hi the engine in my car (85 tpi 305) recently started making a very loud and annoying clicking somewhere on the pass. side. i have had the valvecovers off twice on both sideds, and adjusted the valve lash correctly to every single valve. yet the noise persists. it's annoying the heck out of me. it's actually making me hate driving my car.

could it be a lifter finally crapping out? the ones in my car don't even have 20K miles on them; they're new nd were installed when the engine was rebuilt! i checked the ball under each rocker; no luck. this is driving me nuts!

any ideas?

kevin

 

Is it a ticking that increases with RPM's? If yes, exhaust leak gets my vote. Try tightening the header/manifold bolts or replacing the gasket.

 

actually, it gets quieter at higher RPMs. at idle or lower rpms, it drives me insane.

kevin

 

Like Stekman said, I also would look into an exhaust leak, or a loose/broken plug.

If you do suspect your lifters, it is possible you have one that is not pumping up. I had a bran-new set in my 355, and one of them right off the bat was bad/or broke right away and wouldn't pump up. I have spring rates just a little over 400# full open and used stock hydraulic flat tappet lifters. They didn't like the high spring psi. and were all a bit noisey, but #2 ex. was the worst, and would not settle down. I did find that if I ran a thinner weight oil (5W or 10W), they were a little quieter and I got more oil up top. But if I ran a straight 40W, it took almost 2 minutes to see oil at the fulcrums on a cold start. I had the oil psi. guage buried at 60+psi. too.

I changed them out for a solid cam and lifters.

Another hard learned lesson.

 

My car was doing this...the back two bolts on the left manifold were completely loose.

 

thanks guys. the cam that was installed at the time of rebuild was a stock cv-12 cam. i don't know why the previous owner would put a stock cam in it, but he did. this clicking came out of absolutely nowhere. while it could be a broken plug, the car does run completely fine and all, except for that damned clicking. i'm starting to lean towards a bad lifter, but i don't know. when i had the covers off, i tried to isolate the sound, and i believe it's coming from the rear passenger side, either cyl 6 or 8. i adjusted those valves numerous time, but no luck.

kevin

 

Do all 8 rocker arms on the passenger side follow the full range of motion?

Injectors and EGR are 2 other things that can tick.

 

Did you try a stethoscope? If it's a lifter or pushrod, the sound can be heard clearly on the rocker bolt.

 

i don't have a stethescope, but i did use a long flathead screwdriver, placed on each rocker arm nut..heard nothing. nw im stumped.

kevin

 

i had the exact same problem, it was loud as heck, but i got the gaskets replaced, and it sounds so much better, no clicking at all. my gaskets popped because some valve on the exhaust was closed up. egr? ese? i dont know.

bottom line, get your exhaust gaskets replaced.