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Clinking sound coming from middle of engine

“Wiped the cam” is a term for an extreme wear phenomenon that can happen with modern oil devoid of a zinc anti friction compound. Individual lobes are “wiped away” by massive wear.
 
Hi all, I hope this is the right place to post.

I'm pretty new to the classic car scene. I've had this car for almost a year. It's ran and sounded beautiful thus far.

Yesterday I was cruising when I noticed a clinking sound. I know it's new because I can hear it over the could of the engine. It increase with idle speed and vice versa. Unknown history on this vehicle.

I will attach a video that I recorded I'm hopes of someone being able to help diagnose the sound. Thanks!!


tear it down u have somethinh broke in the motor . the more u drive it te more damsge u will do
 
He all, sorry for the delay. I was at a consecutive 120hr work week with a day or two in between. Finally have a few days off to figure this out.

So I went ahead and pulled all the lifters on the passenger side since that is where I was hearing the noise.

1 lifter had me concerned. All other lifters looked the same. So I'm going to replace this lifter. Should I just replace all of them? Will replacing just the one lifter be detrimental? Is this a sign of a deeper problem I need to address?

Thank you all for your time and patience

I have attached photos of said lifters.

20210825_152419.jpg 20210825_152431.jpg 20210825_152443.jpg 20210825_151927.jpg 20210825_151931.jpg
 
He all, sorry for the delay. I was at a consecutive 120hr work week with a day or two in between. Finally have a few days off to figure this out.

So I went ahead and pulled all the lifters on the passenger side since that is where I was hearing the noise.

1 lifter had me concerned. All other lifters looked the same. So I'm going to replace this lifter. Should I just replace all of them? Will replacing just the one lifter be detrimental? Is this a sign of a deeper problem I need to address?

Thank you all for your time and patience

I have attached photos of said lifters.

View attachment 1157866 View attachment 1157867 View attachment 1157868 View attachment 1157869 View attachment 1157870
Cam probably junk.
 
He all, sorry for the delay. I was at a consecutive 120hr work week with a day or two in between. Finally have a few days off to figure this out.

So I went ahead and pulled all the lifters on the passenger side since that is where I was hearing the noise.

1 lifter had me concerned. All other lifters looked the same. So I'm going to replace this lifter. Should I just replace all of them? Will replacing just the one lifter be detrimental? Is this a sign of a deeper problem I need to address?

Thank you all for your time and patience

I have attached photos of said lifters.

View attachment 1157866 View attachment 1157867 View attachment 1157868 View attachment 1157869 View attachment 1157870

A little history on your engine? Which cam? How many miles? What oil have you been using? The cam, more than likely, has been compromised by the look of those lifters.
 
A little history on your engine? Which cam? How many miles? What oil have you been using? The cam, more than likely, has been compromised by the look of those lifters.
I've had the car a little under a year. Don't know really any history on it. Unknown mile since it's non number matching. First Oil change was penzoil 10 30 second and third I used royal purple
 
Any zinc additive?
Uh oh. Unfortunately no.. I didn't use a zinc additive.

What do you guys think I should do from here?? I feel like I'm in a pretty rough spot since I don't know much about the engine. I don't mind replacing the cam, but may be a little lost when it comes to choosing the right one...
 
Yes you could do a 1 lifter replacement. But as mentioned, that damage is SOO BAD what everything points to a damaged camshaft too. Check it. It should be visible throught the lifter hole with a light. Try to spin the crank to check it good.

If you need a cam replacement and ignores the engine specs, maybe a compression test could help on know what do you have built into cylinders. Measuring lobes will guide you on what kind of cam you could have right now. That could be a starting point if don't want to pull out the heads to check the pistons and block to deck height.
 
If it were me-
I'd run it (idle) one more time until the oil was warm, then drain it. Pull the cam and (all) lifters and replace. You may have caught it in time before significant damage was done.
After new cam/lifter install, put new oil/filter in (with zinc additive this time, and every oil change after). Wouldn't get crazy with the $$ oil, you're just gonna change it again real quick, just like a new motor break in. Goal being to get any metal particles out that may have been deposited from previous cam/lifter debacle. Good luck!
 
Yes, in all probability the cam is toast, at least that particular lobe of it.
Flat tappet cams need zinc in the engine oil to survive - you don't necessarily need an
additive to get the necessary zinc, though.
Many oils out there have adequate levels of zinc (and phosphates, for that matter) but you
need to make sure you're using one of them if you're going to keep one of these flat tappet
cammed old engines alive.
It's a mandatory thing, a bare minimum. Must do.
 
Ouch. The lifter in the top pic is destroyed, and there's about a 99.9% chance the cam lobe is as well. The really sucky part, is when that happens metal debris usually finds it's way into the bearings and other places it shouldn't. If it was me, I'd have to pull it apart for a cleaning/inspection and repair as necessary. Not what you want to hear, I know...but just stabbing in a new cam and lifters and continuing to run it could have disastrous consequences.
 
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