[cobalt327]

Earlier, you mentioned that a new oil pump was used. Was the pick up installed correctly and securely? There can be no leakage or suction of air into the oil system, and the pick up has to be tight.

[001mustang]

I am a little disheartened.

Been scouring the web and found several w/ same tic tic tic.

Some have changed cam, lifters, rockers to no avail; they gave up and are living w/ the tickity over the loud exhaust note.

Some had joy replacing roller rockers w/ stamped rockers.

Possible solutions include rizlone additive, lifter guides, rockers, push rods, lifters, pump, insulated covers, milder cam, etc.

I wish to mic valve lift but I am thinking lifters will bleed down and spoil my measurements.

Checked my log and found I have tightened lash from 1/2 turns to 3/4 turns; I wanted to try 1 1/2 turns but chickened out.

Plans include: mic lift, accurate PSI indicator, press hammer handle on rocker, stethoscope, ZDDP, inspect rocker flow, inspect exhaust, seal intake manifold exhaust crossover, look for insulated VC.

[oldbogie]

Originally Posted by Litdave

I have a small block chevy with the factory hydraulic roller cam.

I have been fighting a lifter ticking problem for a couple of months now and have decided that my problem is a lack of adequate oil supply to the lifters. I have tried lots of things and this is all that I can think of is left.

My question is:

Can the rear cam bearing or rear oil galley plugs be installed in such a way as to restrict oil flow to the lifters?

Hydraulic lifters don't really need a lot of oil, enough but not huge amounts. Engine oil pressure is only a feed/fill source; the hydraulic lock inside the lifter is accomplished by a valve that is internal to the lifter. If it leaks the lifter will not lock the plunger and resulting in a lash causing a ticking sound.

This is not to say that a lack of engine oil pressure on the lifter galleys would not or could not result with insufficient oil feed to the lifter chamber, but the system would have to be in pretty dire shape for that to happen. Usually this is noticeable from extremely low engine oil pressure.

Potential problems abound from the lifter internally leaking, to the fit in it's guide being too wide allowing pressure to bleed out before filling the lifter, to the lifter's oil inlet hole ridding too low or too high such that it's out side the opening of the lifter galley. Then there is lifter or lobe failure, there's a ton of causes for this as well.

You're simply going to have to id the noisy lifter, then pull it out and check. If this happens on the same lifter after replacement then you need to look at the bore fit of the lifter and to the cam for a damaged lobe.

Bogie

[001mustang]

Originally Posted by Litdave

Can the rear cam bearing or rear oil galley plugs be installed in such a way as to restrict oil flow to the lifters?

If an internal oil gallery plug is missing, engine can not build adequate pressure.

Next time I have timing cover and intake off SBF I will make sure oil gallery plugs are installed.

[mitchc]

I had the same issue. Found a couple problems.
1. Rear cam bearing was installed wrong.

2 Stock GM lifters do not work with a large lift. When the cam comes up on full lift the cut out area where the oil passes around the lifter to the next goes up above the oil gally and shuts off the oil to the next lifters.

The lifter on the right is a stock lifter and the one on the left is a Comp Cams lifter. See how much more area there is for oil..
3. Roller rockers just make noise. Peroid.. Dont know if you are running roller rockers or not..

Originally Posted by Litdave

I have a small block chevy with the factory hydraulic roller cam.

I have been fighting a lifter ticking problem for a couple of months now and have decided that my problem is a lack of adequate oil supply to the lifters. I have tried lots of things and this is all that I can think of is left.

My question is:

Can the rear cam bearing or rear oil galley plugs be installed in such a way as to restrict oil flow to the lifters?

[001mustang]

I don't hear the ticking noise; won the battle.
I have won the battle before; don't know who'll win the war.

Only thing I have done is tighten header bolts; bolts took 0 to 1/4 turn.

Stethoscoped and rubber tubed whole engine; sounds good.

Ran car for 1 hour. Ramped head temp up to 205F. Intake temp 165 to 180F. Don't know if 351W intake manifold exhaust crossover is blocked; I'm guessing it is based on temp.

Cold idle oil press = 62psi (iequus gauge).
cold 3000rpm oil press =62psi; guessing the HV oil pump press relief is pegged.

Hot idle oil= 35psi (iequus gauge); 15psi years ago w/ mechanical gauge.
Hot 3000rpm oil = 52 psi.

[65smallblock]

Originally Posted by 001mustang

I don't hear the ticking noise;
Only thing I have done is tighten header bolts; bolts took 0 to 1/4 turn.

Getting to the root cause, works every time..

[watchdude1]

I am having the same problem, i have oil on my lifters and running all over my headers but still ticking, I am thinking it is something to do with Comp Cams and there lifters I have a High energy Com Cam and it has been ticking ever since I installed it. adjusted valves4 times, checked oil pressure 45psi still ticking.runs good but still ticking

[oldbogie]

Originally Posted by watchdude1

I am having the same problem, i have oil on my lifters and running all over my headers but still ticking, I am thinking it is something to do with Comp Cams and there lifters I have a High energy Com Cam and it has been ticking ever since I installed it. adjusted valves4 times, checked oil pressure 45psi still ticking.runs good but still ticking

Aftermarket hydraulic cams tend to be noisy, aside from going to a milder cam there really isn't anything to be done. If you keep chasing the adjustment, you just give the plunger in side the lifter body more space to pump up if you ever float the valve train. Just set them normally.

Part of the noise is these lifters are designed to leak down faster which is one means of keeping them from pumping up, the other is the lobe shape tends to drop out from under them on the back side of the ramp a bit faster than the lifter can follow, a normal lifter would take this opportunity to start the pump up process, your anti-pump up lifters need a little more time before they react to this so you get a tick. So you've got a couple things going on that conspire to cause the lifter to tick a little.
Bogie

[rachet ralph]

does it have the pipe plug in front block above timing cover if so take out hook a gauge there an see what u get for pressure

[MouseFink]

Never use self-aligning rocker arms and pushrod guide plates. There will be mis-alignment issues and the pushrods will hit the guide plates.

I installed a Comp Cams camshaft with the hydraulic lifters they recomended and had a considerable amount of lifter noise. With less that 200 miles on the engine, I switched to Comp Cams limited travel lifters hydraulic lifters and set them at the recommended .004" lash using polylocks, and the lifter noise was completely eliminated. Conclusion: High lift aftermarket cams have acceleration ramps that are too steep for standard and so-called "anti-pump up" (high-ball) hydraulic lifters. Those type camshafts should be designed for solid flat tappets, limited travel roller lifters or limited travel hydraulic lifters. Standard hydraulic or "anti-pump up" hydraulic lifters should only be use with aftermarket camshafts that have less than .450" valve lift.

The limited travel lifters are not as popular as standard lifters, or the so-called "anti-pump up" hydraulic lifters or the fast bleed down hydraulic lifters. That is because you must set limited travel lifters just like solids at 0.001" - 0.004" lash using poly-locks. The lash setting of limited travel lifters is just enough to keep the pushrod seat from beating against the pushrod seat retainer clips . Since limited travel hydraulic lifters have only 0.050" total plunger travel and a lash setting between 0.001" to 0.004", they cannot pump up and float the valves because they have nowhere to pump up to. When using solid or limited travel lifters, the valves can only float if the valve springs are not up to the task. Limited travel lifters are similar to solid lifters except they are silent when using radical hydraulic camshafts.

[SDLuck]

From chevy Hi Performance A: You're probably not going to like our answer. For the most part, slight tappet noise is normal with the ZZ4 camshaft. The acceleration rates on the inlet lobe of that camshaft are pushed out to the max. With the very short duration number of 208 at 0.050 inch lift, and max lift numbers of 0.474 inch, you won't find a higher-lift cam with that duration in the aftermarket. That camshaft was originally designed for the ZZ3, which was also used at the time for the H.O. 350 Camaro emissions-legal engine package. To achieve 308 hp through the cats, the production exhaust manifolds, and all the emissions equipment of an '87 Camaro, GM had to pull a few tricks out of the bag. Pushing the camshaft without increasing the duration was one of them

[SDLuck]

Factory tappet preload is one turn from zero lash. You can try to go to this tighter setting, but this probably won't help much. What Chevrolet did in the later years to quiet down the valvetrain was to install covers over the valve covers. This kept down the injector clicking and the tappet noise. They're also on the LT4 '96 Corvette; this also damped the high-pitch ticking. If you can run down a set of these covers it will also help with the noise. Give the valve adjustment a try with the tighter preload. The standard EO-IC procedure works just fine with this camshaft. Hope we've been some help