common lifter tap best oil combo to reduce noise?

[ccapital83]

so as with most gm 3400 i have the annoying lifter tap. mmo and seafoam didnt help. im thinkin maybe a 10w-30 or mayabe some lube moly? any ideas i know i cant reduce it but the only thing that helped was supertech synthetic and i dont want to use that oil i like running better oils. so any tips or ideas to maybe quite it down would be appretiated

 

[c3po]

How long did you use MMO and Seafoam.

 

[FL_Rob]

What oil are you on now?

 

[ccapital83]

currently 5w-40 rotella t6 ive tried almost every oil out there besides schaffers and amsoil. it seems to be the loudest with the t6. all oils were 5w-30 seafoam i never let stay in long after about 500 miles i took it out i know alot of people swear by it but its just so thin and strong. mmo ive done what the bottle says replace with a quart of oil at oil change. my cars only seen full synthetic. most of the time its mobil1 or pp. but its seen ultra edge syntec rp synpower i cant even remember them all my bad shoulda given all that info the first post.

 

[cchase]

You've already run an OCI with Ultra which has been out for a few weeks?

EDIT: I realize many people have run long OCI's with Ultra, not saying it's not possible, but this just sounds like a list of OTC synthetics to me.

 

[FL_Rob]

If it was a gummed up ticky lifter( youre sure its not the DOHC?)
It shouldve quieted down ,it may be mechanical, flatspot a roller lifter and NO oil will help you.
what year?

 

[ccapital83]

yea i bought ultra the day it come to my local walmart and since at that time penzoil hd no info released on it i drained it after 3k i put miles on my car fast. its a 2004. and its deffinantly lifter tap its common in all aleros,grand ams, impalas, malibus an gm with the 3400v6 it doesnt do anything bad i just would love to quite it down deffinantly nothing sticking in my motor its as clean as it could ever be.

 

[xxch4osxx]

You sure its a lifter and not piston slap?

 

[ccapital83]

yes goes away after reaching operating temp

 

[ron917]

Piston slap is most prevalent when cold, then goes away as the engine warms up. I have two Subaru H4s and a GM 3400 - trust me, I know piston slap!

The '03 Montana has a very light slap, it's gone after just a couple of minutes of warmup then it's silent. M1 5w-30 since 2K miles, except for 2 OCIs of PP.

 

[pbm]

I have a 3100 GM and it seems quietest on 10w30. I just ignore any noise because I know the motor will do 300K if I care to keep it that long.

 

[The_Eric]

Not a lifter noise. It's piston slap. The 3.1's and 3.4's are notorious for it. It's backed up by you saying that it goes away when it warms up. No oil will get rid of it.

You think yours is bad? You should listen to my wife's '95 Grand Am on a cold winter day that has 235,000 miles on it...

 

[Robenstein]

If it was a sticky lifter MMO would have taken care of it over an OCI of 2k or so.

When we did a re ring and bearing refresh in our 3100 we changed to aftermarket pistons and the piston slap went away. The lifters were still a bit sticky and MMO with Kendal GT1 took most of it out. The next OCI I ran a 10w30 HDEO and Rislone and it is gone all together now.

 

[ccapital83]

then what is piston slap and why does it go away after a couple minutes?

 

[Robenstein]

Piston slap gets quieter because as the engine warms up the tolerances shrink and there is less clearance and less noise. Metal expands as it heats.

 

[ccapital83]

sorry just found a complete website on it with pics sound and explination. maybe it is what i have then and maybe im lucky mine doesnt sound half as bad mines more of a wet tick/tap its no wheres near a knocking sound like these are explained and sound like. but with that if it was piston slap wouldnt a thicker oil or a additive actually help with that id think it would as buffr or cushion so to speak?

 

[Robenstein]

Very little, but in the process you will lose MPG and power by running a thicker viscosity. In the cold you also run into cold flow issues.

A good oil that seems to help naturally noisy motors is Castrol Syntec 0w30 aka German Castrol. My Toyota motor is a bit noisy due to design and german castrol makes it run quieter. Plus it has higher anti wear additives due to its SL rating.

 

[Maritime Storm]

Some are far worse than others, it doesn't seem to affect longetivity of the engine though. One gentleman I work with has a 1997 Grand Am with a 3.1, on cold start-up you'd swear it came with a 6.2L diesel, after about 3-5 minutes no noticeable slap from it. He told me it started doing it in 1999 and only has 270K kms on the clock so far.

 

[NHHEMI]

I had an 08 Equinox with the 3.4L and brand new it had cold start clatter. I forget exactly what they told me it was( cam tensioner or something like that )but it is common to the engine. Nothing I used really quieted it down. I did notice however that if I used non AC filters it made it worse.

 

[pbm]

OT:
While I agree that piston slap has little effect on the longevity of the motor it certainly has had an effect on GM's sales. Piston slap and poor IM gasket designs have lost many customers for GM.