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tapping ticking problems/resolutions

S

svtfixer

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
Messages
697
Location
Yonkers, NY
im in the middle of addressing the tapping ticking from the rear head, particularly the exhaust cam on a 3l port matched.

for the people who have had this happen to them, was it on a 2.5 l or a 3.l. was it solved and how?

i have narrowed mine down to noisy lifters. i checked for blockages at the pickup, good to go, no rod knock, chain tension issues or guide issues. i am replacing the entire rear banks lifters with new ones and ill know very soon weather depending if this solves it 100%. one probably pretty important thing is the noisy lifter seems to have a smaller oil port than the other lifters on the same bank/exhaust cam. i pulled out a lifter for a 2.5 and compared, its bigger than the noisy lifters port but smaller than the rest on the trouble cam.

has anyone else gone through this and also noticed the oil port? anyone with any more info to add to this about oiling or lifters in particular?

ive read about other members problems similar to this but not quite any concrete answers. if it was a 2.5 they upgraded to a 3.0

also. there will always be a bit of running noise with any car but this recently got alot louder on mine and instead of blowing it up in ignorance i decided to investigate.
 
I would be curious to know as well. I have been trying to research a lot about engine noises these engines tend to make and what the related noise is. My recently acquired 2000 SVT with 200,000 miles makes full power, but has a lower rpm rattle type noise. Could it be rod bearings possible, but anytime you seem to mention noise, "your engine shot, rod bearing failure." Really?? Every time? I thought I did the smart thing after the purchase and get the car home and park it. I have been researching for weeks and have not open the engine as of yet. Mine seems like a upper end rattle in the guide/valve cover area. Only when you blip the throttle certain ways. A full WOT blip does not produce and abnormal noises.

I figured a engine with my kind of mileage that stepping up to the 0-40 Mobil one true synthetic oil would be a wise choice. The oil starts out as a low 40 weight, shears down to a high 30, then over time thickens back up to a low 40 weight. Mercedes use the same oil and have 12,000 mile change intervals. Granted I am not planing on those high intervals, but if the engine is showing some age and large clearances than a slight step up in my opinion is appropriate. What I find funny is my v8 SHO with 180,000 miles runs 0-40 Mobil one and gets driven hard. Yet those rods don't fail and they are the same rod! I have had my v8 up to 7500 RPM with that mileage, but the v8 has better drain back and doesn't require much oil on the upper valve train DAMB system.

I am starting to think that the rod issue is a combination oil starvation/fatigue rods. I would like to replace the lower rod bearings as preventative but don't know if its even wise to touch at as some mention the big end should really be resized. I think new bearings and a better rod fastener could improve rod cap strength a little.

Now that I think about your original question. The hole is is probably related to viscosity of the oil used. Older engines ran 5-30w while newer ran 5-20w. Viscosity has effect to the pump up of the lifter. I read that 4 valve 4.6 engines that run really high rpm, like above 7500 rpm, run into issues were the lifter pump up is so great it lifts the valve off the seat. That is were the hole size comes into effect for restriction. It is nice to know that the ford lifter is good for 9600 rpm, at least in the mustang and I am pretty sure there the same. This is something I would have to watch out for with 0-40w, but predict that issue would probably be at the 7500-8000 range which should be a non issue.
 
yeah its interesting that some engines run much quieter than others. the valve knock sound is supposedly a common one in this car, i havent read anything that went into it as far as why really. my cams were fine, no scorching at all. doesnt sound like it wasnt oiled. i always use the 5-w20. i might have tried the 5w-30 once but theres so much debate on what you should use. not particularly for this car obviously 5w20 or 5w 30. i read a whole bunch that changed my thoughts about stepping it up to 30.i briefly thought thicker is better. my father whos more old school doesnt think it makes too much of a difference because its synthetic. i can tell the weather does have some effect on thickness but i didnt live back in the conventional days. i think i ran 30 for one oil change i thought i felt the weight making everything feel a bit slower. in general cold weather oil is denser due to the temp so you want to use thinner than thicker to get flowing but i guess if its within spec.


the size of one of my noisy lifters was smaller than the 2.5 which was really odd that they didnt match. this is something im asking if anyone else noticed and the difference between the ports on the 2.5 and 3. weird also that i ran it for like years without this noise. im picking up new lifters right now and am gonna put em in. i can get most of the car done to see how it concludes but wont have a real answer for a little bit.

i think i am in the right spot here of what the running noise is.

side note, i hit the cams to the rockers w a feeler gauge. theyre tight. caps, the same. this is the only thing that made the noise when i lifted them out of the head. ill probably try to follow up with some pics to illustrate whats going on for an actual solution.
 
i got the new lifters. they are much more reactive than the ones i pulled out. if you try to squeeze them top to bottom they are moving while the ones i pulled out were much tighter. this is probably the difference in wear of the lifters which obviously absorb vibrations or not in the old "collapsed" cases. i set them in a chineese food container w oil in them to fill them. you can see the air bubbles come out of them when they fill. eureka?
 
Lifters ( hydyaulic lash adjusters ) that don't have oil filled will squeeze, normal. Even when you put new lifters in the engine be ready to have them be very noisy for a few minutes until fully pressurized. Properly working lifters ( hydyaulic lash adjusters ) will not squeeze much if any at all, they are designed to take up slack on the cam follower and anything over .030 in movement would mean they are not functioning properly.

Hydyaulic lash adjusters in our engines don't really wear out, it isn't like a v8 engine where the lifter actually rides on the cam, these never touch the cam at all. They just take up the slack of the roller which rides on the cam. I hate to see people spend money on something that isn't broken.
 
its worth the attempt to learn more. something is making noise. in my opinion from what i've seen in my investigation here it makes sense. i changed out all of the lifters on the rear head where the noise is coming from. i ended up getting all of them for 40 bucks. plus the gaskets.. got halfway to putting it back together.i checked the clearance and while it was within spec i did see more daylight on one or 2 of em.

ive read those threads but its not the cause of the noise. not even the right head. the caps were good.
 
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