On my recently purchased 65 GS, there is a ticking noise emanating from the valve train area which has me a little baffled. I have not yet pulled the valve cover, as nailhead gaskets are impossible to find up here. I drove the car home to Winnipeg from St. Paul, MN, about 475 miles. The noise began somewhere between Clearwater, MN and Fargo, ND. The engine has new cam, lifters, rockers, and I believe push rods from Carmen Faso. The previous owner is just as perplexed as I about this. Haven't been able to make contact with the shop which did the work, which is partly due to my work schedule. This thread mentions some possibilities. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?249692-Engine-Started-Slight-Issue Here is a 30 second video I made yesterday, just click anywhere on the photo to start it and you'll hear the ticking. Anyone have suggestions?? I do not wish to drive the car any further without dealing with this issue.
That's a possibility, which would be rather easy to fix. Car has headers, and I did not actually check for a leak. ou: D'oh I just spoke with the shop who did the work. They did not tear the engine down completely, so perhaps the lifter galley plugs were not touched. It will have to wait until next weekend now, as it's almost time to get to work myself. Keep the ideas coming please. :beer
You'll need to pull the valve cover no matter what because whatever the reason is, it will likely require removal to repair. If the problem isn't obvious with the cover removed, grab each push rod and check for slop particularly when that specific valve is closed (spring not compressed). You can rotate the engine by hand as you check each one until you find the culprit. Based on the video clip, it does sound like a single rod/lifter issue but it could be a number of things especially not knowing exactly what was done to the engine. Please post back when you find the cause.
Before you do anything at all put 1 quart of automatic trans. fluid in the engine oil and drive it ... a lot of times that will solve the problem if there is nothing else but a collapsed lifter....sounds too simple but it works.... :Brow:
x2 Or, Marvel mystery oil. Add a few ounces in the fuel with each fill up. I put some Marvel Mystery oil in the crankcase a few miles before each oil change.
..sounds like classic sticking lifter...but could be elsewhere in valvetrain...might work itself out, but usually gets worse...pull VC and stethoscope each rocker 'till you find it...
The auto trans fluid idea was also suggested by a coworker of mine.:TU: Come to think of it, my dad used to use this method way back in his hot rodding days Hadn't thought of the Marvel mystery oil though. How would adding it to the fuel affect the valve train? I'll try both this weekend. Years ago, my 70 Road Runner developed a similar tick. It cured itself one day by my redlining a few upshifts.:laugh:
A burned out plug on the bottom of your intake manifold will also make a similar noise. Find an old stethoscope and replace the cup with something solid like a steel rod. You can hold the rod next to different parts of the engine and hear exactly where the noise is coming from. If nothing else, just put one end of your breaker bar on the suspected culprit and the other end at your ear (obviously not on a moving part, but close to it.) You'd be amazed as what things sound like when you hear it through something solid rather than through the air. Remember putting your ear to a railroad track to see if there were any trains in the distance? You could hear the wheels on the track long before you could see or hear the train through the air.
Marvel Mystery Oil added to the fuel will lubricate the valves on the intake side, and lubricate the upper cylinder. Dad had a 1940 Cadillac that had a Marvel Oil reservoir on the firewall. it dropped a drop of oil into the intake, every 30 seconds or so. Dad used it on all his cars. So, I do , too. Besides all of hat, it smells good.
Today was ATF day, but after about 15 miles of driving, no change. I tried easy acceleration, and spirited acceleration, neither of which seemed to make any difference. BTW, has anyone tried to drain just one quart of engine oil? :laugh: Tomorrow the valve covers come off and we'll see what carnage awaits me there. I have not received the oil analysis report yet.
Most times that works,,, have you been adding zddp additive to your oil to replace the zinc the oil companies left out???
Doc, when I changed the oil last weekend, one bottle of ZDDP went in with it. The previous owner did not use it when he changed then oil just prior to my taking delivery. The engine ran beautifully when I began the trip home. Now has a slight miss at idle, but pulls strongly under throttle. I fear that something bad has happened to the valve train, Sunday will reveal more. ZDDP is not readily available in Canada. There are a few similar zinc additives available locally that I have not tried yet.
hoping for the best Tom .. Sucky ordeal for all and quite the conumdrum ... you can order zddpPlus by the case from Gessler, even pick it up at the BPG Nats
