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I'm in the middle of an LS1 teardown.

Last weekend I removed the valve covers to and found it hard to see anything, as the pictures below will evidence.

While I wait for an opportunity to resume the teardown this weekend, I wonder what could be responsible for making the insides so black.

I can say that the residue feels hard, scaly and not very oily. There are some puddles of oil around a few of the valves, so I expect some of the valve stem seals to be shot, but would that alone explain the all-round blackness of everything in this valvetrain?

Bank 2

Bank 1 Close-Up

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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Zaid
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1 Answers1

5

Classic residue from an engine not worked too hard with low oil change intervals. Stripped and re-built 3 V8's which had that residue (all had done in excess of 100K miles). Took the block and reusable parts to a machine shop to get them cleaned in a chemical hot cleaner. Re-built engine went into a v8 short wheel base land rover (160bhp and quick...)

Solar Mike
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