Piston Slap

[pikey]

Hi All

I have heard people talking of piston slap on the v8 commodores..What is it and does it exist on the VY SS Range.How do i know if my car has the problem(i am not very mechanically minded,but trying to learn)
Thanks

Alan

[greenfoam]

I heard a VY SS rattling badly when it started up at the petrol station back when they were new so yeah some of them were a bit loose. It's just exsessive clearence between the piston and bore so before the piston expands when its warm they rattle around in the bore a bit. I think all the cars with issues were fixed a long time ago

[chargedvx6]

It was an issue with a batch of pistons/ rings in the VT series 2 and possibly VX1/2 as well (don't quote me). The issue was well n truley sorted by the time VYs came along as GM lost too much by doing warranty rebuilds. The LS1s do have a few inherent engine noises but as long as yours isn't using oil between services and there's no warning lights on the dash I wouldn't worry too much about piston slap etc.

[strgas]

when i worked at holden we were told that piston knock under a minute on start up on a cold LS1 was ok . when i put in a warranty claim for one engine having knock for 12 mins they said that was a made up time , when the claims manger came to check for himself he shook his head in disbeilf for almost the same amount of time ....

[greenfoam]

Well I wasn't sorted with the hothouse VY SS I saw it was very loud ratlltlelatllealtlealtlealtlelatlea knock rateleklle :P
You get the idea

[dah_man_ben]

Well mate, a family friend of mine had a 2002 VY SS which he bought in 2003 I think, had the engine replaced 3 times under Holden warranty for piston slap and his 4th motor in 2006 under genuine parts warranty was finally alright... he sold it anyway earlier this year and got a Calais V Series.... but thats not bullshit and I've read somewhere that VT, VYII and the early VZ that had the 5.7's were okay whereas VX, VXII and VY more often were the ones that got piston slap?

[colgf]

its not confined to VT's either- I owned a 2000 WH Caprice with the Gen III donk . Without doubt the clunkiest , slappiest , oil using , mongrel of an engine , I have ever owned. Ended up getting entire engine replaced under warranty. Used a litre of oil every 700 klm. Piston slap was like someone banging a oil drum with a wet sock full of sand. Sold vehicle shortly after. I heard also that GMH had solved all the Gen III issues by the time the VY series 1 had evolved. (Just as well!!!)

[strgas]

American spec engines just dont work well in OZ..

[trucko]

my vy ss ute makes a fair amount of valve train noise at times, comes and goes.... usually starts if i take it over 3 grand before its fully warmed up, and stays there until i take it out the road and tear the balls out of it for a few seconds, thats when everything quiets down.... very odd if you ask me....
but yeah, ls1's can be noisy little shits...

[Sphinx]

pretty much every LS1 has noticeable valvetrain noise. if it still sounds very rattley after it's warmed up then give it a miss. they sound shocking when cold but once warmed up there should only be gudgeon pin noise and the usual valvetrain noises.