Lifter Tick? Oil Issue?
Lifter Tick? Oil Issue? MY 2002 has 11000 miles on it. I started a large bolt on project because I was chasing a tick. I thought I may have a bent pushrod so I took them all out and checked them, they were fine. I have been running Mobil 1 5w-30 synthetic for a while. So I recently did LT headers and a lot of other stuff and took notice to the tick again. Thought I had a leak. I ran some sea foam in the oil and drove the car a little over a week. The tick went away immediately. So this weekend I changed the oil and put fresh Mobil 1 and a new wix filter. The tick came back! Is the oil the culprit to the noise or is it a bad lifter? I decided to run the seafoam because of how much the car sits and thought I may have a stuck lifter.
The engine is basically stock except for bolt-ons.
D
The engine is basically stock except for bolt-ons.
D
TECH Addict
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,481
Likes: 5
From: PA/MD
Did you check to see how many turns from 0 lash to torque you had on your rockers? If you can get or have one extra push rod, clamp a pair of vise grips on the tip of it and put in each pushrod bore and try pushing down on the lifters....do it a few times and see if you can feel any difference in one or two of them.....look for one that is either overly stiff(like it is stuck up or down), or one has more "cush" and feels overly soft
I haven't yet, but it looks like thats the way I need to go. Weird thing is the SeaFoam quieted it up instantly. And with a lifter that is bleeding down the thinner mixture would cause it to bleed down faster. I also thought about dumping the Mobil and running Dino Valvoline in it and going from there.
Did you check to see how many turns from 0 lash to torque you had on your rockers? If you can get or have one extra push rod, clamp a pair of vise grips on the tip of it and put in each pushrod bore and try pushing down on the lifters....do it a few times and see if you can feel any difference in one or two of them.....look for one that is either overly stiff(like it is stuck up or down), or one has more "cush" and feels overly soft
I haven't yet, but it looks like thats the way I need to go. Weird thing is the SeaFoam quieted it up instantly. And with a lifter that is bleeding down the thinner mixture would cause it to bleed down faster. I also thought about dumping the Mobil and running Dino Valvoline in it and going from there.
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While driving the noise is gone and when blipping the throttle evenly from idle to 1200 the noise goes away and returns when dropped back to idle. The throttle blipping is more of a rolling technique to help pump the lifters up like on older cars. Having a low-mileage car is either a curse or a blessing. I really think its a stuck lifter and need to just suck it up and drive the car every day for a week. ( It may get driven a total of 3-4 times a month) I cannot wait until my daughter is out of a car seat so we can go for a ride!
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Brett Foote
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 661
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OP I recently had the same issue with lifters in my SS. Granted my car has 86k miles vs. your 11k. But I drive my car less than once a month so my lifters were leaking down and having to pump up. I replaced them with brand new LS7 lifters. I had a lil tick coming from my NEW lifters when I picked it up from the shop. I called and asked them what oil they put in back in it and they told me Mobil 1 5w30. I had less than 100 miles on the new lifters and I drained out the mobil 1 and put in Castrol Edge 5w30. The tick went away completely immediately.
Long story short from my experience and alot of my friends experience with Mobil 1 is that it tends to make the valvetrain noisy.
Long story short from my experience and alot of my friends experience with Mobil 1 is that it tends to make the valvetrain noisy.
OP I recently had the same issue with lifters in my SS. Granted my car has 86k miles vs. your 11k. But I drive my car less than once a month so my lifters were leaking down and having to pump up. I replaced them with brand new LS7 lifters. I had a lil tick coming from my NEW lifters when I picked it up from the shop. I called and asked them what oil they put in back in it and they told me Mobil 1 5w30. I had less than 100 miles on the new lifters and I drained out the mobil 1 and put in Castrol Edge 5w30. The tick went away completely immediately.
Long story short from my experience and alot of my friends experience with Mobil 1 is that it tends to make the valvetrain noisy.
Long story short from my experience and alot of my friends experience with Mobil 1 is that it tends to make the valvetrain noisy.
Something else to note, It is holding GREAT oil pressure! I was looking down the oil pump road but its holding great. This noise is not anywhere close to being loud enough for me to be overly concerned. Its just one of those things that I have been trying to figure out. And with a 11k mile car, I get a little OCD at times. My wife laughs at me for taking the wheels off and washing the underside if we happen to get stuck in rain. lol 
I so want to go into your garage and rearrange your tools and what not....just to FK with you! ROTFLMAO
She was a F U U R E A K! 
Start with the heavier oil for sure. I chased a lifter tick .. Only showed up light load and low rpm and turned out to be an exhaust gasket. You could always throw the STP treatment in if you want to wait on an oil change.
