Is there anyway to test for a bent push rod with out taking the intake off?

 

You don't take the intake off to get at the pushrods. Just remove the valve covers, loosen the rocker arms, and pull the pushrods out.

 

i ment valve covers...arggg...its been a rough day...

how easy is it to bend a push rod? will it significanly make the car run bad?

 

I just checked mine. Its really easy, even with taking the valve cover off. It was even on the passenger side.

 

Bent push rods, eh?? Over revved?!?

 

not sure....trouble shooting...

i was at the track...didnt have it too high...6k in 3rd...noticed alittle valve float...pushed in cluch...then BANG!!!! the SOB jumped and my dash light up like a xmas tree...every light came on...got back to the pits, turned it off...scanned for codes....no codes, turned it on...all systems go. but now my ABS INOP lignt doesnt come on anymore.

Im just trying to see what i broke...anyone have this? possible pushrod?

the car seems fine

 

The normal indication of a bent push rod is a ticking or tapping noise. You'll likely be able to hear a little miss when listening to the exhaust too.

 

doesnt the car normally a small ticking noise anyway?

how slight of a miss...i know i have one..but thats from spark plugs...i hope...

 

The volume of the ticking noise would vary upon the degree to which the pushrod was bent.

For peace of mind, I'd just pull the valve covers and check them. It's really easy and doesn't take much time. One piece of advice, when removing the rocker arms, make sure you get the socket on nice and square or you'll either round the bolts off or break sockets.

 

It doesn't take long at all to pull the covers and check them, it's worth it.

Bent pushrods will make a slight tick/tap noise...pop your hood and open the throttle a bit by hand, it may be easier to hear that way. You will notice a small power loss over 5,500 rpms too.

You have an 02, so all of your coils come out on one bracket that is held by 4-5 bolts onto the engine...take those out, unplug whatever connectors are in your way, and you've got access to the valve cover right there (which is held on by another four bolts). Pull the rockers off, and the pushrods slide right out. Some pushrods may be noticeably (visually) bent, others try rolling on a flat surface (i.e. a piece of glass) to see if they roll smooth...

Here is one of my bent pushrods, on the right...you can see it is curved. Underneath this picture is a photo of two good ones.





p.s. when you reinstall, use the recommended torque spec for the rocker arm bolts and don't forget your loctite.

 

if i am going to take off the valve covers...would this be a good time to get better rocker arms? SLP claims a good HP gain for better ones...

 

Don't spend the money on rockers unless you plan on revving your engine to 7000 rpms. Many of the fastest LS1s in the country use the stock rockers.

 

Sorry to change the subject, but what does this mean?: 0-60 in 4.2 ... - in just under 1.5!

No offense, I'm just curious. 0-60 in 4.2 in just under 1.5? It's been bothering me, I had to ask.

BTW, I had a tick and slight miss. I just did heads and cam last week and when I pulled my pushrods out, one of them was really bent and had nicks in it. My valvetrain is much more quiet now with a bigger cam and hardened pushrods, than it was with the stock cam and bent pushrod(s). There not hard to change, but like was mentioned earlier, be careful to stay level with your wrench so you don't round off the tops of the rocker bolts or break your socket.

 

- in just under 1.5...

its facial expressions...meaning it only takes a second to go from a smile to a grin from the power....

 

Black TA...did you have to take the radiator out to replace the cam? how big of a cam did you go with?