Have about 2000 miles on this engine.started it this morning and i heard a fairly loud tap followed by a slightly quieter tap tap tap.I shut her down and cranked it again and it was gone,ran fine.do i need to adjust my valves?drove fine the rest of the day.It was a 30 degree morning,can a valve or lifter freeze up on a cold morning or do yall think maybe the oil jusrt hadnt got up there yet on a cold morning?Any ideas?Thanks.

 

what type/weight oil & oil filter are you using?
a lifter could have bled down, its not common but does happen.

 

Sounds like a lifter was clickin, Haha, all too familiar thing to me, just had to tighten mine the other day after putting in the new heads.

Just pop off the valve covers and take a ratchet and slowly tighten'em down to point right before car starts to sound like it's missin.

 

sounds like a cold start, the oul is really thick in that weather so it takes longer to get to the top of the heads thru the push rods and the engine has to work a little longer to accomplish this.

 

IT DIDNT DO IT TODAY AND SEEMS TO BE RUNNING FINE.LIFTER BLEEDING DOWN?Not familiar with that,this is my first engine build.I do have some thick 20/w50 castrol in it which would be like mollasses on a freezing morning.Not sure what part number my filter is but i know its a delco.Thanks! oh i did brake it in with straight 30 weight,Just changed it to the 20w/50.

 

i would recommend going to 10W30.
i used to run 20w50 in my 350 carbed motor, i started getting cold start up rod knock when i got around 2000 on that motor. i was mad, a brand new motor knocking, & it was my fault, i had to replace the rods & mains to stop the knock.
the thick oil takes too long to get to everything on cold startup, even in warm weather unless its in the 90s or hotter.
i now use 10w30 year round & have around 180,000+ miles on the motor in my car now & have no problems with cold startup rod knock & have good oil pressure.

 

thanks guys. i`ll run through the valves and change the oil.Hopefully i`ve done no damage.

 

And who taught you that???


Loosen the rocker while the motor is running until you hear it tapping. Tighten till the slight tapping sounds and they apply another 1/4 - 1/2 turn. Thats it.

 

I was thinking the same thing when I read that!