My valve train above #4 passenger side was clanking a bit. I tried a few tricks to loosen it up if it was just a stuck lifter [sea foam. before an oil change and ATF before another oil change] neither seemed to work. Sound stayed pretty much the same for months.

After I just finished doing my plenum today though it started really making a racket. I am going t change the oil tomorrow and see if that helps. its really making a lot of noise. Now it sounds more like the entire valve train on the passenger side.

Any idea what kind of problem would start on one cylinder and then spread to all 4 on one side? It is defiantly the lifters/valves, not the cylinders. My MPG since doing the plenum is back up to 15-16 but its really noisy now..

 

Shoulda changed lifters when u had the intake off, wish I did I'm having the same problems

 

Running seafoam or Trans fluid on an engine with heavy sludge can loosen it and send smaller bits of sludge into small parts of the engine, like the lifters, and cause problems.


It could just be that they are wearing out too, how many miles on that engine? A lifter typically isn't a wear part, but if they've been abused by not receiving oil on a consistent basis, they can wear out.


this rarely happens either, but make sure those mounting bolts on your roller rockers didn't back out. 21 ft/lbs.

 

cool. Could be. Motor only has around 60k on it. but It has been abused by the previous owner for sure. The intake gaskets were cooked when i took it off. He had to have overheated it pretty bad a few times.

 

60K on a 96! Wow. Some people should be hit in the head with the skinnny end of a fishing pole for abusing one that bad....and given a sign!

Hope you can find the problem.

 

if you fix it let me know im curios

 

The trick with running ATF to clean an engine. Drain a quart and change filter. You have to run it for 500 miles and hard. You can even let the truck sit and idle but not too long. Do not exceed 500 miles. Change oil, run it for 1000 miles. Change again, regular oil changes.


And the ATF fluid method does work.

 

yea I only put maybe 50 miles on it with the ATF in there. I was a bit weary of driving too much with the oil like that. lol.

after doing all that the noise changed though, some of it was gone. I think I may have 2 things going on here. I used a stick and pinpointed the noise to one specific cylinder on the passenger side, but then it spread to all 4. I think why the noise spread is because ironically at the same time My alternator pulley started to go...lol I am not for sure on that yet. I am going to pull the serpentine belt off and run it for a few seconds today after church to see if that is part of it. It really does sound like a pulley noise and a lifter at the same time.

If that doesn't work the next step will be to open up the valve cover. I was really trying to avoid that. but I got some new gaskets and cleaned it up real good when I did the intake so It is time.

Ill keep you posted.

 

Didn't you change the oil after doing the plenum before starting it? And what kind of oil do you use?