LS-1 lifter failure
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 275
Likes: 2
From: Tucson Arizona
LS-1 lifter failure
I was driving in traffic this past Friday and started hearing a ticking noise.
It sounded like too much lash on one lifter. Something is wrong I was thinking. I pulled alongside a van and rolled the window down to hear the echo. Sure sounds like a lifter. I decide to get her home as quickly as I can. In just another few minutes the sound is an order louder and I fell a noticeable shake in the engine like as though I was losing a cylinder. A few minutes later the noise is louder, the shake is stronger, and the oil pressure has dropped to 20# at 2200RPM.
Arghhhh...
Time to walk the plank me Bucko.
This be embarrassing as well as worrisome.
By the time that I get back to the house the oil pressure is down to 10 PSI. The shake is significant to the point of a lost cylinder and the noise is loud enough to notice during conversation.
I'm thinking catastrophic cam-lobe failure.
Damnitalltohell.
I pull the rocker cover and find that one rocker shaft set is loose and one push-rod seems to be setting too far down in the cavity. Like a cam-lobe has wiped.
Oy vey...
I pull the head and find that the lifter has failed but the lobe looks fine. The roller shaft came loose and wore a groove into the lifter bore.
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Bore.jpg
The lifter shaft failure
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Shaft%20Failure.JPG
OK. Not so bad as I feared.
Seeing as I have pulled the engine down this far I might as well pull the other head and put the RHS 54225s on.
Sigh... ;-)
It sounded like too much lash on one lifter. Something is wrong I was thinking. I pulled alongside a van and rolled the window down to hear the echo. Sure sounds like a lifter. I decide to get her home as quickly as I can. In just another few minutes the sound is an order louder and I fell a noticeable shake in the engine like as though I was losing a cylinder. A few minutes later the noise is louder, the shake is stronger, and the oil pressure has dropped to 20# at 2200RPM.
Arghhhh...
Time to walk the plank me Bucko.
This be embarrassing as well as worrisome.
By the time that I get back to the house the oil pressure is down to 10 PSI. The shake is significant to the point of a lost cylinder and the noise is loud enough to notice during conversation.
I'm thinking catastrophic cam-lobe failure.
Damnitalltohell.
I pull the rocker cover and find that one rocker shaft set is loose and one push-rod seems to be setting too far down in the cavity. Like a cam-lobe has wiped.
Oy vey...
I pull the head and find that the lifter has failed but the lobe looks fine. The roller shaft came loose and wore a groove into the lifter bore.
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Bore.jpg
The lifter shaft failure
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Shaft%20Failure.JPG
OK. Not so bad as I feared.
Seeing as I have pulled the engine down this far I might as well pull the other head and put the RHS 54225s on.
Sigh... ;-)
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Good that you can see a silver lining in the storm clouds. Good luck with the new heads and hope no more engine problems come you way.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,194
Likes: 147
From: Houston Republic of Texas
St. Jude Donor '10-'11-'12-'13-'14, '16
Glad it's going to be ok, I had the same problem but didn't lose oil pressure. I'm thinking new engine or heads, found out it's not that bad and I'm just replacing the lifters with ls7's. They asked if I wanted to do the heads too,but I have another build going on right now. Good luck,L8R ZFLASH
Pro
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 668
Likes: 26
From: Wadsworth Ohio
I was driving in traffic this past Friday and started hearing a ticking noise.
It sounded like too much lash on one lifter. Something is wrong I was thinking. I pulled alongside a van and rolled the window down to hear the echo. Sure sounds like a lifter. I decide to get her home as quickly as I can. In just another few minutes the sound is an order louder and I fell a noticeable shake in the engine like as though I was losing a cylinder. A few minutes later the noise is louder, the shake is stronger, and the oil pressure has dropped to 20# at 2200RPM.
Arghhhh...
Time to walk the plank me Bucko.
This be embarrassing as well as worrisome.
By the time that I get back to the house the oil pressure is down to 10 PSI. The shake is significant to the point of a lost cylinder and the noise is loud enough to notice during conversation.
I'm thinking catastrophic cam-lobe failure.
Damnitalltohell.
I pull the rocker cover and find that one rocker shaft set is loose and one push-rod seems to be setting too far down in the cavity. Like a cam-lobe has wiped.
Oy vey...
I pull the head and find that the lifter has failed but the lobe looks fine. The roller shaft came loose and wore a groove into the lifter bore.
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Bore.jpg
The lifter shaft failure
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Shaft%20Failure.JPG
OK. Not so bad as I feared.
Seeing as I have pulled the engine down this far I might as well pull the other head and put the RHS 54225s on.
Sigh... ;-)
It sounded like too much lash on one lifter. Something is wrong I was thinking. I pulled alongside a van and rolled the window down to hear the echo. Sure sounds like a lifter. I decide to get her home as quickly as I can. In just another few minutes the sound is an order louder and I fell a noticeable shake in the engine like as though I was losing a cylinder. A few minutes later the noise is louder, the shake is stronger, and the oil pressure has dropped to 20# at 2200RPM.
Arghhhh...
Time to walk the plank me Bucko.
This be embarrassing as well as worrisome.
By the time that I get back to the house the oil pressure is down to 10 PSI. The shake is significant to the point of a lost cylinder and the noise is loud enough to notice during conversation.
I'm thinking catastrophic cam-lobe failure.
Damnitalltohell.
I pull the rocker cover and find that one rocker shaft set is loose and one push-rod seems to be setting too far down in the cavity. Like a cam-lobe has wiped.
Oy vey...
I pull the head and find that the lifter has failed but the lobe looks fine. The roller shaft came loose and wore a groove into the lifter bore.
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Bore.jpg
The lifter shaft failure
http://millam.tackitt.net/Lifter%20Shaft%20Failure.JPG
OK. Not so bad as I feared.
Seeing as I have pulled the engine down this far I might as well pull the other head and put the RHS 54225s on.
Sigh... ;-)
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,194
Likes: 147
From: Houston Republic of Texas
St. Jude Donor '10-'11-'12-'13-'14, '16
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 275
Likes: 2
From: Tucson Arizona
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 275
Likes: 2
From: Tucson Arizona
Glad it's going to be ok, I had the same problem but didn't lose oil pressure. I'm thinking new engine or heads, found out it's not that bad and I'm just replacing the lifters with ls7's. They asked if I wanted to do the heads too,but I have another build going on right now. Good luck,L8R ZFLASH
I have seen mention of the LS7 lifters as an upgrade but a web-search didn't give me an answer as to just why they are an upgrade.
