5.3 Tick/Knock?

[JPVortex]

Hi I have an 02 Suburban. 200k miles on the 5.3L.


Noticed today this tick/knock sound. What's this sound like to you? Lifter, rod, or exhaust leak?

I do have a broken exhaust manifold bolt right near where I'm hearing this from, but I can't help but think, "this doesn't really sound like an exhaust leak."


Whats your thoughts based on the video? You might need headphones to hear it.

Video:

 

[viven44]

Does sound like an exhaust leak...

Sound different with engine hot/cold ?
Any check engine light / codes ?
How does the oil pressure look ?

 

[Doubeleive]

Hi I have an 02 Suburban. 200k miles on the 5.3L.


Noticed today this tick/knock sound. What's this sound like to you? Lifter, rod, or exhaust leak?

I do have a broken exhaust manifold bolt right near where I'm hearing this from, but I can't help but think, "this doesn't really sound like an exhaust leak."


Whats your thoughts based on the video? You might need headphones to hear it.

Video:

does kinda of sound like a lifter tick but exhaust leaks can sound almost identical.
you might want to fix the broken bolt and see if it goes away if not then pull the valve cover off and inspect from the topside.
sometimes a little snake oil can clear it up, at 200k probably wouldn't hurt to try

 

[JPVortex]

Does sound like an exhaust leak...

Sound different with engine hot/cold ?
Any check engine light / codes ?
How does the oil pressure look ?

Thanks for the response!

sound is the same whether hot or cold, makes no difference at all. This makes me suspect a lifter a bit more.

No CEL at all, and runs very very smooth.

Oil pressure is amazing. Around 60-65 psi on cold start, once warmed up it has around 37-40psi at all times.

 

[JPVortex]

does kinda of sound like a lifter tick but exhaust leaks can sound almost identical.
you might want to fix the broken bolt and see if it goes away if not then pull the valve cover off and inspect from the topside.
sometimes a little snake oil can clear it up, at 200k probably wouldn't hurt to try

Yeah it’s very hard to tell. I’m worried about pulling these manifolds off and breaking a ton more bolts. There’s one broken on the drivers side too, but no weird noises from that bank.

The valve covers will be coming off soon anyways, it needs valve cover gaskets badly lol. I’ll feel for any play in the rocker arms or anything up there, and if I find one with play I’ll pull it off, inspect the rocker and the pushrod.

Definitely going to try a snake oil as well. I’m going to throw some Rislone Engine Treatment into it. I actually had great luck with it. I had a 94 K1500 at one point that had a nasty lifter tick. Threw the stuff in and the tick was pretty much gone lol.


Thanks for the input!

 

[JPVortex]

Also I failed to mention, I tried using a clamp for the broken manifold bolt. The bolt that’s broken is the second to last bolt on the passenger side(toward firewall, one away from the back one). I used Dorman 917-142. However it’s clearly not the right clamp that I need. It seems this clamp is only for the last bolt and not the second to last one on the passenger side. Not sure if they even make one for the second to last bolt.


In the picture attached, you can see the arrow I drew. That’s the bolt that’s broken on my rear passenger side. Obviously that clamp won’t work to clamp that, I’m stupid for not looking at this before I bought it. Just wondering if there’s a clamp that will?

 

[Doubeleive]

Also I failed to mention, I tried using a clamp for the broken manifold bolt. The bolt that’s broken is the second to last bolt on the passenger side(toward firewall, one away from the back one). I used Dorman 917-142. However it’s clearly not the right clamp that I need. It seems this clamp is only for the last bolt and not the second to last one on the passenger side. Not sure if they even make one for the second to last bolt.


In the picture attached, you can see the arrow I drew. That’s the bolt that’s broken on my rear passenger side. Obviously that clamp won’t work to clamp that, I’m stupid for not looking at this before I bought it. Just wondering if there’s a clamp that will?

valve covers are not difficult per say the passenger side is a little harder simply because of more things in the way. I recommend using the fel-pro gaskets
the last bolt on the passenger side near the firewall is harder to reach but can be done without a lot of work you just gotta push on the firewall padding to get a socket on it
I think the fel-pro gaskets come with new grommets also as the old ones will probably crumble away when touched due to age. just oil them up a little and feed them in with whatever fits

if it's all greasy I would use some purple power or whatever engine degreaser you like, spray it up all over real good and pressure wash it first, that makes it easier to work on and also any fresh leaks afterwards will be easy to find. just avoid soaking under the intake or getting water directly in the alternator. I wash mine up about every 6 months just to keep it nice and clean and to watch for leaks.

 

[JPVortex]

valve covers are not difficult per say the passenger side is a little harder simply because of more things in the way. I recommend using the fel-pro gaskets
the last bolt on the passenger side near the firewall is harder to reach but can be done without a lot of work you just gotta push on the firewall padding to get a socket on it
I think the fel-pro gaskets come with new grommets also as the old ones will probably crumble away when touched due to age. just oil them up a little and feed them in with whatever fits

Yeah they’re a little bit of a pain, I had an 05 Tahoe a year and a half ago. Did valve cover gaskets on that and it wasn’t fun but wasn’t hard either.

 

[Doubeleive]

Yeah they’re a little bit of a pain, I had an 05 Tahoe a year and a half ago. Did valve cover gaskets on that and it wasn’t fun but wasn’t hard either.

edited my post above, degreasing it first helps

 

[JPVortex]

edited my post above, degreasing it first helps

Yeah good idea on the degreasing part will definitely do that.

Snake oil is in. Rislone engine treatment. No difference so far. So either the lifter is pretty collapsed or it’s an exhaust leak.


It runs good though so I think I’ll just ignore it for now.

 

[Doubeleive]

Yeah good idea on the degreasing part will definitely do that.

Snake oil is in. Rislone engine treatment. No difference so far. So either the lifter is pretty collapsed or it’s an exhaust leak.


It runs good though so I think I’ll just ignore it for now.

my 03 silverado had a idle tick for 80,000+ miles, it would start ticking if left idling, but would stop with any rev, then come back after it sat idling for 10-15 seconds.
a couple times it went away for thousands of miles and then would return, sold it to my sister with like 274k or something like that she still drives it, no issue's last time I visited it wasn't ticking. go figure.........
oil pressure was solid, just never really dug into it I just left it that way as I wanted to throw a 6.0 in it anyway and figured if it died that would give me the reason to do it. lol

 

[JPVortex]

my 03 silverado had a idle tick for 80,000+ miles, it would start ticking if left idling, but would stop with any rev, then come back after it sat idling for 10-15 seconds.
a couple times it went away for thousands of miles and then would return, sold it to my sister with like 274k or something like that she still drives it, no issue's last time I visited it wasn't ticking. go figure.........
oil pressure was solid, just never really dug into it I just left it that way as I wanted to throw a 6.0 in it anyway and figured if it died that would give me the reason to do it. lol

So sounds like it should hopefully be fine lol. I think leaving it alone is the best I can do. And god forbid it blows for some reason there’s a million 5.3s out there that can be swapped in.

 

[JPVortex]

my 03 silverado had a idle tick for 80,000+ miles, it would start ticking if left idling, but would stop with any rev, then come back after it sat idling for 10-15 seconds.
a couple times it went away for thousands of miles and then would return, sold it to my sister with like 274k or something like that she still drives it, no issue's last time I visited it wasn't ticking. go figure.........
oil pressure was solid, just never really dug into it I just left it that way as I wanted to throw a 6.0 in it anyway and figured if it died that would give me the reason to do it. lol

Do you know if they make an exhaust manifold clamp for the 2nd to back passenger bolt though? I can only find ones for the farthest back bolt to the firewall, center and front.

 

[Doubeleive]

Do you know if they make an exhaust manifold clamp for the 2nd to back passenger bolt though? I can only find ones for the farthest back bolt to the firewall, center and front.

I don't think so, if your lucky you could drill it and use a easy out
is it flush with the manifold? or broken off deeper?

 

[JPVortex]

I don't think so, if your lucky you could drill it and use a easy out
is it flush with the manifold? or broken off deeper?

Ah that sucks. And it seems to be pretty flush with the manifold. Heres a picture of it.

 

[Doubeleive]

Ah that sucks. And it seems to be pretty flush with the manifold. Heres a picture of it.

View attachment 439827

if you can get a drill in that spot you might get lucky, drill it and then wait until you get a pretty chilly morning at 4:30am and use a ratchet and extractor
if you spray it with a compressed air can real good first that will help make it cold as well. cold shrinks the metal.

 

[mudpup]

Hi I have an 02 Suburban. 200k miles on the 5.3L.


Noticed today this tick/knock sound. What's this sound like to you? Lifter, rod, or exhaust leak?

I do have a broken exhaust manifold bolt right near where I'm hearing this from, but I can't help but think, "this doesn't really sound like an exhaust leak."


Whats your thoughts based on the video? You might need headphones to hear it.

Video:

cracked flywheel ?

 

[Tahoe14]

You could try a right angle drill from Harbor Freight

 

[JPVortex]

yeah would probably need a right hand drill no chance I fit a normal one in there.

But also I’m starting to think it’s a lifter not an exhaust leak. The tick almost sounds like it’s coming from farther up on that bank not from that exhaust bolt missing.

 

[Doubeleive]

yeah would probably need a right hand drill no chance I fit a normal one in there.

But also I’m starting to think it’s a lifter not an exhaust leak. The tick almost sounds like it’s coming from farther up on that bank not from that exhaust bolt missing.

use a stethoscope