2012 yukon denali hot idle engine tick/noise

[rdezs]

Here’s the kit that I was looking at.

GEN 4 07-13 GM Truck DOD Delete Kit w/ Texas Speed (TSP) Truck Cam Kit

GEN IV 2007-2013 GM Truck DOD Delete Kit w/ Texas Speed (TSP) Truck Cam KitTSP's Complete AFM/DOD delete kit includes the necessary components to delete your problematic DOD system as well as the standard VVT (Variable Valve Timing) delete kit w/ 3 bolt timing gear upgrade. This package also...

www.glennsautoperformance.com

That's a very good example of what I was talking about earlier. Notice when it comes to the lifters, they sell you LS7 style lifters.... Which are not genuine Delphi LS7 lifters. The phrase you get what you pay for comes into play here.

You can piece together the same parts but with better quality for about the same price.... Maybe even a little bit less.

Shop around for the individual parts, and you will have no doubt about what you have.

On a side note out of curiosity I took a look at another one of tsp's packages for a 6.2. the camshaft that was included was an oem one for a 6.0 with less lift and duration. Beware about packages like this....

 

[rdezs]

.... In the auto parts business, LS7 style, GM style, is basically the lingo for cheap aftermarket imitations.

 

[rdezs]

And LS7 lifter that does not have the gold clip and is not made by Delphi, is a cheap copy. There are better lifters out there for more money like morel lifters.....but Genuine LS7 are just fine.

 

[donjetman]

@Chughart
Having the correct length push rod is how you set lifter preload (.050” to .100”) and obtain a quiet valve train: so, if after lash is at zero” and it takes less than ¾ turn to reach 22 ft Lbs on the rocker arm bolt? push rod is too short.
If it takes more than 1 ¼ turns? push rod is too long.

My stock LS1 was ticking for a few minutes on the first start each day (cold). I ended up having to put in half a set of 7.375" (shorter) and half a set of 7.350" (shorter) push rods to make it perfectly quiet. The stock length was 7.388".

Here a vid on the subject:

 

[Chughart]

Ok. I will piece the exact “kit” this evening and go from there. I have a tsp stage 1 low lift truck cam in the cart on tsp’s website.

This isn’t exactly what I want to be doing at the moment but I tow a camper and I have to take it to the beach in 3 weeks so I either do all of this before we go or I just let it tick and deal with it when I get back but I don’t want to risk something happening while we’re towing our camper.

 

[rdezs]

Ok. I will piece the exact “kit” this evening and go from there. I have a tsp stage 1 low lift truck cam in the cart on tsp’s website.

This isn’t exactly what I want to be doing at the moment but I tow a camper and I have to take it to the beach in 3 weeks so I either do all of this before we go or I just let it tick and deal with it when I get back but I don’t want to risk something happening while we’re towing our camper.

I have a few thoughts on the situation.

It 'might' just be fine driving it on your trip.... Or it might not. You can only guess. You definitely don't want to do a rush job working on your engine. By the same token, you don't want to have that lifter turned sideways and start spreading metal shavings off the cam lobe throughout your oiling system and bearings. You'll have to make that call, partially based on how loud the ticking noise is. The 5W-40 should only help. There's even the possibility that there's a little piece of grit that's preventing the lifter from pumping up all the way... So it's even possible that the ticking could stop on its own. (Which if it doesn't, can come at a high price)

I prefer to look at it as an early warning sign that should be taken advantage of, as statistically it's a precursor to getting much worse. But that's just my take on it. Some people don't pick up on the early warning sign, or there is no early warning until suddenly they have a lifter turned sideways in the bore.

I'd be inclined to rent a tow vehicle for the trip, and take my time building the engine. Lol, that's my two cents worth

 

[Chughart]

Well the good thing is it won’t take me that long to get it torn apart since I’ve had it apart before and I have another vehicle I can drive so I have 19 days to get it apart and replaced. So figured I could get it torn apart and order whatever I need and then have some time to drive it around before the trip.

I’m going to call jasper tomorrow and tell them whats going on and hope they’ll atleast pay for the labor (since im planning on using my own parts) they paid me 45$ per hour to replace the engine and given I wouldn’t have to do any of this if their engine wasn’t broken I figured they could atleast pay for something but either way I’m going to replace it all so will start tearing it down tomorrow.

 

[Chughart]

ok so ive got it pieced together for the most part. got a btr stage 2 truck cam (https://www.michiganmotorsports.com...shaft-kit-4-8-5-3-6-0-6-2-ls-ls1-lm7-lq4-lc9/) vvt delete kit (https://www.michiganmotorsports.com...-l96-l92-l94-l9h-lc8-lfa-ly6-lmg-lmf-lh9-l20/), head gasket w/ head bolts (https://www.michiganmotorsports.com...ls-lq4-lq9-l96-l76-ly6-l92-l99-like-12610046/), and the delphi ls7 lifters. all of this is through michiganmotorsports.com.

can you guys look through those and make sure this is good for what im trying to do which is add reliability to the engine and give me more power when towing. going to contact hptuners tomorrow and see what the best tune to use so i can get that straightened out as well. thanks in advance guys.

 

[j91z28d1]

this guy has tons of info on his YouTube and put together some complete kits.

AFM Delete Kits | Crazed Performance

Best place to get Full AFM DOD delete Kits for your GM trucks.

www.crazedperformancerepair.com

at least gives an idea of all the little stuff

 

[j91z28d1]

unless it's a new development, hpt tuners offers zero. tuning support. they provide the software and you either pay a tuner or you learn yourself. but let me know if they tell you different.


black bear is what most here use, they use a different software, but tune it for you by you sending them logs and they email files back for you to flash

 

[Chughart]

honestly the only reason i want to do hptuners is i already have the tune interface so i dont have to buy that i just need the tune. i might go with the autocal from black bear but we will see what hp tuners says before i go that route.

i think the BTR stage 2 truck cam is the cam that would be ideal for my situation, that was my only issue on what to pick. and looking into @Geotrash upgrades, that cam is very very similar to his cam. he also lives like 3 hours from me so we travel in the same general area and our yukons are the same (minus all the add ons he has already done haha)

 

[rdezs]

This should help you get started to get it tuned.... As I understand it, they can connect you with somebody local or it can be done over the internet.

https://www.hptuners.com/dealer-map/

 

[rdezs]

Your list looks good. I've never had a bad experience with anything I bought from Michigan Motorsports.

 

[rdezs]

Regarding the head bolts, there's nothing wrong with using the OEM style TTY bolts.... They have proven to be quite reliable. I usually opt for the ARP head bolts that are not TTY and reusable. The downside is the cost, around $150. The upside is you simply torque them in sequence. The TTY bolts you torque in sequence, and then use your angle gauge on top of the socket to turn a certain number of degrees. With the engine in the car, you often can't turn 70° in one shot on a lot of the head bolts with the firewall and brake booster in the way, etc. It is okay to divide it into two turns of 35°, but I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and I hate doing it that way. (OCD?)

I'm talking the ARP head bolts, not the studs which are ridiculously expensive the last time I looked.... Unless of course you're building something 700 horsepower and up.

You can do this easily on a weekend if you have everything ready to go. If you have a machinist straight edge you can check the head yourself with a feeler gauge. Considering Jasper did the head work, I would spend the $150 to $200 to have a machine shop check the heads though.

 

[Chughart]

I’m going to call hp tuners and see what they say.

And I have an electric torque wrench that does angle (I’m a master Honda tech so I needed on) so the angle part isn’t a problem. I’m planning on ordering the parts today and starting on it this evening.

 

[Geotrash]

honestly the only reason i want to do hptuners is i already have the tune interface so i dont have to buy that i just need the tune. i might go with the autocal from black bear but we will see what hp tuners says before i go that route.

i think the BTR stage 2 truck cam is the cam that would be ideal for my situation, that was my only issue on what to pick. and looking into @Geotrash upgrades, that cam is very very similar to his cam. he also lives like 3 hours from me so we travel in the same general area and our yukons are the same (minus all the add ons he has already done haha)

Very cool that we're only 3 hours apart, and I note that you have great taste in vehicles.

It's worth me mentioning though that the BTR Stage 2 truck cam and the Cam Motion stage 2 truck cam are quite a bit different from each other. The BTR cam was ground to be "compatible" with 4.8, 5.3, 6.0 and 6.2 liter engines, but the Cam Motion cam was ground specific for the 6.2L. In fact they make a slightly different grind for each engine, owing to the different flow characteristics if the heads, etc. I've run both the BTR cam and the Cam Motion cam in my 2012.

The Cam Motion cam makes noticeably more power - a fact I could easily see while towing in the same places with the same camper. I can hold one higher gear with it on most of the grades I often travel. There is a long hill with a 7% grade on I-64W in West Virginia where it was particularly evident to me. The drivability is also much better, with a smoother idle. The BTR cam had a lope that was a little more than I liked. It ended up being a PITA at stoplights because of the constant surging with the stock converter stall. The Cam Motion cam has just enough lope that you can tell it's not stock, but not so much as to impact drivability.

 

[rdezs]

That is some good detailed info on the cam motion camshaft.

 

[Chughart]

Well I wish I would have seen this before I ordered it all lol oh well at this point lol

 

[Geotrash]

That is some good detailed info on the cam motion camshaft.

For others who may stumble across this, I went with the "high-lift" .553 version. To do so required upgraded beehive springs, so I went with the BTR .560 springs and they've been great.

 

[Chughart]

Well I ordered the BTR stage 2 truck cam, Delphi lifters vvt delete it all showed up today. I started pulling it apart last night only thing left is pull the valve covers, rockers and heads. Then I can pull the cam out the front.

Hopefully I like the cam enough to keep it lol