Well i was driving thru town today in my TA and i started to notice a slight ticking sound that was new. thought it might be a exhaust leak, but I though for the past few days the valvetrain was a bit noisier than it had been. Well as i drove thru town, the ticking kept getting louder and louder, then once i was actually on the street i live, the ticking turned to a loud knock, and the car started to sputter as i pulled in the drive and shut it down. I poped the hood so i could inspect and didnt see anything visually. I fired it back up so i could listen and it really sounds like its coming from the valvetrain. The car has 153k miles on it, it has less than 500 miles on a new cam swap(228R) i installed the PRC valve spring kit, Hardened push rods and all that. Im thinking with the mileage it has and with the stress of the new cam, i have a collapsed lifter. Ive never had a critical engine failure so im not familiar with the sounds associated with each failure. Just wanted to get you guys opinion on what it could be. Thanks

 

You didn't replace the lifyters when you did the cam?

 

When you re-installed the rockers, did you follow the GM procedure for sequence starting at #1 at TDC or crank them down to 22 lb/ft all at once?

 

I used the write up on ls1howto and what i did was tighten them to 22lb, rotated the crankshaft 180 then rechecked the TQ just like the writeup said too. And no i did not replace the lifters when i did the cam.

 

Lifter I had one collapse recently, and did same thing. But I only have 120k..... So now I have 228r and 243s.

 

yea im quite sure its the problem. whats the process for replacing the lifters entail?

 

Heads off, then lifter trays and pull them suckas out. Easier said then done. You can take off you valve covers and roll your motor over by hand and watch your rockers and see if one lifts less then the others. My lifter looked like this