not your normal tick!

Hey everyone, this is my first post here and a huge gm fan!  my first 97 WS6 started it.  ive had a 98 camaro SS and now just down to my cavalier and 05 z71.  my problem is with my 5.3L z71.  it doesnt have the normal cold piston knock as been reported, actually the tick comes so intermitantley its hard to narrow down.  its not a hard knocking, but a lighter tick in all rpm range.  it might not show up for a couple hundred miles, then quietly enters and in a couple miles later, gets quieter till its gone as fast as it showed up.  the engine is at full operating temperatures and oil pressure never indicates anything but normal.  could a lifter be intermitantly collapsing?  flowmaster makes it hard to determine location while driving and usually gone by the time i get a chance to get out and look for it.  i had bought it used with 146000 miles, and runs smooth.  i cant find anyone else with the same problem, just the cold piston slap till warm.  thanks for your time!  

i have also heard those.. on some cars...   i hear one lifter loose its pressure.. and it takes a bit to clear it...

dirt passing through the check valve in the lifter...

you don't have to answer this.. but how often do you change your oil and filter????  does the oil stay clean???? or does it turn black within a few hundred miles????      remember... almost all cars bypass the filter with cold oil..     thats what the oil filter bypass if for..  cold oil is too thick to be filtered.. so they let it bypass the filter cold...


there have also been instances of the oil filter elements have come apart..   gotten into the oil galleys..

this is usually caused by high rpm blasts with cold oil...    the pump can pump many times more than the bypass can handle.. the filter media has to take the pressure... it flexes and breaks up...

so you might really want to find someone with an oil filter cutter..

this opinion is just knowledge from being a professional mechanic for 30 years..  

the oil is very clean, ive only had the truck for less than an oil change but even now that its getting close to an oil change the oil is clean. my driving habits are all about saving gas so i have no hard acceleration or any wacks of the throttle.  i guess an oil change with a quality filter and see how it goes!  thanks  

cut your old filter open...   examine the element...  make sure that it did not come apart...  

ok, changed the oil today and when i started the truck to warm it up before i drained the oil, it finally started ticking.  it sounds louder from the bottom than the top, but i think the sound is megaphoned from the side of the engine. it seems to be coming from the bottom inboard of the head.  with the engine still warm i removed the valve cover and my question is on what i found.  while still warm and valves closed, i can rock the rocker back and move the pushrod in and out against the lifter, only two on that side did that, is that typical?  only two did it so i figured it wasnt.  thanks guys i appreciate the time  

that is not normal....     were they the front two rockers?????

is the rocker arm nut adjusted higher on those two????  probably not...

i am thinking that this is a roller cam motor....   i think that you might really want to drain the coolant.. use a shop vacuum to pull the last of it out... then pull the intake... and change the 2 lifters that are affected...  carefully remove and inspect the others..   you might also really want to use a bright flash light.  look at the cam lobe as you slowly rotate the motor..

you might also.. want to borrow a oil priming tool..  use that with the the affected lifters out...  watch for stuff coming out of the oil galley if you can..   carefully take the old lifter apart...  see if there is any kind of dirt...

there have also been a few instances.. of roller lifters loosing their needle bearings from behind the roller...

if you have lost them...   please stick a strong  magnet into the oil pan through the drain plug opening .. or use a magnetic drain plug...  they will end up in the pan... better to catch them with a magnet... there are also little magnets on the end of antennas.. those can be used to fish out the rollers from the bottom of the pan..


wait.. that's a 5.3./   do the lifters come out???? without pulling the heads..???


missing needle bearings does not explain why it would get quiet sometimes... i am thinking more like dirt in the lifter... or dirt plugging the lifter galley or oil opening in the side of the lifter...

open it on a white dish cloth..  something so you can examine the dirt that comes out..  

wish i could, but its an ls motor, heads got to come off to pull lifters.  also rockers arent adjustable, just smoke them down.  and since the oil pump is up front with the timing cover im not sure there is a tool to prime the pump is there?  (im pretty sure its a roller cam.)

im really hoping to shoot this down so i can be confident its the lifters, because thats a lot of work not to be sure!  thats a couple hundred dollars in gaskets!  not to mention i just change a knock sensor so the intake gasket is new.  if im going that far, i better look for a lifter cam package and headers!  headers usually come with gaskets so....

oh and the two rockers were different cylinders(4 and 8)  

I'd seriously consider pulling the valve covers off and looking at the valve springs, we've had quite a few break on trucks  
2003 Chevy Silverado

you have a 4.8/5.3/6.0? you need: cold air intake, exhaust system and a tune, see my posts for more details!