420a Ticking noise from engine

[99BoostedRS]

Hey wassup guys i've tried lookin up this problem but couldnt find anything like this. So my friend wanted to buy a eclipse and i found one for him but theres one problem. The engine is ticking but to hear it you need to be like 1 foot away from the engine bay and you need to listen carefully. Now the guy said that he drove the car with low oil or no oil for a mile or two because he didn't notice the engine oil light turned on.

What can the problem be? A lifter, camshaft, retainer or rocker?

Please help.....

 

[2qik4u]

the ticking is probably the fuel injectors opening and closing. use a metal rod or even a wooden dowel and place one end on any of the injectors. put your ear up to the dowel and see if the noise amplified by the dowel is the same tick as the one your hearing. now to be sure put the dowel on another part of the engine and listen there too. if its not the injectors it could be the valve lash adjusters. keep us posted as to what you find out.

 

[99BoostedRS]

ok thanks for the help and i will deff keep you guys posted.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Running these cars with low oil (i.e. the idiot light is on) is never a good thing. I'd be very weary of this car. It sounds like there may have been damage to the cylinder head, though I admit a low amount of ticking noise is normal.

 

[pgarland]

the ticking is probably the fuel injectors opening and closing. use a metal rod or even a wooden dowel and place one end on any of the injectors. put your ear up to the dowel and see if the noise amplified by the dowel is the same tick as the one your hearing. now to be sure put the dowel on another part of the engine and listen there too. if its not the injectors it could be the valve lash adjusters. keep us posted as to what you find out.

I've always just used a long screwdriver, but I've heard from a buddy (that is a doctor) that a stethoscope is really the way to go (I hope he doesn't use that same stethoscope on his patients...).

Like these guys said, it may be just an injector ticking...if so, pull em and clean em, not better solution then that. Just short of that, you could try running seafoam or some good injector cleaner through (I would do this anyways since it is ultimately just going to help clean up some of your internals anyways).

Also, add a little ATF or Lucas oil in with your engine oil (don't have to add very much), a lot of times crud can buildup on these older cars and cause some weird sounds. The ATF or Lucas oil will help with that.

Hope this helps.

 

[99BoostedRS]

Thanks for the advice guys i really appreciate it. I'll tell him to try all those ideas out and hopefully it doesn't end up being head damage.

 

[JD98GSX]

Its is more than likely a lifter tick. In the case that the guy that said it was an injector was wrong. The long srewdriver idea is the more handy way to listen to an internal tick. Just make sure you put the pointed end on the motor not in your ears.