I generally see oil pressure as high as 50 when cold at idle, as low as 29 when at a hot idle. This will vary depending on your climate, oil temperature, and the type of oil you run. It sounds as though your pressure is well within spec. Bad bearings don't usually affect oil pressure, rather poor oil pressure or oil starvation causes bearing wear and failure.

Some other things to try:

Get a mechanic's stethoscope. Harbor Freight has them for cheap. It may help localize the noise.

Pull spark plug wires one at a time from each cylinder. If it is rod knock, you will notice a difference in sound when there is no combustion in the affected chamber. Remember to use plug boot pliers to avoid an annoying shock.

Some LS2's experience piston slap, but your's doesn't go away so that's probably not the case.

Sometimes, sounds like this are caused by flywheel or torque converter bolts backing out and making contact as the engine turns. This is not easy to check on a C6, but if you can pinpoint the noise to that area, might be worth looking at.

As I said before, don't run it too much or too hard. If it is a bearing, and the bearing is replaced before it trashes the rod or the crank, that is a major plus, though unfortunately many times if you can hear the noise the damage has been done.

 

I had a stuck hydraulic lifter sound like that years ago on an OHV Olds engine. So it may be not a rod knock after all. I also had a rod knock years later on same engine that took out the crank journal. The rod knock was very much louder than the ticking sound of the lifter. Use a stethascope as suggested and great suggestion is pulling plug wires one at a time - if its a rod, the plug wire trick should tell the story.

 

That's for the suggestions. I just ordered a bunch of valve train parts. It's not too expensive so I figured I'd start with that. I'm going to replace my lifters and trays and inspect the cam while the heads are off. Checking the pushrods and rockers too. I'll keep everyone posted. Any suggestions on pulling the heads or on the reinstall.

 

That's a pretty big jump without knowing the problem for sure. Have you done any of the steps suggested in troubleshooting before you tear into the valvetrain?

 

I pulled the plug wires and I didn't notice the knock sound any different. I figure if I pull the heads and take a look and throw some new lifters in that would be a small price to pay to see if it either goes away or the problem is in the block.

 

Difficult to diagnose from the video, but I'll throw in my $.02.

I also have an '05 and it recently started making a heavy ticking noise that I initially thought was valvetrain. I had just replaced a cam position sensor, and after localizing the noise I realized it was coming from the front of the motor. I pulled the new sensor, and:



The old sensor was also grooved (not nearly as bad), but being new to corvettes and LS motors, I didn't really know what I was looking at. The consensus is that the cam gear bolts are loose allowing the gear to walk forward and hit the sensor.

I have parts on the way (gonna replace the balancer while I've got it apart), and I'm waiting for a shop manual before I tear into it...

May not be the same problem, just another data point. I'd definitely do some more diagnosing before spending lots of $$ if I were you.

 

Where is that sensor located, maybe ill pull it out and take a look at it

 

If you're looking at the front of the motor, it's at 1 o'clock, just above the balancer.

 

sounds like a lifter to me. i had the same noise and replaced my lifters and no more knocking sound. it was so loud i thought it was a rod bearing, but if you have not experienced any power loss then it should be a lifter.

heres my 05 gto

 

So I swapped the lifters and put in new pushrods while I was in there. The noise appears to be gone but now I have a CEL P0016. Crank and can are out of sync. I have no idea how this is possible because I didn't pull the cam or anything. Just the heads and replaced everything without turning the motor. Any ideas?

 

Long story short, I pulled the heads, replaced a lot of the internals and slapped it all back together. Ticking went away for about 5 minutes then came right back and gave me a code of cam and crank sensor out of alignment. The code kept on coming back after it was cleared and I tried to do the steps to realign them using a snap on scan tool. The code stayed. I pulled the cam sensor and sure enough I had the same mark as Rodan posted above. Not as bad but basically the same thing. Put a new sensor and its still tapping. So I guess I'm going to have to take the cover off and take a look at what's going on. I did a crank pulley install the same day as the noise came about so I'm trying to figure out if its related. Any ideas?

 

I still don't have mine torn down. My new balancer, and the rest of the stuff I need should arrive tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to get to it this weekend.

Last weekend I started on pulling the radiator, and discovered the lower support/skid plate is busted all to ****. No obvious significant impact (the usual scrapes are there), but virtually every weld on the thing is busted. Great quality...

 

Wow sorry to hear about the welds. Let me know how the fix goes on the cam gear.

 

Update:

Finally got mine torn down... cam gear bolts were indeed loose, allowing the gear to walk forward, impacting the cam position sensor.

[RANT]
Is anyone else frustrated by what a PAIN IN THE A** it is to work on these cars? I swear the engineers went out of their way to design everything to interlock like a chinese puzzle, wiring looms and hoses interlacing like some demented hairstyle. Not to mention all the special tools...

I've been working on cars for better than 30 years and this thing is the most irritating car I've ever worked on.
[/RANT]

Anyway, I'll start bolting it back together in the morning. My skid plate isn't due in until Tuesday, so it'll be next weekend before it's on the road again.

 

That is why I go crazy with the budget and use these cam bolt locks..



http://www.jegs.com/i/COMP-Cams/249/...oductId=753181

 

I guess I have to tear mine down and do the cam bolts now. This sucks

 

Yup... got a set waiting to go in. Also changing to an aftermarket balancer...

 

I never heard a noise. I lost a timing gear and wiped out the engine.

 

Same issue... stock bolts coming loose?