I'm trying to sell my 92 RS with the 3.1l in it, but Im having some problems with her.First shes had this horrible ticking sound since I first go her. The car is never low on oil so I know thats not the problem. My question is, how do I quiet this down? Thicker oil? I've also seen all these products that promise to quiet noisy lifters and all that other junk. What do you guys suggest?

 

Bad lifter. Not worth replacing. My car has the same noise. It does not hurt the car. Just listen to cars as they drive by you A LOT of Cars tick. if they won't buy it because it ticks, they probably didn't want the car anyway.

 

Try a thicker oil or Restore Engine oil additive...

 

A thicker oil got mine to stop ticking.

 

Change oil
Do 3 bottles of 5-30
ONE bottle of 20-50
WORKS PERFECT!

 

My 97 lumina has the 3.1 I bought it with 19k miles on it . It has always had a tick that sounds like a lifter but its not . I carried it to the dealership to have it checked because it was still under warranty . The technician said it has to do with the fuel injection system and is very common in the 3.1. The car now has over 60k miles on it , same tick , still runs great.
Its never good to mix grades of oil . It messes up the consistancy of the oil and may cause it to foam which makes it rough on the bearings and the oil pump . I've rebuilt a couple engines where the owner used any oil he could find on sale, it wasnt a pretty sight.

 

And I'll disagree with that.
I've used the cheapest oil I can get. CHEAP CHEAP MIX ANY BRAND
I changed it every 3K+miles, since I had that engine at 77K miles. (My 85 S-10 Blazer)
When it died at 211,500, I pulled the heads off, to waste my time putting on other heads (85 MPFI heads & I blew a head gasket)
My engine was spotless.
Spotless.
NO coking effects at all.
NONE!
My friend was very surprised, especially since he saw the chocolate milk all over the engine bay when the head gasket finally let loose.
I used my 5-30, 20-50 trick for about say (honest) close to 100K miles.
It really helped keep the engine pressure high, quiet and I BEAT THE $HIT OUTTA IT.
Would redline it ice cold, to shift, due to tranny tricks.
I ran it until I killed it.
At 211,500
When I killed my 85 Firebird engine, I opened it. It looked like a coal mine!
Previous owners.
I still use this cheap oil trick, even with the 3.4.
I just prefer AC oil filters as the best aid for any oil damage.
I've been using AC oil filters since 1976.
And any oil.
Especially recycled oil from Pep boys, etc.
If the oil is a buck or less, I'll buy it.
Yes, I do try to get Pennzoil, Chevron, Arco, etc. on sale.
As long as it's CHEAP detergent oil, you're covered from any real damage.
Now with my 1974 Corvette 350 engine (134K original miles, never apart, never, & smoking finally!) I just run any oil.
Even non detergent. Why not. I will be rebuilding it one day, BFD. And when I open it, I'll bet it'll be quite, clean and spotless, too.
Atleast that's the way it looked when I changed my oil pump & timing chain and rear main seal. My oil pan was spotless, NO gunk. Took rear bearing to my machinist. He said it looks perfect, no excessive engine wear. How many miles?
Ya just gotta change oil often and not overheat the engine.

 

That just says alot about our engines
It was just my opinion and from what I personally have come acrossed as a mechanic. I am very particular about my engines thats why in 9 years of powerboat racing I only blew 2 engines and the team won 2 championships.
I wasnt trying to discredit you KED , you know alot more about the f-bodies than I do. Ive learned alot from your posts:hail:

 

I don't knwo alot.
I find out simple solutions others want me to spend big bucks on.
AND I ASK ALOT.
I AGREE WITH YA WHEN YA PUNISH AND ENGINE (racing) IT BETTER BE 100% ToP DOLLAR STUFF.
Cheating on low quality oil on a racing engine is plain stupid.
I DO KNOW THAT preminum grade oils have excellent stuff in them to make them worth the $$ compared to the "recycled oil" I tend to use on a higher milage engine.
BUT, I was VERY SURPRISED that my mixing the oils/cheapest oils on my 211,500 mile S-10 Blazer, the engine looked like it did when I wasted my time swapping heads after I blew a head gasket on an engine with that many miles on it.
BOW TO ME?
Please.
Ask questions have good guidence and get your hands dirty!
Boat racing is the best (according to a good friend)

 

I'm going to have to agree with "I Cant Drive 55" because cheap oils are cheap for a reason. I'm a believer in sticking with the conventinal oils made by major brands. Syn. oils aren't worth the extra $$$. Not to play favorites but, my old man always used castrol GTX conventinal 10w 40 and it's taken his Honda to 230,000 miles and still going, with NO smoke. A little leaky on the shaft seals but no noise, and still pulls strong.

Good Oil is cheap insurance, buying used oil, call it what you want, it's still used and it's been through heat cycles and has carbon and other pollutants in it, NOT for me, and NOT for my baby 3rd Gen.

As for mixing oils, why?, thats why they make different weights to begin with. If you have a bad lifter, find out which one and replace it. Quick fixes are nice to talk about, but the end result is that someday your going to have to fix it so fix it right, again cheap insurance.

 

My "lifter" ticked for
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........
about 100K miles.
Kept it quiet for the 100K by adding 1 bottle of 20-50 oil.
It'll be "fixed" now, as I have to replace the engine. At 211,500 after the headgasket went and killed the engine (not a tickinglifter)
IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE RIDE.
Know how much if a PITA it is to lift off intakes on these cars for a slight tick?
AND by keeping "clean" I could "Fix it" by adding one extra thicker weight oil bottle?
It all depends on how much effort you NEED to put out, to keep rolling down the road.
I'm lazy, big time lazy.
Sometimes!!!!!.......
Band-aids are the correct answer.
AGAIN, sometimes.
Get advice and consider the options.
I would truly consider this an option on old push rod engines, only.
OHC's & modern designed engines-take different medicine.
AGAIN, get advice and consider the option$$$$ for your effort & needs.

 

from your post its hard to determine for me where you are hearing the ticking come from....but definately take a look at you exhaust manifolds. if you have a exhaust leak there you will hear a very noticable ticking noise, which will also get quicker with engine acceleration. check it out. our cars are notorious for getting exhaust leaks there.....could be it and not a lifter. and much easier to cure!!

 

This is a post I pulled from the GM newsgroup/


For the 3100 engine, this noise can almost be considered "normal." The
problem is just like you describe, worse when cold. I have been able to
best year it when releasing the throttle after a "snap" on a cold engine.
Just after releasing it there's the noise, sort of a rapping or tapping
sound, defenitely internal and metallic.

This is covered in a GM TSB, #57-61-24A. The problem results from a
stack-up of tolerances in the production process, and apparently will not
harm the durability of the engine. (According to that TSB you should also
inspect a few other things, since they may cause a similar noise.)

There is also a "piston slap" noise on some of these engines, and that can
be traced to the pistons being at the low end of the tolerance, while the
bore is at the high end. Since you will have to pay for a new engine,
forget about this, and live with it. If it were under warranty you could
get new pistons installed and possibly a replacement engine.

Hope this helps