2010 Silverado 5.3l Lifter Ticking

fap1800 · July 18, 2014

Here's my story. 2009 5.3L Silverado that I purchased used with 36k back in April of '13. After owning the truck for several months I noticed that the oil pressure dropped substantially one day coming home from work. I also had a very erratic idle. When I got home I popped the hood and checked the oil. To my surprise oil wasn't registering on the dip stick. I checked again. Still nothing. I had driven the truck maybe 2,500 miles since I bought it a few months earlier. At this point I'm not driving the truck anywhere. I called the dealer to have it flat bedded. In the meantime, I took a piece of heavy copper wire and flattened the end to make a makeshift dip stick. I didn't hit oil until about 2 inches below the factory stick. This puts the oil down about 3 quarts! Obviously not good. I get the truck to the dealer and I'm furious. I'm told they'll make it right. I demand to be present when they drain the oil from the truck. Sure enough...3.5 quarts. When I pick it up I'm told I had a misfire, which they fixed, and that I'm going to start a oil consumption test for 2k miles. Test confirms that the truck is drinking nearly a 2 quarts of oil per 2k miles. I also find out through service that per the TSB that they replaced the PCV valve prior to me owning the truck. I check the vehicle records to make sure I didn't miss anything and sure enough there's no mention of it. I'm told not everything comes back on a vehicle history report. Little back story...the truck was owned by the sales guy at the Chevy dealer I bought the truck from and am having it serviced through. He sold me the truck and he bought it new from the dealer! So clearly the dealer and sales guy were well aware of the consumption problem. I'm the poor sap that gets suckered. Anyway, I have a complete lowere teardown performed. New pistons and rings. Consumption test confirms that the truck is no longer drinking oil. Out of the woods...yeah right. This past winter I started noticing an tick audible from the left wheel well that lasts about 10 minutes util the truck is up to temperature. It's a slow methodical tick. I take it in and am told this is normal. Nothing to worry about. Change to AC Delco factory filter. That of course doesn't fix the problem. Fast forward to now and in the last week I have a rapid tick during cold start that lasts 3 to 5 seconds. Audbile from the left side. To make matters worse...my 5 year warranty expires at the end of this month. Just got off the phone with service. She goes in Monday. I'm going to drop it off Sunday night, have them bring a tech out and be present during the cold start. Can't wait to see what line of BS they try to give me.

mymaggiebell · July 20, 2014

not normal....see lifter/cam replacement!!! not sure why dealerships would try to fight with anyone on any of these issues, they get paid.

Mr. Shamrock · January 12, 2015

I know this is an old thread but hopefully some of you have found the answer to this. First of all I am a long time GM guy and have had many. I am very familiar with the cold start "piston slap" and that doesn't really concern me since I have seen them do it for 100's of thousands of miles without issue. My new (to me) truck is the first one to do the random hot tap. It is a 2006 Suburban Z-71 which I bought and drove home without any noise at all. The next morning I started the truck and it was quiet (actually didn't even have the cold start noise). After about 15 minutes of running a loud (lifter type) tapping started which is loudest on the left side. I immediately shut the truck off and checked the fluids (again). Oil was at the proper level. I restart the truck and it is quiet. A few minutes later the noise slowly starts to come back and then got as loud as it did before. The oil pressure was still constant around 40 PSI. I seen a couple reports of dirt getting in the lifters and people cleaning them with carb cleaner and fixing the issue. So I pulled the valve covers, rockers, and push rods and followed the you tube video to the "T". I changed the oil and fired it up - sounded like a new one. Proceeded to spend a few hours giving the truck a thorough detailing and then went for a ride. It remained quiet for about 10 minutes and then started tapping while driving (oil pressure still at 40). I was close to home so I pull in the drive way and shut the truck off and immediately start it back up - quiet! Took it for a ride and it was quiet the entire time. I have been a gear head for a long time and have never seen something like this. How can it be tapping (loud) and a simple restart quiet it. I have seen a few reports of the o-ring on the oil pump pick-up tube going bad and causing issues, but oil pressure doesn't seem to affect my situation although when it is making the noise I can rev the truck and the noise goes away after reaching roughly 2000 RPM. I am tempted to drop the pan (for inspection) and replace the oil pump but would hate to still have the same issue. Oh and I also inspected the old oil looking for signs of "glitter" and it was clean. Thanks in advance!

mikrem8560 · November 2, 2015

I just bought a 05 sierra with about 150k and after I had it home I had the same tick as mr shamrock exCTLY . shut it off start no tick then it come back slowly getting louder then quiets. I watched vedios online and tried the motor flush in the oil. still ticked. tried b12 cleaner down the push rods like seen on you tube and the flush again new oils 5w30 filter and rislone this time second day.

tick came back so I drove right to the dealer that sold it and they were closed so I took it to a repair guy nextdoor. he heard the tick

see here

https://youtu.be/Mk8SWQOqjYQ

he said I shold try changing the oil again this time put in 10w40 and a quart of lucas oil treatment

so I went home did this and all has been quiet over a week now and the cold start tick is much quieter now also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owEAXaS0ZaE

willz06jw · November 22, 2017

I fixed this problem on my truck by changing the Oil Pump Inlet Tube O-Ring. The lifters are the first part that don't get enough oil after this o-ring breaks down. All Chevrolet mid 2000s era 5.3L O-Ring fails around 150-190K.
Oil Pump Inlet tube O-Ring Replacement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e3kx3mOMY

GhostWriter · November 23, 2017

20 hours ago, willz06jw said:

I fixed this problem on my truck by changing the Oil Pump Inlet Tube O-Ring. The lifters are the first part that don't get enough oil after this o-ring breaks down. All Chevrolet mid 2000s era 5.3L O-Ring fails around 150-190K.
Oil Pump Inlet tube O-Ring Replacement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e3kx3mOMY

That, and/or sticking relief valve on the stock oil pump. Stock o-ring failure is a known issue. If I already had the front cover off, a Melling oil pump would replace the stock pump, as well.

Didn't mention what year this "clean-sheet" 5.3 was made; but, it really doesn't matter. These issues could surface at any time. Many believe the ticking is normal on the 5.3, but this isn't necessarily so.

swathdiver · November 23, 2017

I believe Melling is the OE supplier of the factory pumps along with other parts.

GhostWriter · November 24, 2017

13 hours ago, swathdiver said:

I believe Melling is the OE supplier of the factory pumps along with other parts.

Possibly at one time, maybe still; but, Melling makes a stock replacement pump that incorporates a sacrificial ring. The ring ensures proper alignment between the crank & pump housing.

After servicing the o-ring, I replaced the pump with the stock replacement Melling. Using this particular pump saved me from having to pop the cover, to align the housing with feeler gages.

Later, I disassembled the original pump, and found scoring in the relief valve bore..