Picked up a 5.3 the other day from a guy who said it had a slight tick from inside the engine when running. He said it was quiet enough to not be noticed in the cab, but obvious when you got under the hood or under the truck. Drained the oil and it looked clean, and when I pulled the pan all the rods seem tight and don't have any play when you spin the engine by hand. Only thing I noticed was some pitting on a few cam lobes. Think that is the source of the noise?

 

That would be my guess.

 

Sweet! Thanks.

 

You should be ok could be a lifter stickn run it till she blows

 

when you pulled the oil pan. did you have to cut rivits off? and also can you high temp gasket maker instead of the gasket made for it?

 

Oil pan just unbolted, no rivets. I guess you could run gasket sealer, but I think it would be a better idea to use the gasket.

 

yeah my cam had pitting and ticked for about 6 months... then it destroyed 1 roller lifter. which turned my pitting into a pretty bad warp. so it destroyed the replacement lifter... lol if its the 4th lobe from the front id say its a common problem. did alot of research when mine did it, and all were the 4th lobe. but id pull it and see. ^he said run it till she blows. i did, and i got 6months out of it. lol