lifter tick?

[turbowrenchhead]

Shortly after I installed the V2 my motor devolped a lifter tick. It went away and now its back after a week. I didn't change the oil after the intake swap but I was very carefull not to get any antifreeze into the oil. I had just changed the oil 300 miles previous to that. I use syntetic so an oil change cost almost 30 bucks. The oil looks good. Is there any additive that anyone knows of that might kick this lifter tick? It has to be a contamination because it comes and goes. I could be wrong on this. Anyone have a clue?

 

[Buick From Hell]

Your sig says you have a 50k mile car, but the come-&-go lifter tick is indicative of your oil intake tube being full of pieces of cam gear teeth! Of course, this problem mostly affects those who don't have an oil pressure gauge! Do you have one, and is your pressure okay when it starts ticking?

(I'll withold my opinions on synthetic oil for the time being!)

 

[Turbod]

I believe lifter ticks are usually caused by plungers that get stuck. If the plungers in the lifters are stuck and there is a ticking noise that would mean it is stuck in some down position. If the ticking goes away that would idicate it somehow go freed up.

Given my theory above, suppose you have one lifter that occasionally gets stuck. If this only happens on cold startup it could be the result of the position cam is in when the engine is shut off. If you shut off the engine at just the right time and the cam happened to stop where the problematic lifter is pushing the valve open this would put pressure on the lifter. Some oil will be forced out when the engine is off and if the plunger is prone to sticking this is when it will happen. Usually if run long enough the lifter will eventually free up and pump back up. I don't know what the odds of this idea would be but it might explain what you are experiencing.

This is just my shadetree theory, feel free to poke holes in it.

Allen

 

[turbowrenchhead]

The motor was just mildly rebuilt this spring. I had the whole thing torn down and put a new eastern cam and lifters in it when I rebuilt it this spring. There are no cam gear teeth stuck in the oil pickup tube. I do not have an oil pressure gauge but I did check it when I rebuilt it and it was ok then. I will put a gauge on it soon and find out what pressure I have. The lifter tick is present all the time right now. Doesn't matter if it is hot or cold. I did have a tick two weeks ago with the add on of the V2. Then it went away for a week or so. The car sat for 4 days and that is when the tick reappered. I am having problems with keeping the valve cover breather in the cover. I cant use the K&N I have cause it is a short neck one. The intake flex tube is also in the way. I rigged up a pcv gromet and pcv and plumed it back into the intake tube. It kept coming out and the valve cover was open to atmosphere. I have now solved that problem. Is it possible it sucked in some dirt or something and now is in the lifter?

 

[crazygn]

I had a problem like this not to long ago, my motor only had 20,000 mile on the motor and it started to tap on and off . I found that my frount cover crank rope seal was riped up and in my oil pick up tube and it made my cam and lifters go bad from no oil. I would say to take off the driver side valve cover and see if when you start the car you get oil right away , if it takes some time to get there you have a pick up tube problem. It killed my bearings to i would find the problem fast and not drive the car .

I have some pic of my pick up i'll send you , hope this helps

 

[Buick From Hell]

Just thought of something---is the tick near the front of the engine? The cam sensors are known to tick occasionally.

 

[turbowrenchhead]

Quick question, would an oil pressure gauge show me the same test results rather then removing the valve cover and getting oil all over the place?