Just developed a noisy hydraulic lifter.
Did the four quarts [heavier than usual] 20W-50 + one quart MMO oil change. Used a $12 K&N filter.
After just 200 miles, the noise has lessened, and is now occasionally intermittently inaudible. And that minty-fresh smell!!!
That is the good news.

The dipstick is attracting black dust. I suppose that this is carbon and other junk. The oil itself is maintaining a golden color. Is the oil filter up to the task, or will I be on the ground in 20 degree weather changing the oil and filter next month?
Safe to go until April?

Engine has 110,000 miles, with 2,500 miles between oil changes. Thought that it was clean. Who knew?



Seth

 

Black dust on the dipstick? You'll have to give more details on that one...

You should try doing an ATF flush of the oil system in the engine. There are threads on this board with all the details on how to do it, and it works VERY well when done properly. This may help your noise problem.

Are you sure its a lifter though? Lots of people mistake an exhaust leak for valvetrain noise...

 

I believe that the dirt on the dipstick is representative of what is being shed off the cylinder walls, oil passages, lifters, etc.. Cannot be anything else, as it wasn't there until I added the MMO.

As a Canadian, you understand that doing the ATF thing is out of the question this time of the year. I am not willing to put myself in the position of providing several necessary oil changes in sub-freezing temperatures.

Daytime temp is in the low 60s/high 50s now, but this will not last long enough for my needs. If pushed into a mid-winter oil change by the present crankcase-full of MMO/oil mixture, I will need to lower my standards by going to a Jiffy Lube-type establishment. They will need to use my oil, my filter, and will only be permitted to do the work while I watch.

If tomorrow holds in the 60s, I might do a tranny fluid change. I have some nice full-synthetic Castrol, and a Purolator filter kit. Some place or other, I have a B&M drain plug kit. GM is something else. I had a Chrysler with a plug on the tranny and a plug on the converter. Even had a magnet in the pan. Though I cannot empty the converter, a filter change will be great for the old girl. If I do a change now, and one again in the spring, with the same synthetic stuff, most of the old fluid will be replaced.

Seth

 

Multiple changes? You only need to do it once really... add about a quart of ATF to whats there, run it for about 15 mins to half hour, dump it out, change oil and filter with clean stuff - done. Thats the gist of it anway. Its not a diffcult or time consuming thing to do - don't even have to take it off the stands.

 

Adam,

The MMO is really beginning to work, but if the noise persists, I will do the ATF thing once, as you have suggested.
Time to vote for the lesser-evil of two candidates, whomever that may be.

To quote Sara Palin, " I can see Russia from my backyard."

What a frightening woman.

Seth

 

Thicker oil isn't going to help. ATF will only help if it's a gummed=up lifter causing the noise.

(For the record: "Any intelligent person knows that Sarah Palin was joking when she said that she could Russia from her house. It’s pure hyperbole." Please be intelligent when you vote, because we will get the government we deserve.)

 

Yea definitely - look at what happened last time.

 

I used a thicker oil because the MMO thins it out.
In spite of the fact that I do not understand exactly what is going on with the hydraulic cam follower, the sound now varies from apparent, to inaudible. I suppose that the MMO will [or might] do in several hundred miles, what the ATF can do in a drive to the corner store and back.

As far as this election goes, both popular candidates frighten me. This country is no more than a shadow of its former self, and quite possibly will never be great again. Bush and his cabinet helped big-time, but we were on a downward spiral long before he took office.
I do not know if anyone can or would pull us out of this mess.

Saw a Mr. Gasket permanent thermostat gasket at the store today. Looked different from the one I have on my engine.
Checked the card. Made in China was pasted over Made in USA. Will that ever change for the better? How can it, as we will never restrict imports from a country that we owe trillions to.
A good place to effect some policy change.

Seth

 

Yes, 2006 was a very bad year, and things have been going downhill ever since. . .

It is getting harder to find Made in USA parts, but it can still be done. Mostly it's a matter of being willing to pay more.

I gave up on Mr. Gasket quite awhile ago. Even Spectre has better stuff, although their stuff is also made in China.

 

May the young guy with the odd name be the best damn president we have seen in generations.

Seth

 

Wishes and dreams rarely translate to reality.

May we survive the young guy with the odd name so whether we buy American or made elsewhere is still a choice we can make.