Intermittent tick starting, what you think from the sound?

[Foggy]

Sounds fairly normal... Change your oil to be on the safe side in case you've
got a lifter on the edge...
These things also make a lot of fuel injector noise... I've noticed mine more since
my engine cover plastic deal is off

 

[Steve Berg]

09 LC9 182k, just started noticing a tick. Goes away pretty quick after warm up. What you say?

Chevrolet had a buletin regarding this tick on the 5.3. It is the pistons when cold and harmless to the engine, just anoying. Should stop within 2 minutes and from there everything is normal.

 

[Geotrash]

Chevrolet had a buletin regarding this tick on the 5.3. It is the pistons when cold and harmless to the engine, just anoying. Should stop within 2 minutes and from there everything is normal.

I don’t believe that’s the case here. The sound in the video has a frequency of 1/2 crankshaft rotation speed. Piston slap frequency is at crankshaft rotation speed.

 

[easymoney]

Its very normal My 04 does the same thing…after about a minute it quietens down. I thought it was oil not at the lifters and once you run a minute its lubricated. I was going to try lucas oil stabilizer added to the oil and see if that helps but hadnt made it a priority. On cold days the noise is louder i have noticed that so exhaust bolt sounds possible too either way it doesnt sound serious

 

[olliec420]

Sounds fine to me. Both of mine will have occasional startup ticks that come and go and that's not loud enough to indicate a problem at this point. Any chance you're missing any exhaust manifold studs on either side? The fact that it goes away as the engine warms up is a telltale sign of an exhaust leak masquerading almost perfectly as a lifter tick.

I looked under the hood today, it looks like the bolt head is missing between 6 & 8. Must be exhaust leak.

 

[Geotrash]

I looked under the hood today, it looks like the bolt head is missing between 6 & 8. Must be exhaust leak.

Seems likely. You can pinpoint it with a cheap mechanic’s stethoscope from harbor freight