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Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could help solve a problem I am having. I have a '02 Camaro SS with 25k miles on it. Upon cold start up it makes a slight ticking noise. I took it to the dealership while it was still under warranty and they replaced the oil pump o-ring. It didnt help. I have read numerous accounts of this ticking noise being bad pistons (which is really freakin me out). My friend whos a technician (but for volkswagen ) says most new GM cars make that noise upon start up due to the lifters making noise. My warranty is up in Jan so please help! Thanks!

 

Its called piston slap. Its from some of the cylinders being oversized making the piston lose in the cylinder. So technically its a factor defect but GM likes to call it normal My pistons were replaced in my engine under warranty at 21,000 with supposedly new upgraded pistons with a thicker TEFLON coating on them. It didn't change a thing. Its was nothing more than a GM patch job.

And my piston slap never goes away even after my car is warmed up. So now I am going to have to replace my engine my self thanks to GM. I just can't live with my car sounding like a DESIEL truck. And if you research piston slap online you will find that it effects thousands of vehicles with different engines, and find many more people out there with the same problem as we do. This website has lots of info. www.pistonslap.com

So when i build my new engine I am going to start with a new block and make sure all the cylinder are the same size so I will not end up with this problem again.

I have been very let down by the way GM has handled my problem and how they have just blown me off. I told GM that all 5 of the vehicles I have ever owed have been GM, and that all my future vehicles will now no longer be GM. Thats how disappointed I am with GM.

 

Yes thats what I figured it was since I have read about it before. Thanks for showing me that page dedicated to the slap. I'm going to print it out and bring it into my dealer who keeps on trying to get around the issue. What do I have to loose? I'm going to have them put in new pistons and hope for the best. I also currently have my beloved SS up for sale due to this problem. I have owned 9 GM vehicles and this is the only one I have been truely disapointed in. Thanks again for the help.

 

In majority of the cases GM will do nothing for the piston slap. All the measurements are usually within tolerances so they don't necessarily have to do anything about it.

Unfortunately...

Then again, piston slap is nothing new and is not really causing any unnormal wear or tear in the engine. You just have to learn to live with it.

Good luck anyway.

TS

 

Thanks

 

I was a little worried when I first bought my car as well... I don't even notice it any more. As other people posted, if what you hear is a ticking sound, then you have nothing to worry about. It shouldn't cause unusual wear on the motor. I have heard of people who claim their cars sound like a diesel where it's so bad but that's pretty rare

You should do a search for "piston slap" on either this board, ls1tech.com or ls1.com and you'll see what others have to say.

 

Piston slap here too....sound like a f'in diesel motor when I get on the gas...

It goes away after the engine warms up after a while.

I still don't like the sound, it freaks me out but it seems to be the norm for a lot these motors.

 

Piston slap is no big deal. Its much worse when cold but should go away after the car warms up, as all the metals expand tolerences get much tighter.

You want to hear piston slap try an iron block with forged pistons.

If your car sounds like a deisel when you floor it you probobly have detonation not piston slap........

t

 

It's not detonation in my case. I know for a fact it's not.

Also, the sound goes away after the motor warms up.

 

Fortunatly mine is not very noticeable (yet). I didnt even notice until my dad pointed it out. I figured it was just normal engine noise upon start up. However I had a 2000 SS that never made that sound so I started doing some research and found that a lot of people have this sort of problem. I really dont want to get rid of my car so maybe I'll just ride it out. I never drive it anyhow, so if any damage were to be sustained due to the "slap" it would be a hell of a long time before I have to deal with it. I bought the car a year and a half ago with 25k miles on it and now it has 25,857 lol. Thanks for all the advice.

 

If the "slap" noise goes away upon warming up, it is a non-issue. My 1990 GT has piston-slap, yet has delivered 150K trouble-free miles despite constant abuse. The LS1s use a short-skirted piston which will "wobble" in the bores until expanded...no biggie. If you have a "knock" after the engine is warm, then I'd be worried.