Is this a lifter?

chargerrich

Registered User
So let me preface this post by stating I am not at all familiar with the SC and am on my best days a mediocre mechanic.

That said, I have a ticking noise coming from my bird but the symptoms seem odd. Let me detail what I know and hopefully someone can point me in a direction.

1. The ticking noise is faint

2. It is coming from the passenger side, from inside the car it sounds like the passenger wheel well but it of course could be the pass side engine bank.

3. There is no ticking at all under idle or coast, only when I throttle a little. I can literally be doing 65 and at 2400 rpm and if I let off gas there is no tick. For that matter at anything over about 30 mph I cannot hear it anyway because its faint and the engine/wind noise would drown it out so I only notice it in light city driving.

4. The ticking does not get progressively faster

5. I would swear it was a CV joint or some wheel related problem if not for the fact it goes away when I let off throttle.

Could this be anything else? Car has 104k and is running like it just came off the showroom (ok not that well, but pretty damn good) :D
 
gas

are you running all prem gas? if your running unleaded reg you will get spark knocks...

sort of sounds like that, because i once messed up on the gas and that is what it did:cool:
 
are you running all prem gas? if your running unleaded reg you will get spark knocks...

sort of sounds like that, because i once messed up on the gas and that is what it did:cool:

Well one thing I did fail to mention is that I added 3/4 can of Seafoam and 93 octane gas this fill. Would that cause the ping?
 
Has it always done this or did it recently develop? our cars use hydraulic lifters so it is unusual to have valve train noise.

Any recent high rpm romps? missed a gear bumping the rpm off the rev limiter?
 
It doesn't sound like a lifter to me.

Maybe an exhaust leak or a wheel bearing?

Or could something be flapping around in the wind and hitting something else?
 
It doesn't sound like a lifter to me.

Maybe an exhaust leak or a wheel bearing?

Or could something be flapping around in the wind and hitting something else?


I thought wheel bearing too, but would it stop when letting off throttle while still moving at same speed? I have heard lifters and this is just too faint and even has a different tone than what I have experienced with lifters.

Car is pretty new to me, but I do not run it hard at all. Its a project so I am babying it.
 
So let me preface this post by stating I am not at all familiar with the SC and am on my best days a mediocre mechanic.

That said, I have a ticking noise coming from my bird but the symptoms seem odd. Let me detail what I know and hopefully someone can point me in a direction.

1. The ticking noise is faint

2. It is coming from the passenger side, from inside the car it sounds like the passenger wheel well but it of course could be the pass side engine bank.

3. There is no ticking at all under idle or coast, only when I throttle a little. I can literally be doing 65 and at 2400 rpm and if I let off gas there is no tick. For that matter at anything over about 30 mph I cannot hear it anyway because its faint and the engine/wind noise would drown it out so I only notice it in light city driving.

4. The ticking does not get progressively faster

5. I would swear it was a CV joint or some wheel related problem if not for the fact it goes away when I let off throttle.

Could this be anything else? Car has 104k and is running like it just came off the showroom (ok not that well, but pretty damn good) :D

It will turn into a loud rod knock hear after a few miles, that's what mine was. Driving down the highway turned the radio off and it came from the passenger side really quite after about 2 miles loud as can be rod knock.. Just your worst possible problem, lets hop not.

Jerry
 
It will turn into a loud rod knock hear after a few miles, that's what mine was. Driving down the highway turned the radio off and it came from the passenger side really quite after about 2 miles loud as can be rod knock.. Just your worst possible problem, lets hop not.

Jerry

I have driven it 200 miles since I noticed it, no change... really not thinking its a lifter but I am going to investigate further.
 
I was always told that a lifter noise is noticable at idle when oil pressure is low, but should disappear at higher RPMs because you build up oil pressure.

Do you have exhaust manifolds or headers? I know in my case, after replacing head gaskets, I ended up with an exhaust manifold leak, and you couldn't hear it at idle, but give it a little gas, and there it was. So, have you had the exhaust manifolds/headers off recently. The manifolds will sometimes warp, and even with the normal exhaust manifold gaskets, you'll get a leak, and even a small leak will make alot of noise.

David
 
My car hasn't been stock in years so I forgot...

Are there aluminum heat shields on the passenger side of the car? You mentioned that the sound "does not progressively get faster". Could it be a heat shield rattle or some other random metal rattle? When I first got my car, I got a rattle on the driver's side that ended up being a loose converter heat shield.
 
A lifter will usually be loudest at cold start. They tend to unstick as the oil warms up.

Now if you had a loose rocker or a valve spring problem, that would vary with engine speed. But also, you would hear it very loudly from that valve cover. A quick check with a mechanic's stethoscope at idle would verify or disprove that.
 
Ok it is definitely not a lifter... but I am still unsure what it is. It is coming from the passenger wheel well.

It is not the heat shield, because that is also making a noise that I need to address.

I am thinking a wheel bearing or maybe even the brakes, but a mystery still. :confused:
 
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