Looking for Nitrous Engine Damage on LS1 engine?

[EagleMark]

Other then the obvious, what could you look for in an LS1 engine that has been on the bottle (Nitrous)? Still runs fine, been for sale awhile and guy is getting really cheap on price... 1999 Camaro SS LS1 6 speed... or any other prone issues with car?

[RobertISaar]

if you have a boroscope, pull a few plugs and take a look at the pistons, that should be a tell-tale as to the rest of the engine with it being bottle-fed.

[EagleMark]

May be able to sneak out a plug and look at it with magnifying glass? Sneak though, no tools or dismantling inspections at auction...

Freind of mine goes to the dealer auction and been watching the price on this drop each week. He said it's almost low enough that the salvage yards are going to buy it. Dealers won't touch because of age, it as it's noted suspension change so I guess it's lowered, emmissions tamper, check engine light on, right and left doors repainted but no other accedent damage or report, few scartches, differant set of tires on front to rear and the tell tale sign of a nitrous bottle in back seat with line going underneath.

But to go through auction it needs to run and drive through the test track with no engine noise, tranny issues etc... he assured me the inspector has run this WOT!

Should be down to $2000 to $2500 this week? That's $3000 to $3500 home... 83k on car...

[96lt4c4]

May be able to sneak out a plug and look at it with magnifying glass? Sneak though, no tools or dismantling inspections at auction...

Freind of mine goes to the dealer auction and been watching the price on this drop each week. He said it's almost low enough that the salvage yards are going to buy it. Dealers won't touch because of age, it as it's noted suspension change so I guess it's lowered, emmissions tamper, check engine light on, right and left doors repainted but no other accedent damage or report, few scartches, differant set of tires on front to rear and the tell tale sign of a nitrous bottle in back seat with line going underneath.

But to go through auction it needs to run and drive through the test track with no engine noise, tranny issues etc... he assured me the inspector has run this WOT!

Should be down to $2000 to $2500 this week? That's $3000 to $3500 home... 83k on car...

Wow, looks like a nice car. Basically what I said in the other thread.


check the rear end for leaking pinion seal. These cars have a 7.5 inch ring gear and they really take a beating. They are even worse in the 6 speed cars. The pinion bearings start to get loose and you get gear noise and a leaking pinion seal.

Check under the front fenders just in front of the doors to see if somone has jacked it up in the wrong place. Usually the fenders bulge out at the bottom if they have.

Check windows to see if they go up and down fast, these cars are bad about window motors. I installed relays in each door so they pull right off the battery, the factory circuit has both sides pulling power threw the crappy switches and only from the drivers side.

For the 6 speed cars check the clutch hydraulics,

For the 99 and up LS1 cars look at the sail panel / roof for paint bubbles. These panels are fiberglass, GM changed the glue they used to glue them onto the car and over time it eats through the fiberglass and causes paint bubbles. LT1 cars did not do it. GM does not make this panel anymore so it can be a major pain to fix.

http://ls1tech.com/forums/paint-body...e-dummies.html

[96lt4c4]

Is it red or orange? Hard to tell. Look inside the driver door at the RPO codes. The paint code is a WA523F for Hugger Orange or WA8774 for Flame Red.

[pmkls1]

I don't know of any auction houses that actually do anything with the car so I'm wary of the whole test drive statement period. I'm sure that there are plenty of things that I've never heard of, though, but I'd still take that info with a grain of salt as opinions regarding a "good driving" vehicle are VERY relative to the driver. I'm a true F-body fanatic and love any generation except for the current 5th gen Camaro. The LS equipped cars were excellent performers all the way around and were relatively low-maintenance. The price would be the biggest red flag with this car in my opinion. That car should be worth WAY more than $2500 even at auction and with the known issues you listed. That being said, as long as there aren't any un-repairable issues with the car I feel that it is worth buying. Other than the obvious and common sense there aren't any telltale signs of engine damage from nitrous. LS engines are very durable and can take a lot of abuse so that should help ease your mind a little. My advice listed below is mainly just a list of possible expenses to consider before purchase. The value of anything is relative and for me if I want it and can afford it then that's what it's worth to me and I only consider sale value if I'm finincing or unsure how long I plan to keep it. With the other advice given, this is a list of things to look for or be wary of and consider before purchase;

1. ANY signs of paint repairs on the rest of the car. Paint repars are almost always an indicator of collision damage and there are several reasons that plenty of collision repairs do not show up on a carfax report.

2. OIL PRESSURE ! LS engines have very robust oiling systems so anything below 20psi at idle after warmed up MAY be an indicator of excessive engine wear.

3. Engine noise. Early LS engines had issues with the needle bearings coming out of the rocker arms which was both easy to repair and an obviously a source of a valvetrain tick, but other than that the engine should not have any excessive mechanical noise if it is in good working order.

4. The check engine light. Unless you can get a code reader on there quickly you don't know what's wrong and the cost of repairs. Although usually minor, che cause of a check engine light can lead to thousands of dollars in repairs such as catalytic converters although on this particular car nothing else comes to mind that is a high dollar part.

5. Transmission issues. The common variety of these cars that you will find in places such as an auction usually got beat on pretty hard especially the manual trans models. The T56 trans can have a lot of issues that lead to a major issue that can be difficult to detect without a very comprehensive test drive and analysis. I'm not a big fan of the T56 nowadays as they are just plain expensive in any sense. If you have any plans of exceeding 400 horsepower then you need to include a trans upgrade into those plans.

6. Rear diff issues. I am going to re-emphasize that the diffs in these cars took a beating and quite often require an overhaul that could range from a couple hundred dollars worth of parts to thousands depending on the extent of the damage (Dealer sourced parts pricing of course).

7. Undercar damage. These cars quickly lost vital ground clearance when lowered and if they run over anything solid like curbs or sidewalks they can incur a lot of expensive damage very quickly that can affect engine cooling and/or alignment/tire wear/handling.

8. Musty smell from interior indicating a waterleak. Waterleaks on any car can become expensive and time consuming to repair very quickly and the full extent of the damage may not be realized sometimes for years. This is a VERY commonly overlooked aspect when buying a used car that can quickly lead to a drastic change in the overall cost/value of the vehicle.

9. Take a look at the lips of the rims for curb damage and look for brake rotor issues like discoloration or scoring. This mainly gives you an idea of the possibility of a need for alignment, bent rims, brake system condition and vehicle abuse, and possibly needed maintenance like a brake job.

HTH,
Phil