Ticking Noise From Top End Of Engine

B

Brigand

Silver forum user
Messages
69
On the way to work this morning a ticking noise started from the top end of my cars engine. It sounds just like a badly adjusted tappet and is coming from under the rocker cover for cylinders one to four. The noise started after a brief period of acceleration at three quarters throttle up to about 4000 rpm. The noise continued at all engine speeds for a couple of minutes and then disappeared. The ticking is now present for a few seconds when I first start the car, however I haven’t had a chance to run it on the road again yet.

The oil level is fine (although not absolutely up to the ‘max’ mark on the dip stick) although it’s been nearly a year since the last oil & filter change so I’m planning to carry this job out tomorrow.

I assume there is some problem with one of the tappets, but is it serious? The car is needed for a 90 mile run this Sunday.

Thanks
 
Brigand said:
The oil level is fine (although not absolutely up to the ‘max’ mark on the dip stick) although it’s been nearly a year since the last oil & filter change so I’m planning to carry this job out tomorrow.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you may have a collapsed lifter. Do you run synthetic oil? If not, leaving the same oil in for a year is a good way to sludge up the valvetrain. I learned that the hard way, thankfully in my college beater, not anything nice. Same symptom, collapsed lifter and increased valve noise.

Pull the breather and shine a light into the valve cover. If it's clean, you may still have a bad lifter, but an oil change probably won't fix it.

Otherwise, change the oil, and maybe it will go away. Maybe it won't. They make various oil system treatments that promise to remove sludge. Most require an oil change in the process. These can work, as it did in my example from years ago. But I worry about dislodging a bunch of sludge all at once. Good luck.

Regards,
John.
 
Tic Tic Tock

Ditto on the collapse; fairly common malady. Two of my 289 toys have a come-&-go castinette sounding off. They get a bit more frequent after a clean oil change but settle down with use. Since I no longer drive like an angry teen, it's a non-issue. But, if you like to let it rev, it's best to replace the critters before you launch a pushrod. . . . . . .
 
It would be helpful to know more about your motor and how many miles you have on it. The fact that you haven't changed oil in a year might be some of the problem since flat tappet lifters and cams require allot of zinc in the oil as a lubricant. You could have a lifter problem but also it could be a bent push rod,bad rocker, broken valve spring and a cam lobe going bad. An oil change won't likely solve the problem so if it's still there after the oil change
I wouldn't go drive 90 miles without fixing the problem which would involve
pulling a valve cover as a minimum......

Moondoggie
 
Thanks for the replies!

I'll give the car an oil & filter change as it needs one anyway and will take the rocker cover off while I'm at it.

As for the history of the engine I really don't know anything at all as I've only had the car for just over a year and it came with no history. It doesn't use oil, there is no sign of smoke from the tail pipes and the inlet manifold vacuum is a rock steady 20" but that's all I know. The seller and another previous owner assured me the engine was a 302, but there are signs that it may actually be a 289. Without stripping it down I guess I'll never know.

Driving home from work there was no sign of the ticking noise, but no doubt it will return.
 
Depending on how long it sat before this morning it could have drained the oil in the lifter, as for this afternoon there was still enough in there for it to be quiet. Try oil change, what weight oil do you use?
 
If it makes you feel any better I didn't know much about the 289 in my Tiger
when I bought it but it ran really nice and sounded good. When the motor was pulled recently to fix a trans noise amoung other chores we pulled a valve cover only to find that the PCV oil baffle had come loose and was eaten by the valve springs. Further tear down revealed toasted bearings and an over bore of .040"..motor was trash !!!! Live and learn.......as they say. The new motor is awesome !!!

Moondoggie
 
Probably not the case here, but I had a ticking sound after running at high rpms. It did not go away, so I limped home and pulled the valve cover. The pushrod/tappet alignment was off, and the pushrod had worked its way over to the side of the head. I installed guide plates in the re-worked heads to prevent that from happening again.
 
Ticking Noise Top End

Many years ago I had a 289 that the lifters must have gummed up, simply branched down a little, then backed back off and the noise vanished ( a valve adjustment on hydraulic flat tappet). Another case my brother inlay had a ticking noise on his corvette, turned out to be a cracked/ warped rocker arm.

RB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top