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Lifter Tick Questions

Kaiser Pontiac

Kaiser Pontiac

New member
So, a few weeks back I changed the idler pulley on my L26 '04 GT2 and after doing that we heard what sounded like a lifter tick, so I took the valve covers off and discovered sludge inside of them and on the valve train.


Per advice from here I got all the oil and coolant out, cleaned out the valve train quite well, put fresh oil and a filter in, got it all together and started it up. Still ticked, we thought we'd take it over to a mechanic friend and see what he thought, so we filled the coolant system up with water and back it up 20 feet and the ticking stopped... Drove it a few miles still no tick, shut it off, let it set for a few minutes, started it up, still no tick. So, we parked it and a couple days later I moved it and it ticked for the first 30 seconds or so, then stopped. Later I moved it to the shop and it did the same thing. Now, I've got the plenum and LIM off and besides my upper and lower LIM gaskets and VC gaskets and grommets - is there anything I should check, or take special care to clean while it's apart? I figured it just hydro-locked because of all the sludge, but why does it still do it then briefly?




Thanks in advance for any help!
 


First off I'd clean the every living sh1t out of it. Remove rockers, pushrods, etc. Dump some oil all over the place in there, too.

Replace lifters (you can get a cheap OEM set from Texas Speed for 3800 FBody's), clean pushrods and rockers...install new gaskets...button everything up...crank it over...check for leaks and such. Turn off...change oil and filter again. I always do this because any cleaning solution, junky oil, etc...you'll want to get out of there...especially if there is a coolant presence found...which it looks like there is on yours.

If you haven't done it...I'd do valve cover gaskets, plugs/wires, T-Stat, PCV, vac lines (if dry rotted), clean the throttle body well...maintenance, really. If you're close to someone with a scanner or if you have one I'd have it hooked up to check fuel trims as well when you fire it back up to make sure there are no vac leaks.
 
X2. You're not that far away labor wise getting access to the lifters. Just remove rockers and rods and the lifter covers and replace em
 
some say you can reuse the rocker bolts, but they are TTY, so you should get new ones or re usable ones are about 25 bucks.
 


PCV valve...just go to your local auto parts store.

As for rocker bolts...just get the Comp Cams rocker bolts from ZZP. Sadly...it's cheap...and you'll never have to buy them again.

Also: double check the TQ on them (if I remember right...it's 25 ft/lbs...I also add a bead of Loctite...whether people say to or not...I've seen them personally loosen up under high RPM situations over time and develop misfires.)...that'll get you taken care of. If you really want to go overboard...get some L76 or LS6 springs too to help replace those worn out and tired ones.
 
I'm not in town very much during the summer, free two day shipping from Amazon is easier for me, lol.

http://zzperformance.com/3800/bolts/re-usable-rocker-bolts.html So, what's better about getting them from ZZP vs Summit?

Okay, yeah, I gotta gather the torque specs for all these bolts. I'd do better springs if I was keeping the car, but it's probably getting sold within the next couple months... Thanks for the information!
 
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If you wanna save some money I still have the lifters I pulled out of the 15k motor that I top swapped that I'm letting go (I reused my ls7 lifters from prev motor)

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Both Summit and ZZP's rocker bolts and Comp Cams, but ZZP's says theirs is reusable, don't see that on Summit's... is that the difference? Summit's is cheaper, and probably ships faster than ZZP's.
 
As long as they look the same, with the hex head...it's the same bolt.

I ended up finding the same stamped bolt at my local hardware store for like .50 a pop. Loctite'd them and they worked just fine, too lol
 
Okay, Summit looks like the better choice then.

I thought bolts from the hardware store were a no-no because of unknown metal composition?

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Do I need to take that end plate off the LIM and clean inside?
Also, how clean does this stuff need to be - I'm cleaning it with brake cleaner and paint solvent, an old paint brush and a rag, that good enough?
And, after I run solvent through the engine and spray it down real good do I need to spray some oil on it before reassembly?

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