My Camaro went home to Oshawa to die......

[PQ]

Originally Posted by mikeSS

i might be wrong on this, but i feel that more people are putting cams into LS3s then l99s. i am not sure about FI. as i do not read those threads that often. but maybe we are seeing more problems with LS3s right now because they are getting modded more. in term of internal mods.

Very well could be. The VVT may have something to do with it. Which is kinda odd to me. An L99 gets much more gain from a cam than an LS3.

Originally Posted by Camarowguy

It won't completely be an ls3....you'll be a step ahead tho...you'll have valve pockets.

Valve pockets?

Originally Posted by snowtrill

LS3's have the lifter issue as well. I ended up with a new engine thanks to a broken lifter.

I had a warning by the lifter knocking.

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by PQ

Very well could be. The VVT may have something to do with it. Which is kinda odd to me. An L99 gets much more gain from a cam than an LS3.

.

true, but i think most shops like the LS3 style cam more. thats what i have learned. not 100% sure why though. maybe its easier ?

[Toasty]

Originally Posted by PQ

Valve pockets?

LS3 pistons are flat top, L99's have reliefs or pockets in the piston head to accomodate the VVT range of timing.

[Camarowguy]

Originally Posted by Toasty

LS3 pistons are flat top, L99's have reliefs or pockets in the piston head to accomodate the VVT range of timing.

^^^thanks! Alot of people are forgetting this. And it's my whole point. The l99 can accommodate a larger cam because of the valve reliefs in the pistons. Which is a large reason why we see more ls3 failures. Make sense?

[PQ]

Originally Posted by mikeSS

true, but i think most shops like the LS3 style cam more. thats what i have learned. not 100% sure why though. maybe its easier ?

I've heard the same. But the L99 shops like ARD and a few others have claimed that they can make bigger power using the VVT equipped cars. I don't know why. Maybe the piston heads?

Originally Posted by Toasty

LS3 pistons are flat top, L99's have reliefs or pockets in the piston head to accomodate the VVT range of timing.

Ah. I've seen that. Didn't really know what it was for.

Originally Posted by Camarowguy

^^^thanks! Alot of people are forgetting this. And it's my whole point. The l99 can accommodate a larger cam because of the valve reliefs in the pistons. Which is a large reason why we see more ls3 failures. Make sense?

So is this why the claims of bigger power made in L99 cams?

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by Camarowguy

So most of the failures are ls3's.....interesting. Any links to threads where I can see their damage. I'm interested to know if there is possibly a related trend.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...amaro+bit+dust


here ya go!

[Huggerorange73]

Just to clarify the whole L99/LS3 cam gains.

Without an LS3 conversion, the L99 is limited to .500 of lift due to the fact that half the lifters and the cam lobes are unique due to the AFM. Also the VCT phaser causes issues with PTV contact with larger cams due to too much advance. Without swapping over to an LS3 conversion, you can't get as wild with your cam swaps, therefore you're not going to pick up anywhere near what you will with an LS3 that will allow you to run much larger cam profiles.

Another interseting fact is the L99 doesn't use the hollow stem intake valves...heavier valves can lead to bad things.

No need to harp on the lifter issues....I'm pretty sure we're all aware of those problems right?

[Nvincent4708]

hey hugger. did you get the balancer off yet? If i lived closer I would've gotten you any tools you needed.

i actually modified a 2 jaw puller..put a piece of chain through the balancers backside and bolted the chain to the balancer.. pulled it right off, no damage or anything.

[Huggerorange73]

Originally Posted by Nvincent4708

hey hugger. did you get the balancer off yet? If i lived closer I would've gotten you any tools you needed.

i actually modified a 2 jaw puller..put a piece of chain through the balancers backside and bolted the chain to the balancer.. pulled it right off, no damage or anything.

I was planning on it Tuesday...then a brake job on my 02' Avalanche turned into an epic adventure.

I WILL get the balancer off tomorrow....The bolt is out, just need the right puller!

[Nvincent4708]

Originally Posted by Huggerorange73

I was planning on it Tuesday...then a brake job on my 02' Avalanche turned into an epic adventure.

I WILL get the balancer off tomorrow....The bolt is out, just need the right puller!

I bet the bolt was easy to get out like mine.. The rod through the block sure worked better at holding the crank still than anything else

Post pictures! Curious to see what really happened here.

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by Huggerorange73

Just to clarify the whole L99/LS3 cam gains.

Without an LS3 conversion, the L99 is limited to .500 of lift due to the fact that half the lifters and the cam lobes are unique due to the AFM. Also the VCT phaser causes issues with PTV contact with larger cams due to too much advance. Without swapping over to an LS3 conversion, you can't get as wild with your cam swaps, therefore you're not going to pick up anywhere near what you will with an LS3 that will allow you to run much larger cam profiles.

Another interseting fact is the L99 doesn't use the hollow stem intake valves...heavier valves can lead to bad things.

No need to harp on the lifter issues....I'm pretty sure we're all aware of those problems right?

makes sense

[snowtrill]

Originally Posted by PQ

I had a warning by the lifter knocking.

There was no lifter knocking until things had gone very wrong. From the point the "knocking" started to the dealership was less than 30 miles.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by snowtrill

There was no lifter knocking until things had gone very wrong. From the point the "knocking" started to the dealership was less than 30 miles.

Well, actually, I don't have a lifter knock.

It turns out that it was a exhaust manifold leak on my headers.

[Camarowguy]

Originally Posted by Huggerorange73

Just to clarify the whole L99/LS3 cam gains.

Without an LS3 conversion, the L99 is limited to .500 of lift due to the fact that half the lifters and the cam lobes are unique due to the AFM. Also the VCT phaser causes issues with PTV contact with larger cams due to too much advance. Without swapping over to an LS3 conversion, you can't get as wild with your cam swaps, therefore you're not going to pick up anywhere near what you will with an LS3 that will allow you to run much larger cam profiles.

Another interseting fact is the L99 doesn't use the hollow stem intake valves...heavier valves can lead to bad things.

No need to harp on the lifter issues....I'm pretty sure we're all aware of those problems right?

I think most of us are taking into consideration of the fact that most delete the afm. I know I will remove all of that garbage when my cam goes in. And more than likely I'll have some lighter intake valves to go in and port the heads. I'll probably just pull the engine. Might as well put some good rods in it too while I'm at it.