Lifter noise
 

2000 GMC with 2003 LQ9 6.0
I drove my truck hard for about 40 miles with 4:56 gears and was above 3000 RPM most of the way and now I have a severe lifter tick .... not missing, but a bad click.
I know these LS motors have a problem with that and was wondering if there is something I can do to fix this.
If it doesn't stop I plan on putting in a performance cam and new lifters and looking for recommendations and maybe tips to stop the click noise.

I am kinda considering a WS6 "Hot Cam"
WS6 Store LS1 High Lift "Hot Cam" Kit | WS6Store | Camshafts | Valvetrain | 98-02 Camaro/Firebird | WS6store.com

I need to be able to pull my boat and such, so what do you guys think?

Is there anything I can do to quiet the lifter?

My 5.3 did the same thing and it never quit ..... why I now have a 6.0!

How old is the oil?

If it's old, do an oil change and substitute one quart of oil with automatic transmission fluid. The ATF can help clean out the lifters.

It is fairly new clean oil .... now that it cooled down it kinda quieted, but not completely so I think I will add a bottle of engine treatment I have out in the shop!

I trashed my rear end too ..... so now I need a new carrier.

I heard some oil pumps are better than others, so I may as well fix everything while I got it down.

I need a good cam and lifter set and the best oil pump for my engine, so I hope I have lots of guys with cams and mods chime in.

Probably go ahead and install long tube headers and exhaust while I am at it.

Then the guys at HP Tuners will be mad at me for doing all this and not knowing how to tune!!!!

Either new GM lifters or you can go high end with some other brands. I forget the names but there are some posts on here about some.

A new stock oil pump is always good. I don't see a need for a high volume pump like everyone thinks they need.

You could run a Melling M365 oil pump if you're going to be romping on it a lot. It pumps 33% more oil by volume every minute compared to the stock pump.

The Hot Cam was designed for cars, performance cars. You'll give a up a ton of bottom end torque and get it back high up in the rpm band where you do not tow. Get a truck camshaft designed for towing.

How often would you recommend running trans fluid through to clean things out?
I have 213k miles and last weekend got the worst case of lifter tick to date. I'm wondering if it were more related to the cold weather than anything else. It doesn't normally tick but when it does, its for a very short time.

Maybe every 30-40k miles??

I really don't know what to say on when, it kind of comes down to what the engine is doing and if it's making noise. It's not a for sure fix but it won't hurt anything and in many cases it does help clear things up. Even just doing like a half quart every change would be helpful, it would be trying to help keep things clean all the time. It's mainly something I do on vehicles with no history of oil changes and maintenance.

The cold weather and non synthetic oils will cause the tick to be louder for sure. The OP's tick sounds like it came on because he got the oil so hot it thinned out and then once it cooled down enough the noise went mostly away.

Ok cool.

Last week was record cold for the area and my Tahoe sat for a few days. It was probably from sitting and the very cold weather. Hasn't done it since.

I do change mine regularly but, may give it a try this summer for a thorough cleaning. It runs great, no issues. The tick is minimal when it does happen, usually goes away before it warms up.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

THANKS, I will check into the Melling pump and already checking into truck cams, but with 4:56 gears I just need torque above 2000 RPM.

YEP, tick is completely gone today .... weird, but the temp gauge stayed right where is always does since I put in a new radiator and electric fans.

I am a believer in the trans fluid in the engine, and also, you can add a pint or so of brake fluid to your transmission if it is slow shifting and acting up IF it is high mileage, not so useful on a fresh one.