Valve tick or normal sound?

[Dustin Jackson]

@jdwood1111 Don't worry about changing the oil. Just get the tune and enjoy it until a problem comes up. I think you are seeing an engine getting a little old but it sounds to be working fine so don't waste your money yet. When the problem is serious enough there will be no question about it. Although it is good to educate yourself and put a game plan in place for when the day comes, because it will come one day.

 

[Geotrash]

So I installed an oil catch can this weekend based on info both here on the site and others and upon completing it and take it for a ride, I feel like the valve tick is getting louder but wanted to see if others agree. If anyone has time to compare this video to the first one, it sounds like the lower noise I was concerned about is less but the valve tick on the passenger side is much more noticeable. I am hoping the half quart of ATF and new synthetic oil didn't clean things out too much and got something stuck.

Here is my question. I have been prioritizing things and since the truck was due to inspection this month, I was going to have a local guy turn off the AFM so I did not have to worry about removing the Range device. However, he said for $400 more he could do a full tune and trans tune like black bear. He gets really good reviews and does tons of LS vehicles so I said screw it, and scheduled an appointment this saturday. Should I now be concerned with the way this sounds? Should I change the oil before hand? I just changed it a couple of months ago and have maybe only like 500-600 miles on it. I am also chasing down a mild oil leak that I was going to mess with in the spring time but the oil pressure has been fine and the truck seems to run great.

OR, am I just looking for a problem that is not there?? Say screw it and do the tune?

The only things I have not done yet maintenance wise that I wanted to potentially before the tune was the coolant and hoses. Otherwise, all other fluids and trans service was completed.

You have a fair amount of valve train noise but nothing that I would personally be worried about. At all. Clatter like that usually stems from slightly excess valve lash. Our engines use hydraulic lifters to eliminate any gaps in the mechanical links between the tip of the valve stem and the cam, but there are several things that can cause excess valve lash. Among them:

1/ Valvetrain not set up exactly right by whoever was in there last
2/ Aftermarket lifters that require less preload than stock but with stock pushrod lengths
3/ A cam with a fast ramp

Lots of other things. I still suspect that your engine is not stock. Just out of curiosity, is the valley cover flat or does it have passages and bumps cast into it?

 

[petethepug]

On next oil change, if you don’t already do it, fill the oil filter before you screw it on. It’ll help those first few seconds during oil change start ups.

 

[jdwood1111]

Thanks for the replies all. I checked in with the tuner and we are still a go for this weekend!

@petethepug - I absolutely do that did that on the past oil change as well!

I am starting a little emergency fund for any of these little issues that may creep up that I feel I cannot tackle. If my oil leak is not the oil cooler gasket or pan gasket and its the RMS, then I am not taking that on and need to pay, etc.

 

[jdwood1111]

All, I wanted to update this thread with a new video after I just changed the oil from Valvoline 5w30 synthetic to Mobile 1 5w30 syn with the same purlator boss filter. I am only at 101600 miles as I do not drive the truck much. However, I want to take it from PA to OBX in september and want to see what all i should do. Oil pressure has been great with no issues and the truck runs great. Still SLOWLY working on my transmission 3-2 rough downshift but got the brakes all squared away but this noise just seems louder to me. Please take a listen if ya'll have time and compare it to the previous ones. All my exhaust manifold bolts appear tight and I am not sure what is next to check. I do have a Tech2 but am not really familiar with what to check. I am willing to take the valve covers off and see what I find regrading the rockers and such but if that would be the next option, I have some follow up questions for that. Let me know what you think.

Edit: I did refill the oil filter as suggested previously. Also when I accelerate the noise seems to go away.

Revving

@Geotrash sorry to call on you but value your opinion based on your activity here. Any thoughts on how to best proceed next?

 

[jdwood1111]

Bumping to see if anyone has any suggestions or opinions.

 

[j91z28d1]

as long as you're sure all the header bolts are there and it's not some kinda exhaust leak.


sounds like valvetrain to me. I wouldn't say it's the classic afm stuck collapsed lifter, but something is up with one of them. cutting the oil filter open go inspect for metal and sending a oil sample off go a lab might help.

ever so slight possibility it's very loud piston slap? I don't have a lot of experience with piston slap. I just remember I had a 02 ls1 car that was always nosiey and everyone told me it was just piston slap, not to worry about it. I didn't and beat the poor thing to death for over 100k miles, ran whatever oil was free, changed it when ever the light came on, or a few k later. ran 87 in it and never had a single issue till it was stolen in Nola, only to be found 6 months later still being driven hard with aftermarket wheels, hood and leather interior swapped in lol.


side note that car is what makes me so disappointed in these Gen 4 ls engines. couldn't kill that thing with zero maintenance and these fall apart left and right. it's a damn shame.

I have no idea what I'd do with yours, probably just drive it till it got bad enough to fix or sell. I don't think I'd drive it across country thou.

 

[jdwood1111]

as long as you're sure all the header bolts are there and it's not some kinda exhaust leak.


sounds like valvetrain to me. I wouldn't say it's the classic afm stuck collapsed lifter, but something is up with one of them. cutting the oil filter open go inspect for metal and sending a oil sample off go a lab might help.

ever so slight possibility it's very loud piston slap? I don't have a lot of experience with piston slap. I just remember I had a 02 ls1 car that was always nosiey and everyone told me it was just piston slap, not to worry about it. I didn't and beat the poor thing to death for over 100k miles, ran whatever oil was free, changed it when ever the light came on, or a few k later. ran 87 in it and never had a single issue till it was stolen in Nola, only to be found 6 months later still being driven hard with aftermarket wheels, hood and leather interior swapped in lol.


side note that car is what makes me so disappointed in these Gen 4 ls engines. couldn't kill that thing with zero maintenance and these fall apart left and right. it's a damn shame.

I have no idea what I'd do with yours, probably just drive it till it got bad enough to fix or sell. I don't think I'd drive it across country thou.

All the exhaust bolts are there. I put a wrench on them to try and move them to see if they would move or break but nothing. Doesn’t mean they aren’t leaking but seems ok.

I did actually get a sample from my last oil change and sent it to j be Blackstone. However, I did not obtain it the best way cause I was in a hurry so we’ll see what the results are.

I was planning on changing all the cooling hoses and heater tees in August because we wanted to take the truck from Philadelphia to OBX but now I’m not sure based on this. It runs great though overall but just the noise and the known issues have me second guessing it.

 

[jdwood1111]

Well I finally got my Blackstone lab report back and it seems good so far. My next steps I guess are to take the valve covers off and take a look around if anyone has any other insights or suggestions it would be appreciated!

 

[donjetman]

its a totally normal sounding LS to me.

I currently have 3 vehicles with LS engines.
07 Denali w/gen4 6.2L L92 w/197k/miles
02 Corvette w/gen3 5.7L LS1 w/74k miles
51 Chevy PU w/gen4 5.3L LY5 w/10k miles