ok this has been going on for a while. seems to get louder and more obvious when the cars warmed up. i do have headers so im wondering if an air leak is the cause. itll make the noise while im just driving but if i floor it and then slow back down it gets really loud and rapid. it also is louder when i brake. idk what it would have to do with the brakes? all i know is i want to just be able to hear the nice sounding exhaust w/out the annoying tick.

 

sounds almost like my problem. Could be a bent pushrod.

 

i really hope its not that. what could cause that? extreme abuse? i really dont beat on my car or floor it that much.

 

the MOST common cause of bent pushrods is a missed shift and sudden extreme RPMs. if you miss a shift, even though your tach says 6k rpms, it actually spikes at around 10k for a moment or two. Other than that LS1's have been known to bend stock pushrods easily. Luckily you can get a set of hardened ones for just over $100 and install them yourself in a day. or you can pay someone 200 bucks or so in labor.

I dont hammer on mine hardly ever either and i've NEVER missed a shift, but i'm pretty sure my slight clicking is a pushrod or two, but i already have some futral rods sitting in the closet with my cam and heads waiting to be installed.

If it is pushrods, take this as an oppertunity to replace the springs/locks/retainers and maybe a higher ratio rocker (if you never plan on camming it). All that could give you around 10-15 hp and you'll have a much smoother running motor and a much more solid valvetrain that could easily take 6k rpm abuse

 

any install guides out there?

 

oh ya, check out www.ls1howto.com basically check out the heads/cam install and just follow steps needed for pushrods

 

bent pushrod shouldn't change with engine temp should it.

i would go through and check for an exhaust leak first. could be that.

by any chance have you looked into the air check valves on the AIR tubes? those have been known to stick and make an annoying sound.

 

oh i didnt see anything about engine temp, my bad. Ya that would have been my second guess.