I am having a loud ticking noise coming from the engine, dont know what side but it is louder than the CSK and its just one cylinder. I was wondering if i should replace any valve springs or rockers. I really dont know what i should do. And if i do go that route, I dont know what to buy...

Thanks in advance!!!

 

First, you need to find out which side the noise is coming from. To do this you will need approx. 2.5 feet of metal rod, pipe, or socket extensions. Start the engine. Put one end of the rod against a valve cover and the other end to your ear. Listen to both sides and determine which side the noise is coming from.
Next, you need to determine which cylinder the noise is coming from. To do this take the coil pack and valve cover off the noisy side and leave them off. Start the motor. Yes, it will run with only 4 cylinders - it will be rough but it will run. With the motor running take a 3' length of hose and use it like a stethascope to listen to each rocker arm. Hold one end of the hose to your ear and pass the other end over each rocker until you find the noisy one. The rocker arms will be throwing drops of oil so you need to do this quickly. You may want to put some rags on the fender wells to catch any oil drops.
Once you have located the noise, kill the motor and pull the noisy rocker arm. Look for excessive wear on each end of the rocker. Check the bearing for loosness. If the rocker is worn or loose, replace it and try listening for the noise again. If the rocker looks good, try pushing down on the pushrod. A good lifter will be firm when pushed, a bad one will feel "spongy". If the lifter is spongy, you can try dissassembly and cleaning but it would probably be better to just replace it.
Next take out the pushrod and roll it on a flat surface to check for straightness. If the pushrod is bent, replace it and see if that solves the problem.
If you still haven't found the problem, pull the lifter retainer and remove the noisy lifter. Check the roller for excessive wear and / or looseness. If worn, replace and try again.
Hope this helps.

Yogi

 

good stuff, thanks!

 

thanks alot man!!! So you dont think it could be a faulty valve spring? On a scale of 1-10 how difficult would changing the rockers / pushrods would be? Ive never gotten into the motor before and i just want to make sure i dont screw it up... is there a way for me to find out what to tourque everything to?

The truck has 76000 HARD miles on it.


thx

 

My 2000 has what seems like a one cylindar tick. It seems like it is a lifter ticking. It always does it when you first start it hot or cold and then seems like it does it other times too. I know its not CSK becuase that happens for only like 20 sec after I start it cold.

 

I quit worrying about it and now I just think its the bad O-ring on the oil pump. Gm has a TSB on it that says the o-ring lets air into the oiling system and the lifters dont pump up. I dont know why it only does it when it starts though.

 

Does it tick constantly? Do you have an aftermarket camshaft in it? What rpm range does it happen within? If you turn on the AC can you still hear it?

 

umm its kinda off and on, i notice it in the evenings when i get home after driving for about 20 min, i hear it tick..tick.. and im like wtf. it will speed up when i rev the engine.

Stock cam

happens at low rpm mostly the sound of my exhaust drowns it out. yes i do still hear it with the AC on.

thanks again guys!!1

 

I doubt that it would be a faulty spring, but that is worth checking when you have the valve cover off.

On a scale of 1-10 changing a rocker or pushrod is a 1 (very easy). Just be sure that you have an 8 mm socket to get the rocker bolt off and on. When reinstalling the bolt, clean the threads with brake cleaner and put a drop of blue Loc-Tite on the threads. Torque the bolt to 22 ft. lbs. A complete listing of all the bolt torque specs is on ls1howto.com. The only hard part of this job is getting the rear bolts on the coil packs out. They're under the curve of the firewall and a little hard to get to.

Don't worry - you'll find that it is an easy job. Just do it and you will see. Good luck!

Yogi

 

Can you get some video of it?