2001 Silverado Lifter ticking with cold

[1yesfan]

Seems that I have a lifter ticking on my 01 with 163k on a 5.3 motor. After about a minutes or two of driving it goes away, does not come back till the next cold morning. Any reason to wory?

 

[D is for DENALI]

Benign piston slap possibly?

 

[Doubeleive]

my 2003 silverado did it for a couple years then about a year ago right after a oil change it stopped ticking and hasn't done it again yet. I have seen it on various gm's my friends van ticked pretty good probably still does but he sold it that way, it's annoying but unless it gets worse I would fret over it to much.

 

[RED TAHOE LS]

Typical lifter noise,

David g.

 

[David Smith]

Mine does the same thing. Only when it is pretty cold outside. I normally just let it warm up for a minute before I drive off.

 

[PG01]

Normal gm lifter tap, surprises me that it just started at so many miles, usually they start earlier in life...seafoam in the oil may quiet but rallly nothing to worry about...is very typical

 

[ScottyBoy]

My 2001 has had both the "piston slap" and an intermittent lifter tick ever since I bought it back in 2006. It hasn't gotten any worse over the years, so I don't worry about it. Yes it does sound a bit worse in colder weather (especially the piston slap) but once the engine warms up for a minute it's fine. The lifter tick comes and goes. I sometimes don't hear it for several months, but then it comes back. I've also noticed that when the lifters are ticking, sometimes if I rev the engine up to 2000-2500 rpms for a few seconds, then the tick immediately stops. I'm not sure why this would sometimes cause the lifter tick to stop, but it does. Regardless, I have expressed my concerns about this lifter tick to several mechanics and they ALL told me that if it doesn't get worse, or noticably louder, then it's nothing to worry about.

 

[RaiderRodney]

Same here, I have an 01 Hoe 5.3 and it ticks for maybe a minute on startup but then quietens down. It's pretty common as everyone has said.

 

[rockola1971]

They all do it. Its worse in the winter because the lifters and pushrods contract in the cold which increases valve clearance and as the engine warms up the metal expands and decreases valve clearance back to in spec. The oil is a little thick when cold and takes time to do its job of fully pumping up the lifters and lube the valvetrain. The Gen3 and 4 engines all do it...eventually. My 6.0 and both 5.3L do it and are noticeably more pronounced at making noise now that its winter. Just drive until the wheels fall off or the chassis rusts in half.

 

[1yesfan]

well my truck is rust free to the motor needs to keep up the pace withthe lack of rust. ha ha

 

[Sgtduckyboy]

Lets also not forget how these are notorious for eventually experiencing a failed lifter. I had the same problem, but mine was more related to 'freshness' of oil. Seriously, with fresh oil, no ticking from the 'valve/lifter' area. After a couple thousand miles, it would start to tick, especially at startup and moreso in the cold winter. Then if i was using the 'change oil' feature of the car to dictate when to change the oil, which is close to 6000 miles, the valves would do a fulll on rattle after 4000 miles under heavy acceleration, of which, I got NONE with fresh oil. I use only full syn or semi syn types and it didnt matter which brand i used, same result. so now i change every 3000. But, the saturday after thanksgiving, I had a lifter fail, from the passenger side. It finally failed. It was always on that side that it made the more predominant 'ticking'. and as a result, i had to replace the cam. If I was any of you with an older LS1 gen3 engine, whenever you can find the time and/or money, get your lifters replaced. its cheaper and fairly easy to do yourself. but if it fails, now you have to change the cam as it is probably going to wear out the lobe as it did on mine, about 2mm was worn off. then you have to open the timing cover, remove water pump, oil pump and timing gears, and you might as well replace those while they are there.

 

[isp5190]

I had a 96 Silverado with the 5.7 vortex with the same problem. I was using full synthetic oil, switched to a blend and the problem went away and never came back.
my brother in-law has a shop and said he has seen a few engines using the full syn would cause the lifter noise.

 

[Bobby Hill]

I got a 01 Tahoe LT 5.3 last month from a used car dealer. I was in a bind because my wife just wrecked my truck and hers was in the shop. I had to work. The first thing I did was change the oil and put on a good filter. Ran it for 1k miles and the oil was filthy. So I changed it again and ran another 1k and it was getting pretty dark. I took it to a shop and had them do an engine flush and good oil and filter. While they were at it I had them do the t-case, brakes, front/rear differential. Since then there has been no lifter tick. Only 600 miles since service. I live in the mountains of western Maryland and I start it and let it get up to temp before I drive off on these 8 degree mornings. I also put the trans in neutral for a minute before I drive off. Old Dodge trick. It saves wear on the transmission.

 

[PG01]

I also put the trans in neutral for a minute before I drive off. Old Dodge trick. It saves wear on the transmission.[/QUOTE]

Ha, i used to start it neutral...83 and 89 w250....

 

[Bobby Hill]

I also put the trans in neutral for a minute before I drive off. Old Dodge trick. It saves wear on the transmission.

Ha, i used to start it neutral...83 and 89 w250....[/QUOTE]

It's something I picked up from Prince George's County Apparatus Maintenance. Back in the 80's when all the police cars and Fire Department Sedans were Dodge's they were going through transmissions at an extremely high rate. When they had everyone start idling in neutral for a minute before the first run of the day it cut way back on the number of transmissions they had to replace.

 

[PG01]

Ha, i used to start it neutral...83 and 89 w250....

It's something I picked up from Prince George's County Apparatus Maintenance. Back in the 80's when all the police cars and Fire Department Sedans were Dodge's they were going through transmissions at an extremely high rate. When they had everyone start idling in neutral for a minute before the first run of the day it cut way back on the number of transmissions they had to replace.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it was something to do with the pump and pressures...I seriously did the same to those trucks whenever i started, drove them... i do find my self putting my tahoe, past and present, in neutral first sometimes and its prob because of that... funny

 

[TahoYukon Forum]

piston slap possibly

From what I had found, it might be from the pistons in newer powerplants have shorter pistons and that the manufacturer coated them with Teflon and it wears off after about 150k miles (depending on fluid changes and type used). I believe mine started making that sound at about 200k though.
I have the very same issue in my 03 TAHOE 5.3 with over 260k and still runs like a top. My shop that I have been going to for over 20 years said it is normal and just drive and take care of her. Records show Castrol blend always used at recommended intervals but I mix my own blend of 50/50 Castrol since I got used.
I really hope it's isn't a lifter though, good luck bud.

Benign piston slap possibly?