Noisy Lifters while car warming up!?

[Sayajin]

Hey. I was not sure which forum to post this in but since I am a newbie I figured I would put it in the newbie forum. Also let me say I searched before I posted but I could find no answer to my question. I did see some ways to fix it but not if it is a problem. Here is my situation:

I am about to purchase a 1g GSX which has just had the engine on it replaced. Also the oil pump, belts, etc. has been replaced. The current owner of the car tells me however that when the engine is cold before it warms up the lifters are noisy. Now he did not specify if it was knocking or ticking he just said noisy. However, once the car is warmed up the noise is gone and everything is fine.

My question is does this mean that there is something wrong with the engine? Or is this just a problem that is frequent on DSM's? Also is there any chance of this damaging the engine or can I just leave it alone until I have the cash to replace the old lifters with the 3g ones and replace the cam at the same time?

If the noise is not dangerous to the engine but only a nuisance to the driver, for the fixes I read most of them are said to be bad to do if you dont know what you are doing. As I said earlier I am a newbie and this will be my first DSM and first car I plan to seriously work on myself. Is there any non-hazardous fixes that anyone knows about? If so I would appreciate the knowledge!

Well thank you very much for your help and I hope to soon FINALLY own a DSM!



-Sayajin

 

[90CherryTSI]

if you can hear the ticking. It's normal due to the lifters. New lifters are $150 for the set of 16 and arent to hard to install yourself. Get em, it makes a world of difference. They arent damaging anything, and wont, at least mine never have and neither have my gf's.

 

[Sayajin]

Ummmmmm... Sorry. I just rechecked the 1000 most asked DSM questions and I saw a post about my question on it when I looked this time. Pretty much all my questions where answered. Seems its not a problem and there are a few easy fixes to try at first, however replacing the lifters is the best option.

Just to make sure is noisy lifters all the time and just noisy when starting up the same thing? Also the person I was buying the car from was talking about replacing the lifters and the cam at the same time. He said to get the 3rd gen ones. My question is should I just do the lifters and not the cam? Or do both? Also while I have the engine apart should I replace the rods and pistons and all that other junk in there? Or since the engine is new, only has 4k miles on it, should I not worry about any of that stuff?

Thanks a lot!


-Sayajin

 

[Sayajin]

......................It also seems that GOOD new cams are $1200+ which I can not afford right now! Especially since I plan to follow the upgrade guide here! So I will be just straight replacing the lifters which I can do for about $160. Also seems like I can do it myself! That will be my first REAL work on a car. Notice I said real, meaning mods or something to that effect. I can easily do your every day generic crap. Question is can I do this all in a day? Becuase this will also be my daily driver!



-Sayajin

 

[Fattie92]

good cams are not 1200+ bucks.. try $550 for a 264/272 combo ... and as far as the lifters.. mine tick till it warms up also. Its not a big deal really. just let the car warm up, and then you dont have to worry about it... unless yours is REALLLY REALLLY bad. Try running some engine clean in there before your next oil change. Run it at idle for about 5 min, then drain it all out. Then put full synthetic stuff back in. That should help out somewhat.

 

[Sayajin]

Ahh, your right about the price on the cams. Sorry about that, seems I was looking at the special racing ones! . Also thanks for the advice on fixing the issue. I will try that out.

BTW foung out there is no need to replace pistons or rods or anything. he put a Busher stage 3 shortblock on it and pistons and rods and stuff came with it!

Ummm, this may be a dumb question but please remember I am a newb, what would be the point of changing the cam? I was only talking about doing it becuase he said he planend to, but I wanted to ask of the benefit! Thanks!



-Sayajin

 

[xcelr8n]

mine only ticks when its needs a oil change, and so does my my moms dodge van .

but its a chrysler, they send em outta the factory like this

 

[AL92]

Well if he did get a new buschur engine you would think they would use the new lifters.Still most engines tick when cold but get quiet when warm.Mine has orignal lifters and they are noisy cold at least a couple of them but they do shut up.They also tick when down an quart or so.

They wil be getting replaced soon.Oh maybe you just got a bottom end..
that would explain the ticking lifters.Still that bottom end should be bulletproof.
One thing to maybe spend money on is the new kevlar super strong timing belts.These engines take pretty good damage when timing or even balance belts break or come off.You probably have no balance belt in your car,most builders take them out.

 

[FallouT]

Originally posted by Sayajin
he put a Busher stage 3 SHORTBLOCK on it and pistons and rods and stuff came with it!

he said short block, not a LONGBLOCK. so the head wouldnt be included.
also, my lifters tick on my 95 until my cars good a warm, then the tick goes away. so go for it! i wanted a 1g GSX before i found my car, if its sound, i doubt you will regret it.

 

[Jason84]

hmm 1g lifter tick?

if you dont hear a noise in your engine like lifter tick... your car is broken !!!! (heh just kiddin)


lifter tick is normal till it warms up.. my friends 2g even does it....

 

[paranoidTSi]

Its more of a annoyance than anything in extreme cases it can cause the ECU to pick up "knock" and retard your timing.

 

[1G/TS-ituner]

hmm valve tap......try changing your oil....then add some of that lucas oil stabalizer in it....my moms grand-prix did that often till i changed the oil then put that sticky lucas stuff in it it went away and never came back untill it was time to change the oil again

 

[boostnbuds]

Mine ticks too. Is lukas too thick though?

 

[Sayajin]

Cool guys thanks! Also thanks for the knowledge about a shorblock vs. longblock. Us Newbs gotta learn this stuff! Also I plan to put the deposit on the car tonight! So hopefully by the end of the week I will be a proud DSM owner! MUHAUHAUAHUHA. Plus I think if it really annoys me, the ticking, I will just stick 3rd gen lifters in there.




-Sayajin

 

[Jason84]

i use oil addative and my car runs like a dream. i run energy release in all of my motors/trannys. my car has a 175k and still runs like a champ and shifts like butter. (didnt when i first got it though)

ER is probably the best addative out there. but its also about $120 a gallon. but you only use a couple oz per qt.

 

[Colossus]

The guide here is great, but the prices for the parts they mention are higher than what you'll actually end up paying.

 

[Groomz]

My lifter tick is out of control. Its fun to have the BCS flicker and have the timing pulled almost all the time. Time for new lifters.

 

[patriot]

i cant believe this has not been suggested already. have any of you ever simply installed a mitsu oil filter? i have a 1g and a gsx that had the exact same problem. to give you an idea of how bad it was on the talon, i would let it run for like 10 minutes before ever drving it b/c it was annoyingly loud. i rebuilt the motor at 210K miles, it dampened it a little bit but it was still there.... probably b/c i reused the same lifters after cleaing them of course. anyhow, going on advice form a friend, i simply replaced the filter with a mitsu one on the next oil change.......guess what? from the very first start, i have had not one single lifter tick since replacing the filter. no additives, no lifter replacement, nothing else.

 

[AL92]

I had a fram filter on there and replaced with mits.It made zero difference to my lifters .They tick a lot for about fifteen minutes until get gets good and warmed up and may tick a bit after that not 100% sure as no longer have phantom knock since putting in my custom chip and eprom ecu.
I still plan on installing my new lifters shortly.Maybe mine are just too clogged up.

 

[patriot]

im curious, do you have the part # for that filter you used?

 

[low_talon93]

I heard doing a valve re-ajustment is one way to fix it, correst me if i am wrong im just going by what a guy from work said.

if i were to replace my lifters (because i need to, i mean it ticks all the time even when im driving) were would i get them?

-mike

 

[91turboGSX]

I'm also in the market for new lifters due to a serious lifter tick and was also wondering the best place to get some from.

 

[AL92]

You don't adjust these lifters.The tick isn't from lash its from too small oil holes in the older design.I got my lifters from eagle automotive but think they went under.I also think saw the new lifters on dsmparts.com They are like 160 US I think.They have much bigger oil holes.

 

[SmokeyGST]

I just did an engine rebuild and my lifters still make a racket and they are new

 

[JiveMasterT]

lifter tick is just your car's way of showing how excited it is that you are about to drive it!

i was having bad lifter tick so i had them replaced (under warranty... normally a $900 job at the dealer) and it made zero difference. did start using a fram filter with the teflon in it and that cleared things up quite a bit, but i guess im always gonna have some tick. ive grown used to it.... ive heard 3rd gen lifters dont tick? might wanna invest in some of those and replace them yourself?