Small update. Took the truck to a mechanic and he looked at it for free which was nice of him to do. He said he definitely heard a tick on the driver side rear, but he couldn’t tell if it was lifters or rockers or what. Attached is a screenshot from another forum, where he said cylinder seven lifter is the first one to get oil, and if there’s air in the oil the lifter won’t pump up fully, causing too much lash and making a ticking noise. I went and bought an oil pan gasket and oil pick up tube o ring. Going to tackle it this weekend.

 

Learn something new everyday on here. That's pretty interesting, and definitely worth a try.

 

I'm watching this thread with interest because my C5 is just clicky enough to make me nervous.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, everybody.

 

Definetly glad it’s catching interest. For such a common thing there’s so many variables. I’ll definitely be updating as much as possible because far too many times forums don’t get updated after the problem is fixed or they find something out that could be informative to other people. I also started this thread because I could not find another person that was experiencing what mines doing exactly like mine or a video that was making the same sound either.

 

OP what oil is in the truck? Specifically is rated as a Dexos 2 rated oil?

Dexos 2 oils are supposed to resist aeration better than other oils. I think Dexos 2 also sheds the air bubbles better than typical oil.

I don't know if that would help with the tick. If the current oil isn't Dexos 2 rated that might be worth trying.

 

Its using Mobil 1 10w40 which is DEXOS with Lucas full synthetic oil stabilizer.

 

So ,, and I hate to look the direction,, but my Jeep 2.5 which is built pretty healthy,, just hates Mobile 1.. Rotella or Valvoline synthetic both work fine..
The guy that built the engine set the clearances and the pump pressure for 20W50..

I also had a chevy with a old school small block 350 make valve rocker noises and it turned out to be the
cam thrust washer was the wrong one,, too many Years ago now but a new OE GM one (All I could get at the time) fixed the problem.
It also caused a mild oil leak at the rear of the motor at the cam bore plug. Only leaked under power..

 

All the block was clean. When I pulled the heads everything was clean and the back of the block was clean. Couldn’t see the rear main, when I pull the pan I’ll be able to see the flexplate, so if that’s wet I gotta pull the tranny. I’m really starting to think it’s the pickup tube o ring.

 

I wish you the best sorting out the tick. It's hopefully the o-ring like suspected.




Aren't the rest of you guys scared of running unstable oil? The big oil companies haven't discovered the secret sauce for stable oil. Luckily a select few enlightened additive companies like Lucas share their complex chemistry and vast technological breakthroughs with us consumers.

Not a Lucas fan after seeing several folks use their transmission snake oil. I've have the impression additives typically increases the amount of air in the oil and are usually bad news.

 

This is what was found in the pickup tube screen

You can see the size difference, new one is the red one.


Everything was squared away and looked great.

Okay so an update. Got everything done and she still ticks. I’ll explain everything That was done and provide pics that were taken along the way.

So I get the oil pan off and flexplate was dry so I know the rear main is solid still. I take the pickup tube off and i take the o ring off and place it next to the new one, and I can visibly see it’s a skinnier sidewall than the new one. My pickup tube happened to have an Indent and I know some do some don’t, and with the indent you need the thicker o ring, which I used. I lube it with fresh oil before sliding it on, and it “popped” and slid in before I even put the bolt in. I really genuinely thought this would be the problem. No bearing material or concerning metal was in the pan, but I pulled some stuff out of the oil pickup tube screen. It still ticks. I’m baffled at this point. Literally only other thing it could be is the rockers. That’s the only stock part left in that motor. LOL

 

Also I do have an exhaust leak, but not at the heads. Where my headers connect in a “Y” the 2 pipes are the same size, both 3.5 in OD. So one doesn’t slide onto the other and create a nice seal, they’re just butted up to each other. I cranked the band clamp down but I could feel the exhaust coming out of it. I don’t think this would be the cause of the ticking, do y’all?

 

The only time an exhaust leak will "tick" is when it's an individual cylinder. A leaking exhaust Y or collector will be more of a constant pulsing noise.

 

Exhaust leaks can sound like lifters ticking and can affect performance.Have you watched the engine running in the dark to see if your getting any arcing from the spark plug wire?

 

Try taking some tin foil, folding it up to the width of your clamp, wrapping the joint and cranking the clamp back on over top. That is a quick easy way to seal a leak when using band clamps. A few layers is plenty thick. Acts like a gasket. Might not solve the noise, but it will solve your leak.

Did you check all the wrist pins and bearings while you had the pan off?

 

Thanks for the great tip about the muffler. Gonna end up just delete the Y pipe and running a true dual. I have one Magnaflow straight through part #12909 and I bought another one so it should sound pretty mean with the cam.

As for the bearings and rods and wrist pins they were absolutely spot on. Nothing moved abnormally and there wasn’t any bearing material or anything of concern in the pan.

 

I don’t know if I’ve been describing the noise correctly. It almost sounds more like a rattle than a tick. Kind a like a tin can full of bebe’s in a paint shaking machine. That’s as close as I can describe the sound. I’ll try posting another video that’s better

 

I had Hooker headers that leaked on cylinder 8. That produced a slight tick. Could be noisy lifters or injectors. The injectors make a clicking sound.

 

this tick is just so loud it sounds mechanical and it’s definitely valvetrain it’s a faster tick than crankspeed

 

I also

I also discovered I was missing both nuts on the driver side engine mount. Doubt this could cause a rattle but I was in a hurry and I forgot to put to new bolts on.

 

Doesn't look like nuts go on there. Most likely there are threaded bosses there and you're just seeing the threads that hang through.