under 100,000 and new engine needed

The old groove in cam lobe lifter sh!t it self story.
The amount of ve l98 engines this has happened to it should have been a recall.

Them after market warranties usally only cover a percentage of the cost. Make sure everything is covered including parts and labour.

 

Are you sure you did not flog it to death...reading some of the problems with engines on this forum...and tune up's etc....it would not be to critical to say that some of the engines have been belted into oblivion.....just a thought!!!!!

 

Lifter failure is fairly common in the 6L LS motors. Usually ends up munching the cam lobes when the lifter turn on itself.

 

Its not just the collapsable AFM lifters that fail, even the non collapsable one that holden use are ****. Ive been told to use aftermarket tie bar lifters to replace the standard ones as they don't have the same issue.

 

My 65 year old next door neighbours VE SS dropped a lifter, I'm certain the car has never been over 2500rpm in it's life, serviced by Holden etc etc, Was around 30,000km's if I remember correct.

I belt the tits off my ute and knock on wood solid as a drum still, no dreaded LS "ticking" yet, but it's an excuse for DOD delete and cam

 

Couple of points

1) If genuine Holden warranty (not some dodgy aftermarket ****) it will 100% be new. Never fitted second hand parts under Holden warranty unless required (transmissions over xxx kms or changeover radios being the exemption)

2) Usually lifter munching is a result of oil pressure issues - not low enough to be stuffed but low enough that the lifters and cam start to munch. Oil pump pressure relief valve failure is not uncommon and most cam/lifter munch issues show low oil pressure when cold (say 50-75kpa when spec is about 95kpa). Most of the time when pressure is checked it's fine, but when the valve sticks it's low. Usually it's the top end that suffers.

 

This issue has nothing to do with AFM lifters, we are talking LS lifters!? Don't know why you keep on about AFM, really?

Honestly, if you guys know **** about the issue and keep whining about AFM then stop confusing the guy and let this guy talk to people who do.

Torque friction at the lobe is greatest <2000 RPM. 25% greater stress when they are babied like this, never heard of a Delphi lifter (AFM) go and Tie Bar are also problematic on the GenIV.

 

I had an L76 in last month with a collapsed AFM lifter - not common but you do get the occasional one.

 

Interesting, are you certain it was MY9.5+ with the Delphi hi-lift vs Eatons?

 

Yes, its quite common even under 100,000

Source: Seen over 10 cases at work.

 

I can beat that! My 07 WM with the L98 6.0L, had a new engine at 500 km. Took delivery on a Friday with 20 Km returned to dealer the following Monday having driven 500 km with awful clatter and ticking sounds. 1 week later, a new engine was sourced from Adelaide and installed by dealer. Apparently it was the same problem a lot of these engines have with camshaft and valve lifters.

 

Yep, was a very late 09 build. Like any part I guess you can get failures.

 

I was recently speaking to Sam from Sams performance about the camshaft/lifter issues with the LS motors, like everything the motor is built to a price, the camshaft that GM use is of low quality and Sam believes it is a big reason behind the all to common lifter and camshaft issues. Just like the pistons that are used have a large amount of expansion when they heat up which causes the cold start piston slap. My motor has 90k on it and slaps pretty bad so im just going to bite the bullet and get sam to rebuild it for me using some quality forged pistons that can run much tighter tolerances and a camshaft that he recommends which eliminates all the lifter issues.

 

Woohoo! Diving in!! Go the JE FSR 0.030" oversize taking it out to 370, giving you 13.2:1 to play with e85 and premium. Good cam should take you to 340rkw and bigger bore and higher cylinder pressure under e85 will boost that at least 15%. See you have the flex fuel tables in your car, more free torque, 20% better fuel economy. If it were me I'd replace lifters, custom cam but retain AFM (then good for another 100k km).

Ballpark cost and hours?

 

Ballpark cost was 8.5k. 2 weeks off the road. Includes Diamond Forged pistons (Sam swears by them), shaved head, a small cam and new lifters. Ive just got to save up the cash then i will talk to them again and get into the details of what im actually going to do but i will likely go for what he recommends as he is arguably one of the better LS rebuilders in Australia. He recommended stroking it as he does a lot of 427's but i don't have that sort of cash lol

 

Mate I realise the shop is good and had a few friends go there too, one spent over $30,000 modding his HSV Tourer Black Edition through that shop. But I think it has relatively conservative approach and typical value for money / results. Sure the shop is experienced but I suppose the fine point is it is not an engine builder per sé, more tuners and installers for outsourced engineering. Each to their own, I prefer more cutting-edge experience with the new race technology and direct dialogue with engineers in the detail versus outsourced brands / what's worked in the past.

Yes the L77 responds well to a longer stroke but not with a small cam, crank and rods extra $2500, but while it's cracked and you are honing anyways you might as well take it out a bit to 370ci. I agree those pistons look ####ing amazing in the web video too. When the heads are off for overhaul consider LS3 valves and quality beehives. Then the pistons, bore and 0.040" off the heads will definitely bring it into hi-comp ethanol territory, I'd aim for 13:1. Cam, heads, compression should get a 370 well into the 340's at the rear, on e85 will boost cylinder pressures about 33% to add at least 15% performance on top of that, run better, and use 20% less (cheap) alcohol.

PS You can do better for a couple grand less :yarr:

 

There was a problem with a batch of LS3's that were fitted to MY11/MY12 HSV's, that had soft cam lobes...

Mexican cam quality I s'pose....