Lifter Tick [merged] Revised lifters 3rd Gen Generation 3g

[95talontsi]

I am fixing my valve tix by taking out the lifters or the auto valve lash adjusters. I have the valves cover off, the engine is at top dead center and I am on 3# cylinder. I got instructions off the net, now with either a tool or a standard screw driver press down on the valve and remove the rocker arm then remove the lifter. Which then I will clean out.
The question is where do I push down, The valve has the spring around is and the metal cap on top of that( forget the name of that) where do I push down with out damaging anything, I will probably have to push a bit so I do not want to damage anything. please help?

 

[digitalspike]

ok so my car killed itself after loosing to a slow audi that a friend of mine drives. I started it in the morining so i could take it to the shop to get the final stuff done to my car for a car sho the next day and when i got out of the driveway i noticed a huge puddle of oil down the driveway and quickly put it back. after tightening the filter and scrubbing the 3+ quarts off the driveway i was able to go get more oil and fill it back up ( wasnt all gon but damn close) when i started it there is a horrible ticking noise comming from under the valve cover. i havnt opened it up yet but does anyone have any ideas on what i mght have fukt up?

 

[dogpoop]

I would suspect that you now have air in your lifters. Gently rev the engine up to about 3000 RPMs (with the transmission in neutral, parking brake on) a dozen or so times. Hopefully that will remove the trapped air. Just make sure your engine oil level is correct (including not too high). I would hope that you didn't any serious engine damage since you apparently discovered the oil loss immediately.

 

[digitalspike]

ok well that didnt seem to do a damn thing so i drove it up to the shop. i tried to shake everything and it all seems snug like it should be. there was no play in anyting so i took off the cam caps to see if the cams and there are none that look fukt up at all and all the lifters seem to not look collapesd, burnt or anyting so i am back to the point of being stuck again. im tinking about just replacing the lifters and see what happens but am hoping someone else or you might have another idea.

 

[Imortalfu]

I have no clue how to tell the difference between a crankwalk tick from under the car and a "lifter" tick that I have read about. Where does lifter tick come from? I know crankwalk tick comes from underneath the car, thats where my noise is coming from, but the more I read about this "lifter" tick, the more likely it is in my eyes that I have that and not CW. So can someone tell me where this lifter tick will come from.

Here is a breakdown of my notes on my ticking:

It happens from time to time. It starts at idle and sometimes it gets really fast as RPM's increase, but eventually it will go away, usually in 2 or 3 gear shifts. It sounds like it is coming from underneath the engine, but not from the crank pulley, more from the back of the engine.

So what do I have..? Should I start searching around for a 6bolt bottom?

 

[Coldandafraid]

lifter tick is from the top of the engine. and, higher pitched.

Google crankwalk.wav and listen to it.

 

[Imortalfu]

Omg, I am so relieved now. My ticking is just a tick tick tick, not that sound. Why isn't that file made a sticky for all us newbs to know if we have crankwalk or not?

http://members.rogers.com/shabster2/talon/crankwalk.wav

 

[WhiteCloud]

Thanks for the link!

 

[spendone]

Damn sounds like a construction area. Never really wondered how it would sound since I have a 6-bolt.

 

[Defiant]

Damn sounds like a construction area. Never really wondered how it would sound since I have a 6-bolt.

...and think you are as immune from crankwalk as 7-bolters think they are liable to it.

 

[spendone]

Didnt say that, but just never thought about crankwalk being I had a 6-bolt. What I am saying is that if I had a 7-bolt that would definately have been my number one look up in the search bar.

 

[Defiant]

Yeh. 7-bolters shouldn't think of crankwalk, either. But they still do.

 

[speedracer91]

how bad is lifter tick? (does it now after switching to mobil 1) please help! why does it do this...search didn't help

 

[ASMX86Routine]

its going to happen, no matter what you do, its just the nature of the engine. you can do many things from cleaning them, upgrading to revised lifters, changing oils/oil weight/filter...whatever. doesnt matter what you do it will eventually come back. the only time that its an issue is if the knock sensor picks it up as a ping and retards timing. but the only way the ks will ever pick up tick as knock will be if the ks is dying.

 

[90LaserTurbo89k]

Some cars don't react well to Synthetic Oil. Your car is roughly 14 years old, and it has probably had conventional oils ran through it all it's life. Putting Synthetic Oil into it is just going to clean out all the old oil that has built up throughout the engine. I know I tried running Mobil 1 in both of my Lasers, one with 90k miles and the other with 150k, and neither of them liked it too much. The lifters would tick when the engine was cold or under low boost.

I eventually ended up switching back to Castrol GTX, and they both quit ticking not long after that. It may be different for your car, but it's still the same situation. You could change the lifters to revised lifters, but that's up to you if you want to go to all that work to tear the head and valve cover apart.

Hope this helps.

Later,

 

[99gst_racer]

but the only way the ks will ever pick up tick as knock will be if the ks is dying.

Right, but cant you get phantom knock from lifter tick even when your ks is in good shape??

 

[suicidal2af]

Right, but cant you get phantom knock from lifter tick even when your ks is in good shape??

If the tick is loud enough, you sure can.

 

[99gst_racer]

If the tick is loud enough, you sure can.

And what makes some tick louder than other? Mine is loud as hell.

 

[noob-e]

Noob-e, here...and I have smoe questions. What does a lifter do? What makes it tick? What is involved in replacing them?

Thanks

 

[exzercist]

the number one reason isthat the oil passsages in the head are clogged. if you go to a machine shot they can clean it out with a high pressure washer at like 400 degrees or something. after that you get more oil flow and protection and it will stop the ticking thats when you should start using syn.

 

[highgrindr]

if you just switched to synthetic, i would switch back to regualr oil, or a synthetic blend... make sure u get a heavier weight oil, at least 30w... if it still does not clear up, you can pull the valve cover, pull the valve train, and wash the lifter in kerosene whill pumping it submerged in kero... that will clean any build up out, allowing the lifter to gain oil pressure again... my guess is just your switching to mobil1 though

 

[noob-e]

I just bought the car and switched to Mobil one 15w-50 and now that you mention it, I don't remember having the tick before I switched I will switch back to Castrol GTX or something

thanks

 

[Generation1JeY]

Alright my car always used to tick a little bit when i first start it up after not driving it for a few days or so. Pretty soon it would die out, i'm guessing its lifters and they just need to get oil or warm up or something? i dunno.

BUT, i guess a couple days ago, it starting getting louder and louder, and now its louder than its ever been, u can hear it almost above anything on the car its so loud. And now it doesnt die off when u drive it for a while, it ALWAYS does it now.

Now i'm assuming its lifter tick since everyone always talks about that, but its starting to sound like a small exhaust leak sort of. I idle the car and pop the hood and put my ear to the engine to hear where its coming from, and from doing that it sounds like its coming from the front of the engine, under the left side of the valve cover, sorta like on the left side of the exhaust manifold, near the turbo-outlet pipe and the turbo-inlet.

Last night i asked one of my friends that owns a 2g what it could be, and he said it was my power stearing belt, now the sound isnt coming from anywhere NEAR the power stearing belt so i dont see how it could be that, but the belt is VERY warn.

Its warn because i'm getting the recall on this car done maybe next week, when i get that i'll have them put a new power steering belt on it.

Any ideas?

Oh ya also u can only hear the ticking when ur accelterating, or revving, and the more u rev or accelererate the louder and faster it gets, that is the only reason why i would think it would be an exhaust leak, but that could also mean its lifter tick too. Its just not coming from all four its only coming from the left side.

 

[sonicnofadz]

Sounds like lifter tick to me. Why would you get someone else to change a power stearing belt for you ? Get off your arse and do it yourself . I can take off the power steering belt in under 10 seconds. Seems like a big waste of money, but anyways, you might want to try using a different type of oil, if your using mineral oil (regular) maybe you should switch to synthetic (like royal purple or mobil 1). Some have reported improvements in lifter tick after switching, but then again lots have reported an increase in noise. Maybe even try using some oil additives (detergents) to help clean out some of the gunk building up in the lifters? I just replaced my lifters with a nice set of non-ticking lifters (only costs like $150 for all 16) now my engine just purrrs =)

 

[Generation1JeY]

ok its that easy to change power steering belt? sorry i'm noob but if its that easy an u like pm me with steps on how to do it so i can just do it myself. I was under the impression that the stealership would do it for free when they do the recall, but it would seem they wouldnt, hence the name stealership.

and now i'm almost sure its not lifter tick, it has to be an exhaust leak, i dunno how but its really loud now and its coming from the left side of the exhaust manifold, i just dont understand how it can start up all of a sudden. anyway if the manifold is bad thats good cause i just got a ported 2g to replace it, its sitting in my room.

 

[Diplomat]

You may have an exhaust leak too, but I wouldn't totally dismiss lifter tick. It would come and go (the sound) on my car as well when it first started. After a while it became nearly constant whether the motor was hot or cold or just after startup [whatever]. However, there were days when it would hardly make a peep, or it might startup very loud and then disappear. There's no one "magic fluid" that you can add to get rid of it as I'm sure you've read. You can try running an oil system cleaner through your motor (remember to change oil immediately afterward). Like sonicnofadz stated, some people have good luck by switching to full synthetic. That's what cured it in my case (after oil system cleaner). Although I will still hear it [barely] coming back sometimes after starting, but it's so faint, no one could hear it but me or possibly a fellow DSM owner. Simply switching oils is not guaranteed to cure it. The only way to do that is to dig them out of the head and replace the noisy f###ers. That's right. REPLACE them, not clean them and put them back, which has also worked only in SOME cases.

In some rare instances, the ticking sound has been reported to fool the knock sensor to interpret the sound as knock and go crying to the ECU about it. Assuming that the owner has committed a sin and filled up with low octane gas, the ECU might change certain parameters (timing for example) to save the motor from any more abuse. Unless you're using a datalogger or similar monitoring equipment, you may notice a loss of power, but would otherwise be unaware of it.

Fortunately, the above scenario is almost unheard of and most of us who drive around with noisy lifters have never had any trouble. You'll see DSM'ers at the track every weekend who suffer from lifter tick. If you're at all worried, read the 1000 AAQ article about it. Like most DSM troubles, it's already been widely discussed.

P.S.: Remember to replace them with updated lifters with the larger oil passage, should you decide to go that route.

Edit: In case you're interested, the oil that I switched to is Valvoline's Max Life - Synthetic. 10W-30, of course.