ok you know when you get low on oil you here a ticking or clicking sound ? well thats what im getting now exept my oil is fine and pressure is fine.

if i took off my valve cover would that be able to tell me pretty much what the problem is?

and what is more then likely the problem?

my friend suggested a bent pushrod or out of alignment?

 

injecter noise or exhaust leak

 

What he said.

If I had a $1 for everytime told somebody they need a valve adjustment, or pushrod or whatever, and it was just a exhaust leak, I'd be retired.


I'd check the exhaust first. Take a piece of heater hose and put it to your ear. Listen to all the sounds to let you know what SHOULD be there. Then put it on the header / exhaust manifold and see if it's there.

It "could" need a valve adjustment or a have a loose rocker...but more than likely it's the exhaust.


YMMV

 

why would exhaust make a high pitched clicking sound though?

 

okw ell today when i started my car, sounded fine, and its sounded fine all day so far, could it be maybe wrong oil or similiar?

 

mine was making the same noise, BUT it wasnt what i thought. the alternator fin was hitting on the bracket, making a clicking noise. i grinded down the bracket a bit and it dont do it anymore

 

i know for sure that aint the problem!

 

Ok I lied, I thought the sound stopped but i guess it was the sound of heavy rain and wind that drowned out the clickign sound.

it does seem that when i start the car its not as loud, but once its on for a few seconds, it gets loud and it wont stop, and the higher I rev, the faster the clicking is. sounds like metal hitting metal. i highly doubt its exhaust, could I need a valve adjustment or retorque something?? PLZ HELP this cant be good

 

Like ede said, it could be injector noise. Some injectors click quite a bit.

Dont know what's done to yours too, but a lot of aftermarket rocker arms, especially roller rockers, or stud-mounted rockers with guideplates, make a lot of noise. I assume yours is stock from your signature though. Mal-adjusted rocker arms is definitely a possibility though...maybe too much lash on one or two of em. You can always pop a valvecover and see what ya see. If any of them are real loose, then they should definitely be tightened down.

 

ok lets say i do need a valve adjustment, what are the steps to doing that, and is it fairly easy for a novice to do? and same thing for loose rocker arm? i imagine i just retorque it to spec?

 

The rocker arm thing is setting the valves...and it has to be done right. If the rocker arm is overtightened, for example, it might hang the valve open and put a lot of stress on the pushrod too....

I've never done it personally...I had my neighbor do mine.....but from what I remember of Horsepower TV, etc....you bring the cylinder you're working on to top dead center....I think it should be at top dead when both of the rocker arms, intake and exhaust, for that cylinder are tilted back towards the middle of the motor....aka, the rockers arent applying pressure to the valves, so both valves are CLOSED. Then, gradually tighten the rocker arm down while you try to jiggle and spin the pushrod. Once the pushrod doesnt have any more vertical play, keep tightening it until it becomes hard to spin...then back it off just a little bit. I THINK that should be about zero lash. That's the simple way to do it.......although not everyone recommends zero lash.

Talk to a few other people first though...don't just go off and do what I told ya, cause I don't know how right that is!

And if I'm wrong anywhere, anyone please feel free to correct me.

 

ok and if i dont feel comfortable doing it myself, it will cost an arm and leg to have a pro do it?

 

Well it wont be horrific....but it probably wont be cheap. Maybe $200 in labor or so. Lemme put it this way...to pay a pro to do it, you're paying pretty much for the knowledge, not for the work. Cause if you have a fair idea of what you're doing, and a buddy willing to turn the motor for ya...it shouldnt be that terrible a process. Me and my neighbor got all 16 of my valves set in about 30 mins.

 

yes i would like a double confirmation on this before i go check it out tomorrow (if it aint raining)

and whats the consiquences if i dont fix this problem soon enough (assuming its a loose rocker)

 

Well if it's loose, then it wont be opening the valve like it should be. So...uh...poor performance. That's about it really...unless it gets the point where it slides off the pushrod or something like that. Til then it'll just work itself looser and looser until it eventually kills that cylinder. Whether it's the intake or exhaust is anybody's guess. Exhaust dies, the cylinder fills up with burnt exhaust gases...maybe bends the intake valve from all the pressure. Failed intake valve... gas pooling in the intake manifold.

 

what should i do when i see the pushrod getting lodged in the hood of my car? does that mean i waited too long and it worked its way from the rocker arm?

 

i am not saying this is the problem but i used to have a 350 that click very slightly at idle and the minute you gave it gas it picked up louder and then in the higher rpms it became a constant rattle. I found out when i tore the engine down the the rings were so worn that the pistons were literaly rocking in the cylinder. my old man said it was common for old engines to have this "pistion slap".

 

Lol yeah, I'd guess that pretty much means the rocker arm came right off and the lifter riding on the cam lobe gave the pushrod enough of a slingshot to shoot it out through the valvecover, as crazy as that is.

 

Sounds like you need a manifold gasket. is it more of a snapping sound rather than a click? valves don't really suddenly come out of a adjustment, unless the rocker stud is on the move.

 

Do you mean exhaust manifolds? I thought they didn't use gaskets?
I have a tick too that i'm going to try and figure out this week.

 

exhaust manifolds do have gaskets. that makes the manifolds SEAL with the heads so there is no leakage. if you dont have gaskets between the ex manifold and the heads then you 99% have a ex leak.

 

i have the same sound, i found out what it is also. A collapsed lifter. I even found a cheap solution, Turn the radio up louder.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=184977
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=186269
GM didn't use gaskets on manifolds I think. Other threads that mention this.

 

can u describe a collapsed lifteR?

 

tap or a ticking sound stays with the engine rpm. Also when i adjust the valves the pushrod on the collapsed lifter goes down father than the rest of them.
Im swapping in a 3.4 this summer so im driving it as is.

If something breaks ill throw a bigger cam in it with new lifters and drive the 2.8 till it dies.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a collapsed lifter going to chew up your cam?

 

if so, i need that fixed pronto!

 

This true. You can't even buy an exhaust manifold to head gasket from GM. From NAPA, yes.

 

This is TravIZ over at a friends house atm, we found it its not the engine at all! its the smog pump and the hose that goes to it was disconnected.

problem solved, case closed.:lala: