First off: I'm new here. Hi, How ya doin'? Now to the epic...I have a 99 dodge Grand Caravan SE with a 3.3l and 198.6k miles. She's a good old girl (Her name is 'Fred'...don't ask me; it was my daughters idea). My starter had been buzzing for a week or so and I knew it would need to be replaced soon. Being disabled, I have to wait for my disability check to come in though. The other day, I took my kids to school and came home. No problem. Had to leave again but now the starter had gone out. Inconvenient but expected. Jacked up the driver side and blocked her up nice and safe. Slid under to remove the starter. Great news! The starter was fine. It had just vibrated loose and just need tightening. Five minutes and I'm done. Do a test fire before letting her down and she's great. Let her down and start her up again. However, before I can pat myself on the back, she starts ticking something awful. Near as I can tell, it's something in the top and to the rear. Could be rocker arms but (from what I'm hearing/reading) could be injectors as well. I'm at my wits end. Wife is afraid to drive her and I don't want to press my luck. Any ideas, thoughts, random speculations? All would be helpful at this time. Thanks. And thus concludes this chapter of 'The Epic of Geekboy1701'...

 

Welcome to DF!

How is your oil pressure? Are you sure it isn't the starter hanging up on something?

 

I don't know about the oil pressure. I know oils getting to the front of the engine at least. As to the starter hanging up...that's an interesting idea. I'll check it out tomorrow. However, having a slight development; when I crank the engine, it smells faintly of gas. Not a strong 'don't light a match' smell but a 'There's gas leaking somewhere...' smell. Thanks for the tip.

 

Update: I cranked the van yesterday and she was still sounding rough. She had some hesitation while idling (enough that I thought she was going to die) and the gas smell was still present. I was going to check the starter today (following your suggestion) but on a whim, started the van instead. The ticking is still there but no where near the noise from before. In fact, the noise was only slightly louder than before this all started. The gas smell is still there though. Still trying to figure this out...