Ticking on cold engine start
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Pro
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Fort Worth TX
Ticking on cold engine start! Day 1 Down!
Noticed this week driving the Vette to work that it produces a ticking noise when cold. Have a ADS4 Cam with all the supporting mods, and LG Street Headers. Noise only happens when cold and goes away after engine is warmed up. Is this normal? I've searched and from what I am reading is that these engines are like sewing machines. Car is a 98 Vette and if I remember correctly that it made the noise after the install. Also she runs smooth at idle and cruising. The noise when cold also goes with the rev's of the car, when I step on the gas the noise will match the rev's I guess I am trying to say. I am going to get underneath it this weekend and check for any possible exhaust leaks.
Last edited by derty01; Jun 7, 2010 at 09:08 PM.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Fort Worth TX
Well after searching the forums about this I came across this website http://www.pistonslap.com/whatisit.htm and from GM TSB # 01-06-01-005 in the link has a pdf file explaining what is going on. Their description explains exactly what I have. They also say this in there pdf file (Important
Note that this is a customer annoyance issue, and does not affect the durability or life of
the engine.) Is this true?
Note that this is a customer annoyance issue, and does not affect the durability or life of
the engine.) Is this true?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
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From: At the beach in little Rhody
My Pontiac Grand Am (3.1 liter) had piston slap since it was almost new. Sounded like a diesel when you started it. I gave it to my niece's husband to use as a commuter a couple of years ago because it gets good mileage. It had 190,000 miles on it at the time. Last I heard, he still drives it to work and it has around 250,000 miles. So if piston slap has an effect on engine life I wonder how long this motor would have gone without it
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Joined: Sep 2008
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It could either be piston slap or a lifter tick. My camaro had piston slap on start up and whenever i turned it off. It as never there while it was running though, only on start up and shut down. To me the piston slap sounded more like a short rattle then anything else.
Hearing ticking in a motor usually points toward the lifters IMO. This problem can start out being pretty quiet and as it gets worse the noise gets louder and will be heard more often. It could be that one of your lifters is no longer pumping up correctly and is in the process of locking up. It will definately speed up and slow down with RPM. Hopefully you can get it figured out!
Hearing ticking in a motor usually points toward the lifters IMO. This problem can start out being pretty quiet and as it gets worse the noise gets louder and will be heard more often. It could be that one of your lifters is no longer pumping up correctly and is in the process of locking up. It will definately speed up and slow down with RPM. Hopefully you can get it figured out!
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Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Fort Worth TX
Going to check my lifters and order a set of ls7 lifters while I am down in there and replace them due to mileage. Figured why not. Jobs seems pretty straight forward from ls1howto.com will probably start this weekend since I have a 4 day weekend off from the military wo0ho0. Wish me luck and will be going slow since I've never done this before but can't be too bad. I mean I am a jet engine mechanic and done some critical internal repair to engines so I hoping I should be able to tackle this project.
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 1999
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From: At the beach in little Rhody
If you pick up a can of Seafoam, you can pull this into the motor through a vacuum line. I did a similar thing, but it was in a spray can from Mercury Marine and is made for removing carbon.
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Fort Worth TX
Day one down! Started at 2pm and ended at 7pm with 2 trips to the auto store for tools ^^. Anyways I got as far as pulling the passenger side off and down to cleaning the gasket and making things look good again. Any tips on cleaning the crevices? Here are some pics of my handy work.
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Fort Worth TX
Oh yea, everything done and button up. Noise is reduced a lot to the point where I can here my fuel nozzles, so I am in a good spot. Other than that the noise I am hearing is normal from upgrade dual springs and cam.
