Started my car up today and was greeted by a really loud "clack clack clack clack clack!" It was really bad at first, quieted down some, then went away after about a minute and was fine the rest of the day. Oil pressure was totally normal. My brother said it sounded like a lifter. It is at the shop right now to see what they find out, they'll look at it in the morning.

This is on my 3800 V6. If it is a bad lifter, how deep am I in here? Would it be recommended to replace them all while the shop has it apart?

Just when everything mechanically-wise seemed to be OK (aside from the fuel pressure glitch but that isn't a big deal) this has to happen

 

OK I got the car back last night. I have a lifter going bad. Since it goes away right now I'm going to live with it (money and time aren't on my side) as long as it doesn't get any worse. Hopefully over spring break I'll get it fixed, I'll have more money and time on my side then.

I poked through my hanes manual to see what was involved, my mechanic said it would cost me about $500-ish to have him replace the lifters (doing one may as well do them all). I'm not a pro at this stuff, but perhaps with the help of my friend who is more mechanically-minded (totally rebuilding an el camino in his garage right now) would this be something I could do with his help to save paying the mechanic to do it?

 

I wouldn't be afraid to take it on if you had the proper tools and someone with some knowledge doing it with you.

 

Well apparently my car is not going to let me wait until spring break to fix this. It is getting really bad really fast, this morning when I started it up not only was it clacking like crazy but the whole car was shaking and the SES light came on then started flashing at me it calmed down and the SES light stopped flashing then after a couple minutes the noise faded away but it apparently isn't going to last too long. I think this cold weather is aggravating it too. Drat, guess I'm going to have to pay the mechanic to fix it

 

if theres any way possible id say to try and fix it yourself.

 

I would if I could (would save me a bunch in labor) but I don't have enough time to do it myself (I'd take longer than the shop since I'm not a pro mechanic so I take things slow I'm doing the first time) nor do I have a place to do it at either. I hate having to pony up the cash but I don't have much of a choice.

 

One of the joys of having cars. Stuff breaks

 

Do you trust this tech that you took your car to? Also, when was the last time you changed your oil? The thing is, camaro's use a thin based oil and the problem with that is in cold weather, the oil does not stick to the lifters or cylinders, rockers or whatever like it should. I work for a parts store and all the techs I work with say its nothing to worry about. I live in floriday, so its mostly hot here but when it gets cold, my car use to do the same thing yours does. My tech friends I work with all told me to use "Lucas-Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer." Basically, it is made for engines with thinner oil bases, it is basically an additive that you poor into your oil tank when you change your oil and it makes the oil get sticky and it allows the oil to stick and lubricate even in cold weather...it is made specifically to eliminate the knocking and to also make your engine last longer. If you are looking to save some money, I would suggest this first.....do a routine oil change and buy the Lucas additive I mentioned and dump half or all of it in with your new oil and see if it helps first. This might save you some time....I started using the Lucas 2 months ago and my car is running great and makes no noises in the morning in cold weather so far so good. Just go to any auto parts commercial store and ask if they carry Lucas products. There is a synthetic version but I prefer non synthetic personally but it is up to you.
Well, good luck with everything, give it a try, the stuff cost about $10. See how it goes and if it doesnt help then I'd say you got bigger problems. So, change your oil, add Lucas, and best of luck!

 

Yes we know this mechanic, have known him for years and hasn't ever steered us wrong.

It was more than a knocking noise though last wednesday, it was so bad it was hard to start and when it did the whole car shook like mad and the SES light was flashing at me. That I know is definitely not normal.

I got the car back from the shop yesterday, 5 lifters were bad (the one was really bad compared to the others) so all of them were replaced. No more popcorn sounding exhaust, no more gravel-in-the-engine noise, no more SES light, no more. It's great, but my wallet is now lighter Oh well, like waldershrek said, the joys of having cars!