just bought a 88 camaro 5.0 tbi.when I pick it up it had a slight lifter tap.drove it about 30 miles to my house and half way home it started tapping loud.took the lifters out and none of them seem bad but the motor is loaded with engine sludge.could it still be a bad lifter?also when it started getting louder there was a power loss and was sluggish at 50 mph cruising speed.

 

Maybe the sludge is clogging your oil pump. As a result not enough oil is lubricating the parts. Start by changing the oil and adding an additive. It's cheap enough and you need it anyway.

 

well the oil gauge only read 30psi maxx and went way down to almost 0 at idle(900-1000rpm)but the guy said he tested it with an external gauge which I dought he did.the motor has 129k on it.
is there a way to test the oil pump with out taking the motor out?

 

and is there a way to clean out the lifters just in case there clogged

 

took a small straw 2 a couple and blew in the oil hole.some air was coming out the top on some and nothing a some.guessing some of the lifters are clogged.gonna blow air throug them then soak then in oil..whats the best thing to use to clean the motor once its all back together?

 

As far as cleaning out the motor you can put about 1/2quart of atf in the oil and change it after a few hundred miles

 

compessed air throu all the lifters and one was clogged.there all cleaned now but I'm kinda worried about the oil pessure.I have a mec. oil gauge I'm going to hook up so I can see what it is.
will the atf some what clean the pick up tube?

 

Atf has a lot of detergents in it And will brake down sludge and carbon. BUT if you use to much for to long you can wipe out bearings .

 

is there anything good that I can use thats made for cleaning motors?

 

Wynn or something like that has some stuff you put in the oil run it for like ten minutes. And that stuff stinks LOL like **** ants when you step on them. Or you can use the old standby gas.

 

Couldn't he use Marvel Mystery Oil or the STP stuff?

 

Yeah he could but I don't think that stuff is a cleaner tho.

 

is that engine restore stuf a cleaner?

 

http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/index.php/site/mmo/

Say it prevents valves sticking and eliminates sludge. Also, breaks down carbon.....ect.

 

I read the page and was just thinking it might have been a stuck valve to.but it didnt smoke at all....I'm gonna try it anyway.

 

Probably a good idea to use atf or seafoam for the initial cleaning. Don't run for too long as stated before, then change oil and add Mystery oil. Can't go wring with that IMO.

 

Marvel mystery oil is good stuff use it after you use the atf should clean it out.

 

If the engine is that badly sludged, the only way to really clean it is to pull the intake, VCs, and pan, and scrape it all out, but thats more trouble than its worth with a stock L03.

The other long term option is using high quality synthetic motor oil. They have very good detergent packages, and over time will eat away at the sludge. A quart of ATF at the first few oil changes will also help clean out the gunk (make sure you run a higher viscocity oil to compensate). After a couple of years, this cleaned out the 3.0L in my old ford. What ever you do, dont use cheap oil. It will make it worse. Also make sure the PCV system is properly working. Thats a major cause of sludging.

On my original 305 (88 TBI, like yours), there was so much sludge that there was no space for the oil. Pretty impressive when I took it apart. The sludge had a perfect outline of the crank in it, and a small hole leading to the pickup. All the bearings front of the #5/6 cylinder where totally wiped due to lack of lubrication.

 

got all the lifters and push rods cleaned.changed oil and added seafoam.the noise is still there and oil is coming from every rocker and all about the same amount comes out of each one.sounds like its coming from the cam area.doesnt sound like a rod knock,had a motor that had a rod knock.it sound like a tapping.if I rev it up its gets louder but when it idles back down to 800rpm it goes away for a split second.the sound it not steady.its always there but will get loud and soft at times...could it be the cam or even maybe the oil pump tube fell out?

 

you got the exact same problem as me... I cant find were my noise is coming from either! And my motor also is sludged up VERY VERY BAD
only thing is mine is so loud im scared to drive it.

 

I recomend Sea Foam that stuff will clean the sludge right up. I used it and it worked great. There is no more sludge in the valve covers at all, and they were bad. In fact you couldne see the rocker arms or the top of the head at first now it looks almost new clean .

 

did the OP ever fix the noise???
Mines is plaguing the hell out of me.
My motor is squeaky clean too.

 

when i first got my car the sludge in the valve covers was so bad that like someone else said i couldn't see the springs. i actually used a torch on the covers and burned it all out then re painted them. i vacuumed as much out of the head as i could and keep using atf with my oil changes.... btw i run 10w- 40 with the atf. i also change the oil at 3000 miles and use the 5.0 truck filter. its bigger. my oil pressure gauge reads 60 psi btw... mechanical gauge reads 55? i have alot of valve train noise and cant figure it out? can the rockers come out of adjustment over time? the last owner was very lax on maintenance where as i am not. i am considering a newer short block if i cant figure it out.....

 

I had the same problem in my 83 Camaro. Come to find out my piston bore was f'd up and the piston skirt was banging around in the cylinder. It started out the same way ur's did with a little tap then just got worse. did you check the wrist pin on ur pistons? that don't sound like a lifter. I could be wrong. the out come on my car was the piston let go bending my @#$# all up. and cracked a hole on my block and destroyed my cam ect.