There is a ticking problem with some C5.The ticking comes from the lifters.The problem is the oil.Lots of C5 have little ticking lifter problem. And GM know this.It,s not a realy problem.And not any problem for the engine to work normaly. But change the oil in the engine and try AMALIE 5W-30.This oil is recomended for C5.After some miles the ticking probably stops.

 

A small ticking noice from the lifters have many C5 drivers.The problem is the oil.Change to AMALIE elixir 5W-30 and drive some miles.And it,s stops normaly. it,s recomended for C5. And for the ticking. And normaly the ticking stops.GM knows about this.

 

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The car dyno'd exactly at what similar C5's have had for HP/TQ. Which was 321HP/331TQ, and that was without the intake.


Yes, it's 100% constant. It always ticks.

 

Short of running some type of engine cleaner through your oil to see if that clears up the problem, I think you will have to narrow the noise down to the offending cylinder (using a hose or stethoscope as mentioned) and then pull that valve cover to inspect. Could be a rocker bearing (as mentioned in a previous post). If the rocker looks ok, check for slack in the valve train to see if the lifter has lost its pre-load. If it has, then look for the reason why - will probably be one of the previously mentioned causes.

 

Mine has a tapping noise only when warm...not cold...not at temp..only in between. I thought it was a bad lifter but now im reading about this piston slap...what causes this and is there a solution...Just bought the LS1 so i'm fairly new to this engine.

 

Excessive “Piston Slap” occurs when the clearance between the piston and cylinder bore is too great. Essentially, the piston moves sideways and “slaps” or “knocks” hard against the cylinder bore and causes damage to the engine pistons and cylinders over time, excessive smoke emissions, excessive oil consumption, carbon buildup on piston heads, decreased mileage, and a loud and obnoxious “slapping” or “knocking” noise are the result.

It usually is characterized by a "rattle" sound (to my ears). It is caused by the trailing edge of the piston skirts hitting the cylinder wall on the up stroke and then again on the opposite wall immediately on direction reversal. This problem usually presents itself soon if not immediately after initial engine startup. It is usually more noticible when cold. Over time it will leave vertical scoring in the cylinder walls.

Most custom engine builders (and American engine builds in the past) used to hand match pistons to cylinders to reduce this possibility, but now some car manufacturers (including GM to my understanding since 1998) use a Net-Build which "assumes" that all pistons and bores are within a spec range which sometimes is either not the case or at best does not offer the best possible piston/bore matching.

The only real solution that I know of is to refit a new piston to the offending bore that has a tighter tolerance (after reconditioning the bore and taking new measurements).

The sound difference between piston slap and lifter malfunction is usually easy to tell.

 

Replaced the belt this afternoon finally. The squealing noise I had is virtually eliminated.

I'm going to take it for a drive soon and see if the ticking noise is still there. I suspect it will be, but I'll check anyway.


Yes, the ticking was happening in ALL those conditions regardless of weather as well.

 

I had the same thing for a while; turned out to be a bad insulator with the plug wires. Swapped them out,no more tick.

 

I certainly hope thats the case.

I'm ordering new wires and plus this afternoon and will be replacing all those hopefully next weekend.

 

I really can't understand why you don't go to any old auto parts store and for less than $10, you can buy an auto stethoscope and you'll no doubt be able to isolate the source of the ticking noise.

Better to properly diagnos the problem, than to start throwing new parts at it.

 

If it turns out to be a lifter sticking, a good cleaner is transmission fluid.

It's essentially a 5w oil with very high detergent. You can idle (IDLE!) the car with 5.5 quarts of Trans fuild instead of oil, then drain and refill with oil. Do not REV the car with 5w oil. Idle should be fine.

I have not done this on an LS1, but I did do it on a 3000GT which are famous for lifter tick. It fixed the problem for about 10k miles.

Try it if nothing else works.

 

I plan on doing just that, just haven't yet. Obviously I'm in no hurry.

I haven't thrown any parts whatsoever at it. I don't buy anything until I know, or at least have a good idea, of what is causing the problem in the first place.

 

if a roller lifter started rotating in the bore, it would destroy the cam, lifter, crack the bore etc.
flat tappet lifters rotate in the bores, rollers cannot.

 

Wow - I guess that "dates" me. I used to build 454's in Corvettes (long time ago). I did not even know the LS1s used roller lifters! I guess I will be finding out soon when I rebuild mine (my first small block). Thanks for the correction.

 

I do have a -99 C5 LS1. 40.000km on it.
Same problem with ticking noise.
When my car was stock, there was no additional noises.
I did change cam, pushrods, rockers (CompCams),
intake oil pump & other service stuff.
Car runs just fine and no perf. problems.
However, there is a ticking noise which can be heared at low RPM.
I try to find where sound come. I use just screwdriver against my ear . Sound is loudest at valve cover in far right cylinder.
So i took valve cover off...couldn't see any problems.
Its killing that something is wrong but what ?
Or should i just live with that sound??

 

Are using the corect octane fuel on filling at the station. Lower octane will present decreased performance and a octane knock that is just starting. If you are using 87 / 89 octane be careful and try using the correct octane for results.

 

Its a valve train problem. Well, I would be shocked if it wasnt. You can even use a wooden broom handle up to your ear to isolate the tick. Its amazing how much you can hear. Good luck

 

Could this be the common 'sewing machine' noise? A lot of C5's/LSx's experience this. Do a search in the C5 section on 'sewing machine' and you'll find numerous posts on the subject. Did you buy it used? If so, perhaps the previous owner did some engine or exhuast mods...

 

I dont think that problem is in Fuel.
I use 99+ octane fuel (i think here are some other grades than US??)
However, this one:
www.shell.com/us/vpower/

Valvetrain problems is very good answer.
Could it be lifter?
Rockers & pushrods are easy to check, i have to check visually them first.
But i have to take heads off to check lifters.....What a job.
Is there any way to check lifter without taking it off from head ?

 

I had a ticking noise that was a little "soft" and it turned out to be loose spark plugs. The noise got louder over a 2 month period. I could actually see the plug wires shaking when the car was running. 2 of them were loose enough to hand tighten. I torqued them down and that ticking is gone.
I still have another slight ticking noise.