Here's a video of my car taken last year... I'm pretty sure the lifter is ticking... it's really loud and if you keep listening to when I pull in, you can hear it is synced with engine speed... so the lifter needs to be fixed... but then if you listen closely, it sounds like I have an exhaust leak. I know the catalytic converter had a leak in it... but what else could be causing that whining noise? It sounds real nice with the new Flowmasters we put on though! Please help!!!

Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lpT7...e=channel_page

 

I'd want to take my mechanic's stethoscope to it. How well are the exhaust manifolds sealing to the y-pipe? Are there any gaskets between your exhaust manifolds and your heads? How about the exhaust oxygen sensor? Those are the first things to verify.

 

Well idk that "tick" sounded alittle heavy to me. Maby its just my speakers (just $16 wallmart crap) but idk it sounded like more of a knock to me. I would try pulling each spark plug wire one at a time (with insulated pliers so you dont get zapped) and if the sound changes when you pull one of the wires you have a problem in the bottom end on that cylinder. Now you mentioned a whining i heard a bit of a whine that sounded like just the intake sucking in air may be normal idk ive never owned a TBI car or it may be a vacuum leak or a small exhaust leak. I know my car had a leak in the exhaust and it made my car sound like it was turbocharged lol. Other things that can whine if your hearing a different whine than i think your refering to are the trans and rear end.

 

I've been told by two mechanics who told me that it was a lifter tick... they swear by it. I'll put another link up, hopefully I can get a more clear diagnosis.

Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCG2v...e=channel_page

 

Idk it still sounded like a knock to me. I turned the sound all the way up to get a good listen but it still sounded pretty heavy. The other thing it is usually when you hear a lifter tick its the result of a cam lobe being worn down. The problem is v8 camaros modle years 87 and up all had roller cams if im not mistaken virtually eliminating ground down cam lobes. Also if you had a cam lobe worn down that low that it made that much noise you would notice some kind of driveability issue weather it was a constant miss (and intake lobe being worn down) or a constant backfire in the intake (an exhaust valve lobe worn down) but your motor sounded like it was running real well (sounded pretty mean too if i do say so myself). The other possability a broken/collapsed lifter. Now ive seen lifter where the snap ring let go and the lifter fell apart causing a heavy tick but when you reved the motor the tick would kinda come an go/be inconsistant your sounded pretty constant with RPM changes. Now im not saying that its impossable that its not valve train related but i would deffinetly try the test i meantioned earlier with the spark plugs that will tell you for sure if you have a bottom end issue or not and thats what i kinda suspect. Maby other members will have a different oppniion but thats what it sounds like to me. You could also pull the valve cover and hit the rockers with a cheap wallmart strobe lite or a timing light while its running and if you see the rockers doing something strange/inconsistant/irregular movements then you have a valve train problem. Although i would still start with the spark plug trick because its easier and you wont have to do any real dissasembly or lose any oil (which will burn off on the header and smoke pretty good) from running the car with no valve covers on.

 

Thanks for the compliment. It was wierd, the car didn't tick/knock when I picked it up. I had a TB put on (the car was carb'd improperly) and I had a shop do the full swap, and change the oil, and when we picked the car up, they told me it had a lifter tick. I'm going to go with it being a lifter, it sounded like it was right underneath the valve cover on the passenger side. There was one time where the car stopped ticking for a little bit, but then started up again. The other mechanic that I took it too immediatly said that it was a lifter, and to repair it was going to be $300. I really hope it's not bottom end, that LO3 is a really fun motor. I can't afford to repair a knock and it wouldn't be worth it. The car runs great, there is a slight occasional miss during idle, but the rpm's only drop about 300 for like a quarter of a second and bounce back. I was told that was an igntion problem. I am planning on running Sea Foam through it and getting the oil changed again when I get it back. The car seems to read that it has low oil pressure... maybe it's just the wrong oil, or I have a problem with the pump... I have a link of it driving too, if you want to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0BCR_fW55Y

 

That was the other thing i forgot to ask you was about the oil pressure as low oil pressure can sometimes tip you off to a bottom end issue due to excessive clearances. How low is it? On a side note I though that sounded like a flow master. I dont think theres a more aggressive sounding exhaust system for these cars while still maintaning a streetable sound level produced by any company. I do sincerly hope its just a lifter and my speakers decive me but even if its not you can pick up a motor for these cars real cheap being that there older motors that theres not alot of demand for plus the fact that theres not really a whole lot of demand for a v8 in general right about now. I know i got a 350 for $350 coincidentally lol. Still may not be worth it to u but something to concider should it come down to it.

 

Yeah, it's a Flowmaster 80 Series single in, dual out. I made sure that that's what was installed on the car. Flowmaster is definitley one of the best on the market. I really hope it's a lifter tick too. Although if it isn't this could be a good opportunity to put a larger engine in, RIP LO3 lol. I talked to a guy a few days ago that has an LO3 laying around with 160,000 and wants $300 for it. I had also considered a LSX swap, but that would be a bit pricey considering that I start college this fall, and this car needs to be a daily driver, it's 40 miles each way, and I'll be putting 10,000 miles on a year.

 

Yea idk its one of thoes things im all for motor swaps but at the same time it seems inevitable that with that kinda thing there will be some bugs to work out atleast in the beggining. This can be a problem if its a car you depend on to go to school/work so ide be tempted to stay stock till you get a back up car/have more money to tinker. Reguardless though whatever happens ide be curious to hear if it turns out to be a lifter or bottom end issue or whatever it turnes out to be so keep us posted.

 

I will. BTW, oil pressure seems to be about 15 at idle... 30 during regular driving... seems really low.

I'll keep you all posted... I'm going to have it looked at when I get it back. I don't have a job anymore, but I know a few people around that would be willing to help me attempt to fix it for really cheap or for free. It'd be a real shame to lose this motor, I've invested over $1,000 (I didn't expect it to get expensive) just to get where I'm at now, and it really does drive beautifully, it's just that exhaust leak and lifter tick. I do know that the last owners really beat the **** out of the car, so fortunatley for the car, it finally got a loving owner that takes care of it, and it's really made a turn around from day one!

 

Oh yea i know how that goes. I bout an 86 birlinetter that was owned by a 16 year old kid the motor was in rough shape but all i wanted was the chassy so i bought it for 300. The car died on the way home coasted it down hill the last half mile lol. Later i tore apart the motor to see what happened and i tell you someone must have hated this car. I immediatly noticed that one of the connecting rods was real loose and discovered thats because there was no bearing lol. The rest of the main bearings and rods were torn to shreads cracked and there were long pieces of shaved mettle stuck in the bearing oiling groves. The cam was pretty throughly wiped clean. The crank was so bad i didnt even have to take a mic to it it was visually out of spec and the block was cracked lol. Does it get any worse than that? Although thats why i love chevy you can tear them to pieces and thell still do the best to get you home.

 

That's crazy man. Poor car! I tell you what, when I picked my car up, the two front tire sidewalls were melted from the previous owners racing it so hard. It would jump three feet when you put it in drive because it idled so high... it was an absolute wreck... and I overpaid dearly for the car $3,100! I bought it from a used car dealership in FL, they lied their asses off about the car... we were in for a big suprise when it finally arrived! My car, you can tell... was just beat to hell. It's really a shame because it was a one owner, very cared for car for 12 years! And the last five it was owned by idiots. I am really nice to that car, for the most part. I do have fun with it from time to time though...

That's why I love Chevy's too. It seems like they have their own personalities, and they always do their best to please us! Lol.

 

They really do have their own personalities. Its hard to explain but its one of thoes things only an enthusiest would understand. That seems to be the usuall story. Ive been tinkering with these cars since i was 14. I bought my first camaro an 85 birlinetta with the crazy digital dash and all that and it was very clear it was loved and then it got into the hands of a younger kid who ran it into the ground and moved along to run the next car into the ground. Good for me though couldnt afford much being 14 and all and i had 2 years to get it road worthy. Since then ive owned 3 third gens camaros and 1 third gen trans am and i havnt lost one yet to accidents or anything like that. My 85 now has 1 million 15 thousand miles on it 8 years later lol. Although the people who know me want their cars to go to me because they know ill take care of them. Already i had an older gentleman sell me a 85% restored 66 charger that he was asking 7 grand for for what i had only $1500. My neighbor wants to leave his old corvette when he passes. Hes always said hed rather it rot in the back yard than see some young kid wreck it. Ive had one lady try to give me there camaro that she could not fix and it broke her heart to send it to the wrecking yard. I had an older lady that owned my daily driver befor me bought it 1984 when it was 1 year old drove it daily ever since and sold it to me for 500 just because it was going to go to the good home it needed. There great cars and its really a tragedy to see them get thrashed and scrapped but i can take comfort in knowing im doing my part.