Lifter Knock!?! Or something else?! Please Help!

TEWNCfarms · March 20, 2018

Is this a lifter? Or is it something else?! Silverado 5.3 2000 LS Z71 it goes away after driving for a little while...

carnau · March 20, 2018

50 minutes ago, TEWNCfarms said:

https://youtu.be/O66NnJyt2Ig

Is this a lifter? Or is it something else?! Silverado 5.3 2000 LS Z71 it goes away after driving for a little while...

Lifter and possibly a camshaft. When the noise goes away the bearing is riding on the smooth part. When it comes back it has found the pits again. If you remove the valve covers then crank the vehicle and have it running, you can pinpoint the noise then remove the rocker arms and see if the noise goes away. That will tell you if it is a lifter for sure. Be careful when doing that though. There are moving parts. You don't want to lose a finger.

They actually have a inexpensive kit for replacing these on Amazon.

Camshaft and lifter kit. - http://amzn.to/2DFA58x

TEWNCfarms · March 20, 2018

That’s expensive for me! Do you think this is a problem that could cause even worse problems sooner than later? The noise goes away after the engine has heated up... once it gets to like 180 it stops

carnau · March 20, 2018

5 minutes ago, TEWNCfarms said:

That’s expensive for me! Do you think this is a problem that could cause even worse problems sooner than later? The noise goes away after the engine has heated up... once it gets to like 180 it stops

Eventually it will not go away and it will start to skip. I know people who have drivin them around like that... But I wouldn't recommend it.

Logan Lanfear · March 21, 2018

34 minutes ago, carnau said:

Lifter and possibly a camshaft. When the noise goes away the bearing is riding on the smooth part. When it comes back it has found the pits again. If you remove the valve covers then crank the vehicle and have it running, you can pinpoint the noise then remove the rocker arms and see if the noise goes away. That will tell you if it is a lifter for sure. Be careful when doing that though. There are moving parts. You don't want to lose a finger.

They actually have a inexpensive kit for replacing these on Amazon.

Camshaft and lifter kit. - http://amzn.to/2DFA58x

Yeah not cheap. Not to mention the amount of time it would take to essentially rebuild the engine.

25 minutes ago, TEWNCfarms said:

That’s expensive for me! Do you think this is a problem that could cause even worse problems sooner than later? The noise goes away after the engine has heated up... once it gets to like 180 it stops

Since its a 2000, I would drive it till it goes. Then maybe find a donor engine or sell the truck. They arnt too hard to swap but if its a rusted out hunk of junk (like everything here in the rust belt) junk it.

TEWNCfarms · March 21, 2018

15 minutes ago, Logan Lanfear said:

Yeah not cheap. Not to mention the amount of time it would take to essentially rebuild the engine.

Since its a 2000, I would drive it till it goes. Then maybe find a donor engine or sell the truck. They arnt too hard to swap but if its a rusted out hunk of junk (like everything here in the rust belt) junk it.

And that was my other question... how hard is it to replace the cam and lifters...?!

So is this noise a lifter then? Couldn’t be anything else!? Maybe I can get some b12 and take the heads off and clean the lifters without completely removing the engine/cam shaft and lifters, and maybe that will fix it!? I saw some videos where they’ve done this

Dnt · March 21, 2018

That kit does not show a gasket set but maybe has it included it? If not that could add even more money to your project. If I had a 18 year (probably high mileage) nearly worn out vehicle I would probably throw in some Lucas oil treatment or something similar and drive it till it pukes out.

TEWNCfarms · March 21, 2018

6 minutes ago, Dnt said:

That kit does not show a gasket set but maybe has it included it? If not that could add even more money to your project. If I had a 18 year (probably high mileage) nearly worn out vehicle I would probably throw in some Lucas oil treatment or something similar and drive it till it pukes out.

Should I do the Lucas oil stabilizer? Or bars? It has 235000 miles, I had the tranny rebuilt 2.5 years ago...

Mike GMC · March 21, 2018

I don't know what it is. But if it were mine, it would not be started again until I thought it was fixed. I'd be turning wrenches, not keys. Something in there sounds flat out broken to me. I find it hard to image a noise that bad would 100% go away when warmed up. Or maybe it just gets a bit less noisey?

Dnt · March 21, 2018

Lucas HD Oil Stabilizer would be my first choice. Please go get some right now and pour it in and drive a few days and then post back a new video so all us armchair mechanics can compare the videos and mull over the results. Thanks in advance for cooperating....... it really will make a difference. Not going to repair the worn/damaged cam lobes and lifter wear but it will make it quiet enough so you are not gritting your teeth when you start it up LOL

TEWNCfarms · March 21, 2018

21 minutes ago, Mike GMC said:

I don't know what it is. But if it were mine, it would not be started again until I thought it was fixed. I'd be turning wrenches, not keys. Something in there sounds flat out broken to me. I find it hard to image a noise that bad would 100% go away when warmed up. Or maybe it just gets a bit less noisey?

It does. After warming up it Completely goes away. And stays away until I let it cool down completely for at least a day... I can’t just go turning wrenches if I have no idea what it might be... I don’t have the expertise nor the the time to do so

11 minutes ago, Dnt said:

Lucas HD Oil Stabilizer would be my first choice. Please go get some right now and pour it in and drive a few days and then post back a new video so all us armchair mechanics can compare the videos and mull over the results. Thanks in advance for cooperating....... it really will make a difference. Not going to repair the worn/damaged cam lobes and lifter wear but it will make it quiet enough so you are not gritting your teeth when you start it up LOL

That’s a whole quart worth, I Just changed my oil, so I’d have to drop some oil right? I just hope and wonder it might Not be a lifter...

djv1951 · March 21, 2018

Possible a idler pulley bearing

sams819 · March 21, 2018

Might have a worn rocker arm at the base where the ball rubs.?

TEWNCfarms · March 21, 2018

1 hour ago, djv1951 said:

Possible a idler pulley bearing

Ahhh maybe...

20 minutes ago, SAMS819 said:

Might have a worn rocker arm at the base where the ball rubs.?

That’s what I’m wondering... I was thinking rocker the whole time but instead was Saying lifter...

I just put some seafoam And marvel mystery oil in my gas tank in hopes it knocks whatever is gunking up a hole free and the new oil filter will pick it up.

This knock came on with with a vengeance After I changed my oil last and my dumb a$s used 10w40 or at least 10w30, And did a seafoam intake spray And a seafoam crankcase cleanse AFTER the oil change, so it got dark within 1000 miles which I should have changed the oil, which i just changed after 3500 Miles and is now back to oem sae 5w30 Mobil 1 High Mile Synthetic.

So I’m sure some gunk was floating around and got stuck in one of those small lifter or rocker holes.

The Knock/tick was kind of continuous today Until I added the seafoam and marvel to gas and pushed the engine a bit, so hopefully it will be cleaning up and it’ll be back.

im going to change my fuel filter too, ordering now.

Logan Lanfear · March 21, 2018

Might get more look at it if you can take the rocker cover off while its running. Im not sure if you can do that or not with these LS engines. I know its pretty easy with the 350. Maybe a view will help isolate what its doing? Someone has a video of using a screwdriver as a stethoscope to pin point noise. But on an engine with that many miles, definitely don't replace any internals without rebuilding the whole thing. Its just not worth it.