spinadog

Hi all,

My 454 has had a slight tick in idle which would disappear after a few seconds once oil pressure rose and pumped up the lifters (my conclusions).

After moving to a state that means my car sits for a few months, the tick got worse. I started to pull plugs, to try and isolate the noise; it was cylinder 4 or 6 or my fuel pump rod (I eliminated this due to the tick disappearing after a few seconds - I assume...).

So, pull # 6 plug, noise changes from tic-tic-tic to eep-eep-eep. Very strange so I pulled the valve cover, replaced it with my one with the cutout to see what was up. the noise definitely appeared to be in sync with the intake valve. Start her up again.

And then....the noise got very bad indeed and was a clack-clack-clack. Not as a result of having the open valve cover, it changed while I was listening. Like, suddenly and immediately after about 30 seconds. No revving took place at any stage during this process, all at idle.

So, does it appear that I am chasing a collapsed lifter? I am hoping you'll all tell me that my cam will be OK, as it ran fine for the last 3000 miles. The engine is a 100% complete rebuild. I have a new melling oil pump, pressure is good. Oil was changed just before the noise (and I change oil very frequently).

Any advice welcome, cheers.

Moral of the day: drive your car regularly or it will die.

MelWff

are you using an oil with sufficient zinc/phosphorous for a flat tappet cam?
what viscosity oil are you using?
with the engine running can you push down on the push rod end of the rocker with a screwdriver and notice a change in the noise?

spinadog

Yeah, been running VR1 with additional (minimal) ZDDP additive. Can't try the screwdriver method, as I have already gotten into it, and all rockers on one side are out of adjustment as I checked for a broken valve spring. 10-30 weight.

So, looks like my intake is getting pulled....and as mentioned, this tic-tic had been there since the rebuild, leaving me to lean towards the lifter.

I just wondered whether anyone had heard those noises I described before.

CheezMoe

I would pull the intake, rockers and pushrods from suspects and inspect before running it any more for sure! Good luck!

mikem350

Hope its just a lifter...but it could be a wiped cam lobe

7T1vette

Your 'ticking' could be a small exhaust leak at the exhaust manifold. See if header bolts can be tightened a bit and make noise change. Don't overdo it....you don't want to snap off a header bolt head. Also look for a little soot collection at the area of leakage (if that turns out to be the problem).

ajrothm

I would pull the intake, a couple lifters and try to inspect the lobes on the cam and go from there.

spinadog

I really had initially hoped so, but the tic tic, as mentioned is a LOUD CLACK-CLACK. Bad things have happened to the valve train for sure.

I sure hope it's not a lobe .

Thanks for the replies, I'll post back after this long weekend of wrenching.

spinadog

Another quick one; I feel I can get away with pulling the intake by simply lowering my coolant level below the intake level, and not drain oil.

Thoughts? Oil is 20 miles and one month old so if I could save it, it would offset my gasket costs...petty I know.

cv67

You probably could, when you pull the intake make sure none spills in the lifter valley

spinadog

Howdy all, been a while since I posted, and I still have not gotten to the bottom of my issue. So, I pulled the intake with no issues after draining the water lower and checked out my cam and lifters. Honestly, I cannot see any issues with either, my cam lobes are unworn and nicely 'hardened', lifters all look in good shape (but I have not managed to compress them, need a vice) - none look collapsed.

Aside from a minor update, I also wanted to mention something else, in case some old hands know what it means. When the noise suddenly started, the pushrod/lifter adjacent to the cylinder where I think the issue is coming from suddenly went from a dribble to a spurt at idle.

Normally, I can idle the engine and have no oil spray out with the valve covers off, but both intake and exhaust were really 'spitting' - I wondered if this could be related to the suspected lifter (if I am right) pumping oil at a reduced rate, causing the adjacent ones to overload. I suspect it's cylinder #6, and it was #8 that started to spurt, if that helps - not sure which way the oil flows.

Sigh. My winter project since I was denied driving this season (and missed Woodward, dammit).

Jebbysan

Stick a new fuel pump pushrod in it........these can make noise if reused on a new cam.......

Jebby

spinadog

Another update (thanks Jebby for FP rod advice, that's next).

FINALLY I get to the car. I replaced every lifter. Two of them I could push the plunger down 1/8" with my thumb, the rest were like rocks. One of them was directly involved with my 'spurting' pushrod on #8. Not one lifter showed any wear with exception of what I mention.

I pulled and checked every valve spring on the passenger side, where the noise comes from. All are perfect, no problems, no wear on the ends, exactly what 3000 mile springs (single type) should look like. No excessive rub marks or wear on pushrods, rockers, valves. Everything looks great. Cam (to my relief) looks PERFECT, no wear on lobes and each lobe looks nice and 'burnished' just right. Happy about that as I have heard BB cars can eat cams if not broken in right.

OK, so this weekend my intake goes back in, as I am out of options to check.

With all of the above in mind, recall that I had a tick-tick that became an eep-eep, and suddenly a clack-clack. Fuel pump? Is that next? I would just replace both pump and rod and have done with it.

Two questions for the Forum;

Has anyone had a fuel pump that would make such odd noises?
Is being able to push down a lifter a little with your thumb an indication of a failing or bad lifter?

Thankfully, the time I spent NOT working on the car was used to build a bar - so I know there's a cold beer at the end of it

ajrothm

Fuel pump and fuel pump rod can definitely make a tapping sound.

As for your lifters, being able to slightly depress the plunger doesnt indicate a bad lifter, only that it has bled down some. You can tighten down a rocker while the engine is not running, that will usually depress the plunger, pushing the oil out. If you were to remove that lifter at that point, it would be soft to push in the plunger so.....you can't go by that.


I would put the new lifters in, adjust them correctly and do the cam/lifter break in. If its still clacking, pull the fuel pump/rod out and have a look.

spinadog

You bring up a valid point - do I have to use any formal break-in for just replacing the lifters? I bathed everything in oil during assembly, and plan on bringing up oil pressure manually before I crank her over.

69427

Had that noticeable tapping noise happen from a fuel pump several year ago.

Tiger Joe

before you ripped it apart did you check the rocker nuts to make sure they were all tight?


the clack clack clack makes me think the nut backed off (maybe was continuing to get worse)

spinadog

Thanks for the responses, and if you read from the top of the thread, I use open rocker covers to get perfect clearance. I'm very much in tune with this motor, having rebuilt it personally.

And, this noise was no mere tick tick - it became a LOUD CLACK CLACK at idle.

I'll be back with more details after the weekend.

TimAT

New lifters on a used cam makes me nervous. A lot.

Pop Chevy

Me too.