constant lifter tick..

[PatyOFurniture]

Hey all, I got a 99 Tahoe 5.7L vortec with around 200,000 kilometers, that developed steady what I believe is lifter tick about a year ago at all rpm's. It is loud tapping coming from the top passenger side of the motor...I changed the oil with regular 5w30 and added lucas oil stabilizer but no help.
I doubt seafoaming or synthetic oil will quiet down this motor..

anyone have any last haymaker things i should try before I take it to the shop to have the lifters done?

and does anyone know how long it usually takes to do the lifters so I can prepare myself for the buttraping I'm about to receive at the mechanics?

 

[BattelWagun]

Try marvel mystery oil, many old hot rodeos swear by the stuff. Sometimes its capable of doing wonders.

 

[04SS99Denali]

lots of people use transmission fluid and say it works wonders. my old OBS denali had the ugliest knock / tick and i drove it for 15,000 miles before i traded it in without issues

 

[PatyOFurniture]

how much ATF should I run?

 

[Suburbinator]

X2 on Marvel Mystery Oil.

Instructions on the can state to replace 1 quart of the motor oil with 1 quart of MMO.

 

[PatyOFurniture]

I think i'll try seafomaing it, then changing the oil with a quart of MMO then what other oil should I put in? is it worth going thicker to a 15w40 or 20w50, or sticking with a 5W30

 

[Suburbinator]

When you say seafoam, you mean to put it in the oil to clean the lifters right?
Seafoam has specific instructions on how to use their product in the tank to clean the fuel system, and in the oil to clean the engine internals.

http://www.seafoamsales.com/how-to-use-sea-foam-motor-treatment.html

 

[PatyOFurniture]

hmm I have a can of the liquid seafoam that I was going to add to the vacuum line off the brake booster.. but maybe I should do an oil change with cheap oil as my oil is dirty now, add seafoam in the crankcase, keep an eye on the oil to get dirty.. then change it again with new oil

or should I go buy the spray version of sea foam with the special spray nozzle for vortec motors?

 

[ezdaar]

swap the lifters yourself, its easy as pie

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

I have to agree with EZ on this one, replacing them is not all that hard.

 

[retorq]

You don't even know that it's a lifter noise yet, you say you believe it is ... why not trouble shoot it first. Make sure the rockers and everything on top of the engine is OK first.

While it's not hard to swap lifters, you do have to tear down the top half of the engine.

 

[PatyOFurniture]

to update, i changed the oil (5W30) and added half a can of sea foam to the crank case… been driving it a couple days waiting for the oil to change to dark as the can says.. if anything the tapping has gotten louder. You cannot hear it at idle.. only when you rev it up. still coming from the top of the back of the passenger side of the motor.
I purchased a can of the sea foam spray but it did not have the vortec long spray nozzle, only the shorter 90 degree one, so I emailed sea foam hoping they can send me one.

I read on here about adding a shot glass' worth of ATF to the crank case and letting it idle for 15 mins and it should go away.. anyone tried this?

 

[Z71malik]

I have either a 99 or a 2000 Tahoe z71

350 vortec 5.7 V8

The one with the grill guard

It started having this horrible knock on it an I checked the oil an realized it was bone ass dry. So I gave her 3 quarts of 10w40 for a temporary fix an the sound died off completely.....
20 miles later(today) it came back an it's a steady tick with the engine right on top of it so Im sure it's a rocker or rod..... will a high milage oil change an new oil filter help me or what should I do