JBirdSS

With the passing of 60K on my '96 SS and the need for some recent maintenance and repair work I'm wondering how the LT1 would compare with other products near the same performance and engineering design. I like working on my car and have an extensive collection of tools and automotive equipment. On the otherhand it seems when one part of the car is at the end of its service life it has an immediate and negative impact on other parts of the car that soon will demand attention or replacement. Add to this the crowded engine bay, location of parts behind others requiring removal for maintenace. For an owner with limited choice of equipment and technical knowledge working on the LT1 could and should be challenging if not downright frustrating. Foremost of these challenges would be the ignition. fuel and emissions systems on the car. Doing plugs, wire and opti changes, changing a fuel pump, fuel pressur regulator, and associated fuel systems components, and hoping that a O2 sensor change (times 4) or a catalytic converter change will solve poor performance issues. With that all said is keeping the car wise beyond the time where it might be considered within its service life? What is the service life of an LT1? Certainly there will be posts following by guys that have driven XXXK miles without mishap, or others that can do a specific maintenance task like changing the wires and plugs in less than XX minutes but what about the average JOE hoping that his LT1 is comporable to another V-8 made by a competing car manufacturer?

With my car I was surprised that:
1. The third gear syncros went out at 23K
2. The intake manifold leaked oil from day one and was changed by the dealer only to again leak
3. The OPTI was changed by the dealer at 54K only to die again 5k later. Finding the problem took a month and I see so many guys changing many components in frustration before they find the OPTI being the culprit.
4. The coil has died twice
5. The plug wires have need replaced twice and were not burned
6. The cats just died at 60K and I am not sure what caused the failure. Codes didn't appear until the damage was done. Of course changing the O2's was too late if they were bad. And no SES warned of their improper performance. They had been replaced at 24K with a header modification.

So, if you have an opinion that can be supported with some evidence pro or con on the quality of the LT1 throw a post in.

funina91ss

11.70 on stock motor with 111k miles spraying a 150 shot threw it enougth said LT1's are dependable

shoebox

Besides regular maintenance items like plugs, wires, shocks etc., the only things that have gone out on my car are the ignition switch, one window switch and one window motor in 94k miles. Other things that I have replaced, have been for other than purely maintenance reasons.

Zerosheaven

hitting 84k and i replaced/repaired nothing but the intake elbow, fuel filter , and other maintance parts (air filter, oil ext)
so for i beleive this car has ONE of the best engines ever built (its only surpassed by the ls1 and other incedible unaffordable cars)

in conclusion i beleive there is no other engine that gives you the bang for the buck than the lt1

Brent94Z

I'm very pleased with my LT1s

My daily driver 96SS has 102k miles on it and still runs strong. I've had no major problems and the car has had around 450hp since about 15k miles or so. I don't granny drive it either... I take it up high in the RPM band (6200 rpm or so) quite regularly

jkipp84

113k miles on the clock so far. The only maintenance issue I've had is the driver's side window motor and the usual plugs, wires, a sensor, etc. I did have to replace the opti, but that was due to getting coolant all over it during a cam swap. My fault.. that was at 103k miles, btw. I've had a pretty good experience with the LT1 f-body thus far.

redimpss5

i got 185k on mine and it rus like a champ!! i have seen impala's at over 300k no problems! knowing how old school engines were, yes the lt1 is the best thing ever for v-8's!!

rskrause

Yes, it's hard to work on. But so are most modern cars. And diagnostics are a major problem on any modern vehicle. The only stock part that ever needed early replacement on my car was the Opti. True, I did trash a set of stock pistons, but GM never said they were intended for 10psi of boost. Except the Opti, the mechanical and electrical components in an LT1 are excellent. As with most GM vehicles, some of the trim and ancillary systems could be better. But what do you expect in a car that sold new in the low $20K range, looks good, handles well, runs low 14's in the 1/4 mile and over 150mph top speed?

Great car.

Rich Krause

IXLR894Z28

I have 105,XXX on mine, and even though I bought it used, I have all the maintenance records for the life of the vehicle, and aside from the opti at 98,000 and routine maint, everything has been fine.

Red96Lt1

I have 147k on mine and I'm still on the first opti, although I think it might be time to replace it. The only thing that has gone wrong is a leaky radiator. No biggie though.

J's 82

Since we are talking SS Lt1s thought it funny that SS engine # XXX lives again in my 82..

one of my friends has a formula with 150k on it that still runs low 13s..

IrocManiac

There's a guy here with a 96SS and he's been through 5 transmissions and he's running 4.10s out back...well 5 trannies as of 2 years ago last time I talked to him. He had 54k on it then. You had to replace synchros at 23k...as far as I know there is no difference between the motors/trannies between the SS's and the Regular Z28/TA's but maybe its the way you guys drive them??? My car has 72k on it and the synchros still feel as if its new...buttery smooth and no additional effort from gear to gear.

Kuma

Ya, dang that Opti. I had a leaky valve stem last month, my mechanic pulled the opti and put new valve stems in, lo and behold the leak is gone.




Actually, no problems so far at 106k. Just did the LT4 topend conversion, and since everything was out we replaced a bunch of stuff, like the whole ignition system (opti, coil, coil wire, ICM, plug wires, plugs--iridium rocks!). But it was running fine anyway, we just did this as a precautionary measure.

It isn't like the old days, as far as my engine is concerned, where cars would "nickel and dime" you to death once they reached say 100k miles. Now it's more like you replace things at regular intervals and they'll be fine, but if you don't they might just keep lasting anyway.

Personally I think the opti is well engineered and was mildly remarkable for when it was designed. Yes it's in a dumb place and yes the early ones failed a lot, but the later ones seem much better and have been shown to accomodate a lot of horsepower.

Eliminator

I just bought mine 4 months ago I hope mine is a good one, got my fingers crossed.

stereomandan

Even though I've needed a few things done to mine, I still consider it a great engine, especially for the power output and the amount we tend to stress it.

I've had the intake manifold leak, and a water pump go, and a fuel pump go. None of these are internal engine related, and the engine has run like a champ. Granted I have low miles(56,000) on my '97.

Dan