DanMan35

I know all about the valve guide issue on the LS7 motor. But I also have heard that the LS7 is just naturally a noisier motor than most. I'm not a mechanic but I know in most cars if there is a tick tick tick noise in the motor it isn't exactly normal.

In regards to the LS7 motor if you hear a tick tick tick sound in the motor is that normal because the LS7 motor is noisier than most or does that mean something is wrong (I'm referring to the valve guide issue). I am planning on having the heads done but I just want to get this clarified.

Does the tick tick mean there is a problem? Or is it pretty normal for this engine?

LMB-Z

If my LS7 was making a tick tick tick noise, I would run. It may be a bomb.

Slow down and take a deep breath. LS7's are noisier than most engines. What you may be hearing is the fuel rails. Have the heads on your car been checked or replaced?

DanMan35

I just bought the car last week. As far as the previous owner could tell me, no, the heads have not been addressed. I am not going to be one of these naïve people that says "it will never happen to me" but I will say the car has 66,500 miles on it. I figure if a valve were to drop it would have dropped by now.

With that being said, I am still absolutely going to get the heads addressed by AHP. But it probably won't be for another couple months or so. I've never owned an LS7 engine or a Corvette for that matter. I have heard before that LS7's are just naturally a noisy engine and just because you hear valve train noise doesn't mean anything is wrong with the engine. But then I know all about the valve guide issue on the LS7's and other issues like stuck lifters?

I don't know...I guess I was just wondering if the LS7 truly is just a noisy motor and a ticking noise doesn't necessarily mean anything bad.

Planning on making the 270 mile drive to AHP in late April or mid May to get the heads taken care of

DanMan35

What about the fuel rails causes ticking noises?

Tech

Ticking is normal. It's especially loud just below 2k rpms.

User Omega

I wouldn't drive it if the heads have not been addressed. The injectors are noisy but you could be risking it hugely. Don't discount the danger because of the miles. These drop valves at any mileage.

Often times the user never even notices a noise so you could very likely be hearing injector noise but a valve ready to toss up the ghost.

fattiremike

I understand your dilemma. I bought some wheels from a fellow z06 owner who educated me on the LS7 valvetrain problems when I first bought mine. He had his drop a valve in his driveway while warming the car up. He stated that he had no indication or loud "ticking" noise to warn him of the impending doom. His replacement motor was over $20k. After our conversation, I pretty much didn't drive mine anymore until I got the heads replaced.

The "sewing machine" noise that people speak of is the valvetrain and fuel injectors performing their normal operations. So, I think that the answer to your question would be to listen for any abnormal "out of sequence" ticks that may be a bit louder or more random than than all the others.

With that being said, when I did the AHP heads on mine I could not believe how quiet the motor was afterwards. That could only have been valvetrain noise (which I thought was very quiet from the original heads) from the valves themselves, since all of the other components were the original equipment and went right back on.

My recommendation would be to drive the car as little as possible until you can get the heads done. Hope this helps.

Dan_the_C5_Man

The short answer is it's both - naturally noisy, and no, you can't determine if you have bad valve guides based on how noisy it is.

The only true and valid test is to pull the valve covers off, check for excessive movement of the valves in the guides.

outhouse

Actually you can to a degree.


AHP has stated they can hear a more metallic knock on worn valve guides then normal lifter/cam noise, or the injectors closing.

DanMan35

I wouldn't know the difference between the two noises anyways lol. But tomorrow morning I'll start the car up and listen to the engine and see if I hear anything that sounds like it's not in-sync with the normal ticking.

outhouse

Normal for cam/lifter noise to make a tapping/ticking sound as well as when the injectors close they make a light snapping sound.

outhouse

The only way to tell is if you did it for a living every day.


My stock cam ticked loud over 1800 RPM with light ticking sometimes under that. When it was disassembled the parts were all in perfect condition.


Aftermarket cams with more aggressive lobes then stock and with tighter springs also make more noise then stock.


I would not drive the car out of warranty if it was mine, and I would pull the heads asap and send them to AHP. Just because its over 60k means nothing less more prone to failure with more worn guides.


At 44k mine had 4 bad exhaust guides. I tore it down 2 weeks before my warranty was up because I would not chance it.


Better safe then sorry here.

Too-Fast

Your perspective that at 66k miles the valve should have dropped by now could be counterpointed by, at 66K miles the guides are so bad a failure is imminent. If it were me, with all of the examples of failures, I would pull the heads and have them done, full stop IMO.

stefuel

You'll be in for valve work totaling in the thousands. Add a couple of hundred to it and have it ramped there. Call around to a couple of local tow company's for quotes

09C6Z06

I just went thru this issue, when new, the motor was somewhat noisy, it sounded like a solid lifter motor, I took it to Chriswell Chevy and they assured me it was 'natural'. Last summer at the Cruise In at OC Md I went to the GM High Performance booth and spoke about my LS7 making a noise that reminded me of a 'rod knock' with one of their senior more seasoned Engineers who seemed very knowledgable, we spoke at length,. His opinion was that these motors are NOT naturally more noisy, as proof of this position he stated 'this is the reason they use 5W30 as the tolerances are much tighter and thus 'less noisy'. I took it to another dealer, Waldorf Chevy, who found my cam was wiped. They replaced the cam, 8 lifters, push rods and rockers, checked all valve guides for slop and the valve angles as well. Motor is now quiter then when new. Am I concerned they blew some smoke up my ..., well I got GM Corporate involved who oversaw all of the dealers activities. The story I get is that GM had a supplier deliver components that were out of spec in the early supply chain. Good Luck, I was ready to take it to Lingenfelter for the 600HP+ cam and head job around $10K.

FlipRay

Have a shop listen to it. Most shop can tell you real fast if it might be just a normal tick or something worst like a dead lifter. You can also pop the valve covers off and check for any play on the rockers.

Mike's LS3

Have a competent shop do the wiggle test. If the valve guides are out of spec, pull the heads and send them to AHP.

Dan_the_C5_Man

Notice I said "you", as in the OP... and this applies to MOST folks asking these questions.

outhouse

Ya agreed

Todds427

Ticking is NORMAL on that engine.