Michael Crisp

So I heard a knocking noise in my cylinder head and I thought it could have been a broken push rod (happend to me about a couple months ago.) I started my car and the knocking was very noticeable, but when i got it in the garage the noise was gone. So I opened up the valve cover and everything checked out. Then I thought it could have been a collapsed lifter and I did some reading and I read you would be able to push down on the rocker arm/push rod it also said it could have just been a piece of debris caught inside there keeping the lifter open. I then pushed down on all the rocker arms in the head and everything checked out. So I'm going to put everything back on and start the car, and investigate.


I told you guys that story to ask you this.

Is it possible that a piece of debris causing my lifter to stay open, and it could have just went away?

Thanks in advanced for your input :]

jaredbaugh89

sounds kinda unlikely to me. how many miles are on the car ?
every ls1 ive known with more then 100k has allways had some pretty noisy lifters. im not an expert though.
pulling the head is not too much work if you want to really look at you lifters to be safe

Michael Crisp

its got 116k on the clock, i just hope its nothing too serious i just ordered new tires and a full exhaust so my car piggy bank is empty! haha


so your opinion is i should just replace my lifters?

jaredbaugh89

you dont have to replace them, if your really worried about them you can rebuild them
or if you want to upgrade feel free.
if you are up to pulling the heads ( 2-6 hour job depending)
unbolt the plastic lifter retainer , use a pen magnet to grab any lifters that dident come out with the clip.
inspect the roler bearing , make sure nothing looks off place , no flat spots on the roller it self , no grooves anywhere. roll the bearing make sure thiers no hassle.
if you want to rebuild ,
You take the clip out of the top, take the guts out, clean out the crap that settles in there sometimes, replace the springs if they have gotten lazy and saggy, and put the things back together.
you can find write ups on rebuilding the lifters online pretty easy.
but if your willing to live the with noise then just let them be.
or see if running thicker oil will hide the tick.

Michael Crisp

well im still investigating and i got the valve cover back on the head, took it out for a spin around the block and got on it a couple times...i noticed there is very little clutch pressure and it was VERY easy to shift from gear to gear..usually i would have to use a little more umph but not in this case. i then got out of my car and listened to it idle for a second and it sounded like it was coming from under the car, so im thinking maybe the bellhousing bolts are loose and the knocking sound is actually the bellhousing vibrating against the block. so im jacking the car up and have a look.


EDIT: ^^86 that theory but the drain plug on the tranny was loose as **** and there was tranny fluid on the tranny itself :[

jaredbaugh89

thats odd... put some thread lock on that thing a tighten it back down, if thats your ticking issue