Thread: i need help! engine ticking?? 3800

Collapsed lifter?

Not to my knowledge, without removing the lifters.

Out of curiosity, where in TN are you?

Originally Posted by a.caldwell11

do you know if it could possibly be the fuel injectors???

I know my fuel injectors do make noise. And overall, the entire valve train isn't quiet by any means. If you are getting oil up top and good oil pressure overall, I would run it.

Yeah, my injectors tick as all do. That's why GM made the engine cover as a sound shield to keep it down.

Reason I asked where you were is I used to live in Memphis a couple years ago and still go back to visit.

What is your oil pressure?

if you have a collapsed lifter...... the lifter would not like to pump up(or bleed off). this would create a gap in the lifter pushrod area, the pushrod would not go up fully to meet the rocker. this would cause one heck of a tick..... a fast tick, not low end knock.

when driving it...do you feel the car miss? I would not drive the car very long...untill replaced.

can you make a recording and load it up?

Originally Posted by a.caldwell11

yes there is a miss as well.... im not driving the car at all.... its sitting in my driveway bought it as a second car.... im thinking ill just have the guy giveme my money back.... ill see if i cant upload some sort of recording of it before i do that

If there is a miss, fix that first. It is going to be hard to tell what is going on with the engine with it missing.

Old rule of thumb. Fix what you know is wrong, then move on.

How much did you buy the car for? Depending on whats wrong with it, it might still be worth keeping.

I remember talking to you about this before you got it, and it's good to hear that I was right about the oil pump. That hopefully means that the engine has a better chance for getting more miles on it. My question is, when it misses it it just as consistent as the tick? Knowing the answer to that might lead you to where the miss might be coming from. So I agree with finding out what is making the engine miss.

Here is how to find out which lifter it is if it is a lifter. Unfortunately this involves taking off the valve covers. Get a automotive stethoscope and put the end on the rocker stud, the one that has the collapsed/loose lifter with sound different than the others. When you find out which one it is loosen the nut completely and re-torque it to 18 ft. lbs. (15 NM), then by using a torque angle meter, rotate the an additional 90 degrees (Chilton manual).

I suggest re-torquing because you don't know if someone was already in there and didn't do it correctly. If a lifter is truly collapsed this will not fix it, but at least you will know which one it is so you can just replace it.

Hmmmm Ticking + misfire sounds like a lifter to me, too. Of course, you could have the same problem I just finished fixing on my '97 - spun cam bearing being beaten to death by one of the lifters!! I doubt that, though. You would probably have the oil pressure light in the dash coming on. See if you can hook up a gauge and check your pressure. You should have a nice, healthy 50+PSI (I only had 4 with my spun bearing).

If the oil pressure checks out and the rockers are good, I'd say spend $100-200 and get new intake manifold and SC gaskets and lifters and spend an evening replacing them. There's a video in the How-To section on doing it.

I've seen collapsed lifters before on 3800s so that's why I mentioned it. Usually owners complain of abnormal loud ticking. I've mostly seen it here lately on 2000-2002 models. Stock motors, as well.

Originally Posted by DanGTP

You would probably have the oil pressure light in the dash coming on.

Unless the bulb burned out!!

Lifter.