I'm Undecided

[Last_Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by dragboat:
Last Z I think you are on the right track mixing the 10/30 with the 15/50 oil at the 50-50 ratio for you engine problem.You can easily add more 15/50 later if needed to "tune " the VI.

I am using the MISS 10/30 in a 02 car without slap of any kind or any noise or consumption,but come summer it gets hot here,it will get a little 15/50 SS added to the motor for safety sake.Not much just a little bit. It will get more on a long over 6k mile summer vacation planned for next year but until I see some consumtion from the 10/30 in which is Zero now on it's first run and 4200 miles I sticking with plain old 10/30 SS.

FWIW the motor will never see the 0/40 offered by Mobil. I personally think a mix of 10/30 and 15/50 can be used to dial in the VI needed w/o unneeded VII's

Opinions will vary on this as usual

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Thanks. I also think this is the best way, but I was discouraged by a couple of guys here (in my best interest of course), but Mobil says it's ok and if someone doesn't try it, we will never find out.

 

[mebanditws6]

I may get a little flamed for this but I would try some Lucas with 10w30 or lighter oil. Yeah I know you could probably go straight 10w40 or 20w50 and be just as thick, but as slippery as Lucas is plus with it claiming to make oil last 50% longer it's worth a try for $7.

On the other hand, since your LS1 slaps all the time, you may have gotten one of the "bad" ones. Most of these do this for only when cold. I'm sure you may have already, but go to a reputable GM dealer and plead your case with it still being well within the warranty. There is simply no excuse for a tight tolerance engine such as the LS1 slapping all the time warm and cold. I don't have an LS1 much less an f body, but I feel for you paying a pretty penny for a Z with GM's premium V8 only to have piston slap all the time.

Jason

Jason

 

[ramair8]

I would be interested to know what you decide. I am trying to decide to stick with dino oil in my ls1 or switch to mobil 1 10w-30. I don't think mine makes the noise, but I am not exactly sure what piston slap sounds like? One thing I have noticed with the 02 cars is the guys complaining of piston slap are putting out very impressive dyno numbers.
Dragboat, the 02 car your are talking about is a 02 fbody with an ls1 right?

 

[dragboat]

Quote:
"Dragboat, the 02 car your are talking about is a 02 fbody with an ls1 right? "

Nope it's a Korean car used as a Highway Commuter 5 days a week and parked on weekends.The only car in the family using this oil.

FWIW is I owned a new LS-1 car it would get 100 hard miles put on it then Redline 10/30 for life.Maybe the 10/40 after 100k,dunno.

 

[Last_Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by ramair8:
I would be interested to know what you decide. I am trying to decide to stick with dino oil in my ls1 or switch to mobil 1 10w-30. I don't think mine makes the noise, but I am not exactly sure what piston slap sounds like? One thing I have noticed with the 02 cars is the guys complaining of piston slap are putting out very impressive dyno numbers.
Dragboat, the 02 car your are talking about is a 02 fbody with an ls1 right?

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OK. I finally switched back to M1. Went to Sam's Club and got me 2 cases of it (only $23.39

), one of 10W30 and the other 15W50. I added 3 qts of each for a 50/50 ratio. I drove back home and the noise is still there. I need to give the M1 more time though so that I can make a judgement.
The weird thing about this piston slap is that is not very noticeable from outside the car (stock exhaust, the car isn't loud at all), but you can hear it loud and clear from the driver's seat.
I really don't know what to think.

I will post any updates.
Rick

 

[mebanditws6]

Hmmm if the thicker oil was going to help I would think it would have already made a difference even if its brand new. The best/only way to fix this slap is to go your dealer while its still under warranty and bug em about it. If it only slapped at cold start they won't do anything but since it slapps all the time thats not gonna be too good for the cylinder walls over time and should definitely be checked out by a dealer and fixed by GM with a new engine. You aren't the only one to have a "bad" LS1 but there have also ben alot of owners who got it fixed with the warranty.

Jason

 

[Patman]

GM's "fix" in a lot of piston slap cases is simply to give the owners a free extended warranty.

 

[Last_Z]

I was wondering if I should use Auto RX even though the engine only has 5000 miles. I've been thinking about the noise coming from the engine.....I always assumed it was piston slap, but since I have never heard piston slap before, I really can't tell. It really sounds like an engine low on oil (when you can hear the lifters clatter). I think that might be a better description of the sound.
BTW, the sound does seem to have quiet down a tiny bit.
Rick

 

[L8274]

Originally posted by Last_Z:
[qb]I was wondering if I should use Auto RX even though the engine only has 5000 miles. I've been thinking about the noise coming from the engine.....I always assumed it was piston slap, but since I have never heard piston slap before, I really can't tell. It really sounds like an engine low on oil (when you can hear the lifters clatter). I think that might be a better description of the sound.
BTW, the sound does seem to have quiet down a tiny bit.

Buying the Auto-RX would be a waste of money for this problem. Your statemants sound like you are decribing a different noise than the other motors have. The lifters might need some more preload but the GM Dealers should be more ready to help in my opinion.

What a crummy Company in my opinion ! They sell expensive cars with motor problems yet will not make things right from what I have read .

Consumers will become wise of this. The residual value will probably be low on LS-1 powered cars.The EPA should get involved as well because they are gross polluters ! How about the Consumer Protection Agency ??????

LS-1 owners unite!

Why did the post text turn out that way?

[ December 22, 2002, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: L8274 ]

 

[Last_Z]

Just an update:
The noise seems to have quiet down a lot. Now I really have to pay attention to be able to listen to it. Very dim now.
Rick

 

[Bror Jace]

I've said it before and I'll say it again ... the only oil which made a SERIOUS difference in the piston slap noise in my Honda Civic was Red Line Oil ... and it was "only" their 5W30.

Mobil 1 was probably the loudest of all the oils I tried.

--- Bror Jace

 

[Drew99GT]

I have severe piston slap in my 3.4L 99 Grand Am GT. 5w-30 and 10w-30 mobil 1 made the noise extremely loud. Now I just go with 5w-30 penzoil dino for winter, and 10w-30 for summer and the noise is much much quieter. The thicker oils, especially dino, I think cushion the rocking effect of the pistons in the bores better than synthetic. I could probably go with 15w-50 synthetic and get the same effect, but that's way way way outside the recomended viscosity for my engine.

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

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Originally posted by Drew99GT:
I have severe piston slap in my 3.4L 99 Grand Am GT. 5w-30 and 10w-30 mobil 1 made the noise extremely loud. Now I just go with 5w-30 penzoil dino for winter, and 10w-30 for summer and the noise is much much quieter. The thicker oils, especially dino, I think cushion the rocking effect of the pistons in the bores better than synthetic. I could probably go with 15w-50 synthetic and get the same effect, but that's way way way outside the recomended viscosity for my engine.

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Interesting. I've had exactly the opposite result in my 3.4. The piston slap and wrist pin noise is much more pronounced in mine with conventional oil, so much so that the couple of times I got a "complimentary" oil change at the dealer when having other work done, I knew immediately that they'd done it just by how the engine sounded when I started it up.

Keep in mind that the 3.1 and 3.4 V6s are plagued by two different clearance related noise issues: piston slap and wrist pin clearance problems. Some engines have one or the other, and some have both. Mine has both, and using Mobil 1 (and now Rotella T Syn), both disappear completely once the engine has reached operating temperature.

 

[Last_Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bror Jace:
I've said it before and I'll say it again ... the only oil which made a SERIOUS difference in the piston slap noise in my Honda Civic was Red Line Oil ... and it was "only" their 5W30.

Mobil 1 was probably the loudest of all the oils I tried.

--- Bror Jace

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I might try it next oil change, but 10W30 though.
Rick

 

[Last_Z]

OK guys, one more update.....
Went to my local Chevy dealer today and spoke to one of the guys at the service counter. I asked him about the noise that my engine makes and he stated: "I am not a tech, but I've been told by the tech guys that noise is common on these cars and even the trucks. The noise is coming from the roller bearing on the rocker arms"

I'm pretty sure the noise is valvetrain related, but I don't know exactly what is causing it.
What do you guys think?
Rick

 

[dragboat]

quote:

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Originally posted by Last_Z:
OK guys, one more update.....
Went to my local Chevy dealer today and spoke to one of the guys at the service counter. I asked him about the noise that my engine makes and he stated: "I am not a tech, but I've been told by the tech guys that noise is common on these cars and even the trucks. The noise is coming from the roller bearing on the rocker arms"

I'm pretty sure the noise is valvetrain related, but I don't know exactly what is causing it.
What do you guys think?
Rick

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Possible insufficient lifter preload. An easy adjustment. Not so easy to get the rocker covers off that motor though.

Bent pushrods can cause this as well.A few missed gears will do it. Bet there are lot of em out there with slightly bent pushrods but like a member in Missouri's truck ,suspect the lifter preload is not set deep enough.

Have you done the math of the mix? Vi at 40c and at 100C ?

Thats what I like about the SS 10/30 and 15/50 ,,the capability to adjust the VI

Raise cain with them to make them adjust those things! No kidding,if they will not do it elevate from there is my opinion

Just don't tell them of the mix is another opinion

 

[Patman]

Actually Dragboat, getting the LS1 valve covers off is very easy. Put it this way. Me and a friend of mine pulled all 16 pushrods out of my old LS1 Formula, inspected them and reinstalled them in under 3 hours.

 

[Last_Z]

quote:

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Originally posted by dragboat:
Possible insufficient lifter preload. An easy adjustment. Not so easy to get the rocker covers off that motor though.

Bent pushrods can cause this as well.A few missed gears will do it. Bet there are lot of em out there with slightly bent pushrods but like a member in Missouri's truck ,suspect the lifter preload is not set deep enough.

Have you done the math of the mix? Vi at 40c and at 100C ?

Thats what I like about the SS 10/30 and 15/50 ,,the capability to adjust the VI

Raise cain with them to make them adjust those things! No kidding,if they will not do it elevate from there is my opinion

Just don't tell them of the mix is another opinion

[/QB]

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Hey Dragboat...yeah, it probably is the load on the lifters. I'm gonna have to raise some hell at the dealer. I have never missed a shift at high speed and the noise has always been there anyway. As far as doing the math for my mix.....I don't even know what to add or average. Maybe someone else can for me!
Rick

 

[dragboat]

LastZ,
If you want to bypass those GM techs I can walk you through by telephone,,it is very simple to do,just give me a PM if thats what you decide

 

[vettenuts]

Coming into this thread late, but a couple of thoughts. On the Corvette, there was a piston change in late 01 and a ring change in 02. Are you sure it is piston slap? Have you found any needle bearings in the oil pan? Might be worth putting a magnet on a stick in the drain with the next change. There is still a tech bulletin on the rocker arm needle bearings, even for 02.