[SammYyYyY]

(Apologies for the double post, just wasn't sure which part of the forum to post on for this topic )

Hey all!

I recently picked up my ZL1 1LE and have been loving every mile of it. I had the car PPIed before I bought it and everything came up clean. Odometer currently has 4,500 miles on it, and the car has a clean history.

Since I've got it, I've noticed a strange ticking noise coming from the engine bay; it seems to amplify when moving closer to the passenger side, closer to the front of the hood. I've gone ahead and linked two videos of the noise here:

Pt 1: https://youtube.com/shorts/gdYdMrSlf9c?feature=share

Pt 2: https://youtube.com/shorts/Ad_t24-scH8?feature=share

The obvious concern I have; lifter tick. Is there a possibility that this is lifter tick (or perhaps something even worse)? Should I send the car into the dealer to be looked at? I believe I'm still under my powertrain warranty until November of this year, so I'd like to get this taken care of sooner rather than later.

Thanks to anybody that can provide any insight, here's hoping for the best!

[SATINSTEEL1LE]

That has spun bearing all over it. You are in for a motor refresh if thats the case. Pull the heads first and inspect. You might want to consider a heads/cam package from a shop if you have top side damage. Then just upgrade and move on. If its short block bearings, then same thing but swap out the rotating assembly for something forged and get it ready for big power. Always look at these situations as an opportunity to upgrade rather than fix.

[LT1ornothing]

Definitely does not sound good. If it still has warranty, I would take it to a highly rated chevy dealer and have the service department diagnose it.

[SATINSTEEL1LE]

Yeah you should have a 5 year 60 on the powertrain. So that would cover the motor. I would take it in then. Forgot about the powertrain warranty.

[FlukeSS]

That sounds like a valve tick / timing issue to me.

I've heard some sound bites of them in other threads on these forums, but will defer to someone else's expertise.

Edit, that second video is not the same as the first in terms of sound. So I'll just pout in the corner as I try to learn something.

[SammYyYyY]

Absolutely. Talking to one of the service reps that PPIed the car at this dealer, and they said that I should be okay if I spun a bearing. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for the advice, guys!

[KirkH]

Here is my experience with a spun bearing, fixed under warranty.


https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=560229

[SammYyYyY]

Wow! After a very stressful night and morning, I am now able to breathe a sigh of relief. I suppose this makes sense considering the location of the noise; it wasn't nearly as loud near the driver's side of the vehicle as it was near the passenger's side.

[Jofu]

Good to hear it's not as bad as some had guessed!

That said, it's interesting to hear this is not covered by warranty... Is it considered a wear-and-tear item? At less than 5K miles, you'd think GM would do the right thing and cover it.

May be worth escalating with GM to see if they'd be willing to pick up the tab?

Geoff

[SammYyYyY]

Originally Posted by Jofu

Good to hear it's not as bad as some had guessed!

That said, it's interesting to hear this is not covered by warranty... Is it considered a wear-and-tear item? At less than 5K miles, you'd think GM would do the right thing and cover it.

May be worth escalating with GM to see if they'd be willing to pick up the tab?

Geoff

I thought the same thing; my dealer clarified to me that the powertrain warranty basically covers oily bits, and not much else. I'm probably going to try and contact GM to see if they'd be willing to cover it.

Regardless, I'm over the moon right now! I was absolutely baffled at the notion that I might have been experiencing valvetrain noise; 4,500 miles on its' third cycle of oil, religiously warmed up to 190 (oil temp) before exceeding 2,500 RPM, no money-shifts of any kind.

[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by SammYyYyY

I thought the same thing; my dealer clarified to me that the powertrain warranty basically covers oily bits, and not much else. I'm probably going to try and contact GM to see if they'd be willing to cover it.

Regardless, I'm over the moon right now! I was absolutely baffled at the notion that I might have been experiencing valvetrain noise; 4,500 miles on its' third cycle of oil, religiously warmed up to 190 (oil temp) before exceeding 2,500 RPM, no money-shifts of any kind.

Not your model year, but there were some LT1 V8s during the pandemic that received a bad batch of valves and some engines went out before they ever reached 4,500 miles.

By the way, glad to hear is was just the tensioner, disaster averted.

[SammYyYyY]

Alright everyone! Got the car back from the dealer today and everything seems to be good! I believe the remainder of the ticking is just standard DI noises. If anyone hears anything amiss, please let me know!

Post-fix idle: https://youtube.com/shorts/-fUZAuY2TmE

[FlukeSS]

Originally Posted by SammYyYyY

Alright everyone! Got the car back from the dealer today and everything seems to be good! I believe the remainder of the ticking is just standard DI noises. If anyone hears anything amiss, please let me know!

Post-fix idle: https://youtube.com/shorts/-fUZAuY2TmE

Sounds good again, no ticking like it was before.