The LT1 is an engine made by General Motors primarily for high-end sports cars. The LT1 engine was fairly reliable but did have several known issues. If you own a vehicle fitted with one of these engines and are experiencing problems with it, you'll want to troubleshoot the issue to confirm what the problem is before buying any components or attempting to repair anything on the engine.
Check for hesitation of the engine. Early LT1 engines had problems with the GM optispark distributor. This would present itself, quite often, as engine hesitation. To correct this problem, you'll need to install vacuum vents (or have them installed for you) to remove the moisture building up on the distributor, which was determined to be the cause of the problems.
Check for engine pinging. The high-compression LT1 engine requires high-octane fuel. Unfortunately, not all drivers understand or know this. If low-grade octane fuel is used, your LT1 may develop a pinging sound, which is early detonation inside the cylinders. The compression is actually causing the fuel to explode before the compression stroke is finished, which in turn causes the pistons to slap against the cylinder walls. If left unchecked, this will cause catastrophic engine failure.
Check for blown or leaking head gaskets. Due to the high compression ratio of the LT1, another common problem with older LT1 engines is a leaking head gasket. Pressure blows by the gasket, causing engine coolant to leak into the cylinders. White "smoke", which is actually steam, is emitted out of the tailpipe. The gasket must be replaced.
