One noisy lifter? Anyone had this happen?
11-13-2004, 09:10 AM
#1
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
One noisy lifter? Anyone had this happen? I've got a 2000 FRC with heads / cam I installed myself. here are the mods:
- TEA [St1.5] 5.3L truck heads with ferrea valves, milled 0.020" (supposedly)
- Patriot Gold dual valve springs
- Lunati custom 224°/0.576" single pattern cam
- MTI 7.400" pushrods
- TPIS ceramic-coated long tubes
Stock rockers, stock lifters, stock injectors, stock intake
Now, the valvetrain generally sounds a little louder than stock, but that's OK. It's not bad at all. When I start the car, it sounds normal and the oil pressure goes to 25-29psi, which seems a little low to me. The car begins to heat up and the oil pressure rises with RPM to about 50psi or so - approx 40psi at 2000RPM.
About six to eight minutes into the drive, with the temp around 200°, a really loud tapping sound begins and it sounds like one lifter is moderately pissed off. It's one tap per revolution and I can really hear it through the shifter. When I pull over and open the hood to listen, it sounds like it's on the passenger side but it's hard to tell. When the engine heats up further, the sound goes away. It seems to be some set of conditions that consistently set it off.
The problem is, I don't know what those conditions are, and I don't exactly know where the tapping is coming from. It only lasts about two or three minutes and then it usually goes away. But, it seems to always happen when the temperature / pressure / oil viscosity / moon phase / lotto jackpot is just right.
I've heard everything from excessive preload, wrong oil, and long pushrods to smaller lobe base circle and too-stiff valve springs. The only thing that makes sense to me is too-stiff valve springs. Correct me if I'm wrong, please, but isn't excessive preload only going to open / unseat the valve when the pushrods are too long.
I know I'm not supposed to be running 7.400" rods on milled heads, and I've got some 7.350s on order but I don't think it'll help. Any other suggestions while I'm in there? I'd like to know what to look for and would like to hear from someone who has experienced something similar.
Thanks in advance - seems to be a wealth of knowledge in here.
- TEA [St1.5] 5.3L truck heads with ferrea valves, milled 0.020" (supposedly)
- Patriot Gold dual valve springs
- Lunati custom 224°/0.576" single pattern cam
- MTI 7.400" pushrods
- TPIS ceramic-coated long tubes
Stock rockers, stock lifters, stock injectors, stock intake
Now, the valvetrain generally sounds a little louder than stock, but that's OK. It's not bad at all. When I start the car, it sounds normal and the oil pressure goes to 25-29psi, which seems a little low to me. The car begins to heat up and the oil pressure rises with RPM to about 50psi or so - approx 40psi at 2000RPM.
About six to eight minutes into the drive, with the temp around 200°, a really loud tapping sound begins and it sounds like one lifter is moderately pissed off. It's one tap per revolution and I can really hear it through the shifter. When I pull over and open the hood to listen, it sounds like it's on the passenger side but it's hard to tell. When the engine heats up further, the sound goes away. It seems to be some set of conditions that consistently set it off.
The problem is, I don't know what those conditions are, and I don't exactly know where the tapping is coming from. It only lasts about two or three minutes and then it usually goes away. But, it seems to always happen when the temperature / pressure / oil viscosity / moon phase / lotto jackpot is just right.
I've heard everything from excessive preload, wrong oil, and long pushrods to smaller lobe base circle and too-stiff valve springs. The only thing that makes sense to me is too-stiff valve springs. Correct me if I'm wrong, please, but isn't excessive preload only going to open / unseat the valve when the pushrods are too long.
I know I'm not supposed to be running 7.400" rods on milled heads, and I've got some 7.350s on order but I don't think it'll help. Any other suggestions while I'm in there? I'd like to know what to look for and would like to hear from someone who has experienced something similar.
Thanks in advance - seems to be a wealth of knowledge in here.
11-13-2004, 08:59 PM
#2
On The Tree
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well mine did the same thing. pulled the heads and found a few lifters that was pitted. the cam had a bit of pitting on it but not to bad. the lifters were shot though. my cam is a bit bigger and i have the 918 springs. but from researching it said anything from wrong oil to improper oil change interval. i usually run royal purple 10w 30 in the summer and 5w 30 in the winter time.
11-14-2004, 07:09 AM
#5
I dont use my car enough to know if the sound was there last month or yesterday. I have a Y2K and put on 4500 miles in two years, and durrently im at 15100 miles. I change the oil once a year ( mobil one ). This year I installed Kooks LT headers and the rest of the bolt ons. I hear a little something on the drivers side. I do hear a minor piston slap on the passenger side that goes away when the car warms up, and always have . But, on the drivers side I hear something I dont hear on the passenger side. I dont hear it when I open the hood and listen, but I do hear it when I listen through the wheel well. I think its a noise coming through the header now that its a thinner metal than the cast manifolds. If I drove the car everyday, I wouldnt notice anything, but since I dont drive it that much I ask myself if that noise was there last time. 