I might be looking at a 98 Z and I wanted to know what should I be looking for as far as defects or typical maladies. What is piston slap and what does it sound like? Thanks for any and all ideas/suggestions.

P.S. Anyone want to run a carfax for me?

 

There's not really to much to look out for on these cars other than the normal things, check for leaks, noises...... Most likely the car will have piston slap, you won't be able to tell though unless the car is cold.

 

what is piston slap and how big of a problem is it? If it has piston slap should I not even consider it? What's the best way to check for gear whine? thanks.

 

piston slap is normal.

 

Yes piston slap is normal it will be a ticking noise from under the hood when the car is started cold, once the car warms up the pistons expand and it goes away. Gear whine will just be a whining noise coming from the back of the car, it usually will increase with speed however sometimes it will only happen on deceleration or at certain speed.

 

Yeah, it's normal only on the defective engines. '98s didn't seem to have much of a PS problem. If I were looking into buying another f-body once I heard the 1st hint of PS i'd walk away........

 

Why is that?? Piston slap is normal, not necessarily to the extent that the ls1 has it however it's not going to effect the longevity of the motor in any way.

 

my car sounds like its spun a bearing till i drive down the road, no ill affects.

common on 1998's is foggy headlights

check for rubber in the rear fender wells (burnouts)

cracked dashboard was a problem on LT1 cars but i think the re-designed dash fixed that in the LS1's?

pull out the PCV tube going to the throttle body and see how much oil is going through there. if its a ton i'd pass on that car.

 

y'all have been a great help. so at around 90k miles, is PS dangerous? any other ways to tell if it's really been abused?

 

piston slap sounds bad but its nothing to worry about. this has been debated endlessly on every LS1 board on the internet, but all you need to know is that LS1's last well into their 100k's without problems, both with piston slap and without.

 

Im also going to look at an ls1 car next week so keep the suggestions coming!

 

don't assume any rubber in the wheel wells is from burn outs, may be undercoating. All four of mine I coated with rubber undercoating because of the weather around here. But do make sure that the rear tires have at least some what comparible tread to the front. It is an LS1 and all of us know even when your not trying it spins out sometimes....is a rear wheel drive car, but if it is a HUGE difference there is a reason for it. You said it was 6m? Check the bracket around the leather boot that clips into the consol to hold down the boot. If it is cracked or anything that could mean that the person who had it before you didn't know how to drive and shifted all together WAY too hard. IT is only a $40 replacement peice, but to crack it is actually a task. The reason I know is I made the mistake of teaching my brother to drive stick in my car, and he would SLAM and I mean SLAM it into gear enough that I thought the poor car was going to cry (or maybe it was me crying) and he snapped mine in three places. I had previously put over 30k on it and never even touched the bracket....1 mile from the house he cracked it. Check on that