Minor LS2 Engine Carnage - What Would You Do?

[Mr Incredible]

Ok here's the deal: I was doing the cam on my wife's Trailblazer SS, no big deal. This was my first time doing a cam install.

I get the install all done and everything is good. Start the motor a couple times, oil pressure comes right up. I install my A/F ratio gauge, let it heat up a couple of times to burp the coolant system. Then I take it around the block, everything is still good. I get my wideband hooked up to the laptop and set out to go datalog some runs.

I get 3 blocks from my house and it starts knocking. When I get it all taken apart I find this:

The lifter is hammered. It's just one lifter. All the other ones are perfect. Not quite sure what happened. It looks like it turned in the bore somehow. The cam lobe looks hammered as well, but other than that I can't find any other damage. Pushrods are all straight, I checked the torque on all bolts before I took them off to make sure I didn't leave anything loose. The lifter cradles all still look good. :shrug:

I have been getting some conflicting advice on what to do. I've already got new lifters, valve springs, and a cam just to make sure. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[2001asp]

That is fine just re-use it...She'll hold.....Looks you need a new one. Are you boosted?

 

[Mr Incredible]

I wish. It was completely stock, 43,000 miles. Waited for warranty to run out and started saving for mods. This was part of my first round of mods.

 

[rsnyder]

Find out how that happened, then I would say, replace cam and that one lifter.

 

[Josh93]

find out how that happened, then i would say, replace cam and that one lifter.

+1

 

[czwalga00gt]

^ What they said. Probably that pushrod as well. Who knows if it's off/bent after whatever the hell happend there.

 

[oxford03cobra]

your going to have to replace the cam and the lifter

 

[Paulinator]

check the original cam and inspect and see if you see identical markings on that lobe. it seems from the offset angle of the roller on the lifter. that possibly the hole from the roll pin was drilled crooked causing the rolled to ride on one side of the lobe. also notice the excessive heat and wear marks on one side of the lifter because it was side loading in the lifter valley. its possible this lifter was flawed when it was installed originally on the motor from GM and the higher lift and duration on the cam just made the problem worse.

 

[Mike93SVT]

like above, if the stock cam is scarred, then i would just flush the system and re-install pending the condition of the new cam. if there's nothing on the old cam, then pull that motor apart and make sure there's nothing else to cause failure. don't short cut yourself by just putting it back together and spinning a bearing in 100 miles. be better to spend some change now to make sure it's good, rather than a few thousand to say "i wish i took it apart when i saw the problem"

 

[19mustang95]

i would sell the motor to me for cheap.

 

[supercarkiller]

ouch that sucks man, good luck.

 

[GraphicNature]

Its pretty much mandatory to change the push-rods on a LS1 when you do a cam swap anyway. Get a cam and push-rods and change that lifter. Vindicator :banana:

 

[mustang196718]

not to infer that you don't know what you're doing, but you did prime the oil pump, correct? what rockers are you running, stock or full rollers, ratio? what lifter preload, pushrod length, head gasket thickness? heads milled? also, what are the cam specs? also, what do the lifter trays look like? subscribing...

 

[Mr Incredible]

No I did not prime the oil pump. I followed the instructions off the ls1howto.com. It didn't mention anything about priming. The oil pressure came up immediately after starting the motor. As I stated before there was no knocking until the 5th heat cycle and taking around the block once.

I was using stock rockers and valve springs with Comp hardened 7.4 pushrods.

I didn't do anything to the heads or gaskets just a cam swap. Other than that stock.

I had just installed a Lingenfelter GT2-3 cam, very mild some say not even worth the time. It does show pretty excessive wear on one side of the lobe. I took some pics but they're pretty blurry.

The lifter trays look fine except for the one cradle from the messed up lifter which has some pretty good wear on the inside but no cracks.

 

[niphilli]

Definately change the oil filter, install a magnetic oil drain plug. I would not think that many shavings would have gotten into the system but I am by no means an expert. I dont think you really did anything wrong. Its possible that when you slid in the camshaft the lifter was damaged or was pinned into a bad position. If I were you I would post over on LS1tech.com...There are some serious techies over there with incredible knowledge. Good luck

 

[SilverELEX]

Been following your thread at tbssowners.com. I honestly think youll be fine by replacing the cam and lifters. All of them IMO. Magnetic drain plug and a few oil changes with some cheap oil and a new filter each time. I highly doubt much shrapnel got tossed around in your motor.

 

[mustang196718]

No I did not prime the oil pump. I followed the instructions off the ls1howto.com. It didn't mention anything about priming. The oil pressure came up immediately after starting the motor. As I stated before there was no knocking until the 5th heat cycle and taking around the block once.

I was using stock rockers and valve springs with Comp hardened 7.4 pushrods.

I didn't do anything to the heads or gaskets just a cam swap. Other than that stock.

I had just installed a Lingenfelter GT2-3 cam, very mild some say not even worth the time. It does show pretty excessive wear on one side of the lobe. I took some pics but they're pretty blurry.

The lifter trays look fine except for the one cradle from the messed up lifter which has some pretty good wear on the inside but no cracks.

well i guess i forgot to ask whether you went with an aftermarket oil pump or not, if not, you wouldn't have had to prime it. that cam is definitely pretty mild, doesn't have a high ramp rate or anything, so definitely no real reason for a valvetrain upgrade, stock should have been more than fine. hmm...well it seems like you didn't do anything wrong that would have contributed to this, but it definitely looks like the lifter got itself sideways in the bore somehow. i would say pull the cam, pull your oil plug and dump some new oil in it just so it'll kinda run through and "flush" it out a little bit, then put a new set of lifters in it, new cam, magnetic drain plug, maybe even a filtermag, and change the oil pretty frequently for the next couple of times and i think you'll be ok. you may also want to make sure the oiling holes in the pushrods are also cleaned out and free of metal shavings. might also be on the safe side and replace the lifter trays. they're only like $4 each from gm.

 

[Mr Incredible]

I just figured I would get some opinions from a different group of people. I've been over here for years and know there's a lot of knowledgeable people over here. I've gotten a few good responses over on tbssowners.com but it's split half and half between "put it back together with new lifters" or "rebuild the whole motor". That's a HUGE difference so I wanted to see what other people say.

There's a local machine shop that said if I brought him the engine he would pull the pan, clean out all the oil galleys, and reassemble and install the heads, lifters, and cam for $350. I think that's what I'm going to do.

 

[mustang196718]

^^^sounds like a plan my friend, good luck. hopefully things will be a little smoother for you the second time around.