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Just got this on the test stand today. It’s a 2003 with supposedly 90k miles. Engine looked pretty clean in the rocker areas. Filled with 5w30 and a qt of internal engine cleaner. Engine is all stock and I cranked it over a few times by spinning it over to prime it. It started right up and I had to keep it idling but I let it run for 10min and I heard this ticking noise that matched rpm. I want to think it was lifters but I hoped it wasn’t a knock or piston slap. I don’t want to pull the heads if I don’t have to. But I think I might after I yank the cam. I pulled the valve covers off and I could push a few of the lifters down like 1/16” where the rocker tip came off the valve stem. Engine had good oil pressure, 40-50psi at idle as you can see in the video.
Any thoughts on what this could be? I already started pulling everything but I wanted to do a cam and timing swap, new cover and oil pan.
I pulled the engine apart. Had a hell of a time getting the cam out for some reason. But the cam looked fine. All the lifters are still in the Engine as I didn’t pull the heads.
Supposidly its a 2003 Engine from the seller but when I pulled the pan off I found gen 4 rods. It’s a 24x crank, I was pleasantly surprised to find the gen 4 rods but not sure if it has floating pistons.
Cam looked fine tho... thinking possible noisy lifters which means yanking the heads... ugh. Any other ideas? Good oil pressure so I doubt bearings.
Is it more noisy on one side than the other? I assume not since you were standing right there and didn't mention it. It just seems unlikely with a stock low mileage motor to have a loud tick on BOTH sides, BOTH head/valvetrains. Kind of an amazing coincidence, yes? Or maybe not.
My stock 5.3 has a very slight tick at idle, you can just barely hear is distinct from the injectors clicking. I have the engine quieted down using multiple mufflers so I can hear basically everything. It sounds the same on both sides of course. I used a $5 stethoscope from rockauto to probe every area and basically just check for inconsistency i.e. noise on one location that isn't present in the same spot on the other side.
I want to say it was running for 10min. You think it needed longer to pump up the lifters?
i want to say it was louder on the pass side where u was videoing. The driver side you could sorta hear it but full length 1 7/8” thin Wall headers into 3” chambered mufflers it’s not exactly quiet lol. But this tick was loud enough to be heard I’ve the exhaust. I free reved it a few times to above 3k and still the noise. Engine temps got to the 160s so it was almost up to operating temp.
I woulda let it run to full operating temp if it was me. Ive seen lifters take a while to quiet down on motor that hasnt run in a while. Might have just had one/few stuck and being stubborn.
I woulda let it run to full operating temp if it was me. Ive seen lifters take a while to quiet down on motor that hasnt run in a while. Might have just had one/few stuck and being stubborn.
perhaps. Another 20*-30* would have been another 5 or more minutes. I was worried that it was a light knock or a bad lobe and didn’t want more metal being circulated through the motor. But even if they freed up not sure I would be comfortable running them as this will be a boosted motor. I have every thing to yank the heads. Got a few sets of 5.3 MLS head gaskets and a set of new procomp head studs I could throw on. One of the studs isn’t perfectly straight lol. New Johnson LS7 lifters and trays would be $120 or less. Might just do it to do it.
sounds more like a little "knock"...but could call it a "tick"...I would not use that cam and if putting in a new cam either look carefully at the lifters or replace them
I would not be surprised the roller on the corresponding lifter of the cam lobe with the "dent" may also be corrupted
and with heads off, rotate motor by hand and look at cyl walls for any scuff...and if any pull pistons
yeah I am sure you did not want to be that deep in this motor but you have a "noise" I think goes beyond stuck lifter tick
Yea, the more I think about it I want to yank the heads... ugh. This Engine wasn’t that dirty on the inside compared to my dads super high mile 5.3 and a 150k 5.3 I have been running boosted the last 2 years. So I’m alittle shocked it’s giving me the noise. Both other 5.3s ran the stock high mileage lifters and were quiet. My Morel 5315s and howard springs sounds like a sewing machine lol.
Thinking johnson LS7 lifters, moly 7.4 pushrods and LS6 springs with CHE bushed rockers should be good. Lifters will run me $120 with trays and bolts. And the bushed rockers will run me $200.
how about that slightly bent procomp head stud? Can I still use it? It’s just a hair not straight. Also when you do the studs do you put moly line under the nut and under the washer where it meets the head or just under the nut? I read something where arp was recommending sanding the bottom of the washer with 60 or 80 grit so it grabbed the head surface and that way the nut slipped only against the washer and not the washer to the head. Also people don’t run the small procomp studs, they reuse the factory small bolts right? Anyone got the tq specs for the speedmaster studs?
you just asked some of the hardest questions on LS tech like it was a yellow bullet
I bet KCS would know all of that
$100 says the next guy posting doesn't know either, and will make a post that merely takes up space, trying desperately to insult me without appearing to look like hes trying too hard, a useless piece of garbage. The post will scream "delete me" to all admins.
At least I provided two potential resources (KCS & yellowbullets) for the op.
Last edited by kingtal0n; 04-08-2018 at 10:13 PM.
Reason: making $100
Sometimes you need to give it some RPM to pump the lifters up all the way too.
Hard to say what it is but there shouldn't be excessive lash on those rockers like that. They should be contacting the valve and have some pressure on them to where you can't feel any play in there.
Sometimes you need to give it some RPM to pump the lifters up all the way too.
Hard to say what it is but there shouldn't be excessive lash on those rockers like that. They should be contacting the valve and have some pressure on them to where you can't feel any play in there.
i agree, that’s why I reved it up to like 3k a couple of times slowly and left it there listening to the tick. Still never went away. Most of the pushrod tips looked shiny and wet but a few on the pass side looked like a dull dry silver where it should be mirror like shiney. My guess is those weren’t pumping up or causing the tick. But the play in the rocker got me thinking some are bad.
so I ordered the Johnson lifters and trays/bolts. Also ordered the CHE bushing rocker retrofit kit for some rockers I’ve had cleaned and prepped.
Yea, the more I think about it I want to yank the heads... ugh. This Engine wasn’t that dirty on the inside compared to my dads super high mile 5.3 and a 150k 5.3 I have been running boosted the last 2 years. So I’m alittle shocked it’s giving me the noise. Both other 5.3s ran the stock high mileage lifters and were quiet. My Morel 5315s and howard springs sounds like a sewing machine lol.
Thinking johnson LS7 lifters, moly 7.4 pushrods and LS6 springs with CHE bushed rockers should be good. Lifters will run me $120 with trays and bolts. And the bushed rockers will run me $200.
how about that slightly bent procomp head stud? Can I still use it? It’s just a hair not straight. Also when you do the studs do you put moly line under the nut and under the washer where it meets the head or just under the nut? I read something where arp was recommending sanding the bottom of the washer with 60 or 80 grit so it grabbed the head surface and that way the nut slipped only against the washer and not the washer to the head. Also people don’t run the small procomp studs, they reuse the factory small bolts right? Anyone got the tq specs for the speedmaster studs?
I wouldn't do the bent stud personally. It should retain it's tensile strength ("should" but depends on how it was bent) but if it isn't straight the nut and washer won't be set completely flat on the cylinder head and could cause weirdness with the torquing of the nut (I.E. it may not provide the same load on the head for said tq value since it started pulling down at an angle rather than flat). Is it enough to matter, probably not but in the view of everything being equal and perfect, that one will surely torque a hair different.
As far as lubing the washers, I would personally want it all slick and slippery, in the event the nut flange tries to grab on the washer (if it did for some reason) it would be good for the washer to spin on the head so that you still get the precise torque on the bolt. Doesn't matter if the nut slips on the washer or the washer on the head, one or both of them need to slip so that any and all torque/resistance met by the torque wrench is resistance from the nut turning and going down. Any grab/friction of the nut flange or washer will translate as resistance to the wrench but it isn't rotational resistance from the nut, but rather the contact surfaces of the nut flange to washer or washer to head and cause resistance at that point and cause an incorrect reading. The moly lube is provided and to be used to counter act any/as much frictional resistance as possible so the most highly accurate torque value is reached from just the resistance of the nut pulling down the head. So again, any grab of the bolt or washer will skew that reading, so both being as slippery as possible seems like the best bet.
I don't know the answer about mixing up of speedmaster and stock bolts and what to do there. I would go for stock bolts, arp bolts or arp studs first before the chinese studs. I only say that because tensile load testing has shown that even stock bolts are stronger than the chinese studs.
Last edited by 00pooterSS; 04-10-2018 at 10:13 AM.
04-06-2018, 09:47 PM
Weird tick Engine pull test stand running 
