Noisy Lifters

[Dobaroy]

Our '77 Cordoba with 400 motor has been sitting for about 5 years. We fired it up yesterday and the lifters at the front of the motor on both sides are noisy. We changed the oil and that did not make any difference. Thinking of swapping in new lifters but not sure if that will solve the problem. Any other ideas of what to look for would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[rlem1977]

Our '77 Cordoba with 400 motor has been sitting for about 5 years. We fired it up yesterday and the lifters at the front of the motor on both sides are noisy. We changed the oil and that did not make any difference. Thinking of swapping in new lifters but not sure if that will solve the problem. Any other ideas of what to look for would be appreciated. Thanks.

First, how many miles on the old beast? If many, and there is a sludge build up, old trick for "sticky" lifters is replace one quart of motor oil with one quart of ATF, or Marvel Mystery Oil, or Hot Shot's Stiction Eliminator. If not sludge and lifters not just pumping up, you might try a synthetic blend of motor oil in 10w30. Too thick of an oil may prevent lifter pump-up. Also, the oil needs to be brought up to temperature, so let the engine idle a while and see if the lifter noise subsides. Hope this helps.

 

[wyrmrider]

0w 30 or 40 oil and the solvents mentioned by rlem
you can always take the lifters out and rebuild
keeping track of which lobe they go on
inspect the faces for concave- they should rock when held face to face
if the lifters are bad change the cam- time to change the timing chain and upper gear (or the whole thing) anyway
cut the old filter up and inspect

 

[PurpleBeeper]

I agree with rlem 1977 to use one quart of automatic transmission fluid & ONLY IDLE the engine for about 5 minutes, dump out the oil/trans fluid blend & put new oil/filter on it. This should "de-gum" the lifters if that is the problem. DO NOT REV ENGINE or you will be buying a new one.

If you still have the "lifter noise" after doing this, then take off the valve covers. Rotate the engine just a little bit at a time so you can check each rocker/lifter/pushrod when that particular valve is closed. You just wiggle the rockers up/down by hand & look for "slop". All rockers should be tight (no up/down movement) all the time. If you check one with the valve open though, even a "sloppy" one will feel tight (that's why you have to bump the engine over a little bit at a time).

If you find one that's loose, undo the rocker shaft & inspect just that rocker/pushrod/lifter (pull lifters out with a magnet). NOTE - IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO MARK EACH ROCKER/PUSHROD/LIFTER so that it goes back into the engine exactly how it came out.
a. Inspect both ends of pushrod for excessive wear.
b. Inspect "cup" of rocker arm for excessive wear.
c. Inspect pushrod for straightness by cleaning & rolling it on a mirror
d. Inspect lifter to make sure you can't push the plunger in easily... it should be pretty stiff.
e. inspect for anything else that looks really worn.

Best of Luck!

 

[69a100]

one quart of automatic transmission fluid & ONLY IDLE the engine for about 5 minutes, dump out the oil/trans fluid blend & put new oil/filter on it. DO NOT REV ENGINE or you will be buying a new one.
Best of Luck!

I disagree here, I had to drive over 100 miles before the tranny fluid did it's job on my/6 and clean up the inside of mine. 5 minutes of idling isn't going to do enough jack to help your problem. 3 years later, I could do it again, as it's still gunky under the cover from the first round. Good Luck

 

[dan juhasz]

Siloo makes a product called fast engine flush, quart can. Just what the doctor ordered

 

[dadsbee]

How long did you let it run for?? I had a "tapper" on my Bee restart, even though I had tested every lifter in the drill press before I buttoned the engine up and they were all solid. Worried as hell and then it quieted right down after idling for about 10 minutes.

 

[69a100]

How long did you let it run for?? I had a "tapper" on my Bee restart, even though I had tested every lifter in the drill press before I buttoned the engine up and they were all solid. Worried as hell and then it quieted right down after idling for about 10 minutes.

As long as the pressure's up to where it's supposed to be, your good, even though it sounds like death is about to happen.

 

[Dobaroy]

Thanks guys for all the good replies, forgot about the ATF idea, thanks for the heads up. Won't get back to it now until the weekend but lots to think about.

 

[wyrmrider]

any solvent works
I like Marvel better than ATF but...whatever works sometimes just time

 

[PurpleBeeper]

I disagree here, I had to drive over 100 miles before the tranny fluid did it's job on my/6 and clean up the inside of mine. 5 minutes of idling isn't going to do enough jack to help your problem. 3 years later, I could do it again, as it's still gunky under the cover from the first round. Good Luck

I hear you 69a, but I had a mechanic friend warn me about driving with transmission fluid in the crankcase years ago & I've remembered his words. He had a Firebird (301?) and his brother had a 200,000 highway-mile TransAm (400). He put the 400 in his Firebird, but had to pull it right back out. My mechanic buddy did the transmission fluid trick & the engine had SO MUCH gunk in it & the trans fluid worked so well that all the sludge came out at once, blocked off his oil pickup tube & spun a bearing.

I've personally had good luck with Motor Medic Engine Flush, but again, I only let it idle for a few minutes & drained/replaced the oil.

 

[Ranger16]

Many, many moons ago (early '70's) I used to run 1 qt of trans fluid with every oil change and leave it until the next one. Never had a problem.

 

[wyrmrider]

We did too- in Canada in the winter way before 0-30 oil

 

[Billccm]

Marvel mystery oil. One pint and drive it gently.

 

[Mebsuta]

What does the ATF in the motor oil do?

 

[Billccm]

What does the ATF in the motor oil do?

It thin and high detergents.

 

[69a100]

It thin and high detergents.

And help's really get the gunk out. When I did this to my /6, it ran tons better afterwards, smoother, more quite, and even was a little more responsive.