ATTN. GM Tech's/Experts, HOW can piston slap "NOT" damage a motor

I own a 2002 Silverado 1500 5.3L Z71, Rancho 4" suspension lift, Nitto 305's 29,000 miles

I have read most all of the posts i can find in this forum re. piston slap.
What i seem to get is , the ordinary consumer like myself is very concernerned over our piston slap and the more experienced mechanics and techs all feel it isnt a major engine issue but wont commit to a point of view, understandably..

I already have the 6 yr 75,000 mile Major Guard warranty and when I contacted GM I was given the 100,000 mile warranty upgrade to calm me down, havent rec. the paper work yet but im sure its comming. I have also started communication with a lemon law attorney.

But i cant seem to find any Tech who is comfortable in giving the specifics.

If piston slap is what is described in the threads ive read, the how can it NOT cause dammage?

Can some one , any one just explain to a naive truck owner how piston slap cant be damaging to a motor?

The truck is great besides this one issue, I know if i push hard enough i could win a buy back, but is it worth it.

And maybe should i just wait and see what GM does, because if it is truely an issue then eventualy GM will have to face up to it and repair all our trucks anyway.

So some honest expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

Suprteck,

I have the same noises as you and everyone else, and have received the same assurances you have. My truck is an '02 2500HD with the 6.0. She ticks pretty loud, but still runs great with about 46,000 miles on her. But, I can't hear it doing 75, blasting some Slipknot while running out to Montauk at 2am though ;-).

It will be two years old in Feb. I was very concerned about the noise, and just made sure that the dealer documented it, in case any recalls were made after my warranty expired.

The dealer never told me what was making the noise though, only that it was "normal". It wasn't until I read it here, that I learned what was actually causing it. I don't know how it doesn't hurt it, but I can say that so far, it definately hasn't.

Chris

the piston slap is caused from the piston rings having carbon build up. on cold starts the rings are stuck and this is causing the noise, after a few minutes of engine run time the rings become unstuck and the noise goes away, you can verify this by running the engine until it reaches operating temp, remove each spark plug and add 4 ounces of top engine cleaner to each spark plug hole, let it sit for a few hours to soak and dissolve the carbon, next crank the daylights out of the engine to remove the top engine cleaner, dissable the fuel system and ignition system before cranking the engine. this is pretty messy since all the top engine cleaner will shoot out the spark plug holes. after you get most of the cleaner out reinstall the spark plugs, it will take awhile for the engine to restart due to the plugs will be wet but it will restart, you might have to depress the throttle just a bit when it sounds like it is going to start to get it running. i have done quite a few of these and it has fixed 90% of them, there is also a service bulletin for lifter type noise on start up, the bulletin says to replace the oil pump pickup tube to pump o-ring. try it and let me know. I have worked for gm for 18 years and have not seen any of the Gen III engines with piston failure from this noise.

Just an update

I rec. my warranty upgrade from GM.

I must say they sure are handleing things very nicley.

But I still have my concerns over the piston slap issue since i plan on driving this truck way over 100,000 miles.

I also have a valve clatter noise im concerned about..

I am still very interested in any other opinions on the damage of piston slap and would appreciate reply's

Thanx

I have the same problem on my 99 Silverado. How did you go about getting the extended warranty? I contacted GM's 800 number and they didn't really seem to care. I contacted a lemon law attorney, but since I bought the truck used, they're reluctant to take it to court.