ticking noise ???? please help

rottweiler999 · November 29, 2006

i have a 2002 yukon denali. now i have started to hear this ticking sound from the engine bay, its not really loud but i can still hear it. what can it be and how do i fix it. also i filled up my car today and my computer said that i have a range of 275 miles. when i first bought the car in florida and drove it back i remember fillin it up and it said 400 something. wat can these problems be. please help me. thanks alot

C & A s Dad · November 29, 2006

As far as the ticking noise, if it is a lifter issue due to gum and varnish, I would suggest you change the oil, leave out one qt when you refill it and replact it with a bottle of Rislone. It is a great product and if it is an issue with a lifter just being gummed, it will likley cure it. It certainly will not hurt a thing and is a cheap and easy place to start.

The distance to empty sounds like your MPG has dropped off greatly. I am not sure how many miles you have on the truck but it could be time for plugs, wires, maybe O2 sensors, air filter etc. Just some thoughts that could really drop your MPG.

The truck in my sig gets us an avg of 18.6 with most of this being rural driving with short trips of 20 miles or less. It will get over 21 on pure highway driving.

theplayer · November 29, 2006

It could be what is called piston slap. A lot of the GM 5.3 and 5.7 liter engines have this issue. GM will tell you that it is not an issue but that is up to debate. I had a corvette that had piston slap and they replaced the pistons and about 500 miles later the noise was back. It is due to the short piston skirts on the pistons. It's a desing issue. If it is the slap a lot of people have learned to live with it. I have a silverado with a 5.3 liter now and it has the same slap as the corvette had and I just live with it.

jamram · November 30, 2006

The range given is based on your current MPG value stored in the computer and the amount of gas in the tank. Just because it says you have 275 miles to go does not mean that you will run out of gas in 275 miles. Hop on the freeway and you may go 400 miles, or you may go 200 miles before running out depending on what kind of driving you are doing. If you watch the range while you are driving, it will not necessarilly drop by one mile every time your odometer turns over another mile. On the other hand if you are climbing a hill the range reading might fall faster then your odometer climbs. If you want to know what your true MPG is you are going to have to figure it out manually.

Try resetting your average mile per gallon parameter in the Instrument Cluster and take it on a easy freeway cruise and you will probably see that 400 mile range again, for a while anyway.

It could be what is called piston slap. A lot of the GM 5.3 and 5.7 liter engines have this issue. GM will tell you that it is not an issue but that is up to debate. I had a corvette that had piston slap and they replaced the pistons and about 500 miles later the noise was back. It is due to the short piston skirts on the pistons. It's a desing issue. If it is the slap a lot of people have learned to live with it. I have a silverado with a 5.3 liter now and it has the same slap as the corvette had and I just live with it.

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rdraidr · November 30, 2006

Every GM engine I've had has had a "ticking" noise at start up. I researched this - its in the valves. Once the engine oil was moving up and into the area, the ticking stopped or was greatly reduced. I've used X1R before. http://www.x1r.com/products.htm it greatly reduced the ticking noises in my trucks. Not trying to start an oil addative debate - it's just what worked for me.