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L77 - AFM/DOD improved over time. But high oil consumption?

lmoengnr

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Another MY12 VE...

Engine: L77
Mod's or standard: Standard
Model year: 2012
Total km's: 91,000
Oil consumption: Negligible
Auto or manual: Auto
DOD present or not: Present
DOD enabled or disabled: Enabled
Oil changes at 10,000km, Penrite Enviro+ GF5
 

Smashfist

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Engine: e.g. L77
Mod's or standard: Modded. I had a lifter failure at 6,000kms from new and took the opportunity to install a VCM 714 cam, LS7 lifters, a DOD delete valley plate, pushrods to suit and Lunati dual valve springs. Something to note is that the stock rev limit is set at 6,000RPM for a reason, the DOD valvetrain carries quite a lot of weight and the collapsible lifters don't like moving quickly. Suspect mine didn't like the tune and increased rev limit so it was probably self inflicted.
Model year: 2014
Total km's: 20,000km now
Oil consumption: None. I do run a heavy oil though, was recommended by my tuner to run 10w40 or 10w50 due to the high lift cam and heavy valve springs causing big pressures in the valvetrain.
Auto or manual: Manual
DOD present or not: Neg
DOD enabled or disabled: N/A

If it’s more than the amount between the high and low marks on the dipstick (1 litre?) between services (15,000kms) then I’d consider it a fault which Holden should fix under Australian Consumer Law (ACL) statutory warranty, even if outside manufacturers warranty period.

You know this guy is talking about a VZ, i.e. a 14 odd year old vehicle right?
 

CliveSS

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I did replace the DOD Filter earlier in the year as I had a noisy lifter,
[especially when its cold, but not as notable when it gets hot, but still a little bit noisy]
DOD present or not: Present
DOD enabled or disabled. Enabled.

Krusing I've been trawling through some old posts and I note, from a posting you made in Feb 2019, that you were concerned with lifter noise and that you considered replacing the lifters. Did your mechanic suggest replacing the DOD filter as an alternative cure? It seems that you still have some noise but that it's not so noticeable and that it's probably acceptable - would that be correct?

Also in your Feb 2019 post you make mention of a different cam and altered compression ratio's etc. on the AFM engine. Seems that is not widely known or understood; so hats off to you. I may be clutching at straws but do you know what DOD hardware is present in the L76 DOD factory disabled motor? Since the DOD is disabled I'm wondering if Holden used a "normal" cam? Also did they use the uprated oil pump and DOD filter?

It seems to me that with deactivated DOD the higher flowing oil pump would cause problems associated with oil oversupply (gumming up rings etc). Similarly, cam profiles ground to allow for differing compression ratios would be unnecessary and counter productive. So to ask the above questions in a different way - does anybody know if the factory disabled DOD engine has the DOD specific uprated oil pump or the DOD specific camshaft or the DOD specific oil filter?
 

CliveSS

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p.s. Thanks for all replies to date. I have copied my original post to the VZ and VE forums in an effort to spread the word more widely and hopefully receive some more data relating to DOD and reliability/oil consumption issues.

p.p.s. My posts to VZ and VE forums have been taken down. Apparently not allowed to post the same issue on multiple forums. That will probably limit the number of replies - but that's the way it is.
 
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krusing

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I did replace the DOD Filter earlier in the year as I had a noisy lifter,
[especially when its cold, but not as notable when it gets hot, but still a little bit noisy]
DOD present or not: Present
DOD enabled or disabled. Enabled.

Krusing I've been trawling through some old posts and I note, from a posting you made in Feb 2019, that you were concerned with lifter noise and that you considered replacing the lifters. Did your mechanic suggest replacing the DOD filter as an alternative cure? It seems that you still have some noise but that it's not so noticeable and that it's probably acceptable - would that be correct?

Also in your Feb 2019 post you make mention of a different cam and altered compression ratio's etc. on the AFM engine. Seems that is not widely known or understood; so hats off to you. I may be clutching at straws but do you know what DOD hardware is present in the L76 DOD factory disabled motor? Since the DOD is disabled I'm wondering if Holden used a "normal" cam? Also did they use the uprated oil pump and DOD filter?

It seems to me that with deactivated DOD the higher flowing oil pump would cause problems associated with oil oversupply (gumming up rings etc). Similarly, cam profiles ground to allow for differing compression ratios would be unnecessary and counter productive. So to ask the above questions in a different way - does anybody know if the factory disabled DOD engine has the DOD specific uprated oil pump or the DOD specific camshaft or the DOD specific oil filter?

The Lifter noise was there from about approx. 45,000k, I did mention it to The Dealer at the time,
but they just palmed it off, saying its normal with AFM, so I didn't know anything different at the time.
If I knew it was a common problem, I would of pushed the point, and being a ex GM vehicle,
As mentioned, its still there, more prominent when its cold as you can hear it when you start up, and when I leave home, but doesn't take long to warm up, taking into account, I don't drive it like a grandpa, and I definitely don't thrash it, as I drive it like a V8 should be driven,
But after its warmed up, you can just hear it.

I did mention about compression ratio's, but I don't really know what they should be anyway,
where I did read that the DOD pots are different to the other 4, and wouldn't change the cam or lifters other than keep it stock.
Where I am a bit old school, and prefer to keep it stock.
 
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CliveSS

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The Lifter noise was there from about approx. 45,000k .......

Thanks. According to a much earlier post by Monstar, there were significant improvements to the DOD from Feb. 2011; including the use of Delphi 1 lifters. So your MY 2012 would be much improved over the MY 2006 L76 (for example). That seems to be the case from your posts. 163,000 km and still going strong and can only "just hear" the lifters ticking when engine is warm.
 

CliveSS

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Summarising the responses to date:-

1) Excessive lifter noise seems to be a problem with L76 engines whether DOD is factory disabled or not.
2) VE series L77 engines with factory improved DOD system active - seems that roughly 50% have lifter issues and 50% are fine.
3) VF series 1 L77 engine (with the best factory improved DOD system active) - one reported to have no issues.
4) VF series 1 L77 engine (with the best factory improve DOD system installed but not active) - one reported lifters munched and cam lobe damage. However that was after a tune to raise the rev limit from 6000 to 6500 r.p.m.

Please note that sample size is only six replies so I wouldn't be drawing any firm conclusions from the above. Also please note that some of the replies did not specify whether there was excessive noise or not, so difficult to make accurate analysis.

I note that none reported excess oil consumption - so that's a good thing for any version of DOD. Also of note is that the only VF series 1 DOD (the best there is) which had problems was on a modified engine (rev. limit raised to 6500 r.p.m.)

Could it be that VF series 1 (June 2013 - Sept 2015) L77 engines in stock form have a perfect DOD setup? Has anyone had lifter related problems with their series 1, L77, on a bog standard, unmolested, factory original motor?

Meantime for a bit of light relief I have posted the following short video of my own clattering Thunder L76. Sounds way too noisy to me. What do you think - lifter problems?
Any comments on it would be welcome.
 
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