I just want to start off saying i have written alot and i thank you if you read it and have any response



Hi guys i havent posten in a while i have been working on my rebuild and finally got is runnign today... bad news though. a loud squeek comes from i think the engine. heres what i got any ideas what could be happening? just bought a brand new gm lt1 shortblock from an internet site that seemed pretty reputable. the block was manufactured in 1998 and was a 4 bolt main?? was like what the heck o well cant hurt. then put a brand new melling oil pump in with a new oil pickup.... put in the windage plate and got the pan on... put on trick flow heads and an edlebrock performer RPM cam in with the stock gm lifters... got the whole thing together with the stock intake manifold and throttlebody... o got new timing set and got an electric water pump... the summit one.... bbk headers and the 1:6 ratio roller rockers from jegs....

got it all int he car and everything and the engine wouldnt start and we found out that the rockers were too tight so we set it to 1/4 turn of lash instead of 1/2 turn and the engine started right up... ran perfectly... keept running.. we had it running with perfect oil pressure and everything for a good like 10 mins and my dad went and held the rpms at 2k for about 5 mins to brake in the cam and it sounded beautiful and was running beautiful... as soon as he let off the gas it was idling much better like it should with the cam but about 40 sec later there was a tiny squeeking noise which in a matter of seconds got really loud so we shut it off and took off the accessory bet to make sure it wasnt that and started it again... it ran beautifully for like 2 mins then when it got up to temp again it started squeeking loud... so we let it cool down alot and tried again and it ran fine then after it got to like the 1st bar on the temp gauge it started squeeking again... what could this be we hope it isnt a main bearing or anything like that... we are sure we didnt do anything wronge what are the possibilities?

also thanks for all your time and help and thanks for reading that if you did.

 

Very difficult to diagnose a squeak over the internet. It would help if you could isolate it a little further and describe it's frequency (ie. times/second or such) or post a sound clip. A bearing is capable of making a squeak (worst case), but so can valve train parts. I would feel better if you said you had pre-oiled the engine.

 

o yeah we primed the engine with oil before we put on the intake manifold by using the old oil pump drive shaft and a drill to spin the new one and fill the thing up well with oil... also i just came across a post made by some1 who said when they got a cam for their engine they started it and almost the same thing happened but when they took off their valve covers it went away thus saying that a rocker arm had been scraping a valve cover..... the 1:6 ratio roller rockers i got seem to sit higher than normal ones did and the cam lifts them alot highet than the stock one and when i put on the vlave covers i put them on pretty tight so u could see the center of them warp downward a little bit and i think a rocker might be scraping when it heats up and expands enough im going to pull the valve coversd tomorrow and inspect them or look to see if it makes a difference.... also to be more specifiv the squeeking isnt coming from the front of the engine and not the middle it sounds like it is coming from close to the firewall.... like a metal on metal screeching noise.... dont know if that narrows it down enough for you....

also jsut wanted to say thank you shoebox for your site it has really helped me alot during this whole project ive done with my car.

 

also just want to mention im not running stock valve covers.... i got a powermaster polished alternator and i modified the bracket so the valve covers i bought from pep boys would work however they arent super tall they might be scraping.... i have a few other things in mind..... i heard you have to break in a new engine with traditional oil and i like to use synthetic but went with traditional oil anyways...... would it be ok to use synthetic.... another thing..... i did alot of turning over of the engine until we finally got it to start and alot of gas was sitting in the cylinders because of all the turning over without ignition....( the rocker ams lash were off and when we took out 1/4 turn lash it finally started) and i was wondwering if it was possible for the gas to get into the oil and dilude it and make it so it doesnt do its job properly..... just a few more possibilities if you might think any of them are plausible.

 

One thing pops to mind, did you soak the lifters in oil to get them pumped up before you installed? If you did what lifters do you have because 1/2 turn should not be too tight even with 7/16 studs unless it has Comp lifters. If you think it's the covers than just check them first for scraps. If none just don't screw them down and run it till it would normally squeak.

Hal

 

gm performance parts hydrallic lifters... pretty much the stock ones... cause i hear they are some of the best.... also the studs are 3/8 studs...

 

I changed my previous message so you may not read the new first question. Did you soak thei lifters oil to pump them up before you installed them?

Hal

 

yep we soaked em in oil to prime em and made sure they werent being compressed at 0 lash... we did some reasearch on the 1.6 rr's and there is huge controversy on weather or not to fo 1/4 turn of lash vs 1/2 turn of lash and because of the fact that it wouldnt start at 1/2 turn we put it at 1/4 turn and it fired right up..

 

Weird because I have 1.6 with stock lifters and have gone up to 1 turn with no issues. I also have stock '97 covers which never scrap but hopefully it's something simple like those covers. Watching a movie now so I'll check back tomorrow on your progress (if you post more).

Hal

 

change the oil and see whats in it? is your valvetrain getting lubed up? I would think that if it were the valve covers it would do it all the time; not just once it gets hot

 

guides plates ? or sa? guides plates to pushrods would possible bind in valve train when hot just idea! take a piece of hose see if coming from there first or possible a cam bearing?

 

ok well heres the update... i just got home from school started it up... let it run.... it ran for about 10 mins without the noise and i reved it up to about 2100 - 2200 and held it there... let it come down and it was idleing at about 7-800 and sounded great and was runnign smoothly... no squeek... do you think that maybe it heated up the first time and things moved and one of the valve covers might have been touching and then it cooled down and things found new homes?? cause i cant get it to squeek again.

the other thing i figured out is i think it is com ing from the valvetrain.... the car was running sat 700 and the squeeks were like 4 per sec so if u do the math at 700 the crank would be going like 11 ish a sec.... that means if it was the crank it would be making alot more noise alot faster... like rapid... yet the valves open about 2 times and close about 2 times a sec assumin g it might have been only 1 rocker or pushrod rubbing on something...

 

CHANGE THE OIL. You can also take the dipstick out, put the oil on your fingers, and then smell the oil. If you smell any gas, change the oil immediately. Honestly, though, because you're breaking it in, CHANGE THE OIL regardless because you're going to have assembly lube, metal shavings, etc in the oil from break-in.

Trust me, I learned it the hard way. If you were cranking it over a lot and dumping gas into the cylinders, there's a good chance you washed the gas into the oil.

I bought a used LT1, built it up, ran it for 80 whole miles, and then I spun two bearings. I had gas in the oil and in those 80 miles I didn't change the oil once. If I would have just changed the oil even once or twice in those 80 miles, I'd have known about the gas in the oil and I wouldn't have had to spend $1500 in machine work and new parts.

I learned my lesson the hard way. After we heat cycle it once or twice, we're changing the oil. After I take it and have it tuned, we're changing the oil. After we put ~50 miles on it, we're changing the oil. After 200 miles, changing the oil. After 500 miles, changing the oil. After 1500, synthetic oil and then regular oil changes moving forward. All it takes is for gas or metal shavings to stay in your oil long enough to cause damage and things will go down hill from there. If you keep changing your oil and checking for gas, you'll keep the engine running with fresh oil and less of a chance of spun bearings.

 

ok ill be sure to change the oil soon probebly tonight.

 

Make sure you use a remote starter button when you have to turn your engine over when adjusting valves that will keep fuel out of fuel rails and injectors.I make a splice in the purple wire to attach the remote wire. Just a idea that helps.