Howdy, I am new to this forum, but i have checked it a few times and i've come up empty-handed on this topic; cutting to the chase, i have a valve lash adjuster cap (the little coin-shaped cap that sits on top of the valve tappet, upon which the cam lobe rides.) that has come lose in my head and was rattling around, and making some nice aluminum shavings. my questions are: has anyone dealt with this problem before, and is my engine shot (with the shavings floating around) or do i have a chance here?
So I bought this ls a few months ago, and it had some problems. It was overheating, (using this forum I figured out that i needed to burp the coolant system, but not before i changed out the thermostat and the water pump) I had to burp the coolant system again after I replaced a shorted dccv which kept discharging my battery. I had a missfire on my #3 and #8 cylinders which I tracked down to blown coils, so I replaced them. Then i noticed that the engine was ticking. (it had been ticking a little the whole time, it just got louder at this point because i actually drove it more than three blocks.)
After some internet sleuthing, and some stethoscope work, i figured that it was likely a secondary tensioner problem, (driver's side) so I ordered a new metal tensioner, and and figured i would replace the valve cover gasket at the same time as my #8 coil had blown again. The #8 plug well has rust in it, which i know is another topic for another day, but i digress. When i got the valve cover off (huge pain) I discovered that the timing tensioner had already been replaced and the chain was quite tight. I scratched my head and was beginning to believe that my stetho-work was bad and i'd pulled the wrong side when i noticed some shavings on the rear of the valve cover. I quickly discovered that the rear most exhaust valve lash adjuster cap had come off the tappet and was laying in the head scraping itself on the end of the cam. there were some small steel filings in the head which quickly cleaned up with a magnet, but most of the shavings were from the head itself where the adjuster cap had scraped some of the inside wall.
It wasn't much, just a pinch, and when i pulled the cam caps all of the bearing races looked good, (no gouging.) As far as i can tell, when the tensioner was replaced the tensioner, they were careless in seating the cam properly back down on the tappets. When the cam caps are off,the tensioner pulls the cam down toward the front, lifting it free of the rear valves altogether. The other bad news is that the lip of the valve tappet (which is what holds the lash adjuster cap in place) appears to have been eaten away for the most part. I know I am looking at the very least at having to replace the tappet itself and the adjuster cap, but are those shavings going to play hell with the rest of my motor? is this a write off? or is there a chance for this engine?
So I bought this ls a few months ago, and it had some problems. It was overheating, (using this forum I figured out that i needed to burp the coolant system, but not before i changed out the thermostat and the water pump) I had to burp the coolant system again after I replaced a shorted dccv which kept discharging my battery. I had a missfire on my #3 and #8 cylinders which I tracked down to blown coils, so I replaced them. Then i noticed that the engine was ticking. (it had been ticking a little the whole time, it just got louder at this point because i actually drove it more than three blocks.)
After some internet sleuthing, and some stethoscope work, i figured that it was likely a secondary tensioner problem, (driver's side) so I ordered a new metal tensioner, and and figured i would replace the valve cover gasket at the same time as my #8 coil had blown again. The #8 plug well has rust in it, which i know is another topic for another day, but i digress. When i got the valve cover off (huge pain) I discovered that the timing tensioner had already been replaced and the chain was quite tight. I scratched my head and was beginning to believe that my stetho-work was bad and i'd pulled the wrong side when i noticed some shavings on the rear of the valve cover. I quickly discovered that the rear most exhaust valve lash adjuster cap had come off the tappet and was laying in the head scraping itself on the end of the cam. there were some small steel filings in the head which quickly cleaned up with a magnet, but most of the shavings were from the head itself where the adjuster cap had scraped some of the inside wall.
It wasn't much, just a pinch, and when i pulled the cam caps all of the bearing races looked good, (no gouging.) As far as i can tell, when the tensioner was replaced the tensioner, they were careless in seating the cam properly back down on the tappets. When the cam caps are off,the tensioner pulls the cam down toward the front, lifting it free of the rear valves altogether. The other bad news is that the lip of the valve tappet (which is what holds the lash adjuster cap in place) appears to have been eaten away for the most part. I know I am looking at the very least at having to replace the tappet itself and the adjuster cap, but are those shavings going to play hell with the rest of my motor? is this a write off? or is there a chance for this engine?