The kid & I changed oil on one of our 98' Camaro LS1 engine cars today. Found a couple of needle bearings stuck to the magnetic drain plug. I believe these came from the rocker arm assembly, am I right? If so, is this just a regular old "change out the rocker arms" job, or does this problem lead to more significant damage? The engine runs fine and has no real noise up top, we probably only drive it 50-100 miles a week. With that in mind, I told him to just baby it for the next few weeks. Do I need to keep a tow truck on call now?o No:
That was the first thing that came to mind - rockers. I can't think of anything else that has needle bearings on the internal part of the engine.
If it were mine I would park it until I found the problem . Sure don't want those needles floating around in the engine . They are small but if in the wrong place they could cause big damage .
YEP Thats why I would not continue running the motor . If the needles are from a lifter you can quickly ruin the cam .
working at a gm dealer,i've seen a few engines with the rollers coming from the lifters.can't remember any from the rockers. Ken.
I've never had one of these completely apart yet, I guess now is the time to learn. I broke the same thing in my hemi FAST car last fall in VA, the more I work these LS engines the more they remind me of a FAST engine set-up, using fuel injection.
Steve: from a "been there, done that" guy, I'd stop driving that car YESTERDAY. I'd bet you dollars to doughnuts that those needles are from a lifter...think about which takes more of a beating, the rockers or the lifter, and how many roller rockers have you seen swarm versus roller lifters eating themselves? And I hate to say it, but if you've found the needles in the pan, then you'll have more problems than just a bad lifter...we caught ours almost immediately, yet it grooved or spun almost every bearing, hurt the cylinders, etc...those needles are pretty tough, but do bad things when they pass through the oil system!
What about thrust button/washer for camshaft? Gear drive by chance? I've seen needle rollers in both those instances.
