My engine shakes a little at idle. The other day I was at the oil change place and the guy points it out to me, says it means its running rough. I tell him it's done that since the day I bought it, and that it's normal (I've seen the same thing on every other LS1 I've ever encountered). He insisted that it's not normal, and cited 20 years experience. Ooooookay.

So anyway, I had him run the Intake System Cleaner service (it was on sale for $60, normally costs like $110). Plenty of crap came out, so I guess it was money well spent. This is something that's supposed to be done every 30,000 miles or so, and my car has 50K on it. AFAIK, it's never been done before.

Here's the thing -- it still shakes, just like it did before.

At anything more than idle, the vibration is gone. If I blip the throttle, it pulls to the side a little, but I'm pretty sure that's normal too.

I really just want someone to tell me that this is normal and the oil change guy is full of it, but I thought I'd ask just in case.

Uploading a video of the shaking shifter right now... will post shortly.

 

Here's a video of the shifter shaking (the engine shakes the same way -- this is easier to see on video). 39.6MB AVI file.

If anyone is wondering what a Corsa exhaust sounds like at idle from inside the car, the video is nice for that too.

 

My LT1 looked like an out of balance washing machine before I replaced the motor mounts. Now with the poly mounts it still bounces around a good amount.

 

mine does it slightly

 

just about every engine i have hd that has had any work done on it has shaken a little bit... sometimes it is normal sometime not.. but if it has always done it then i would not worry alot about it.

 

I'm not worried... just doing my due dilligence.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Like all these other guys said its normal...lesson well learned don't listen to the lube pro with 20 years experince upselling fuel injector services..even tho that service probablly wasnt a bad idea at the milage all he wanted was your money. I am a Dealer Tech trust me all thats the name of the game

 

If you're talking about the service where they hook up a machine to your fuel lines and it scrubs them clean, we only recommend it on cars with over 100k. You can do it on younger vehicles, but the results are usually far less noticeable and not worth the money. On cars with mileage, it can really help out performance and make the vehicle run close to new again.

If you're talking about some other service - you got screwed.

 

exactly how does that service work? Just wondering.. my car has 197k on it lol.. so tis a thought lol... not sure if it will help with a carb vehicle though.. i dunno..

 

I'm talking about this service.

They hang a bottle from your hood and connect it to the fuel rail. AFAIK, the bottle contains a compound called xylene.

They run your engine on the stuff until the bottle is empty (takes maybe 15 minutes), revving the engine up a few times in the process. When they revved my engine, I got blue smoke coming out of my exhaust, which means that the xylene (which burns clean) carried something out with it.

They also clean out the MAF screen, clean the insides of your intake tract before the MAF, and pour a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in your gas tank.

The car was significantly stronger after that. I'd venture to guess at least 10hp difference. Before I went, once I had traction in first gear, I could floor it and just go; after I left, I could get rolling in first, floor it, and lose traction. So this isn't just a SOTP guess -- my tires tell me it's a lot stronger now.

The Valvoline place was having a sale -- this service is usually about $100, and I got it for $60.

 

As soon as I have a place where I can do the work myself, that's exactly what I plan to do.

I move in two weeks from today. Woohoo!

 

i told both my parents that and they didn't listen, all 6 fuel injectors had to be replaced on my mom's '00 bonneville and 2 needed to be replaced on my dad's '97 sierra 1500. and why do you have someone else change your oil? it takes 30 mins top and i'm sure even in winter you can suck it up for that long or have a friend with a garage do it. at least take it to a real shop or something. i know a kid who now works at the walmart quick lube who at jiffy lube on his first week drained all the tranny fluid out of a mitsu galant and overfilled the engine with another 5 qts of oil. ruined the tranny and engine. you want these type of people touching your baby?

 

Just out of curiosity, in addition to telling you your engine wasn't running right, did this oil service tech use his 20 years of engine building knowledge to offer an explanation on WHAT could be causing the "problem" and HOW you should go about fixing it?

I mean, I understand that the cruel irony of life is that the most gifted geniuses tend to be so misunderstood by society that they're usually condemned to working at places like Jiffy Lube, Walmart, and McDonald's, but still...

 

He said the problem was likely buildup of carbon on the valves and other internals, and that this cleaning system would clean it out.

I have used a cleaning system like the one he used, on previous cars I've owned. It is quick and effective, and he didn't screw me over. I don't let them do just anything to my car. I am familiar with the procedure and I know how and why it works. He described and explained it accurately.

I'm new in this area and I don't know which mechanics are reputable. I've never had any trouble at a Valvoline Instant Oil Change shop, so that's where I went.

I don't change my oil because my time is worth more than the cost of having them do it. Maybe when I have a heated polebarn and a lift (thus reducing the time it would take me to do it), that will change.

 

Dependind on the valvoine place.. I used to use them for my blazer and other cars till i found out they were not greasing the chassis, steering, u-joints, ect.... Found this out because one day as i was driving down the road, a got a bad vibration started up.. took it home. looked at the u-joints and they were bone dry, and had been for a long time by the looks of them (and the u-joints on both drive shafts (front and rear) have grease point for them.. they are not the OEM sealed ones) Nothing like all of the sudden having a driveshaft fall out because someone was not doing thier job.