Ls a long time ls gm bk from my 1st car at 15 years old 85 z28 305 slow as dirt at moma hm we put in a 355 60 ova 100 shot bulit 700r 410s fastest car at high school 7 more to my now ls camaro race car I’ve been watching your video love them you keep it simple thanks
I know you posted this a long, long time ago, but wanted to thank you for it. I have one of the LY6 pistons that uses the thinner ring lands. I think 1.2mm top, 1.5 middle and 2.5mm for the oil rings. In my case a 5/64 drill bit worked perfectly. I did drill them by hand, but I practiced a few holes on a junk piston I had. I am now trying to figure out the best way to deburr the holes. I might have a thin file I can use. Nevertheless when I took this LQ4 (I know I said LY6 pistons, they are going in this LQ4) apart, the ring lands were so full of oil, they were flush with the piston and wouldn't move. And of course the entire engine had oil caked on everywhere. I drilled two on each side of the piston also. Love your videos and I'm pretty much doing most of the stuff you show since the mods are basically free, just the cost of a few tools I already have. Porting the oil pump is next.
That TRW piston makes sense to me. The oil control rings will be collecting oil on the downstroke, which through force would make the oil move towards the top of that ring land. Just my thoughts on this hole being towards the top of the ring land.
I have also heard about this issue. I'm in the process of putting my LS back together now with aftermarket pistons. They are setup very much like your stock piston. What I saw in a video and found out was that there is another type of issue related to the oil consumption problem. The pressure relief valve down on the oil pan can apparently spray oil out into the crank area and end up increasing the oil on the backside of the pictons. They make a little shield to cover that oil pressure relief valve and redirect the oil down into the sump area. It only costs a little under $10 and is very easy to install. I'm going to look at the last 4 listons for my engine before I install them. Just to verify what you were saying. The GM part number for this oil pressure relief shield is; 12639759 and here is the description. OEM NEW Oil Pressure Relief Valve Deflector 08-18 GM Trucks & SUVs I don't see any way to paste a picture of it here. I saw it in a 5.3l engine replacement video for Suburban.
Mark Moore Interesting information, I’ll definitely look into it on 08-13+ builds. I think the latest Turbo build is a 2012 bottom end, I’ll definitely look into the deflector. I wonder if this oil relief issue could be related in any way to the DOD on those engines? Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it! 👍 JD
@@HeadFlowInc Yes, that is correct. I'm sorry I didn't think about mentioning that this is possibly AFM/DOD related issue. I can only guess that cutting off cylinders possibly adds to the amount of overpressure oil being dumped. Although, I have still heard there is an oil consumption problem on non-afm engines. I was in fact replacing the parts and removing the AFM/DOD capability from my engine. For both oil consumption and fuel mileage. I have heard that both of those are side issues related to the AFM/DOD engines. If you look at where those vent holes are located on that relief valve it clearly should have a better direction to flow. This shield forces it into the sump. It just slips over the relief valve and makes sure the oil doesn't end up going back into the moving parts of the engine.
Mark Moore I agree, I’ve already contacted Richard who’s building a high HP 5.3 aluminum 2012 block. I know he’s already installed all the pipe/hex plugs into the DOD stands, but he hadn’t heard of this issue either. We’re on it now! 👍 Squirting oil on the rotating assembly creates a fine oil mist and can cause foaming. Bad. Thanks again! 👍👍👍
When I was working at the dealership I pulled apart plenty of engines that had the ring ends lined up or really close to lining up. The closer they are to lining up the more oil they will burn.
I would be inclined to put a hole above the wrist pin , then it would lubricant it and run down the con rod to the crank pin. The other point being that on the piston downwards stroke it will get a blow back to the ring grove, and on the up stroke get pushed down to the crank.
I had heard that the Active Fuel Management was causing oil consumption problems. It disables 4 cylinders, and problems with the valves sticking open when they aren't supposed too.
My'08 Sierra 1500 Z71 has 165K on it now. It has always taken about a quart or less between oil changes at every 3000 miles. This is considered normal as I commute with it 50/50 town and highway and run her at 80 MPH most of the time. Not considered an issue at this point.
Do you think such a large slot like on that "350 Rebuilder Piston" might be compromising the integrity of the piston especially under higher cylinder pressures? Great info as always!
drewnashty The large slot may make it weaker. Those rebuilder Pistons are cast aluminum, it would be interesting to see if any high end Pistons have the slot. Thanks!
been watching slot of your porting vids. I've been working on a stock Pontiac cast iron head I had as a backup for my hydroplane. . my main engine had the racing super duty head setup for methanol. i am building this head for gas to run vintage. Gary Stanton told alky need a 20% bigger port volume than gas. . this iron head with 1.940, 1.6 should be a better set up . be running 2 weber off 44s instead of the hilboen injector. thanks for your vids
Think of the aerodynaics of the 2 types of pistons on their way down also and how the air forces its way INTO the piston, compared to the stock one with 2 cuts on the side of each side.
Don Rutter Any Air pressure in the crankcase is hopefully trapped or sealed out by piston ring seal. If you could get air sneaking past the ring seal it be a good chance the engine would smoke like crazy? The oil control ring land has to be able to drain the oil it constantly scraps off the cylinder. The oil gets thicker during operation on the cylinder wall below the piston due to heat cooking the oil. I think we’re on the same page as far as the oil has to have somewhere to go or it’ll become a burned mess. JD
danskpride Hansen It’s a pretty simple fix and drilling all 6 holes only accounts for .187 in weight. Almost nothing changes in terms of piston weight no concern with balance. 👍
mlong5151 Be very careful in the bowls both beside and behind the guide area on Pontiac heads! They're very thin behind the guide so let the back area alone. Also on the roof of the ports don't raise it very much there's a couple areas where it gets thin. The "curtain" area at the first 1/4" or so at the seat to bowl transition and the widening of the short turn do wonders.
No, not in any way because there’s no connection or influence between the ring land in the pistons and the pressurized oiling system. By adding the drain back holes behind the oil control rings helps release/relieve trapped oil scrapped from the cylinder. Engine oil splashes onto the cylinder walls, which is a good thing, however having trapped oil in the rings is a bad situation for many reasons. JD
MrChristianbowman82 I knew GM had to know what was causing the Issue. I’m both happy and amazed they offered to fix it, normally GM dealers will finds every excuse/explanation to avoid responsibility. Very happy to hear your success! 👍. Merry Christmas 🎁
Unfortunitly yes gm had some issues with the AFM 5.3 engines most other AFM engines didnt really have problems. I've worked as a Chevrolet certified Technician for about 15 years and specialize in heavy line repair. And have done quite a few of these special coverage applications. From 08 to 13 most of the oil consumption issues were from a faulty pcv locations in the driver side valve cover. And per the gm tsb describing the oil consumption issues the only way we could get to replace the pistons were of the rings were stuck and would not dislodge with major induction services. And further more to counter this other guys 2cents any Chevy dealer I've worked at we always loved seing piston jobs cause they paid so much and ment a good paycheck so the thought of "us" trying to find a reason to not perform this job is just pure b.s. good try though
Noah Adams I know you work hard as a mechanic but that is not always true about the dealership's They try to talk people out of the problem till the warranty is up I have seen it done and have experienced it myself and it pisses me off because I work on car's!! It is very rare that a dealership will step in and help the customer in an engineering flaw situation..
Under warranty the dealer can only do what the manufacturer will allow and pay the dealership too do the dealer does not have a final say in a warranty repair the manufacturer does
Seth Jeffrey Don’t limit your understanding, just because the AFM on your application was a cause of oil consumption, doesn’t mean it was the only one. Vortec/LS oil consumption has been an issue way before the introduction of AFM. This is how we learn, by expanding our knowledge base. Thanks for watching and the feedback I appreciate it! JD
@@HeadFlowInc my 02 use about 1qt per oil change Canada built 110000 miles My o4 never used oil us built 220000 miles Both have 706 crack heads I need to get heads or I'm going to have a milk shake in the future!!! We're. A good place to call for heads My 04 has the milk shake Love a mild port and ready to bolt on
Is this oil consumption issue primary with race engines or also daily drivers ? I drive a company truck , 2008 Silverado . With a 4.8l , I think . Coming up on 160,000 miles & no oil consumption issues . Now , I am am old man and drive like an old man . I rarely " get on it " , unless I dumb up and get in a bind . Very little towing . Other wise I drive the speed limit . So not a lot of stress on the engine / drive train other than the differential is geared high . Probably for gas mileage . One other question . If you drill those 4 holes , does it significantly alter engine ballance ? Thanks , ;-) Wyr God bless
Wyr Twister Mostly stock as delivered vehicles have the oil use issue. GM actually did a recall on some vehicles offering to swap the pistons so I’m told. After about 2004-2006 I believe they started trying to baffle the valve covers to limit oil being pulled into the upper intake, changed the design and location of the PCV valve. I haven’t seen the later year 2007+ pistons to see how they addressed the oil drain back issue. No concern with engine balance, not enough material being removed. As long as yours isn’t using oil it should be fine. Merry Christmas 🎄 God Bless! 🙏🏻
Unfortunately , last Monday morning , a lady ran into the right door & rear part of the cab . Have not heard the appraisal , but several have commented that it looks like it may end up being totaled . And , that is kind of sad since the engine and transmission still seem strong . Thanks , :-) Wyr God bless and Merry Christmas to you too
How much will 6 3/32 holes affect your piston weight? Also you are comparing 35 dollar set off pistons to a 200 dollar set of pistons also cast versus forged.
George H. Reed Jr. Not enough to even measure per piston! Literally way less than 1gram per piston. 👍 There’s a follow up video showing the weight of all the aluminum removed from all 8 pistons on my channel.
That’s the huge problem with LS pistons and I think Toyota has the same problem where oil gets coaked in the ring land. Bad combo results and oil usage and loss of compression.
You can run boost with either LS rod but the GEN 4 are way stronger. Here is the general power limits: Gen 3 rods 650 whp Gen 4 rods 800+ whp Naturally if you have the right tune up, enough octane, in the right vehicle in terms of weight you may be able to exceed these limits. The limits above is where most people have bent the factory rods. JD
@@HeadFlowInc that's why I asked because I have a 454 with the Same pistons inside it that I picked up at the junkyard but don't really know much about it
Kirk Niles Well that's a tough one, the easiest way would be to check the front of the block behind the driver side bracket to see the CID casting. I.e. 4.8/5.3 or 5.7
Kirk Niles look at exhaust manifold, if they are all equally spaced it's a 5.3 but if the 2 middle exhaust ports are close together it's a 5.7. But they didn't start using 5.3 till '99 model year
@@atx-cvpi_99 Nowhere did I mention that a 5.0 or a 5.7 Vortec is a LS engine. In response to the original post from Kirk Niles "How can I tell just by looking at my 97 Chevy vortec if it's a 5.7 or a 5.3 ?" I posted "Could be a 4.3L V6, a 5.7L V8 or the L29 454 ... all were labeled Vortec in '97." Not sure why I have to restate that because all one has to do is read but clearly you didn't understand my plain English. In 1997 the most common engines with the Vortec nameplate were the ones I mentioned
Not to say that allowing oil to drain down the sides of the pistons where the ends of the piston pins are, "If" you can keep the holes from plugging up, isn't a good thing however Performance pistons designed for much higher stress applications than a stock piston do not use that style of drain back at all. I see what you're seeing/thinking but the piston pin gets oiled through holes drilled directly in the bottom of the piston pins boss cast into the pistons. It's amazing piston pins get oiled through such small holes. Keep in mind i did not plug the factory drains only added additional drain holes in such a way it doesn't effect the structural integrity of the piston design. JD
Here's a good description I found on the Internet: "Most OEM applications utilize splash lubrication for this. Some high end rods and manfacturers have a very small (EDM) hole that runs lengthwise in the rod from the upper bearing saddle to the wrist pin bore in the rod. Pressurized oil is then carried to the upper regions of the pin bore. Some also have squirters that direct pressurized oil from the lower regions of the block to the bottom of the pistons in an effort to cool them but some splash provides a lubrication source also. Sometimes there are also gooves machined in the wrist pin bore in the piston that carries oil scraped by the oil rings from the cylinder walls. Either way it does a tough job that is often not given much thought." I personally have never seen in 30yrs any connecting rods with a hole drilled down the center of the beams, must be some foreign car or something I've never worked on... lol JD
from what i have seen the burning of oil has nothing to do with the pistons it is a hole in the valve cover right where the oil galley comes up and it sucks the oil through the vacume line therefore thats where you are losing your oil
I agree on your observation of the PCV setup pulling unbaffled oil back into the upper plenum, this is a 100% true issue. We've gone a step farther to see if there was other oil consumption issues. The rational is that all LS engines have the same or similar PCV setup but not all of the owners experience the high oil consumption issue at 3+ quarts in a 3000-5000 mile interval. After finding several articles discussing the oil drainage issue on some of the pistons, which could/would most likely be made much worse if regular oil changes were not followed during the engines service life, as a root cause to the higher oil consumption made logical sense. Because there is no down side to adding the extra drain back holes I decided it's a Free mod to ensure no issue. On the PCV issue I fully intend on running separators on any and all vacuum hoses hooked to the plenum to eliminate filling the upper plenum with oil as well. Thanks for your input all information is helpful. JD
Jake Browne The biggest confusion is caused by GM putting the name Vortec on top! The LS engine family started in the cars 1997 but did not show up in the trucks until 2000. Even after the switch to the Gen 3 small block GM stuck with the Vortec insignia I guess to help sales? It's caused all kinds of confusion.
![How To FIX Chevy’s LS Piston Mistake - Oil Consumption Fix In Minutes [DRILLING FOR OIL]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mXumQLQjvBw/mqdefault.jpg)
![How To FIX Chevy’s LS Piston Mistake - Oil Consumption Fix In Minutes [DRILLING FOR OIL]](/img/tr.png)
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seriously, you are easy to listen to and explain things very well with examples. would love to have you walk through a entire build up of a LM7 5.3.
Ritchard posteri
It is a must. I do 2 each side on a rebuild! 4 holes total!! You are right on the money!
ghhorton21 Thanks! I won’t build without the holes now. 👍
As always enjoy your observations and benefit from your research, picture and sound quality is excellent. Thank you for sharing.
Ls a long time ls gm bk from my 1st car at 15 years old 85 z28 305 slow as dirt at moma hm we put in a 355 60 ova 100 shot bulit 700r 410s fastest car at high school 7 more to my now ls camaro race car I’ve been watching your video love them you keep it simple thanks
I know you posted this a long, long time ago, but wanted to thank you for it. I have one of the LY6 pistons that uses the thinner ring lands. I think 1.2mm top, 1.5 middle and 2.5mm for the oil rings. In my case a 5/64 drill bit worked perfectly. I did drill them by hand, but I practiced a few holes on a junk piston I had. I am now trying to figure out the best way to deburr the holes. I might have a thin file I can use. Nevertheless when I took this LQ4 (I know I said LY6 pistons, they are going in this LQ4) apart, the ring lands were so full of oil, they were flush with the piston and wouldn't move. And of course the entire engine had oil caked on everywhere. I drilled two on each side of the piston also. Love your videos and I'm pretty much doing most of the stuff you show since the mods are basically free, just the cost of a few tools I already have. Porting the oil pump is next.
Harbor Freight sells a cheap set of various shaped hand files. Really fine for the piston work. JD
That TRW piston makes sense to me. The oil control rings will be collecting oil on the downstroke, which through force would make the oil move towards the top of that ring land. Just my thoughts on this hole being towards the top of the ring land.
toolman wouldn't the first piston just empty on the upstroke afterwards?
I have also heard about this issue. I'm in the process of putting my LS back together now with aftermarket pistons. They are setup very much like your stock piston. What I saw in a video and found out was that there is another type of issue related to the oil consumption problem. The pressure relief valve down on the oil pan can apparently spray oil out into the crank area and end up increasing the oil on the backside of the pictons. They make a little shield to cover that oil pressure relief valve and redirect the oil down into the sump area. It only costs a little under $10 and is very easy to install.
I'm going to look at the last 4 listons for my engine before I install them. Just to verify what you were saying.
The GM part number for this oil pressure relief shield is; 12639759 and here is the description.
OEM NEW Oil Pressure Relief Valve Deflector 08-18 GM Trucks & SUVs
I don't see any way to paste a picture of it here. I saw it in a 5.3l engine replacement video for Suburban.
Mark Moore Interesting information, I’ll definitely look into it on 08-13+ builds. I think the latest Turbo build is a 2012 bottom end, I’ll definitely look into the deflector.
I wonder if this oil relief issue could be related in any way to the DOD on those engines? Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it! 👍 JD
@@HeadFlowInc Yes, that is correct. I'm sorry I didn't think about mentioning that this is possibly AFM/DOD related issue. I can only guess that cutting off cylinders possibly adds to the amount of overpressure oil being dumped. Although, I have still heard there is an oil consumption problem on non-afm engines. I was in fact replacing the parts and removing the AFM/DOD capability from my engine. For both oil consumption and fuel mileage. I have heard that both of those are side issues related to the AFM/DOD engines.
If you look at where those vent holes are located on that relief valve it clearly should have a better direction to flow. This shield forces it into the sump. It just slips over the relief valve and makes sure the oil doesn't end up going back into the moving parts of the engine.
Mark Moore I agree, I’ve already contacted Richard who’s building a high HP 5.3 aluminum 2012 block. I know he’s already installed all the pipe/hex plugs into the DOD stands, but he hadn’t heard of this issue either. We’re on it now! 👍
Squirting oil on the rotating assembly creates a fine oil mist and can cause foaming. Bad. Thanks again! 👍👍👍
When I was working at the dealership I pulled apart plenty of engines that had the ring ends lined up or really close to lining up. The closer they are to lining up the more oil they will burn.
I would be inclined to put a hole above the wrist pin , then it would lubricant it and run down the con rod to the crank pin. The other point being that on the piston downwards stroke it will get a blow back to the ring grove, and on the up stroke get pushed down to the crank.
I had heard that the Active Fuel Management was causing oil consumption problems. It disables 4 cylinders, and problems with the valves sticking open when they aren't supposed too.
peter ferri Interesting, I know they had issues with the lifters failing in those engines as well. It’s totally possible! 👍
My'08 Sierra 1500 Z71 has 165K on it now.
It has always taken about a quart or less between oil changes at every 3000 miles.
This is considered normal as I commute with it 50/50 town and highway and run her at 80 MPH most of the time.
Not considered an issue at this point.
Do you think such a large slot like on that "350 Rebuilder Piston" might be compromising the integrity of the piston especially under higher cylinder pressures? Great info as always!
drewnashty The large slot may make it weaker. Those rebuilder Pistons are cast aluminum, it would be interesting to see if any high end Pistons have the slot. Thanks!
been watching slot of your porting vids. I've been working on a stock Pontiac cast iron head I had as a backup for my hydroplane. . my main engine had the racing super duty head setup for methanol. i am building this head for gas to run vintage. Gary Stanton told alky need a 20% bigger port volume than gas. . this iron head with 1.940, 1.6 should be a better set up . be running 2 weber off 44s instead of the hilboen injector. thanks for your vids
My apologies I was not notified of this post until literally today it was in my current comments. I hope you were able to enjoy your project! JD
Think of the aerodynaics of the 2 types of pistons on their way down also and how the air forces its way INTO the piston, compared to the stock one with 2 cuts on the side of each side.
Don Rutter Any Air pressure in the crankcase is hopefully trapped or sealed out by piston ring seal. If you could get air sneaking past the ring seal it be a good chance the engine would smoke like crazy?
The oil control ring land has to be able to drain the oil it constantly scraps off the cylinder. The oil gets thicker during operation on the cylinder wall below the piston due to heat cooking the oil.
I think we’re on the same page as far as the oil has to have somewhere to go or it’ll become a burned mess. JD
that makes sense why these engines get so gunked up inside
danskpride Hansen It’s a pretty simple fix and drilling all 6 holes only accounts for .187 in weight. Almost nothing changes in terms of piston weight no concern with balance. 👍
My 89 s10 takes 3.5qts between oil changes. You don't have a problem, just top it off half way through.
That’s definitely a problem, I mean it’s still running but it’s telling you it’s tired. Thanks for watching and the feedback! JD
I noticed on the speed pro hypers I got for a iron Duke engine I am building didn't have those where I thought they should be . I just drilled them.
mlong5151 It will be a benefit the ring seal. Thanks for the feedback! JD
mlong5151 Be very careful in the bowls both beside and behind the guide area on Pontiac heads! They're very thin behind the guide so let the back area alone. Also on the roof of the ports don't raise it very much there's a couple areas where it gets thin.
The "curtain" area at the first 1/4" or so at the seat to bowl transition and the widening of the short turn do wonders.
Do you think that making those big holes will affect the oil pressure?
No, not in any way because there’s no connection or influence between the ring land in the pistons and the pressurized oiling system.
By adding the drain back holes behind the oil control rings helps release/relieve trapped oil scrapped from the cylinder. Engine oil splashes onto the cylinder walls, which is a good thing, however having trapped oil in the rings is a bad situation for many reasons. JD
Thanks, great video.
could allways make some slots in the ringland on the ls pistons
danskpride Hansen I’ve seen some pistons with the slots, almost looked like hacksaw cuts. lol. I’d hate to weaken the piston
HeadFlowInc
thats true make sure not to compromise the strength
My 2009 aluminum 5.3 consumed oil and they changed pistons under warranty at 60000 miles and im at 150000 now with out burning or using a drop
MrChristianbowman82 I knew GM had to know what was causing the Issue. I’m both happy and amazed they offered to fix it, normally GM dealers will finds every excuse/explanation to avoid responsibility. Very happy to hear your success! 👍. Merry Christmas 🎁
Unfortunitly yes gm had some issues with the AFM 5.3 engines most other AFM engines didnt really have problems. I've worked as a Chevrolet certified Technician for about 15 years and specialize in heavy line repair. And have done quite a few of these special coverage applications. From 08 to 13 most of the oil consumption issues were from a faulty pcv locations in the driver side valve cover. And per the gm tsb describing the oil consumption issues the only way we could get to replace the pistons were of the rings were stuck and would not dislodge with major induction services. And further more to counter this other guys 2cents any Chevy dealer I've worked at we always loved seing piston jobs cause they paid so much and ment a good paycheck so the thought of "us" trying to find a reason to not perform this job is just pure b.s. good try though
Noah Adams I know you work hard as a mechanic but that is not always true about the dealership's They try to talk people out of the problem till the warranty is up I have seen it done and have experienced it myself and it pisses me off because I work on car's!! It is very rare that a dealership will step in and help the customer in an engineering flaw situation..
coming from a gm ls man not true bout gm lnew why it burns oil i own a stock 5.3 z71 truck an a built ls 200p0 ss an both does good at not using oil
Under warranty the dealer can only do what the manufacturer will allow and pay the dealership too do the dealer does not have a final say in a warranty repair the manufacturer does
GM LS oil consumption is due to the AFM. As soon as I deleted mine my truck stopped burning oil.
Seth Jeffrey Don’t limit your understanding, just because the AFM on your application was a cause of oil consumption, doesn’t mean it was the only one.
Vortec/LS oil consumption has been an issue way before the introduction of AFM.
This is how we learn, by expanding our knowledge base. Thanks for watching and the feedback I appreciate it! JD
@@HeadFlowInc my 02 use about 1qt per oil change Canada built 110000 miles
My o4 never used oil us built
220000 miles
Both have 706 crack heads
I need to get heads or I'm going to have a milk shake in the future!!!
We're. A good place to call for heads
My 04 has the milk shake
Love a mild port and ready to bolt on
Is this oil consumption issue primary with race engines or also daily drivers ?
I drive a company truck , 2008 Silverado . With a 4.8l , I think . Coming up on 160,000 miles & no oil consumption issues .
Now , I am am old man and drive like an old man . I rarely " get on it " , unless I dumb up and get in a bind .
Very little towing . Other wise I drive the speed limit . So not a lot of stress on the engine / drive train other than the differential is geared high . Probably for gas mileage .
One other question . If you drill those 4 holes , does it significantly alter engine ballance ?
Thanks , ;-)
Wyr
God bless
Wyr Twister Mostly stock as delivered vehicles have the oil use issue. GM actually did a recall on some vehicles offering to swap the pistons so I’m told.
After about 2004-2006 I believe they started trying to baffle the valve covers to limit oil being pulled into the upper intake, changed the design and location of the PCV valve. I haven’t seen the later year 2007+ pistons to see how they addressed the oil drain back issue. No concern with engine balance, not enough material being removed.
As long as yours isn’t using oil it should be fine. Merry Christmas 🎄 God Bless! 🙏🏻
Unfortunately , last Monday morning , a lady ran into the right door & rear part of the cab .
Have not heard the appraisal , but several have commented that it looks like it may end up being totaled . And , that is kind of sad since the engine and transmission still seem strong .
Thanks , :-)
Wyr
God bless and Merry Christmas to you too
Wyr Twister engine and trans will be in a hot rod soon
Russel Mcfarland Good progress should be ready by spring!👍
HeadFlowInc I know the 2009 6.0 L76 pistons come with 4 drilled oil return holes
I've had trw pistons with the slot crack down the edges of the skirt.
Yeah I agree, the big cut out slot isn’t a strong design. Adding a few small drain back holes has proven to work well in the oem LS pistons. JD
great video.
Bradley Campbell Thank you! 👍
How much will 6 3/32 holes affect your piston weight? Also you are comparing 35 dollar set off pistons to a 200 dollar set of pistons also cast versus forged.
George H. Reed Jr. Not enough to even measure per piston! Literally way less than 1gram per piston. 👍
There’s a follow up video showing the weight of all the aluminum removed from all 8 pistons on my channel.
George H. Reed Jr. th-cam.com/video/la4nazvcyrs/w-d-xo.html
7:18, I guess they don't need it to fully drain, they just don't want it to build up.
That’s the huge problem with LS pistons and I think Toyota has the same problem where oil gets coaked in the ring land. Bad combo results and oil usage and loss of compression.
So are the fourth generation ls rods strong enough to lightly boost, say 20 lbs
You can run boost with either LS rod but the GEN 4 are way stronger.
Here is the general power limits:
Gen 3 rods 650 whp
Gen 4 rods 800+ whp
Naturally if you have the right tune up, enough octane, in the right vehicle in terms of weight you may be able to exceed these limits. The limits above is where most people have bent the factory rods. JD
Thank you. I have never used powdered metal rods, I guess they are pretty strong.
What did that piston come out of with the lightning bolt on the side
cooter Brown Big Block Chevrolet 454 speed pro Forged pistons on H-beam rods. 👍
@@HeadFlowInc that's why I asked because I have a 454 with the Same pistons inside it that I picked up at the junkyard but don't really know much about it
A metabo disc can make a similar cut
Karl Childers?
I like French fried taters… uh huh. 😎
How can I tell just by looking at my 97 Chevy vortec if it's a 5.7 or a 5.3 ?
Kirk Niles Well that's a tough one, the easiest way would be to check the front of the block behind the driver side bracket to see the CID casting. I.e. 4.8/5.3 or 5.7
Could be a 4.3L V6, a 5.7L V8 or the L29 454 ... all were labeled Vortec in '97.
Kirk Niles look at exhaust manifold, if they are all equally spaced it's a 5.3 but if the 2 middle exhaust ports are close together it's a 5.7. But they didn't start using 5.3 till '99 model year
@@drewnashty Just because it's a Vortec doesn't mean it's an LS. The Vortec 5.0 and 5.7 are NOT LS engines.
@@atx-cvpi_99 Nowhere did I mention that a 5.0 or a 5.7 Vortec is a LS engine. In response to the original post from Kirk Niles "How can I tell just by looking at my 97 Chevy vortec if it's a 5.7 or a 5.3 ?" I posted "Could be a 4.3L V6, a 5.7L V8 or the L29 454 ... all were labeled Vortec in '97." Not sure why I have to restate that because all one has to do is read but clearly you didn't understand my plain English. In 1997 the most common engines with the Vortec nameplate were the ones I mentioned
The hole or holes are to redirect oil to the wrist pin !
Not to say that allowing oil to drain down the sides of the pistons where the ends of the piston pins are, "If" you can keep the holes from plugging up, isn't a good thing however Performance pistons designed for much higher stress applications than a stock piston do not use that style of drain back at all. I see what you're seeing/thinking but the piston pin gets oiled through holes drilled directly in the bottom of the piston pins boss cast into the pistons. It's amazing piston pins get oiled through such small holes. Keep in mind i did not plug the factory drains only added additional drain holes in such a way it doesn't effect the structural integrity of the piston design. JD
Here's a good description I found on the Internet:
"Most OEM applications utilize splash lubrication for this. Some high end
rods and manfacturers have a very small (EDM) hole that runs lengthwise
in the rod from the upper bearing saddle to the wrist pin bore in the
rod. Pressurized oil is then carried to the upper regions of the pin bore. Some also have squirters that direct pressurized oil
from the lower regions of the block to the bottom of the pistons in an
effort to cool them but some splash provides a lubrication source also.
Sometimes there are also gooves machined in the wrist pin bore in the
piston that carries oil scraped by the oil rings from the cylinder walls. Either way it does a tough job that is often not given much thought."
I personally have never seen in 30yrs any connecting rods with a hole drilled down the center of the beams, must be some foreign car or something I've never worked on... lol JD
from what i have seen the burning of oil has nothing to do with the pistons it is a hole in the valve cover right where the oil galley comes up and it sucks the oil through the vacume line therefore thats where you are losing your oil
I agree on your observation of the PCV setup pulling unbaffled oil back into the upper plenum, this is a 100% true issue.
We've gone a step farther to see if there was other oil consumption issues. The rational is that all LS engines have the same or similar PCV setup but not all of the owners experience the high oil consumption issue at 3+ quarts in a 3000-5000 mile interval. After finding several articles discussing the oil drainage issue on some of the pistons, which could/would most likely be made much worse if regular oil changes were not followed during the engines service life, as a root cause to the higher oil consumption made logical sense. Because there is no down side to adding the extra drain back holes I decided it's a Free mod to ensure no issue.
On the PCV issue I fully intend on running separators on any and all vacuum hoses hooked to the plenum to eliminate filling the upper plenum with oil as well. Thanks for your input all information is helpful. JD
HeadFlowInc
no problem man
the 97 never had a 5.3 it's a 5.7 vortec not a ls based engine they had a few 305 ci vortec in 96-97 also but less likely
Jake Browne The biggest confusion is caused by GM putting the name Vortec on top! The LS engine family started in the cars 1997 but did not show up in the trucks until 2000. Even after the switch to the Gen 3 small block GM stuck with the Vortec insignia I guess to help sales? It's caused all kinds of confusion.
Where did you get the I beam rods? are they 6.098" or 6.1" length?
w41duvernay The H-beams are BBC
The other rods are 6.275" 4.8 rods
I thought mister rogers had died
keith taube He’s my “Pop-Pop”... 😜🤣😜🤣