Stock camshaft options

[JPVortex]

Tight budget? You have yet to reassemble. There is still unknown costs coming.

thats true, maybe I’ll just drive it until I have the proper funds to do it the right away.

I’ll just throw some Lucas in there for now. People say its snake oil with cheap base oil, but based on watching tons of YouTube videos on it, it definitely can help cushion parts and quiet them down some.

 

[RST Dana]

thats true, maybe I’ll just drive it until I have the proper funds to do it the right away.

I’ll just throw some Lucas in there for now. People say its snake oil with cheap base oil, but based on watching tons of YouTube videos on it, it definitely can help cushion parts and quiet them down some.

You probably should start saving up for more than a new camshaft if you are going to drive it with issues until the tooth fairy arrives. Little things can cause bigger things to go belly up rather quickly and easily.

 

[JPVortex]

You probably should start saving up for more than a new camshaft if you are going to drive it with issues until the tooth fairy arrives. Little things can cause bigger things to go belly up rather quickly and easily.

Yeah I’m not worried about it, I’d put a used engine into it if I had to. Which I’m not ruling out as an option still. Letting the truck sit and wait for me to collect funds isn’t going to work. The suburban is my only vehicle for now so I need it.

 

[OR VietVet]

I am confused.....You say you NEED it but are willing to guess and take a chance on iffy parts.

 

[strutaeng]

Tear it down for inspection.

I personally wouldn't take my chances on the ChiCom, no-name camshafts. I would probably go used OEM if I really had to, as long as the lobes and journals are okay. Probably mic the journals.

Check Summit Racing, they often put their Pro LS camshafts on sale. There's a towing version of that cam that I believe requires no tuning calibration.

You also have to budget for lifters, so there's an added expense.

A complete engine rebuild is not going to be cheap. I did my 06 LQ4 last year and think I spent $1200 just on parts, and I didn't need to do any machine shop work to the block. That was cam, lifters, piston rings, gaskets, seals, head bolts, bearings, and refreshed heads.

 

[JPVortex]

I am confused.....You say you NEED it but are willing to guess and take a chance on iffy parts.

Yeah, because moneys an issue for me right now. I don’t have the money for these expensive parts. Even on rockauto, the cam id be buying is engine tech, a cheaper brand. It’s $260 with lifters included in a kit. But plus timing chain, oil pump, head and timing gaskets, rockers, pushrods it’s well over $500. Can’t afford that right now. That’s why I started looking for a decent used option.

 

[JPVortex]

Tear it down for inspection.

I personally wouldn't take my chances on the ChiCom, no-name camshafts. I would probably go used OEM if I really had to, as long as the lobes and journals are okay. Probably mic the journals.

Check Summit Racing, they often put their Pro LS camshafts on sale. There's a towing version of that cam that I believe requires no tuning calibration.

You also have to budget for lifters, so there's an added expense.

A complete engine rebuild is not going to be cheap. I did my 06 LQ4 last year and think I spent $1200 just on parts, and I didn't need to do any machine shop work to the block. That was cam, lifters, piston rings, gaskets, seals, head bolts, bearings, and refreshed heads.

Thanks for the advice. Maybe there’s a chance it doesn’t even need a cam, but by the ticking sound with a slight squeak with the valve cover off, my thought is the roller on the lifter is bad, which is probably taking out the cam.

I’m also very hesitant to do anything to this engine due to the fact there has been a few metal shavings here and there when draining the oil. Not sure if that’s cam and lifter roller material or bearing. I’d need an oil analysis. But I can say, oil pressure is a bit lower than I usually see on these. 28-30psi hot, when I got the suburban like 8 months ago before the ticking it had 40-45psi warm, so did the 05 Tahoe I used to own. So not sure if oil pump is having issues or if bearings are going out.

 

[strutaeng]

Understand. Sparkles in the oil is NEVER a good thing.

You may want to read to the thread I created last year for general information. I had an intermittent lifter tick, but never had sparkles in the oil. I can't remember what my camshaft looked like, but I think it was serviceable? My engine had 255k FWIW:

TTY head bolts with engine in-vehicle

Hello. I'm doing a top end refresh on my 06 Suburban LQ4 (lifters, cam, refreshed heads, gaskets). I removed the heads yesterday and found the rear most head bolts are pretty tight to the firewall. I happen to have just bought a 24" flex head ratchet, which was perfect for the job (admittedly ...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

 

[JPVortex]

Understand. Sparkles in the oil is NEVER a good thing.

You may want to read to the thread I created last year for general information. I had an intermittent lifter tick, but never had sparkles in the oil. I can't remember what my camshaft looked like, but I think it was serviceable? My engine had 255k FWIW:

TTY head bolts with engine in-vehicle

Hello. I'm doing a top end refresh on my 06 Suburban LQ4 (lifters, cam, refreshed heads, gaskets). I removed the heads yesterday and found the rear most head bolts are pretty tight to the firewall. I happen to have just bought a 24" flex head ratchet, which was perfect for the job (admittedly ...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

Thank you! It’s not crazy sparkles, just see a tiny little sparkle here and there, not like full blown glitter oil. Also my magnetic drain plug picks up a little bit of metallic gunk, almost like the sludge you see on a differential drain plug.

Question, for diagnostic purposes can I run it for a couple minutes with one of the rockers and pushrod removed? I want to make sure the cam doesn’t shoot the lifter out. I don’t think that’ll happen though because wouldn’t the lifter tray stop that from happening?

 

[JPVortex]

Forgot to say honestly the pump is probably weak. I’m getting my pressure reading right from the pump itself. I have a full time mechanical gauge installed right at the prime plug for the pump, so that’s raw pressure before it even hits the bearings. So the pump is only making around 30psi hot. Makes me wonder if that’s the reason I’m getting a lifter tick, maybe it’s just not getting enough oil up top from the pump? I did notice when I ran with valve cover off that oil was kind of slow to get up top and when it did the splatter even at higher RPM was almost none.