Schantin

iTrader: (6)

Similiar to another thread on ticking noise, but a different Q. I did a TR224 cam install a onth ago. Ran fine. No probs. I took her to the track, and ran fine. I was running the car up to 6500RPM (6700 on one pass) between shifts. Have 918 springs and titanium retainers. No valve float. Good so far.

Now, about a week after going to the track I'm getting a tick from the driver's side. Plugs are good and header bolts are at 18ft/lbs torque.

Here's the key: It does not tick on start-up. Once the car's been driven for about 10min or revved up, then the tick will slowly appear. Sounds loud in the car or parked next to a wall when in the car. Pop the hood and nothing sounds to bad, just the usual valvetrain clatter.

So, how strong are the stock lifters and is it possible one is going bad....losing pressure as the car heats, thus causing a tick? Open to any suggestions.

BTW, the car still runs strong and doesn't have any drivability issues.

Schantin
2002 Camaro Z28 M6

BYE RICE

iTrader: (2)

Not likly..
The only car I remember with a known bad lifter ran like ****(a 3800 V-6)...& had erratic oil pressure..The only reason we knew it was a lifter was the location of the sound...& the fact that "lifter medic" snake oil-in-a-can worked for a while..& the car ran better with the use of the product.
Factory LS1 lifters are very good pieces.

777

iTrader: (21)

Sounds to me it's more like an exhaust leak to me. That or just typical header noise.

99ssleeper

iTrader: (98)

Schantin.....I am having the same problem. Mine is exactly as you described....I even had the Tr224. Quiet at first, then it starts making noise.

My oil pressure is perfect, no problems there. All the rockers and pushrods look normal too....sounds fine under the hood. Mine seems to be coming from one of the band clamps on my y-pipe. The car still runs strong and smooth.

nuzee

iTrader: (2)

I wonder if it has anything to do with the aluminum head/block expanding as it is heated and its affect on the pushrod/lifter preload. Are you using stock pushrods?

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

Appreciate the input. Glad to know it's probably NOT a lifter. Guess I'll retorque the header bolts and spark plugs again

To answer the other Q...yes, I'm using hardened pushrods. TR 7.400" to be exact.

Schantin
2002 Camaro Z28 M6

Phil'sC5vette

iTrader: (4)

ID go with the exhaust leak.
The band straps I got from GHL sucked, so I spend $10.00 and got the good old fashion U clamps.

Caveman

iTrader: (2)

I would also go with the exhaust leak, maybe a bad header gasket or the band clamps, I always torque the **** out of the band clamps( they leak if you dont). But I also had a stock lifter go bad 4 or 5 years ago after many 100s of runs shifting at 6700.

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

Well, I double checked EVERY y-pipe, header, and AIR bolt today. All good. O2's are tight too. I realized the tick I'm hearing is louder on the side of the car because it's being amplified by the header tubing. It's actually more muffled when listening to it from under the hood. It's definetly on the driver side too and is not exhaust (unless the Dynatech gasket went bad after 1000 miles) This is turning into a real PITA to figure out.

Any other $0.02 highly appreicated.

66deuce

iTrader: (1)

i have the same problem.when i was at the drive thru the other day,it seemed loud as hell,but pop the hood and it's not that bad.car runs strong though.it's not gotten any worse,so i'm not to worried about it.maybe it's just normal with the cam and springs?

Z'mnypit

iTrader: (58)

Im having the same exact problem. I started a thread in this section. Mine also is fine at idle, then once it warms up the ticking starts. It sounds like its on the drivers side, You cant really hear it outside the car but inside or next to a wall its really loud. I cant seem to find where its coming from either. If you find out leme know. & Ill do the same.

slt200mph

iTrader: (42)

Have you checked the TQ on the rockers??..you could get a long screw driver and put you ear on the handle end and the other end on different parts of the engine...use it to listen to the engine like a stethescope...place it in different spots on the engine and try and isolate the place where the noise is coming from...it would drive me nuts if I had a noise and I could not pinpoint where it was coming from..just my 2 cents good luck in finding it..let us know when you do and how you fixed it...

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

I got some noise too....but it kinda sounds like amplified header noise. I hear nothing ticking at then engine though, I can hear it on the side of the car, like if you kneel down next to the front wheel where the Z28 emblem is.

That's the sucky part about new mods, you don't know if all those new sounds are normal or not. My noise doesn't really have a metallic ticking to it...it's more of a air ticking if that makes sense?

DanZ28

iTrader: (5)

Is it a light ticking, or more of a knock? I had a somewhat loud knock start on the way home after running at the track (TR224 as well). I banged the rev limiter (6900) when the A4 didn't shift to third. The knock eventually went away when letting it stand at idle, and as soon as the RPM went up, the knock came back. When started cold, no knock either. I thought I spun a bearing, but after tearing the motor down, they were fine. I believe it was a lifter to this day. I put a forged motor in so I will never know for sure. Other possibility would be a cam bearing. I know I saw other threads with this exact problem and don't remember hearing any resolution to it.

Dan

Z'mnypit

iTrader: (58)

All the threads I found with the ticking after cam swap, was resolved by changing the o-ring on the pick up tube. Sounds funny but its worth a shot. Even if its not seated correctly you can still have good pressure,Thats my next step. & hopefully the last. If not the last is going to involve a match! JK

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

Mine is not a loud bang at all....I think mine is normal for a cammed car. I need to hear more cammed cars.

DanZ28

iTrader: (5)

If there was a tick or knock, you would know it regardless of cam and is not normal. I run a decent size cam and have no sounds except some slight valvetrain noise (very slight IMO). He also didn't have the noise after cam install, it was over a month later and after track runs the noise started.

Does the noise sound like it's coming from towards the center of the motor? When you rev it, does the noise get faster?

Dan

MannyZ28

iTrader: (1)

I have no experience with engine noises. Whatever sound I hear from my engine when I stick my nose under the hood just seems to come from everywhere, not a certain point. And it's been like that ever since the cam went in. It didn't get any louder or quieter, it's just there. When I rev it, it gets faster, naturally since it's valvetrain noise.

I'll have it tuned tomorrow and I'll let them listen to it before we put the hammer down.

If you guys want, here is a video of mine...sound is a bit muffled, gotta work on that.




Click here to see Video
Manny

Schantin

iTrader: (6)

I appreciate all the great input I've received.

Well. I THINK I found the problem. I tore apart the driver side of the engine looking for bent pushrods, etc. Long story short, I think one of the rocker bolts lost torque. After finding nothing and retorquing the rockers back to 22ft/ lbs..... no loud ticking. (Makes me wish I torque checked them before hunting for bent pushrods ) There's still a lot of valvetrain chatter, but no distinctive tick. I'm driving it and will see if it comes back. If it does, I'll do a retorque (and blue locktite) the rocker bolts

On the cam bearing Q....my #1bearing was wearing. Saw it when installing the cam. Pisses me off since the car only has 17K miles! Also...didn't remove the oil pump. I had a new pump installed by GM last year after a recall on the o-ring gasket for some 02 models. Pump has 6K miles on it.

On the lifter, I found out from a knowledgeable friend that I should be showing abormal (abnormally high) pressure with a bad lifter, not to mention poor upper RPM drivablity. My idle press is 40-45PSI and 55-60 at WOT, so normal there. Pulls without missing to the red line too....so I'm ruling out the lifter at this point. Yep....thinking the rocker arm bolt was the prob.

99ssleeper

iTrader: (98)

hmm...i didnt replace the o-ring with the last cam swap (check it and it looked fine, only had about 5,000 miles on it from when I put the previous cam in)...

guess I'll check that with the next cam swap