Lifter tick

[rob1]

Hello everyone I have a 03 avalanche I've got a lifter tick I need help I've tried seafoam with no change has anyone tried something for the lifter tick and worked

 

[EXT4ME]

Are we sure it is not a broken exhaust manifold bolt?

Very common and it can make a sound like a lifter tick.

 

[rob1]

No I'm not sure but it doesn't do it all the time someone told me to try seafoam at it to the oil it didn't help but the longer I idle it gets louder then goes away when I'm driving oil pressure is good all the time someone else told me to add a few ounces of transmission fluid and drive it but I've read conflicting answers on it I was hoping someone on here could help me

 

[ygmn]

when does it do it?
COLD ENGINE ONLY = PIston Slap probably

 

[EXT4ME]

My 2003 Avalanche has piston slap at first of the day cold start, but goes away after the engine is warmed.

It only happens at the coldest start of the day, lasts for a few minutes and I am not concerned with that.

My 2004 EXT had several broken exhaust manifold bolts and that engine had a tick when started cold, but the tick went away after warming up.

I had all of the exhaust manifold bolts replaced and the cold start up ticking went away, for the most part.

I say "for the most part" because shortly after having the exhaust manifold bolts all replaced, I discovered another problem with the engine that was causing lifter tick for the first few minutes of a cold start up.

I eventually discovered that the driver's side head had a crack in it that was allowing engine coolant to drain down into the crankcase, mixing with the engine oil.

This coolant contaminated oil would thin out and when the engine was allowed to sit overnight, the thinned oil would drain out of the lifter, allowing any lifter that was under pressure from being up on a cam lobe to collapse.

Since the engine had a new high volume oil pump that was recently installed, the oil pressure came up to really good pressure pretty quickly and pumped up all of the lifters to full oil capacity, stopping all of the lifter ticking.

The engine ran perfectly quietly in short order, even with the thin, coolant contaminated engine oil.

I eventually had both heads replaced with newly remanufactured ones and the coolant loss problem was solved along with any cold start up ticking.

No cam or lifter damage was observed during the engine breakdown.

All is fine with the EXT's engine now.

Or it is as far as I know.

I only tell this story to let you know that there can be any number of possibilities for the sounds you are hearing.

Some of the reasons can be very mild and either simple to resolve or ignore entirely, while others can be more complex and expensive to resolve.

Best of luck determining your actual problem and I hope it is one of the easier ones to remedy.

 

[redheadedrod]

Its most likely either broken exhaust bolts (Loud when cold, quiets down when it heats up and seals the manifold).

Could also be a bad O-Ring on the pickup tube. This normally also shows up as erratic pressures but not always.

 

[BainMan]

I eventually discovered that the driver's side head had a crack in it that was allowing engine coolant to drain down into the crankcase, mixing with the engine oil.

How'd you diagnose? I'm losing coolant slowly. I put dye in last weekend but not seeing any external leaks via UV light yet.. Also when I changed my oil last I remember thinking, hmmm I don't usually get over 5 quarts out after 5,000 miles.. But I attributed that (perhaps incorrectly) to the new rear main seal..

Sorry to derail the thread @rob1 . Go check the exhaust manifold bolts before anything else, it's a visual check and takes just a couple minutes, don't have to remove anything.

 

[EXT4ME]

How'd you diagnose?

It was a long, drawn out discovery process, so I won't repeat it all again here.

However, after noting a slow coolant drop over a short period of time, I began looking for any leaks by using my radiator pressure test kit.

By installing the test kit on my cold engine and then pumping up the pressure to 15 PSI and then waiting, as the pressure was dropping slowly, I was able to locate a couple of external leaks at different hose connections.

I fixed each of those leaks and performed the test again.

I still had a very slow pressure drop.

Having already discovered something strange was going on with the engine oil, I decided to remove both rocker arm covers and once again performed my pressure tests.

This lead to the discovery of a very small coolant leak between the center head bolts on the driver's side head.

That coolant would seep into the rocker arm area of the head and then drain down into the crankcase and mix with the engine oil, turning the oil a jet black in color and made it much thinner than fresh engine oil.

I had previously noticed that my oil was turning black within a few hundred miles after a fresh oil change and the level of the oil appeared to rise a very small amount on the dipstick.

I also noticed there was no lifter tick immediately and for a short period of time after a fresh oil change.

Some time later, after the truck had sat unused for a couple of years, I had a trusted mechanic replace both heads and that appears to have solved the coolant leaking issue along with the oil contamination.

The engine is back to running like a top with no more coolant leaks and the oil level stays consistent and clean.

And no more cold start lifter ticks.

 

[BainMan]

Having already discovered something strange was going on with the engine oil, I decided to remove both rocker arm covers and once again performed my pressure tests.

Understood, pressure test with rocker arm covers removed.. I'm afraid this is the path I'm headed down.. I see no external leaks with a bright UV dye added, my oil seems off in color and volume, and definitely noticing more lifter tick lately.. I wish I had saved some oil to have it tested by Blackstone, just changed it 4 days ago but recycled it immediately.

 

[EXT4ME]

One other thing that clued me into some kind of a problem, see the picture below.



Pictured above is the underside of the driver's side rocker arm cover when I first pulled the cover off.

The slime you are seeing is from the coolant.

Also, that slime was found in the bottom of the oil pan sump and inside the oil filter.

See the black slime we found in the oil pan below:






That tarry slime is what happens when you mix Dex-Cool coolant with engine oil.

We never saw the traditional "milky" colored oil that is so often reported.

 

[BainMan]

One other thing that clued me into some kind of a problem, see the picture below.

Well crap, I just had the oil pan gasket (and rear main seal) redone October 2023.. Praying the oil pan doesn't need to come off again, its not easy with 4x4. Thanks for the extra info on oil color though, I was assuming since the oil wasn't chocolate milk the leak was external.. That was until I put dye in it and it's not showing up..

I'm picking up a pressure tester on my way home from work today, and will start first thing tomorrow morning.. I have to get this figured out now before I keep driving and make it a catastrophic failure..

If the heads are coming off, perhaps it's time for DOD delete and cam upgrade!

 

[EXT4ME]

The EXT is All Wheel Drive with a front diff, as well.

My mechanic had the oil pan off of that engine a couple of times.

As a matter of fact, the oil pan in the picture was brand new with a few hundred miles on it when the picture was taken.

Each time the oil pan was removed, my mechanic was able to unbolt the front diff, swing it forward and secure it out of the way enough to get the oil pan removed and reinstalled.

Maybe that will help, or maybe not.

We shall see.

 

[Gg05]

Hello everyone I have a 03 avalanche I've got a lifter tick I need help I've tried seafoam with no change has anyone tried something for the lifter tick and worked

Had the same 6 months later needed a new engine.

 

[Wpolonavyguy]

I thought my 07Avalanche had lifter tic drivers side & using stethoscope rod wasn't from lifters. My tick was the evap "purge or vent" solenoid mounted on fuel rail. Internet gets solenoids backwards & mixed everywhere.
I always thought vent solenoid by spare tire & purge solenoid under hood fuel rail. But online see those x2 called wrong constantly.
If it's true lyfter collapse I watched a guy use a rod with angeld surface he hammered down till rod flew out.
Pulling the intake manifold, valve covers & afm plate to get to hammer in video/ to me may aswell buy new lifters & replace all to not have to ever do again.
Budget I'd try the hammer release 1st.

 

[2003VAAV]

I have noisy lifters when cold, tried some MMO to no avail. Tried Lucas oil treatment to no avail. The truck runs good and I read that this is typical for the motor so I'm not really concerned.

I wish GM never stopped making the best motor ever--350. Nice and quiet, runs forever, you can get parts anywhere, you can fix easily if needed and is pretty much bullet proof. Stupid government BS.

 

[redheadedrod]

I have noisy lifters when cold, tried some MMO to no avail. Tried Lucas oil treatment to no avail. The truck runs good and I read that this is typical for the motor so I'm not really concerned.

I wish GM never stopped making the best motor ever--350. Nice and quiet, runs forever, you can get parts anywhere, you can fix easily if needed and is pretty much bullet proof. Stupid government BS.

Check your exhaust bolts. "lifter tick when cold" is normally actually a broken exhaust bolt. The exhaust seals up as the engine warms up.