Josh Boone

I have a noisy lifter and was wondering if the stuff they make to remove sludge/oil will work such as marvel mystery oil etc?

Polyalphaolefin

It depends on the cause of the noisy lifter. The majority of the time it's caused by insufficient oil/pressure in the lifter either from the oil becoming aerated or excessive lifter bleed down. In these cases, MMO and Seafoam won't do anything but thin out the oil, which could actually make the issue worse. Most lifter noise is harmless and efforts to eliminate it can cause other issues of its own. If the issue is due to varnish or sludge making its way into the lifter, then there's better ways to go after it than aftermarket additives.

What year/engine are we talking about here? What oil (brand, series, and grade) are you using currently?

Josh Boone

I have a 2000 trans am ws6 m6 which I just bought I'm not sure the oil I bought it from a Mexican that could barely speak English. I removed the valve cover to check pushrods and rockers they are good but can tell from valve cover oil wasn't changed regularly and they used cheap oil.

Polyalphaolefin

Start by just changing the oil. Don't use a flush or any other additive. I recommend using Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w-30 since it's rated ACEA A3/B3 with an HTHS = 3.5 cP (oil film thickness under high heat and load) and NOACK = 7.6% (evaporation rate at high heat). It contains a small amount of alkylated naphthalene, giving the oil some solvency, and no VII polymers so it's more resistant to both temporary and permanent shear. I like the Fram Ultra XG9837 filter since it has a double layered synthetic media, allowing for depth loading, and a silicone ADBV to help with dry starts. It's also the most efficient full flow filter on the market at 99.6% efficient @ 20 microns, 94% @ 10 microns, and 80% @ 5 microns. If any gunk gets free'd up in the engine, it'll catch it.

Run that combo for a short "severe" interval of about 3k miles, change it with the same thing, and then observe the trend.

Josh Boone

Gotcha brother doing it right now I'll keep ya posted

Josh Boone

I did the 10w30 oil swap and still making a loud noise pretty sure it's the lifter guess I'll park it until I can get her fixed

Polyalphaolefin

Of course it's still noisy. This is a slow process that requires the vehicle to be driven. That's why I said to run that oil 3k miles.

Give me a better description of what it sounds like. Is it all the time? Only on cold start? Only when the engine is warmed up? Only at idle? Only with rpm?

Josh Boone

Only when its warming up

Polyalphaolefin

In that case, it may not be lifter tick. These engines are notorious for piston slap when cold (cold be <120*F coolant and oil temp) which is a harmless noise caused by the short skirts on the pistons.

Josh Boone

I will make a video it never use to make the noise but pretty sure it's not that. I'm making a video and posting it thanks for helping me.

Josh Boone

Here is the video I made of the noise

SoCalDave

That sounds like a sticky lifter to me. I suggest you drive the Trans Am and hold the gears longer than usual say 3 to 4k rpms and drive this way for a few miles. Usually the lifters have sludge or other stuff inside that makes the lifter tick. My '01 Camaro was making a slight ticking noise when I bought it, so I changed the oil and began to drive it hard. It no longer has the slight ticking.

Kfxguy

iTrader: (1)

had this happen in my wifes firebird, the heads were full of sludge.I did an engine fluch (read directions!!! do not drive the car with it in there!) and after that i changed the oil and I put two quarts of dexron atf and three quarts of cheap oil. Drove it for 100 miles and changed it. Noise gone.

S_Sprouse

sounds awful lot like a header gasket leak.