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Thats what I'm seeing,although someone posted in another post that you didn't have to in GenI Ls1,I was hoping someone would have confirmed that,but it doesn't look like I'm going to get that lucky.
Pull that rocker and look down into the lifter to see if the lifter cup is below the clip. If not, than the lifter wheel may be the issue and that may require pulling the cam and taking the lifter out the bottom. Go slow here to avoid further damage.
Sure looks like a collapsed lifter...unless the push rod is way messed up or the rocker is not tightened down. What made you pull the valve cover?
i was leaving my house,and driving normal which means I wasn't getting on it at all,heard a weird noise and thought I threw a belt,drove slow to where I was going and lifted my hood to check my belt which was ok. Drove home and when I was about 1/2 mile away started hearing what sounded like a really bad exhaust leak. In the forced/induction section I posted a short video and some thought maybe a broken spring or collapsed lifter so that where I've been looking,figured the 1st thing to do would be pull the heads. I hope it's only a collapsed lift,I really don't want to change a cam too
Start by pulling that rocker and inspecting the push rod. Could be bent. Like VETTENUTS stated, see if the lifter cup has collapsed.
YES, you MUST pull the heads to remove the lifters and lifter trays. IF, you do get new lifters, make sure that you get four new lifter trays!
Thanks for chiming in Bill,I ordered new Ls7 lifters with cups last night. I'm hoping I have it narrowed down to that lifter,that seems to be where all the sound is coming from. If anyone will know I know it's you,if you look at the video I posted,you can see that the push rod is flopping around loose,shouldn't it have some pressure on the rocker arm no matter where the cam lobe is? That's the main reason I'm thinking its that lifter,all the other push rods have tension on the rocker arm other than that one.
You have to pop that one rocker off and remove the push rod. Its really simple and it could just be a bent push rod. Once its out, it really easy to actually look into the lifter push rod hole with a flashlight and see if the lifter cup is either:
Up against the little wire retainer on the lifter body
OR
Collapsed and NOT resting against the clip.
You have to pop that one rocker off and remove the push rod. Its really simple and it could just be a bent push rod. Once its out, it really easy to actually look into the lifter push rod hole with a flashlight and see if the lifter cup is either:
Up against the little wire retainer on the lifter body
OR
Collapsed and NOT resting against the clip.
That would be nice if it's just a bent push rod,I'll check that out right now. What would cause a push rod to bend just out of the blue? I really wasn't getting on it at all,just a normal drive.
That would be nice if it's just a bent push rod,I'll check that out right now. What would cause a push rod to bend just out of the blue? I really wasn't getting on it at all,just a normal drive.
I can't see anything down there,the push rod doesn't appear to be bent. I put the push rod back in and tried pushing down against the lifter,even with the wooden end of a rubber mallet and it will not move at all.
Well................... If the push rod isn't bent, then it can be one of a couple things:
- The valve is stuck open. If you put that cylinder in the TDC position, are the tops of both spring retainers equal heights?
- The lifter plunger piston is collapsed/damaged
- The lifter roller wheel is broken/damaged That would mean you need a cam also.
If you have to pull the heads, you have a couple options that you need to think about:
- Using the OEM Torque to yield bolts (need to order a set for both heads cause you CANT reuse the old ones again!!)
- Order and use a set of ARP Bolts (they can be reused)
- Order and install a set of ARP Head Studs.
I will never again use a set of OEM TTY bolts. I have the ARP Head Studs and LOVE THEM!!
NOTE! You MUST completely clean out EACH head bolt hole! The holes are blind holes. If there is ANY water/coolant, dirt or debris in the hole, when the bolt is torqued it will cause the block to crack at the end of the bolt hole! Double and triple check each hole to make sure there isn't any liquid in the hole!
Last edited by Bill Curlee; Oct 30, 2018 at 03:24 PM.
Well................... If the push rod isn't bent, then it can be one of a couple things:
- The valve is stuck open. If you put that cylinder in the TDC position, are the tops of both spring retainers equal heights?
- The lifter plunger piston is collapsed/damaged
- The lifter roller wheel is broken/damaged That would mean you need a cam also.
If you have to pull the heads, you have a couple options that you need to think about:
- Using the OEM Torque to yield bolts (need to order a set for both heads cause you CANT reuse the old ones again!!)
- Order and use a set of ARP Bolts (they can be reused)
- Order and install a set of ARP Head Studs.
I will never again use a set of OEM TTY bolts. I have the ARP Head Studs and LOVE THEM!!
NOTE! You MUST completely clean out EACH head bolt hole! The holes are blind holes. If there is ANY water/coolant, dirt or debris in the hole, when the bolt is torqued it will cause the block to crack at the end of the bolt hole! Double and triple check each hole to make sure there isn't any liquid in the hole!
Wel the head is off,it is that lifter. The bad this is I can't get it out,the other 3 in that section came out no problem,the 1st on the passenger side front of engine will not come out at all,maybe an inch then it just stops. I'm thinking I'm screwed.
You will need to remove the cam and pull it out from that direction. Remove all the other lifters, pull that one up as far as it will go and the cam will come out
It could be a thin varnish, you could try some carb cleaner...but it sounds like the wheel is mushroomed. At that point, the trick will be getting the cam out so you can drop the lifter down...but the cam has to come out past that lifter.
You will need to remove the cam and pull it out from that direction. Remove all the other lifters, pull that one up as far as it will go and the cam will come out
Is your cam damaged?
Thats what I was afraid of,I should have put it on my lift before I started this whole process. I've never done a can in a Ls engine,and I really didn't want to. As far as cam damage,I'm not sure,I have a striped valley cover bolt,it's the furthest one back on the drivers side,I've been trying everything to get that out and it's kicking my *** big time.
Ok how bad is this? I finally got the lifter out after getting the striped Allen head valley cover bolt out. The lobe doesn't look bad at all,but I scratched up the lifter journal pulling the lifter out. The other thing though,part of the lifter was gone,so I'm sure I'm screwed and will probably have to pull the engine for at least a rebuild if not replacement. Here's a couple pics of a good lifter and the bad one.
