filthysuburban
TYF Newbie
I had noticed this light tapping a few months ago, and I do mean light compared to some of the ones I heard on youtube. I thought it was the oil pickup tube o-ring (oil pressure was about 20 psi hot). I ordered a pan gasket and fel-pro oil pickup tube o-ring from rockauto and did that not very fun job. I will attach pics of the oil pan, 130,000 miles and my dad always just put dino in and followed the gauges oil change timing. A little sludge but nothing horrific, I ran a magnet through the bottom of the pan and cut the filter open. No metal in the pan and the screen on the pickup tube looked fine as well.
I get it back together and fill it with pennzoil platnium 5w-30 and an acdelco filter. Ran it for a while then noticed the ticking again, maybe about 200 miles later. Most of my trips to town and work are 15-20 miles so on a really short trip I wouldn't hear anything at all. But when I pull into the garage after a decent 45 minute drive the tap is definitely noticeable and seems to correspond with the oil pressure dropping as the oil heats up. Louder under the wheel wells than from above the hood, I could maybe record it and post a vid (not sure if a mic can pick it up) but it does sound like a light exhaust leak or lifter.
So I go back to reading, the black fel-pro one I ordered was just what rockauto had listed for my make and model. I could look up the part number but it was red in the picture, the one I recieved was black. I wondered if there was just a mix up or something, it happens. So rather than guess I ordered the melling green o-ring also from rockauto which is meant to replace the red one, and got that one in. (In hindsight I think the black one is fine) The pennzoil was definitely cleaning some stuff because it got dark in the 200 miles or so since I did the o-ring the first time. Cut the filter open again, no sludge and no metal seemed fine. Didn't take pictures of that though. Put another acdelco filter on.
The round 2 didn't seem to make much difference in the sound to me, I thought maybe the pennzoil I had might have been on the thin side or something so I went and got some oreilly's 10w-40 and drained it again. Pennzoil was much less dark this time, about the same 200-300 miles since I put it in the first time. No new filter because the last 2 I cut open were fine. Oil pressure can get about 60psi when I'm getting on the interstate and oil temp isn't up, about 25-45 psi hot depending on rpm. With the pennzoil I was about 22 psi to 38 ish hot. The first time I did the o-ring I picked up a couple psi, it idled around 20 hot before.
The 10w40 did quiet it down a fair bit, but it's still there. I read about using a long handled screwdriver to listen for the sound, and I do hear a something like a metal tap on the block. Seems lower because I can hardly hear it above the engine, but under the passenger side wheel well is where I hear it best. I know exhaust leaks are common and have tried to rule that out, but usually those are more obvious cold and go away once the metal expands. This is more the opposite and the sound travels through the block, so that's where I'm at. I'm snowed in at the moment and would like my 4x4 not out of commission again, but once I can escape I'll get a valve cover gasket and check out the rockers on the passenger side. Saw some youtube videos about worn out rockers creating lash that the lifter can't take up.
I can make the budget for a crate engine if it comes to that (or do heads and lifters ugh) but I'd really rather try to sort this one out given it's 'relatively' low mileage, also I've never swapped an engine lol. If I can't find a loose rocker maybe I'll try some fixes in a bottle idk, I wanted to document all this though because I would be way more lost if others hadn't done the same. My goal is to get it squared away so I can drive it on some longer trips and not worry about being stranded in the middle of nowhere.
I'll keep the thread updated with my findings. Let me know what you guys think!
I get it back together and fill it with pennzoil platnium 5w-30 and an acdelco filter. Ran it for a while then noticed the ticking again, maybe about 200 miles later. Most of my trips to town and work are 15-20 miles so on a really short trip I wouldn't hear anything at all. But when I pull into the garage after a decent 45 minute drive the tap is definitely noticeable and seems to correspond with the oil pressure dropping as the oil heats up. Louder under the wheel wells than from above the hood, I could maybe record it and post a vid (not sure if a mic can pick it up) but it does sound like a light exhaust leak or lifter.
So I go back to reading, the black fel-pro one I ordered was just what rockauto had listed for my make and model. I could look up the part number but it was red in the picture, the one I recieved was black. I wondered if there was just a mix up or something, it happens. So rather than guess I ordered the melling green o-ring also from rockauto which is meant to replace the red one, and got that one in. (In hindsight I think the black one is fine) The pennzoil was definitely cleaning some stuff because it got dark in the 200 miles or so since I did the o-ring the first time. Cut the filter open again, no sludge and no metal seemed fine. Didn't take pictures of that though. Put another acdelco filter on.
The round 2 didn't seem to make much difference in the sound to me, I thought maybe the pennzoil I had might have been on the thin side or something so I went and got some oreilly's 10w-40 and drained it again. Pennzoil was much less dark this time, about the same 200-300 miles since I put it in the first time. No new filter because the last 2 I cut open were fine. Oil pressure can get about 60psi when I'm getting on the interstate and oil temp isn't up, about 25-45 psi hot depending on rpm. With the pennzoil I was about 22 psi to 38 ish hot. The first time I did the o-ring I picked up a couple psi, it idled around 20 hot before.
The 10w40 did quiet it down a fair bit, but it's still there. I read about using a long handled screwdriver to listen for the sound, and I do hear a something like a metal tap on the block. Seems lower because I can hardly hear it above the engine, but under the passenger side wheel well is where I hear it best. I know exhaust leaks are common and have tried to rule that out, but usually those are more obvious cold and go away once the metal expands. This is more the opposite and the sound travels through the block, so that's where I'm at. I'm snowed in at the moment and would like my 4x4 not out of commission again, but once I can escape I'll get a valve cover gasket and check out the rockers on the passenger side. Saw some youtube videos about worn out rockers creating lash that the lifter can't take up.
I can make the budget for a crate engine if it comes to that (or do heads and lifters ugh) but I'd really rather try to sort this one out given it's 'relatively' low mileage, also I've never swapped an engine lol. If I can't find a loose rocker maybe I'll try some fixes in a bottle idk, I wanted to document all this though because I would be way more lost if others hadn't done the same. My goal is to get it squared away so I can drive it on some longer trips and not worry about being stranded in the middle of nowhere.
I'll keep the thread updated with my findings. Let me know what you guys think!
