad cam that eats the lifter, probably more often than not...

phipp85

Is there a way to visually tell the difference between the GM High speed lifters and stock ones? I have a spare engine that supposedly has them installed but I don't know for sure. I'd like to pull a head and see.