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Old 05-29-2022, 03:24 AM   #1
morepowerjoe

 
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lifter bore bleed off

I think I've found my problem with the noisy lifters. My engine developed a tick at 150k miles with the afm junk so then I installed the SS1 cam to get rid of it. After the cam install it still had a tick from the get go but not terrible. Now fast forward 17k miles later I've developed another quite loud lifter tick. So I thought I had a bad lifter so went in and checked all my lifter preloads at first and thought I had found a lifter that wasn't pumped up so replaced it and to no surprise it still had a pretty loud tick. So then I cam across an article from melling saying that the afm lifters could wear out the lifter bore (https://www.melling.com/wp-content/u...s-3.1.18-1.pdf). So I think my lifter bore or bores are worn out. Then yesterday I started thinking about the tight clearances of the ls engine requiring 5w 30 oil and realizing that my engine no longer has tight clearances anymore at 167k miles. So then I decided to go to straight moble 1 40 and see how that worked. I am kind of pleased with the results. It seemed to quiet down the lifters pretty good. The only thing I'm concerned with is my oil pressure now because it has jumped up to 60psi at cruising or anything over like 1500 rpm and hot idle is now at 40psi which is about 10psi higher. So my question is this, do you guys think that my high oil pressure is due to the tolerances in the engine fighting the viscosity of the oil and I should go back to the 5w 30 and put up with the lifter tick or will I be ok with the higher viscosity at 40 and quieter lifters?
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Old 05-29-2022, 08:57 AM   #2
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Pressure is a mesurement of resistance to flow. Increasing oil viscosity numbers (30vs40 etc) will increase resistance to flow. This will happen in any situation where there is pressure.

So to your question, yes the pressure is the engine tolerances reacting to the viscosity change. This is not always a bad situation. The oil pressure range is the question. Too high of pressure restricts flow and could contribute to oil not getting to where it needs.
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Old 05-29-2022, 01:11 PM   #3
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I run 20w50 Royal Purple HPS oil (try it) . It works great for the noise in the valve train after a cam, its almost dead quiet. My hot oil pressure with a melling standard volume high pressure pump is 2.8-2.9 bar at idle and around 4.2 bar max. The thicker oil is OK as long as you dont use it in the cold and let the oil temp get to 200 F before you rev it high.
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Old 05-30-2022, 04:18 AM   #4
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Wow 20w50 huh. That sounds kinda scary but if it works it works.

Well I've had a chance to drive it yesterday and the straight 40 worked great almost no valve train noise at all now just a very faint tick but nothing like it was before. So I'm guessing this engine still has some life to it after all but when it comes time to replace it I will be buying a new block for sure. I think they can bore and sleeve the lifter bores but I don't want to go through all that with finding a machine shop and all to do the work. I'm hoping by the time I need to replace the engine jegs still has that 415 short block for sale cause that's what I really want.
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Old 05-31-2022, 12:07 PM   #5
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I also run 1/2-1 quart low as some others do. Helps keep windage down and air bubbles accumulating in the lifters.
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Old 05-31-2022, 12:29 PM   #6
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Quote:
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I also run 1/2-1 quart low as some others do. Helps keep windage down and air bubbles accumulating in the lifters.
Yeah I was reading a thread on that and was wondering what it was all about.
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Old 07-03-2022, 04:04 PM   #7
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So I talked to a machinist and he said that he has never seen a lifter bore wear out on a l99. He did say that the cam bearings or probably what's going on in my engine though. So I guess it's time for a rebuild.
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Old 07-04-2022, 10:46 AM   #8
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If you run thicker oil like 20w50 just make sure the oil temp gets to 200F before you beat on it. I have been running this oil for 15,000 miles and the engine sounds fantastic and the oil pressure always stays the same which tells me the bearings are happy. Another tip is to run lots of preload on the lifter so there is not much space from the plunger to the bottom of the lifter bore. When air inevitably gets in the oil the lifter wont collapse as bad and smack the bottom of the body so hard saving the cam, lifter and makes less noise.
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Old 07-04-2022, 10:52 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zz430camaro View Post
If you run thicker oil like 20w50 just make sure the oil temp gets to 200F before you beat on it. I have been running this oil for 15,000 miles and the engine sounds fantastic and the oil pressure always stays the same which tells me the bearings are happy. Another tip is to run lots of preload on the lifter so there is not much space from the plunger to the bottom of the lifter bore. When air inevitably gets in the oil the lifter wont collapse as bad and smack the bottom of the body so hard saving the cam, lifter and makes less noise.
Yeah I might give it a try before the rebuild but I want to change the cam anyways. It just gives me a reason to rebuild with forged internals because I might and I say might boost later on.
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Old 07-04-2022, 10:56 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by morepowerjoe View Post
So I talked to a machinist and he said that he has never seen a lifter bore wear out on a l99. He did say that the cam bearings or probably what's going on in my engine though. So I guess it's time for a rebuild.

That what I’ve read that vvt motors usuall #2 cam bearing that wallows itself out over time
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Old 07-04-2022, 11:05 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Risingson05 View Post
That what I’ve read that vvt motors usuall #2 cam bearing that wallows itself out over time
Yeah that sounds about right.
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Old 07-04-2022, 11:23 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by morepowerjoe View Post
Yeah that sounds about right.
I’ve also switched to dt-40
5-40 weight as I noticed my ls30 oil seemed to more thinned out since I’ve modded my motor , it was effecting my oil pressure slightly at wot , guess motor runs hotter .. plus when I use e-85 that what driven told me to use to combat fuel dilution
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