Oiling kit

[sspeedstreet]

"On 1991-94 GM 3.4L DOHC V6 engines, for example, a customer may complain of lifter noise from the engine following a cold start. The noise is caused by not enough oil reaching the cam immediately after startup. GM?s cure is an oiling kit (P/N #12538687) that routes more oil to the valve train. The kit replaces the stock cam thrust plate with a thinner plate and includes new cup plugs for the ends of the cams that have smaller 2 mm oil relief holes. This improves oil pressure in the head and should dampen oil pulsations in a cold engine."

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GM PART # 12538687
CATEGORY: Engine Camshaft Thrust Washer
PACK QTY: 1 CORE CHARGE: $0.00
GM LIST: $53.26
OUR PRICE: $30.36
DESCRIPTION: REPAIR KI


Anyone know of this?

[Juglenaut]

I got lifter noise on a hot run not a cold start Hmmmm

[Lyle's GTP]

I've installed several of these kits before. I believe that any car manufactured after october or may (can't remember which) of 94' got the mod automatically.

Lyle

[pocket-rocket]

The 91 ticks when hot, but only when I am hard on it without keeping an eye on the oil level. Let it cool down and take it easy on it, and it's fine again. Not the best thing for it, but then again neither is starting it and driving on a cold engine (I let the whore warm up for a minimum of 10 minutes on most mornings, besides, she gets cranky when cold and likes to buck).

[buster_45]

Sorry I didn't see this before..(I must have been distracted by the April fools joke)

I tried to order this a couple months ago from GM Direct and received an e-mail a couple days later that the kit was no longer available... I may try again, but...

HEY LYLE, do they help and where else could I find one?

[34T]

hey Lyle; are these avail? How long since you were able to get one? Sounds like a good idea to do while the engine is out.

[SappySE107]

Just get a set of 94/95 cams and you have it. I wanted to check into the 96 cams but I believe their lobes are smaller for the smaller lifters. Probably the same as the 2.4. Anyway, the stock lifters may also contribute it as well. When they get older, they change their characteristics and that can cause ticking as well.

[34T]

Ben or Lyle:
do you mean cams only or carriers or both? I am picturing oiling passageways in the camshaft(s) themselves? Is that right? (The cup plugs that were mentioned at the top).

So if I get some 94/95 cams will they 'drop in' to my 92 carriers? No other mods, or do I keep (CAN I keep?) the 94/95 carriers too? Mine is a manual; but the cams would be the same as for an auto - which all the 94's etc would be of course......???

[SappySE107]

You can swap 91-95, anything you want. but you cant use 91-93 cams with a 94/95 computer. They dont have the timing part on the MPFI cams.

[Lyle's GTP]

The kit is available from GM right now. There is a new thrust plate with the kit, so I don't know if only swaping the cams will be the whole deal. It is very easy to do though. All it is is tapping out the hole that lubricates the trust plate and installing a plug there. Then there is a cup plug in the cam, at the same end as the thrust plate. You have to remove that plug and install a new one. The new one has a 1/6" hole drilled in the middle of it.

So what you have is a large 3/16" oil hole that used to spray oil onto the thrust plate, now plugged. But now the oil comes out of the small 1/6" hole and pools up in the area beneth the thrust plate, lubricating it that way. Therefore bringing up your oil pressures in the cam carriers. I believe that the trustplate is important, because it has some oil veins or something. To help hold in the oil. I'm not positive though.

I do recommend the process, it makes sense to do it. The old oiling process was over kill anyway. The forces that are excerted on the cams are perpendicular to there rotation so any horizontal motion (thrust) is negligable.

Hope that helps, but maybe someone with a lot of spare parts laying around can compare the two thrust plates and see if there is a difference. Oh, another thing if their isn't a different, these plugs are available at any auto parts store for like $2.00 max. All you would have to do is drill the hole in the cup plug. I could give you all the sizes if you would like.

Lyle

[SappySE107]

So is this a performance mod?

[buster_45]

This is probably a dumb question, is it possible to get it from the GM dealers even when GM Parts Direct can not get it. I received this from them yesterday...

"I am sorry however GM has discontinued this part and it is no longer
available.

Thank you for choosing www.GmPartsDirect.com"

Garry