treefrogjeff

I have an 08 with 2300 miles on it (5.3 Vortec). Initially there was no ticking even in cold weather. Over the past 2 weeks, each morning on cold start there is a "valve/lifter" tick from the same area in the engine. I can idle for 10 minutes and it will not go away. However, if I drive a mile or so, it goes completely away. If it sits for a couple of hours, the tick returns.

The car is garage kept and the temperature never dips below 45 so it is not sitting in an overly cold environment. It is sitting on a flat surface.

I have spoken with two dealerships and was given the "Its cold and Vortecs do that" explanation. I have also read about similar problemshere in the forum and talked with friends that have similar problems. On the flip side, I have also talked with a GM tech in Michigan that has had three Burbs over the years and has never had this occur (it is COLD and hisBurbs are outside all night).

Ive also read a bulletin that describes "carbon buildup" that has to burn off even in new engines (But if that were the case, why does it seem that that tick is localized to one valve?? Shouldnt all the valves tick at some point??)

Another explanation is the possibility of a sparkplug that needs warming to "spark" correctly. Maybe.

Anyway, the Burb goes in this evening to the dealership for a once over. Im dropping it off for an overnight so they can start it in the morning and listen to the 10 minute tap dance.

Ill update this post tomorrow once I get word on........The Phantom Tick.

Signed,

"So glad I dropped $46000 for a timebomb." []

EvansBlue

Vortecs do that. All of them. All of the valves are ticking. It goes away when the engine warms up to running temp. Its just a characteristic. The only time you have problems is when you hear it pinging or knocking.

treefrogjeff

Hi Euro,

I have heard that from several people but apparently it does not occur to "all" Vortecs. As I mentioned, I have a close friend in Michigan that works for GM and has had three Suburbans and a Silverado over the past 7 years. He leaves them outside at night and he reports that none of them ever produced an engine tick on cold starts.

When I told him my problem, he laughed and asked "just how cold does it get in Kentucky?"

Id add this: when I got up this AM and started my Suburban, there was no tick. The temperature here is no different than yesterday or the day before as my garage is climate controlled to 45-50.

Im at least getting it documented at the dealer so if something strange happens later......

Thanks for the input and I'll let you know what the dealer says. I was going to drop it off this AM but we have snow coming in so its going in Monday.

J

nnucci

I have an '07 suburban with the same issue when it was new. I live in Maryland and my truck is garage kept as well, but I was hearing the tick in all weather conditions, summer or winter. I have about 13,000 miles on it now and the tick has all but gone away. It seems to have become less frequent as time went on and I rarely hear it now. The dealer gave me the same explanation when I took it in for this issue. All seems to be good now.

treefrogjeff

The local dealers verdict is in. Vortecs under a certain age (usually 12-15K miles) have the occasional valvetick on cold start-up. This explanation does agree with the reply above. Im just not sure how with all factors being equal, why there is a tick one morning and not the next.

I guess Ill take their word for it. At least its documented.

edward301

Some engines will have valve tic, some will not. Most engines have high valve lift for
more horsepower, and this will cause ticking at times depending on grade of oil, how
cold it is, how much oil has drained down to the pan, and valve tolerence (spacing ).
Also valve tappet adjustment will cause some ticking. Most of the time this goes away
as parts wear in, which now days can be 10k miles.

My wifes 2000 sub did this some, and we never worried about it. When we traded it in
at 100k for a new sub, still ticked some, but never had problems.

00ramair

Could be what happened with the 02 TA's and Camaro's which is piston slap on # 8........

Annie Thornhill

Ours was the oil pick up o ring. Replaced with new pick up tube and ticking went away. Bought it with this issue and was pretty sure we knew what it was. Higher mileage 2008 K1500 and it was fixed in a couple of hours. Low oil pressure when it warmed and that’s when the ticking would start.

Suburban Dude

Do you have 2300 miles or 230,000 miles on it?

SD

Annie Thornhill

203000. easy way to tell is to watch the oil pressure. In the case of mine I bought it like this with a good idea of what was wrong. Needed a new sending unit first it was faulty and we wanted w true reading of the pressure. Once we could see the lack of pressure when the tick would start we knew it was starving for oil and creating the tick. Changed the pick up tube o ring and new filter when we changed the oil and tick is gone. 1/2 day labor and $100 in parts. Loaded out Z71 4x4 for a third of its value because they thought it needed a whole new motor.