Stock camshaft options

[strutaeng]

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?

IDK about running it w/o a pushrod/rocker? If the valve is not opening (is it the intake or the exhaust valve), what would happen? Would the piston hit the valve? I've never wondered about that, actually?

No, the lifter can't physically pop out because as you started, the tray will keep it from happening. But the head itself is not bore where the lifter would even fit. That's why heads must be removed to replace lifters on any LS engines.

All you have to do is, remove the valve cover and see if any rocker has tons of slop. They say it would be obvious to determine which one(s) are bad. But I never tried that myself.

I wouldn't worry about the oil pressure being "low" at this point. Focus on the lifter tick. Do you know which side it's coming from? My engine ran kinda lean on the fuel trims.

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.

30 psi hot to me is perfectly fine. Our Express Van with the L96 idles like around this pressure and it's got like 22,000 miles.


In reality, the oil pump just generates flow. Pressure (think of it as BACKpressure) is generated from the bearing clearances. The LS engines' gerotor oil pumps are pretty long lasting. Unless trash or debris runs through them. I reused the oil pump on my engine if you follow that thread...the thing looked brand new!

 

[JPVortex]

IDK about running it w/o a pushrod/rocker? If the valve is not opening (is it the intake or the exhaust valve), what would happen? Would the piston hit the valve? I've never wondered about that, actually?

No, the lifter can't physically pop out because as you started, the tray will keep it from happening. But the head itself is not bore where the lifter would even fit. That's why heads must be removed to replace lifters on any LS engines.

All you have to do is, remove the valve cover and see if any rocker has tons of slop. They say it would be obvious to determine which one(s) are bad. But I never tried that myself.

I wouldn't worry about the oil pressure being "low" at this point. Focus on the lifter tick. Do you know which side it's coming from? My engine ran kinda lean on the fuel trims.




30 psi hot to me is perfectly fine. Our Express Van with the L96 idles like around this pressure and it's got like 22,000 miles.


In reality, the oil pump just generates flow. Pressure (think of it as BACKpressure) is generated from the bearing clearances. The LS engines' gerotor oil pumps are pretty long lasting. Unless trash or debris runs through them. I reused the oil pump on my engine if you follow that thread...the thing looked brand new!

I was thinking that if the rocker arm and push rod was removed there'd be no pressure on the valve spring at all, wouldn't that result in the valve being closed/no contact with piston?

I know it's cylinder 4 intake side making the racket on the passenger side. Can especially hear it by the exhaust manifold and when the valve cover is off. Manifold and gasket is new, no leaks. When I first installed there was a small leak before it heated up, but since then it has had no leaks. BUT, theres no slop in the rocker what so ever. No slop in any of them. Its firm as can be up and down, side to side has a tiny bit of movement, as do the others. I even tried throwing a new pushrod and rocker arm in there and the tick was still there, so I put the originals back in there. So that's what is a bit confusing, theres no movement of the rocker arms, so the lifter that's ticking does seem to still be doing its job decently well minus the tick.

I know 30psi hot is safe, it's just something I've noted that had a sudden drop from when I bought the truck. It held 40-45psi hot until the pressure dropped to where it is now(started like 3 works after I bought the stupid thing) and the tick followed suit with it within a couple days. 40-45psi warm idle is also what my previous 05 Tahoe held. Also to be noted, when I did temporarily replace the rocker and push rod, oil was super slow to get to it. I mean it took a good solid 3 minutes of running, and when it finally did a ton of air bubbles came up with it. Pickup o-ring has already been replaced twice. I originally put a Felpro one, but it was a loose fit. So I dropped the pan again and put a Mahle, which is much better of a fit.

And the flow on all of the rockers is not amazing. It's there but hardly splatters at all when I rev it. Also not much oil pooling down the head to return to the pan like I'd expect. I have a video here of when I had the valve cover off a couple months back. Keep in mind the rocker I was pointing out as a possible culprit was not the one, I hadn't put a mechanic stethoscope on it yet.

 

[JPVortex]

I was thinking that if the rocker arm and push rod was removed there'd be no pressure on the valve spring at all, wouldn't that result in the valve being closed/no contact with piston?

I know it's cylinder 4 intake side making the racket on the passenger side. Can especially hear it by the exhaust manifold and when the valve cover is off. Manifold and gasket is new, no leaks. When I first installed there was a small leak before it heated up, but since then it has had no leaks. BUT, theres no slop in the rocker what so ever. No slop in any of them. Its firm as can be up and down, side to side has a tiny bit of movement, as do the others. I even tried throwing a new pushrod and rocker arm in there and the tick was still there, so I put the originals back in there. So that's what is a bit confusing, theres no movement of the rocker arms, so the lifter that's ticking does seem to still be doing its job decently well minus the tick.

I know 30psi hot is safe, it's just something I've noted that had a sudden drop from when I bought the truck. It held 40-45psi hot until the pressure dropped to where it is now(started like 3 works after I bought the stupid thing) and the tick followed suit with it within a couple days. 40-45psi warm idle is also what my previous 05 Tahoe held. Also to be noted, when I did temporarily replace the rocker and push rod, oil was super slow to get to it. I mean it took a good solid 3 minutes of running, and when it finally did a ton of air bubbles came up with it. Pickup o-ring has already been replaced twice. I originally put a Felpro one, but it was a loose fit. So I dropped the pan again and put a Mahle, which is much better of a fit.

And the flow on all of the rockers is not amazing. It's there but hardly splatters at all when I rev it. Also not much oil pooling down the head to return to the pan like I'd expect. I have a video here of when I had the valve cover off a couple months back. Keep in mind the rocker I was pointing out as a possible culprit was not the one, I hadn't put a mechanic stethoscope on it yet.

Also what I presumed as a lot of oil, looking back doesn't seem like all that much to me...

 

[strutaeng]

Gotcha. That video is good.

Maybe you just do a "top-end" rebuild? So that's basically just a front cover/gasket set, head gaskets and lifters. Pushrods, cam and heads TBD once your tear it down...do you have a local machine shop than can recondition your heads, if need be?

Leave the engine block in the vehicle and don't mess with the bottom end. Unless you really have to, then that's plan "B", which is pulling the block.

 

[JPVortex]

Gotcha. That video is good.

Maybe you just do a "top-end" rebuild? So that's basically just a front cover/gasket set, head gaskets and lifters. Pushrods, cam and heads TBD once your tear it down...do you have a local machine shop than can recondition your heads, if need be?

Leave the engine block in the vehicle and don't mess with the bottom end. Unless you really have to, then that's plan "B", which is pulling the block.

That's kind of what I'm thinking about doing When I had a couple rocker arms and push rods out they didn't look terrible. They definitely had some wear on them though, but nothing crazy. Don't really think there's much for machine shops around me to be honest, I'll have to really look around.

 

[JPVortex]

I stand corrected, there is actually a few. While around 45 minutes away, there is options!

 

[strutaeng]

That's kind of what I'm thinking about doing When I had a couple rocker arms and push rods out they didn't look terrible. They definitely had some wear on them though, but nothing crazy. Don't really think there's much for machine shops around me to be honest, I'll have to really look around.

Sounds like a plan. I'm not saying you "need" heads reconditioned, just saying it may be a good idea to have a shop, in case you do when you tear down...

My local machine shop is pretty quick on getting heads reconditioned. Drop off Monday and they are ready Thursday or Friday. That's pretty good in my opinion.

Ok well, let us know how it goes or if you need any other help. Good luck Brother.

 

[JPVortex]

Sounds like a plan. I'm not saying you "need" heads reconditioned, just saying it may be a good idea to have a shop, in case you do when you tear down...

My local machine shop is pretty quick on getting heads reconditioned. Drop off Monday and they are ready Thursday or Friday. That's pretty good in my opinion.

Ok well, let us know how it goes or if you need any other help. Good luck Brother.

Thank you brother! Will be some time before I get to it, and I mighttt try an oil pump first(worst comes to worst I pull the front cover back off again) and see if I can regain my lost oil pressure. I have a plan to get the pickup tube bolt out and back in without dropping the pan.

 

[JPVortex]

Thank you brother! Will be some time before I get to it, and I mighttt try an oil pump first(worst comes to worst I pull the front cover back off again) and see if I can regain my lost oil pressure. I have a plan to get the pickup tube bolt out and back in without dropping the pan.

While I’m in there I could also pull out the cam while leaving the lifters and inspect. I can put some dowels to hold onto the lifters so they don’t fall into the block.

 

[rockola1971]

Id drop a quart of tranny fluid in the engine right before an oil change and let it run in the driveway for 20-30mins and then drain. Put new oil in and see if noise goes away. Cant decide if this sounds like a lifter that is not pumping all the way up or piston slap. The clank toward the end of the sound sure sounds like piston slap. Does noise get worse or more silenced once engine has been driven and heat cycled? Did you inspect exhaust manifold for broken bolts?