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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 08:01 PM
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Default Ticking Lifter

So I was driving home today and I noticed a ticking sound. Pulled into the driveway and I am pretty sure its a lifter. I took a video



Can someone confirm thats a lifter? I am going to pull the valve covers off and see if I bent a rocker or something, but from what I understand there is not a lot of adjustability. From what I understand you have to pull the heads off to replace the lifters. Is it a big deal to drive around with a ticking lifter as bad as I have in the video?
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 09:33 PM
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Sounds like a minor version of what I had. Mine was 100000x worse than that, and all of a sudden too. I had 5 lifters go bad on me so it sounded like gravel in the engine.

As long as the car otherwise runs fine and there is nothing that seems different it should be fine to drive for a while. But I would look into finding out exactly what it is (it might not be a lifter) and then planning on fixing it when you can. Keep an ear to it, if it gets progressively worse plan on fixing it sooner than later.
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 09:55 PM
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Whats up man? 5 lifters at once??? Jesus. How much were the repairs? I think I might use this as an excuse to borrow some money and get a cam. I was going to get headers and a clutch first but might as well get the cam while I am in there.

I changed my oil on Sunday to a thinner weight so that might have something to do with it. I put some STP oil treatment in but that only helped a little bit. I noticed this after messing with a gsx-r so the problem may have developed from beating on it as well as the thinner oil. I had always noticed a small tick on cold start ups but all of the sudden got rather large.
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 09:59 PM
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To get all 12 lifters replaced - V6 here - it cost me $825. Was NOT cool. They did all 12 since so many were bad they felt (and I agree) that it wasn't worth leaving the rest in there just to possibly have them go bad in a short while.

I wanted to do it myself but I had no place or time to do it so I shelled out the bucks

If you put a thinner oil in that might be part of it. Try going back to a little thicker and see what happens. Some engines and oil weights don't get along. BTW, some small ticking at cold startup is normal for most cars.
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 10:28 PM
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Ouch I hope I don't get anywhere near $825. I don't have the resources to do this **** myself. Do you think theres much of a chance that it could be a loose or bent rocker?

I hate my life
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 10:32 PM
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I'm not a mechanic, I suppose there could be a chance, but I don't know.
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 10:52 PM
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well thanks for the help and the sig bud
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 10:56 PM
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sure thing. Hopefully someone else who knows more will chime in.
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Old Feb 13, 2008 | 11:31 PM
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A little update... drove home from the gf's house, and it seemed to be quite a bit more quiet? Still noticable tho... I just want to hear more from people that have had this problem
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Old Feb 14, 2008 | 12:22 AM
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someone chime in on this
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Old Feb 14, 2008 | 09:23 AM
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bump for some of these mechanic in here too chime in.
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Old Feb 14, 2008 | 01:59 PM
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ttt...
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Old Feb 14, 2008 | 02:16 PM
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Heads have to come off for the job. You can expect at least $1000 for that job. You'll be fine using the LS7 lifters just like I am.
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Old Feb 14, 2008 | 02:19 PM
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hmm. if you havent do a seafoam. some carbon could have built up between the lifter causing it to tap.

pop the brake booster hose suck about half a can slowly ect just like the guide shows. let it sit. then drive around for a bit. and see if it gets any better. but i will say i have natural tick sound but not as noticeable. though mine is a exhaust leak.
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 03:03 PM
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mine sounds very similar to that, just not as loud. most people cant hear it, but it drives me crazy. so when i get a couple hundred miles from my oil change i am going to try the seafoam. hopefully it will fix it.
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Old Feb 18, 2008 | 02:35 PM
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Sounds like a lifter tick to me, does it go away once you are warmed up? Mine has that exact same noise, can't tell you how many ls1's I've heard with the same thing. My motor only has 12,000 EASY miles on it too
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Old Feb 18, 2008 | 06:17 PM
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normal for an ls1 dont worry about unless it gets louder over half of ls1's i have heard make the same noise. it used to drive me ******* crazy but then i heard some vettes making the same noise so i was like **** it they payed twice as much for the car and they put up with it so i guess i can also
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Old Feb 18, 2008 | 07:37 PM
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Put a full can of seafoam in your oil. Drive it for 150-200 miles. The sticky lifter should work itself out. Change oil (I recommend 10w30 full synthetic) with an AC Delco filter.
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Old Feb 18, 2008 | 07:43 PM
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Seafoam actually cleared up a ticking I had. That $hit is awesome and I was a skeptic. If it works for you, a 6 dollar fix doesn't suck.
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Old Feb 18, 2008 | 07:49 PM
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I had a similar noise, and changed my lifters when I did my cam, and now its the same or worse because of the cam. I would'nt worry so much about it making the sound...I would pay more attention to if the sound changes or gets worse. If you want to dig in a little it may be worth pulling your pushrods out and roll them on a perfectly flat surface like a mirror or glass, and make sure none of them are bent. I wouldnt get in a big hurry to tear down just yet. It may be a waste of time. My .02
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