FastAgain

Hi all,
I have a stock 2012 Z06 with about 38,000 miles on it. I enjoy it as a daily driver, and about 4 months ago, after an oil change, I noticed that the engine developed a substantial ticking at various RPMs. It is not audible at idle, but at about 1400, I hear it clearly, along with higher RPMs. Oil pressure is excellent with Royal Purple, and the car runs well, delivering 440 rear wheel horsepower, measured through kinematic and Newtonian Mechanics methods.

I have a couple quick questions; 1) Would I need to pull the heads to pull the lifters? 2) Is there any need to drain the cooling system to remove the intake manifold? 3) Is there any advantage to running the 88958689 part number lifters, rather than the 12499225 units? And, 4) Is this a project that the layman could effect? I built my first engine, an AMX 390, at age 17, but alas, my last one was at age 28 - and I'm 56, and technically savvy, in a general sense.

Thank you all for your time, and your thoughts.

Peace.

encasedmetal

1. yes
2. no
3. get johnson 2110 lifters if you don't use exactly the stock ls7 lifters
4. buy the "how to rebuild an ls engine" at Barnes and noble or online, and you should be fine

Unreal

Depending on what happened, could have wiped the cam shaft. So be prepared for that.

KurtsZ06

I might get hung out to dry on this comment but what the hell.

couple of years ago my C2 did the same thing. It has the 327 with hydraulic lifters. Definite ticking sound unless oil pressure was high, like around 2000 rpm.
i bought a can of Sea Foam, put it in and let the engine idle for 15 minutes. Totally solved the problem. Changed the oil and filter, all was good.

sure beat pulling the intake and rocker arms.

captain vette

Take it to a pro shop you can’t compare a 60’s amx engine to a modern more complex LS7.

Apocolipse

Sometimes we forget simple things. Can also use ATF to clean it up. If that doesnt work - time to roll up the sleeves.

FastAgain

Thank you for your input. The 8-series part number is GM's "performance lifters" for the LS7 - whatever that means. I was definitely thinking of getting a text on the LS series, or, if available, on the LS7 specifically.

Peace

FastAgain

Goodness, I hope not. I suspect that if such had happened, there would be no RPM range where the engine was quiet. But it would make a hell of an excuse to drop a cam in the motor.....

FastAgain

Why would you get flamed for your post? No problems here.

FastAgain

Agreed about the engine technology, but I'm not a total noob, and a reasonably fast learner. Not to mention that I'm not afraid to admit what I don't know, or to ask for help. Like right now.

gsflyer2011

Try the easy solutions first. My GS did the same thing few years back, i put in a bottle of cd2 from pep boys(engine cleaner) drove 100 miles with it and changed the oil and no more ticking lifter. It has been purring since then.

Bryan91SE

I've read many posts on here that the LS7 has a sewing machine sound to it and most of the conclusions is that it is normal.

80atez

I did notice my " lifter" noise got better after an oil change. You changed to RP or changed your RP to new? Why not put M1 in and see what happens first. I thought RP was very thin. I don't know.

I have a lifter make a bit of noise similar to yours until I run it for a while then it usually quiets. I never hear it when driving, only when listening with window down. I pay close attention and it really isn't worsening over last 5K miles, so I'm not going to rip into it.

Wondering if the sound gets better/worse when the oil is HOT.

BigVette427

The two main reasons GM choose the Johnson SLR 2110 lifters for their COPO Camaro's are A) they don't fail, and B) they don't lose lift as the cam rotates, like many lifters, including the GM LS7, do. What good is that .635" lift cam if you're only getting .600" lift out of it because of your lifters? Since you have to remove your heads in order to get to your lifters, it's was part of the price of admission for me when I did my heads.

Undy

My stock cam went south. IMO, a wiped cam is more likely than a collapsed lifter. Here's pic of my wiped OEM cam. The lifter was fine...

Unreal

I had a cam that looked just like ^^^^. Mild tick at idle. Would go away when rev'd, mostly because rest of car was too loud to hear anything. Just saying be prepared for that.

80atez

Can I ask a question to help me figure out what I should or shouldn't do to you guys as a guy who knows next to nothing about engines and cams... '08 LS7, basically stock with Ti intake valves added.

I had my heads worked on 14,000 miles ago and there is a mild "lifter" type noise that, as far as I can tell, has been there since then. Reading about lifters and cams, I wonder:

1. if you remove heads and don't plan to mess with lifters or cam, do you remove the lifters as part of the head replacement process for any reason (thinking maybe they could have switched their locations??).

2. Assuming I'm not fooling my self, if this rather mild intermittent noise has been there and not worsening for 14,000 miles, can I assume it is NOT a wiped lobe? Would the engine have crapped out by now, or just maybe tomorrow!! Car seems to run fine, even done a few HPDE.

In other words, if you hear a "wiped cam" is that a "park the car and tow it kind of event?
Thanks in advance.

FastAgain

HOLY COW!!

FastAgain

Thank you for the very valuable visual info, on that wretched possibility.

However, I have a slightly unusual situation with my car, and I'm wondering if pursuing the following might not be an option.

Briefly:
I bought the car in 10/2016, as a GM Certified Used Car, with 16,000 miles on it. Unless I misunderstood the dealer, this adds another two years to the warrantee, carrying it into 2019. Should this be the case, I'm thinking of letting GM handle this, with one caveat; the workforce in south Florida is devastatingly ill prepared, and ill-motivated to correctly effect a repair of this nature. I had the car shipped from OH to FL, as there are only 19 Z06s built in 2012 with the Crystal Red Tint Coat, and I very much wanted this exact car, other than the fact that I prefer the Cashmere interior over the "titanium". Also, south Florida's community members typically hold insanely crass, and apathetic attitudes toward anything which doesn't belong to, them, or that doesn't, at the very least, represent a significant financial reward for minimal effort (i.e; my sister was charged $280 to mount and balance 4 tires on her BMW 328i, while I was charged $120 for the same on my Z06). As my late father used to say; "... it seems that everybody down here is trying to retire on the proceeds of one job....". I realize that there are exceptions, but, they seem to be VERY hard to find.

Not to try your collective patiences, but now that I'm here, I have two more questions I hope you might address:

1) Can someone PLEASE pass on any known information on how to clean those God-Forsaken, fake suede seats? What happened to the durable, burly, heavy-gauge leather seats that lasted 20 years?

2) I prefer the sound of my mufflers locked open during everyday driving (I built a 433 MHz RF controller that allows me to shut the mufflers during long trips, to silence the cabin drone), but when run with the mufflers open, the car burbles, pops, and occasionally makes multiple, sharp, shotgun-loud blasts out of the exhaust. I personally love the sound, but while following me last night, one of my friends swore that he briefly saw flames coming from the driver's side pipes, just as the car made one of its louder "bangs".
2A) Can anyone opine on why the car would start making these burbles, pops and bangs? I'm not speaking about the increase in loudness, I expected that, but compared to the shut mufflers, the engine sounds like it *literally* has had its valve timing altered, and the very mild chop at idle, is noticeably increased.
2B) Might the presence of such flashes constitute a fire hazard, assuming my friend wasn't hallucinating? I realize that, in tuning the car's aerodynamics, GM shot for the creation of a high-pressure zone directly behind the car, obviating some of its parasitic drag. My concern is that unburnt fuel might get sucked into that area, and plastered against the back of the car. Which would suck. Badly.

Thank you all for your help, and wisdom, I wish I could somehow drop you all a six-pack of your favorite, but alas, such is the limitation of the internet...

redbird555

Really sorry to hear about your situation. I'm local in sour Florida and I wouldnt mind taking a look if you want. If I cant help you I do know a few good places that I would reccomend. Shoot me a PM if needed