Hey everyone. My 03 tahoe has had the dreaded lifter tick for awhile now. I’ve tried transfluid couple hundred miles before the oil change also marvel oil to no avail. Usually if it does it I’ll shut the motor off and restart it and it’ll go away. I’m tired of this. I’m somewhat mechanically inclined I’ve done the brakes water pump even the fuel pump. Which is a pain to do on your own. I’m thinking about tackling the lifter replacement. And was looking at these https://www.texas-speed.com/p-5220-g...ifter-set.aspx would they be the correct ones? Anything else I should look into purchasing like the head bolts? Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

Yes, those lifters would work. I'm sure you could even find the other GM part number for the engine you have but those are basically the exact same thing.

New stock head bolts are find, GM or people like Felpro sell factory replacement bolts.

New head gaskets for sure. If the lifter trays are cheap, you could as well do those while you are in there but it's not a must do.

New intake gaskets will be wanted. Get new exhaust manifold bolts too, you are bound to find either a broken one or some in very poor condition. They are super cheap to replace, I used to get them from napa all the time for $10-12 for the set.


It's a pretty straight forward repair with about 80 million youtube video's if you somehow get stuck somewhere.

 

May want to plan on possibly needing a cam. If a lifter is damaged it may have damaged the cam. Also, now would be a great time to do a cam if you had ever planned on it.

 

Check the pushrod cup side of the rocker arm. I have notcied a few sets that where Egg shapped.

 

I have contemplated a cam also installing a trick turbo kit that’s been in my garage for the past four years. Thanks for your input guys!

 

what head gaskets are people using for the 4.8/5.3?

 

New factory replacements work good.