hey yall. well i just recently got my oil pump replaced cause my old one was going bad. my valves clicked alot cause they werent getting any oil. i got it replaced with new oil and filter and what not. well within the past 3 days my driver side vavles have started clicking again even though the engine is getting oil. the passenger side doesnt make any noise. its only the driver side. you cant really hear it when im idling but when i start accelerating i can hear it clearly. i thought about a clog somewhere. could that be it? im not sure now on this one. i would really love the help before my engine goes out.

 

if you went too long without oil pressure it may have taken a cam lobe, make sure it is not an exhaust leak

 

im not to familiar with a cam lobe. what is that? and no its not exhaust

 

the cam lobe is what makes the valves move, they are softer than the lifter which rides on them, so when there is no oil present the lifter quickly destroys the cam lobe hence a clicking noise because the valves are no longer in adjustment

 

well, i have just succesfully fixed some other memebr ticking noise with this, so, maybe, it's your turn now.
1. buy can of Seafoam
2. go to wallymart and buy a "handy 5 qrt can" of oil in your weight, Pennzoil and Quaker state are both around 12 bucks now.
3. Go and buy Mobil1 oil filter.
4. i would say - go and buy 6 bottles of Amsoil, but what do I know....

5. pour Seafoam into the cranckcase. basically, add it to engine oil
6. drive for around 5-600 miles
7. get truck on ramps, drain oil, pour in whatever oil you bought from wallymart. run engine for about 15 minutes, occasinally revving to 2000 rpms and holding 10-15 seconds
8. drain oil - it'll come out pitch black - put the drain plug back in, using copper or aluminum washer; replace oil filter. refill with new oil
9. BE HAPPY.

GM engines have poorly designed/manufactured hydraulic lifters. they get "sticky" from sludge. hence, on cold engine, takes time for oil to get in and build up pressure to remove rockers slap. called "morning sickness". Seafoam and flush cleans lifters.


of course, you might have timing too advanced, no way to change it unless you have distributor.

 

As you sure it that it is not a ping? Pinging can be caused by a lean fuel mixture, improper ignition timming, of lack of EGR

 

ok ill try that. sounds kinda expensive process but if your sure it will help. im sure it has sludge build up. i did run motor flush through it before but i didnt see and chunks come out. how much would a cam lob cost and how hard would it be to replace? is it possible that sludge is clogging the passage way to the valves?

 

well on most v-8 push rod engines cam lobes come in packages of 16 neatly organized on a stick... I'm sorry i couldn't resist, it would require a new camshaft

 

ok well way more than i need to spend. lets hope its sludge. and to tahoe guy, no its not a ping. its a clicking. the same noise it made before i got my new pump when the valves were not getting oil. so ill try to get slude out i guess. if thats not the problem then i guess ill be out of a couple hundre dollars huh? unless anyone else might know what it could be and a quick fix?

 

Well, realisticaly, if it's your camshaft, this would be a great time to replace it with an aftermarket one with slightly higher lift, and a little more duration. You'll get a little bit more power out of your truck without losing too much of the stock feel. (Keep in mind, I'm talking slightly different camshaft, not all-out performance; for that you'd want to rework your heads and get an entirely new valvetrain.) I know that probably isn't going to happen, but it's just a fun suggestion to keep your spirits up man. =]

But, for your wallet's sake, I hope its just sludge. Seafoam is great stuff. I plan on doing the flush ukrkoz mentioned earlier when I'm driving home in a few weeks. Ukrkoz, if I do the aforementioned flush, would that be the ideal time to switch to a synthetic oil? I'm at nearly 155,000 miles, and haven't realistically had the chance to switch. Are there any other preparations I need to make in switching to synthetic?