mittens

watching that video its Very interesting that the spacing of such a tight tolerance moving part would change oil pressure that much. i mean few thousandth each way..

learn something new every day.,

rrsperry

Exactly why I'll pay someone to do that...lol Nice writeup...

SteveOO

I have been following this thread as I've been installing my Tx Speed cam, dod delete, cam phase limiter, trunion upgrade, header kit. 2017 Denali L86. Thread has been real asset, well done Thanks!
Hope to get this finished and start on Whipple kit. They say this engine has a lot to offer, I'm here to collect.
Issue: I am back together and started. No oil or very Little oil at rocker arms. 80#'s on a mechanical gauge tee'd into the cooler line in radiator. Dash gauge shows zero pressure. My guess is Tx Speed included the wrong lifters. I am reusing the non DOD cylinders lifters and they included new rollers to replace the DOD cylinders. They also sent me rocker arm bolts that were to long and unusable. Thoughts?
Update 2 years later, I replaced the LS7 lifters with Johnson lifters from Cam Motion and the lifters now oil up correctly, quickly.

FYREANT

Thanks man! Ok lets see what we can figure out. Some questions for you:

First, did you use the oil pump alignment tool when you pulled the oil pump off?

So for your lifters, to make sure im following you got 8 new lifters to replace the DOD lifters and are reusing the other 8 correct?

The rocker arm bolts happened to me with my kit from Vengeance. Sounds like they sent you LS bolts and not LT bolts. Call them, they should be able to get correct ones sent over to you.

Something else I would check is make sure your head gaskets are on correct. If the are flipped the wrong way you could be blocking the oil galleys leading in to the head.

Did you plug the AFM towers?

Lets start with those. We can go from there.

Ant

SteveOO

Oil Pump, I did not have the alignment tool. I loosened the 4 bolts and spun the engine with the starter, self centering the gears. We will see if this works. I'm hopeful.
Lifters, I am re-using the non dod lifters, and my kit included eight new lifters to replace the dod lifters. I noticed an oil hole drilled in the lower side of each lifter. It looked like the hole could face forward or back due to a chamfer in the block.
Head Gaskets, They clearly said FRONT on the factory gaskets, and cannot be installed upside down, due to lifter gallery holes.
AMF towers are plugged with pound in aluminum slugs, which I tappered the top of to fit into cover plate.
Idle speed was 1300+- for 80+ # reading, cold 10w30 oil 50 degress
That pressure is so high, seems to confirm idea that lifters are blocking oil, not flowing through them.
Tx speed did admit the bolts were wrong and sent me the correct bolts at no charge. Why are the kits wrong for this engine? Same issue with the lifters? How many lifter types are there?
Do you know where the oil pressure sender is located?

FYREANT

I worry about you not using the alignment tool. I have seen many cam jobs on the forum from members that did not use the tool (which must by used before you take the pump off the first time so too late now) that they have low oil pressure issues.

Do you have any pics of the lifters? I'm curious about the hole you describe. You can PM them to me if you like.

With the head gaskets I was just making sure you somehow didn't have them flipped where the "front" marking was in the back. They can actually fit that way if you aren't paying attention. lol

That pressure does seem high. Also, did you soak the lifters in oil for a few hours before installing them?

Good deal on the AFM towers. That's the same kind I have.

Not sure about why the bolts are wrong, likely they are still selling 3 LS cams to every 1 LT cam and easily got them mixed up.

Did you do new pushrods by chance? if so what size?

Oil pressure sensor is on top of the valley cover. If you're looking at the front of the motor, its in the front left of the top of the valley cover.

I would check out that sensor to see if there is an issue with it, and if it checks out ok, maybe start looking into the lifters.

Ant

Osman

Oil pressure sender is located on top of engine... front..
I also received wrong rocket bolts from TSP but ended up reusing stock bolts.

SteveOO

With the dod oil holes plugged, how would the sender unit ever get oil pressure in this location? The valley cover is getting no oil.??

FYREANT

There is an oil galley just for the sensor. See below circled in green:



Ant

SteveOO

l86

FYREANT

It will be the same.

449er

FYREANT, Nice job with the install & your step by step process! Thank goodness that I have an LS based motor & don't have to pull the engine to do a cam swap! Another reason not to buy a C7...sorry guys

SteveOO

I warmed the oil pan (don't ask how)- restarted, and am getting high oil pressure at this location, when I backed out sensor it squirted 10 ft.
I am also now getting oil to most rockers.
The engine starts on all cylinders 5 seconds and then almost dies. Revs back up but it is shutting down some of the cylinders. dod trying to deactivate fuel and spark? seems like the wrong cylinders.
I do not have most sensors plugged in, and no coolant. starting as you see it above.

FYREANT

Plug in all sensors and see what it does. Its likely freaking out looking for sensors such as crank/cam angle, fuel pressure, oil pressure, knock 1 and 2, etc. I would not try starting it without all sensors connected personally.

SteveOO

I warmed the oil pan (don't ask how)- restarted, and am getting high oil pressure at this location, when I backed out sensor it squirted 10 ft. Not sure why sensor is not reading.
I am also now getting oil to most/ all rockers.
The engine starts on all cylinders for 3 seconds and then almost dies, Revs back up but it is shutting down some of the cylinders, header pipes get cold. dod trying to deactivate fuel and spark? seems like the wrong cylinders. I may have knocked plug wires loose.
I do not have most sensors plugged in, and no coolant. starting as you see it above.
Also do you know what the sensor is that looks like it is plugged into the oil pump, passenger side bottom. I pulled the tan grommet loose, but it looks like it is still plugged in, s/b ok?

FYREANT

The sensor could be faulty. It has happened to other members before. What do you have for a tune? You must leave the connector in there for the oil pump. Thats also my point too. You can't start the car with multiple engine control sensors unplugged. It will freak out the CPU. It may be trying to go into eco mode or it my be trying to figure what to do since it doesn't have all the sensors plugged in. I guess I am curious why you are trying to start the engine without it being completely put back together 100%..

SteveOO

I wanted to hear it run before installing timing chain cover and accessories. If I had to tear it back down its quicker and cheaper. Also wanted to verify oil pressure in case the pump had to be manipulated. I am now starting to put it back together. I do not have a tune, Tx Speed did not have one with cam and headers. I may buy one just to sort out sensors working vs not. suggestions?

FYREANT

No tune is likely your problem with it starting and dying. The computer is getting radically different readings that what it is expecting to see. are you running stock fuel components? (high pressure pump and injectors). When I did my cam I worked with a forum member to get a "base cam tune" loaded so the car would startup properly. There are a couple members on here that can help you with that. I would recommend starting a new thread asking for tune help. Its doubtful they would see it buried in my thread. Also, you will need HP Tuners to load the tune.

Ghostnotes

What length of pushrod did you end up with?

Also did you run across any issues with lash. I set my TDC and set my zero lash on the #1 exhaust, when i go to the intake side on #1 with the same pushrod length checker i have all kinds of play. I can feel the plunger on both compress and rebound.

As it is with no preload and splitting the difference between the 2 for zero lash, it seems like my rod length is around 8.0.

SteveOO

My TX Speed kit came with stock length push rods. I think your rocker bolts are to long and bottoming out in head before the saddle gets tight. That's what mine did, using the new bolts in the kit. I used my bench grinder to shorten them, die to clean up starting thread. The aftermarket bolts have a bigger shoulder which I think you need to locate the rocker correctly.