Lifter Tick in 97 350 TBI

[Bama57]

140,000 miles on a 350 TBI 97 Suburban.
Engine oil and filter changed every 3,000 miles
Havoline 10-40 winter, 20-50 summer, PF35 AC filter

I usually change my own oil,but if I am busy, I take it to to a Havoline Quick Lube.
Last November, it was cold so I took the Suburban to the Quick Lube but they were closed , so I went next door to a WalMart Super Center.

They said they could use Havoline , so I let them change the oil.

Shortly after ( three days or so ) , I started getting a little "tick" in the mornings that would last for thirty seconds or so and then clear up.

With less than 200 miles on the WalMart change, I went to the Havoline Quick Lube and had them change the oil again.

A couple of times in December I heard the tick on startup, but it never lasted more than 30 seconds.

After Christmas, I had another oil change before driving 2000 miles to pick up my 1957 Chevy. No problems or noise during the trip.

In mid January, I was about 60 miles from home when I heard the "tick" start and it wouldn't go away. I stopped by a auto parts store and poured in a couple of cans of stuff that looked like lacquer thinner advertised to "free lifters and rings ".

No Luck.

Parked the Suburb for several weeks and started driving my old reliable K-5.

The 57 now occupies the garage, so I needed a couple of nice days to play with the Suburb. A couple of weeks ago, I had my chance.

I pulled the passenger side valve cover (((( good grief !!! when did they start putting all that junk on top of the engine ???? :mad: :mad: )))))

Anyway, when I looked, sure enough, the rear intake valve rocker was
sitting at a crazy angle with about a 1/8th gap between the valve and the rocker arm. ( I couldn't rotate the rocker off of the pushrod )

The stud had the same number of threads showing as all the rest of the rockers, so I knew that the rocker wasn't the problem. I pulled the rocker off and pulled the pushrod out. The pushrod was straight and not stopped
up.

I had some spray carb cleaner, so I put the pushrod back in and sprayed carb cleaner down the pushrod. Nothing.... I did this proceedure for
several days hoping that the lifter might free up.

I bought a new lifter just to see how it was made
( roller rocker ... high tech stuff !! Dreamed about roller rockers in my teen years LOL !!! )
I was going to see how hard it was to push down the spring inside the lifter.....
Geeze !! It feels like a solid lifter. I couldn't make it move more than 20 thou ( if I was lucky ) ..... The lifter inside the engine must be trashed.

Four days ago I had a nice day, so I started looking at pulling the intake manifold and replacing the lifter... (((( DID I ASK WHO PUT ALL THAT JUNK ON TOP OF THE ENGINE ??? ))))

One last attempt with the carb cleaner. This time I found a rubber hose that was a tight fit over the pushrod and after filling the hose with carb cleaner, I pressed the pushrod down tight on the lifter and blew really hard on the hose.
I did this a couple of times and then let the engine sit for a while.

When I came back, the pushrod seemed to be sitting taller than before ......
Hummmmm...... rocker arm back on and HEY !!! the rocker is sitting about where the rest of the rockers are. I tightened the rocker nut back down and it was a snug fit. Same number of stud threads as the others .....

I cranked the engine and no valve tick !!!! WOO WOO !!!!!

A quick home oil change to get rid of the thinner oil and a new load of
10-40 and a new PF-35 and its been three days now and no lifter tick.

I've gone about 200 miles and 10-15 stops/three morning starts.

What now ??? Should I change to Synthetic ? Was it the Havoline ?
Was it WalMArt ? I don't want to have to pull that intake ...
Did I say how much stuff is on top of that intake ??????

[19_Chevelle_69]

Sounds like you have your problem licked. I would hazzard a guess that it was co-incidence that it happened after using Havoline.

However, you should be running an AC Delco PF-1218 on that truck. It has an anti-drainback valve to help prevent these types of things from happening, and to prevent debris from being backflushed out into the oil pan when the engine is shut off.

[Bama57]

Thanks Don,

You are right ... I shuld be using the PF1218... I didn't realize the 1218 had an anti-drainback feature. I would guess that the 1218 would be a good filter to be using on all chevyV8s ???

[MikeKy55]

I think a piece of dirt got into the lifter and you managed to wash it back out, good, good for you. It was just the luck of the draw. I'm the kind of fellow who could walk across a 40 acre field with one power line over it and one bird would land on said wire and dump on me just as I went under that wire.
Just be thankful you fixed it. :D

[19_Chevelle_69]

GM updated the PF-35 oil filter with the PF-1218 a number of years back. I use a PF-1218 on all Chevy V8 engines, including the 406 in the race car.

[1quick57]

I use CASTROL 10W-30 (for those smaller, higher revving engines) = All year long. I was never a believer in any brand oil until my father-in-law was putting a valve cover gasket on his 318 Dodge (sorry) some years back with over 300,000 miles on it. :eek: Not one spec of dirt anywhere on top of that head! I was sold after that. I use CASTROL in my '89 S-10 2.8L V6 and so far so good (163,000). Something to think about.

[MikeKy55]

That's good oil Art. I always used Valvoline over the years, but when I was younger I changed my oil and filter every 2,000 miles. Worked great, clean as a whistle. BUT, now on my daily drivers I go 3K to 3,500 miles and if I used Val. it begins to use a little (as in a quart in 3,500 miles). The daily driver is a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix with 30,000 miles. So I switched to Castrol and it doesn't use a drop.

[MOKANRACER]

Sorry guys that I,m replying to such an old thread. It was a very interesting story. It caught my attention,because of it being a 97 Burb,with a tic.:( Any who,I have a 2001 with high miles,bought it used, but really clean LT.. I use it to pull my 7500 lb car and trailer. The mtr some times tics when first started. I took it to GM dealer,and they handed me a bulletin from GM, describing that its not a prob and is totally warrentied. OK...It does it at start up for about 20/30 sec,s and never comes back. I dont understand why GM is saying not a prob?? But I,m gonna go to that PF-1218 filter,and see if that helps. Thanks for the info and the story,even tho I,m several months late.

[Bama57]

A quick update :

I have been changing oil on a 3,000 mile schedule and haven't heard a tick............. until last week when the temps dropped below 40 degrees.

Almost a repeat of last year ... slight tick early cold mornings but quiet
for the rest of the day.

If things change , I'll update.

my chevy service man says that the TBI's were bad about leaking antifreeze into the lifter valley ( bad gasket..... use FelPro ) and the antifreeze mixes with the oil creating a jello-like slime.

[MOKANRACER]

A quick update :

I have been changing oil on a 3,000 mile schedule and haven't heard a tick............. until last week when the temps dropped below 40 degrees.

Almost a repeat of last year ... slight tick early cold mornings but quiet
for the rest of the day.

If things change , I'll update.

my chevy service man says that the TBI's were bad about leaking antifreeze into the lifter valley ( bad gasket..... use FelPro ) and the antifreeze mixes with the oil creating a jello-like slime. The oil stays clear between changes. Its the Vortec 300hp mtr. 5.3 version. I have a 95 truck with a 113000 on it.TBI 5.7 and it continues to run ok.It developed a valve seal leak between 5 and 7 and was filing out plugs for about 2 oil changes. Than it stopped. Any way.. ?? I also have an S10 Tahoe 4.3 with a 118000 miles and it still runs like new. Crazy chevys huh? LOL