Cold lifter tick noises indicate some measure of wear for the 5 minutes or so until the oil becomes hot and sufficiently lubricates the effected assemblies.

Could this tick wear be greatly minimized if the large LS1 oil pan is filled with 6
or 6.5 quarts of oil? Or, is the heat of the oil the predominant factor?

I've read that an additional half quart, or even a full quart of oil can be used in the LS1 without over pressurizing the system or creating an overflow condition, and that this is done with track Camaros.

 

sure you're not hearing piston slap??

i would think a thinner oil may help reduce the noise if it is indeed the lifter. the thinner oil will penetrate the clearances faster.

i know when i tried some of that 15w oil from mobile 1 a few years ago on my LT1 it made an aweful racket for the first few minutes of startup. never did that with normal 5w or 10w prior to that.

that's the last time i used the heavy weight...i'll stick with 5 or 10 now

 

Teke,

The LS1tech message board had an audio of piston slap a few days ago, and it was a heavier sound than what I'm experiencing, so I'm guessing lifter.

Also, my 34k mile LS1 didn't have a cold engine tick-tick noise prior to me changing the oil (Mobil 1, 10w-30) a few weeks ago. That would indicate some foreign material from the bottom of the pan got into a lifter, creating the noise. Some folks have advised that it'll go away soon, particularly if I take it WOT a few times. I'm not so sure of that.

I'm curious if additional oil in the pan will lesson the tick. Any thoughts? Also, how harmful to the engine is a tick that goes away after operating temperature is achieved?

Thanks for your input, and any other thoughts on the above.