8.1 Cold Ticking Sound?

[10.90 hot rod]

Hey, I've been away from this site for a while, but was wondering if any 8.1 owners are experiencing cold tick on start up. Last year I thought I had it licked when I found a pitted roller lifter and cam damage. I put in all new lifters and a new cam and looked through the motor( the rest of the motor at 200,000 kms looked like it had hardly been used with the exception of the low friction coating wearing off the pistons). I put it all togeather and low and behold, the tick is still there. It is 98% gone when warm but is misearbly loud when cold. It lasts about 1- 2 minutes . It honestly pisses me off and I believe it is in the valvetrain still. I hate the motor so much because I don't know if I can trust it on a long haul to pull my race rig on a 1000 mile trek. Anyone have any enlightenment for me ? It is not the simple stuff like exhaust manifolds and belt tensioners...... it is in the motor.

[JoJoJim]

I don't know. I purchased my 8.1 new in 2001 and has 155,000 on it. It has ticked since day one and still running great. My experience is sounds like exhaust noise to me even though it sure sounds like inside the engine noise. No way of knowing if your tick is like the one in mine.

[chiefsfan]

I have it in my 04 8.1L. Mine's about a minute on cold startups, but goes away. It makes it sound similar to the "clacking" sound of a diesel. I always just figured it was valve-train noise until oil got up to the lifters.

 

In any event, I don't think it's concerning. Motor seems strong and I'm noticing no changes in the behavior as time goes on.

[Kodiak450]

Sure your manifolds aren't leaking? Could have a broke off bolt (which was common) with GM engines and manifolds, causing exhaust to leak. It would make a very noticeable noise right after start up and as the engine warmed up, the noise would lessen or go away (depending on how bad the leak was). I would look for any broke off manifold bolts especially near firewall which is a very common area for it to happen.

[JF1957]

Mine is doing the same thing, 2004, 145,000 Km.

[ken1mod]

my 454 did the same thing. Exhaust manifold gaskets.

[alaska511]

My '04 did it badly. Never had a problem with that engine, and I drove it hard with very heavy loads.

 

Mine burned a little oil, as most 8.1s do, but when I switched it over to Mobil Delvac 5w40 synthetic, it stopped.

 

Noise at start up never went away though. Not a big deal. I know we all wish they didn't do it, but they do.

[Prokopchuk_9]

piston slap 50% of the late models do it...luckily mine hasnt started yet

[04JJHD]

I have heard the piston slap was due to the way the pistons were manufactured. Instead of matching the piston to the cylinder exactly, they just mass produce them. I'm pretty sure that's the story. Try using some synthetic oil it may help lessen the noise