Lifter Tick is driving me insane

JD159 · 01:06 PM

1987 944S have about 100k miles...i had lifter noise that came about gradually...car is in great shape all records oil changes all the time very well taken care of...currently have brad penn 20w50 in the engine....before i put in that oil i ran about half a can of seafoam through the crankcase for about 15 min...drained the old oil out and put in in brad penn along with new oil filter...yet...the ticking is still their...i'm at a loss

...is their any way to post a video of the ticking?...forgot to add...the clacking is their regardless of the temperature of the car....if anything its worse after the car is warmed up more...

mattdavis11 · 02-14-2009, 01:24 PM

You will have to find a host for the video. Youtube would work. What kind of shape are the cam chain tensioner and pads? Other than that, you may have an oil passage blocked in the cam(s) housing, or your injectors are getting louder.

JD159 · 02-14-2009, 01:41 PM

tensioner and pads have both been replaced very recently...maybe 4k or so ago...first thing i did when i bought the car...and i'll get to work on that asap

halik · 02-14-2009, 02:50 PM

seafoam?

JD159 · 02-14-2009, 02:56 PM

yup...tried...no luck...thought it was oil viscosity so i moved up to the heavier oil....and nothin....would their be a drop in oil pressure if 1 of the passages was clogged?...because my pressure is fine

SuperXRAY · 02-14-2009, 04:11 PM

Oil pressure would not drop due to 'that' clogged passage, if that was the case. If you have already flushed the engine and still have a tick...I would guess there is either mechanical wear on the cam and/or piston, or one of the pistons has collapsed.

Does the car run perfectly?

JD159 · 02-14-2009, 04:27 PM

can't be a pistion...its gotta be a broken lifter...the car runs perfect aside from that....does rev a tad high...fluctuates to 1100 n back down to 900...engine pulls fine...plenty of power...

2Tight · 02-14-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD159

can't be a pistion...its gotta be a broken lifter...the car runs perfect aside from that....does rev a tad high...fluctuates to 1100 n back down to 900...engine pulls fine...plenty of power...

A broken valve spring or small exhaust header leak can make a pretty odd noise like a bad lifter and it does happen. The Sea Foam was a good call but if it is still ticking you've run out of options. A simple check is to tighten all your exhaust header bolts. I had a small leak on the 83 and it almost sounded like a bad rod when it was cold. I don't even buy new lifters anymore, I just buy used cam towers and test the lifters and store the good ones in oil. All it takes is one bad lifter to foul things up. Hope you find your problem.

mattdavis11 · 02-14-2009, 05:32 PM

I thought I toasted my motor after a simple oil change and filter about a month ago. It was making some serious racket! I drained the oil, replaced the oil cooler seals (it was time), and put the same oil I had drained out, back in. The loud tick, which I would have swarn was coming from the lobes for the #4 cylinder, was mysteriously gone thereafter. My only guess was an oil galley/passage was plugged and had cleared. I had just replaced the cam prior to that oil change though, and can only attribute my experience to the assembly lube/break in when I installed. Sometimes they just go away, and I hope you have the same luck I did.

SuperXRAY · 02-14-2009, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JD159

can't be a pistion...its gotta be a broken lifter...the car runs perfect aside from that....does rev a tad high...fluctuates to 1100 n back down to 900...engine pulls fine...plenty of power...

Misused term on my part. I call them pistons in OHC engines. so, yes...lifter.

JD159 · 09:04 AM

some great answers. thanks guys....keep um comin haha...so lets say its a clogged oil passage...how would i go about clearing it?...what would my other options be besides this?....

JD159 · 02-15-2009, 02:04 PM

will be posting video's on youtube later today