1992 Grand Prix SE oil?

[xIVAN14x]

I recently had some major work on the engine (overheating) and I started hearing a ticking noise and the mechanic told me to put thicker oil to make that ticking sound would disappear. But it didn't, now the car has very low rpm on idle (about 600-700). I put 10W-30 and an STP additive so now I'm assuming is like a 10W-40. The oil dip stick shows that the oil is well above "operating range". I'm pretty sure that the oil is the problem but I would like to hear confirmation from you guys, I'm no car expert as you can see

[98GPGT2D]

Collapsed lifter?

Does the tick go away after a few minutes?

When you do your next oil change, dump about a liter/quart of oil out. Put the drain plug back in and tighten it up. Dump a liter of AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID in with the ENGINE OIL. Before you freak out and ask if this is going to hurt your engine/car, the answer is NO. I would not tell you to do something that will hurt your car. Drive the car like normal for a couple days, up to a couple weeks with the ATF in with the engine oil.

The ATF has more detergents in it, and will help clean out the oil galleries and free up sticky/collapsed lifters, helping to eliminate or improve the ticking symptom.


Jay

[xIVAN14x]

The ticking does not go away just like that, I have to rev up the engine up to 1500-2000 for it to disappear.

And I forgot to mention that the car usually dies right after idle, I'm blaming it on the low rpm during idle but I don't know.

But I'll try what you said about the ATF with the engine oil and report back

[blueguy]

Video of said noise?

Sometimes that helps as well.

[ibhuff]

Are you 100% sure this problem has only started since having your car worked on? If so what work did you have done. For example if you had a head gasket job done then your problem may be in your valve train when your mechanic put it back together. Opposed to if you just had a radiator replaced then your problem probably isn't a result of recent work done.

I'm not completely sure but I think desired idle in drive should be about 650 or so.

And also if your oil level is well above the full mark you could possibly damage seals.

Goodluck.

[xIVAN14x]

The car was running perfectly after having the head gasket job done. It all started when I added the STP additive on the car, that thing is thick as honey but the mechanic said it would stop the ticking noise on the engine. It only made it worse so I guess I'll take it back to him he gave me a 2 month guarantee on the car...

[ibhuff]

Well there's a possibility that one of the rocker arm nuts is slowing backing out thus leading to your problem being nearly non existent at first and getting worse over time.

is your ticking noise in the very top of the motor or does it seem to be down low? If coolant sat in the crankcase for a while via the head gasket leak then your bottom end may be shot and you could have spun a bearing, which also tends to start out not that bad but gets louder and nastier over time.

The fact that your mechanic is telling you to run thick oil instead of going in and fixing it under warranty is kind of sketchy and leads me to believe that you may have a bottom end problem "which wouldn't be covered under warranty" running thick oil in a motor with a spun bearing is often used as a temporary fix to a permanent problem. I think your mechanic knows what's going on but is either too lazy to pull the back valve cover off and adjust the rocker arms "which is a pain in the ass with these motors because of space issues". Or he doesn't want to tell you that you just dumped a bunch of money into a car that now has a shot bottom end.

Before I learned anything about cars I paid a mechanic 1400 dollars for head gasket job on my car. When I blew it again I did it myself and noticed the mechanic that did it last did a very poor job, the sad fact is that mechanics often make commission and the faster they can pump cars through the more money they make. I no longer trust mechanics. They take advantage of people.

But hopefully for you I'm wrong, there are a number of things that can make these motors tick. Keep us updated on what your mechanic says

[xIVAN14x]

Yeah I'm gonna have to talk to him about that ticking not going away like he said.