I have a 05 vette with 70,000 miles. recently had HB, Bolt and belts replaced. A squeak had developed from the engine and im now being told its likely a bad lifter and recommended to do cam at the same time. The car is completely stock. I want to keep it close to stock as i would like to take it on long distance trips. id like it to be dependable. Should i upgrade my cam and lifters? better brands? is there something not as aggressive but will give me HP gains and dependablity for long distance drives? Should i be doing anything else while the engine is opened up? thanks

 

nobody?

 

The LS2 is a great motor IMO, it has some choking points like the air box, the intake manifold and the exhaust manifolds. If you only upgrade the cam I am afraid you will be disappointed in the $$ spent and the performance after.
Headers, Fast intake, cold air intake, ported throttle body and a tune had my 06 running great with the stock cam and was a blast to drive. Cam and heads only came after I had the supporting mods already in place.

 

I like that advise, the problem is my lifters and cam are bad and need to be replaced. Id prefer to not do anything to the car as i enjoy the power stock and it feels great. i also dont want to mess with lossing any gas milage. since i have to open up the engine should i upgrade the lifters and cam? or just stick with the stock ones?

 

I've had my stock lifters go bad at the roller (there were chips on 2 of the rollers and it scored those lobes of the cam). It made a noise that I thought was a pulley at first. I've attached a pic of one of my stock lifters with a chipped roller, as well as a pic of the damage it did to the camshaft for your viewing pleasure! My car was supercharged so I decided to build a forged motor. Went with an aftermarket performance lifter... after 3k miles the roller on that performance lifter broke in half! Metal went into the oilpan, in oil lines.. it was a mess. For rebuild #2... went with stock LS7 lifters. The GM stuff is at least R&D and quality controlled to last through warranty periods.
So, if you want stock drivability and mileage and just want to repair your car, replacing with stock cam and GM lifters is a great option! For good gains with a cam, you would want supporting mods, and more aggressive cams make daily manners more of an issue, plus tuning it to make sure the computer is happy with it and it doesn't act up, like stalling if there isn't enough idle air, etc. If you don't feel like messing with that, stock replacement is a great option! Less hassle

 

Here is a pic of the aftermarket performance lifter that broke a roller randomly.

Not saying this can't happen with even stock lifters... just sharing what happenned to me. At least the OEM lifter lasted 40K miles and tons of track days before chipping, and even then at least it didn't completely break lol

 

Sorry to hijack OP

Who's lifter is this?

 

z06scentair sent you a pm.

 

If you think the lifters are bad, then replace them immediately... I've had to completely go through my LS2 twice now because I've broke a stock lifter and an aftermarket lifter... Both times the lifters broke I needed new cams(had aftermarket comp cams), new oil pumps, new bearings and rings throughout, new crankshaft reluctor wheels... my current forged bottom end has dents all over rods and bottom of pistons from the broken lifter pieces bouncing around...

A mild cam will not affect mileage or drivability if you get it tuned...

My previous "cam only" set up was 231/235 617/623 113 +3 cam, fast 92 intake, vortex intake, kooks headers, borla mufflers, slp underdrive pulley, brian tooley valvesprings netted 453rwhp and 417rwtq with a great tune... manual trans... regularly got 30-31 mpg at highway speeds, and 27+mpg at interstate speeds...

A stage 1 or 2 street cam from nearly any LS vendor, valve springs, and LS7 lifters would definitely be the way to go... and a really good tune... intake and exhaust are not a must, they could definitely be done later if at all, but of course a good intake helps a lot... After trying a few different cams and doing lots of research, I currently run cam motion cam with less lift then most other cams on the market so that its easier on valve springs...

 

what brand of lifter is that?

 

thats good advise and thanks a million for the photos. Atleast I know what I'm looking at now. I'll post photos of mine when it's done. It may be a bit. Just bought the car a month ago. I'm going to need to put away a few pennies first. How much do you think I'd be looking to spend to get a cam lifers job done?

 

When did it start squeaking relative to the install of the harmonic balancer which is a common problem on the 2005?

 

Honestly not completely sure. I had a chirp before I changed the HB and (I thought the chirp was because of balancer)after I replaced the HB the chirp was louder and more dominant then before.

 

If i were you I'd go with link bar lifters for sure, I had an OEM lifter turn and start grinkding on the cam (lots of squeaking, until it literally exploded). I went with johnson racing lifters in my Iron Stroker, they're awesome and Randy is super helpful.

 

If you like the stock power you might want to consider just changing the cam and lifters with stock replacements, if you change to an aftermarket cam you will need new valve springs, pushrods and a tune at the very least.

 

May (?) want to revisit the balancer install before you tear the engine apart since the chirp got louder after replacement of know balancer issues with the 2005.

 

I don't know what I can do personally. I took it to A&A corvette and the chevy dealership. Both say it's the lifters and cam.

 

My 2 cents . . . let's say that the diagnosis is correct and you need to repair/replace the lifters and cam. The main cost will be the labor for sure. The parts are not that expensive but it is a big job. But upgrading the parts (lifters, springs, retainers, and cam won't be that much more money, probably a couple of hundred dollars for a nice cam kit over a stock kit. Why not upgrade? If you get a mild cam your drivability won't suffer, the gas mileage might suffer a tiny bit but you'll get a good amount of performance. These engines respond very well to a better cam. The engine will come to life and it will drive like a new car. You will enjoy the car a lot more. A CAI and headers are highly recommended but the headers add a good amount of money, the CAI not as much and it is a very easy DIY install. If I was in your situation I would definitely get a CAI and upgrade the cam specially since you have to pay to get it fix, might as well spend a little more but get a lot of extra hp, performance and better sound. If you can stretch the budget get a set of LT headers and the car will be a different animal. It will be reliable and drivable. The key will be in the cam selection. Ask around and talk to a reputable shop for cam recommendations.

I recently got a CAI, LT headers, no cats, X pipes, a 160 thermostat and a professional tune. The whole thing cost me less than $2000. The car drives so much stronger, it came alive in an amazing way. Runs amazingly strong and crazy fast. The difference is very dramatic and noticeable but in a very positive way. I am thrill about it and look for excuses to drive it now all the time. It is my dd and I'm enjoying my commute more that ever. I've been researching adding a cam and as soon as the budget allows I will.

Having that issue with your engine can be a blessing in disguise, take a bad situation and make it great, upgrade the cam and add a few extras performance tweaks, you'll be happy that you did and will thank me later. Good luck.

 

The plastic lifter buckets are a problem source. They can fail and allow the lifter to turn, resulting in a major catastrophe. I use lunati bar-link lifters which eliminate the need for the plastic buckets.

 

avoZ28,
I would go with a stock camshaft and lifters, while they are installing the cam with 70k miles have them throw a melling oil pump in, they are about $160. hten get yourself a diablo tuner and enjoy your corvette.