2008 Equinox - Lifter Tap

[Delta]

Hey guys, new to the forum, but a follower for a while. Question I have, we bought a 2008 Chevrolet Equinox with the 3.4L V6 in 2011. First oil change I switched to 5w30 M1 Synthetic and a M1 oil filter. Shortly after I noticed on cold and luke warm starts there was a noticeable lifter tap (narrowed it to the back of the engine with a scope). It has been that way since. OCI has always been in the 3-4K range with the occasional 4500-5K sprint with M1, Valvoline, or Castrol 5w30 Synthetic with M1, Wix or Purolator Gold filters. As of ~73K it still has the lifter tap. I was wondering if any of you guys were experiencing the same thing. Also wanted opinions on switching to a 10W30. I run Rotella T6 in my Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 with good results and was thinking about Rotella T5 10w30 in the Equinox to see if it would quiet the lifters. Does not get too cold here in Mississippi, but hopefully this year we will be moving to Southern Pennsylvania which is not too terribly cold in the winter. As a note, I do not know what the purchasing dealer used in the vehicle to quiet the engine to sell it.

 

[gregk24]

Doesn't that mean that the lifters are plugged up? If so, keep using a good syn to clean things up. My fathers Silverado with the 6.0 has lifter tap for a good 5 minutes after morning start up, or any time the engine cools off. Its been going on for around 2 years now. Dino 5w30 or 10w30 with a Napa filter at 5,000 miles intervals is what it gets most of the time.

 

[Merkava_4]

The only way to know for sure is to drain the Mobil 1 out and refill the engine with something drastically different such as PYB. But what you can do is drain the M1 into a clean container and save it in case the PYB doesn't eliminate the noise. My gut feeling tells me you'll notice an immediate difference since you say you never had this problem until trying M1.

 

[Delta]

Isn't PYB (Pennzoil?) dino? Course, I recon it doesn't really matter since the vehicle doesn't see severe service or long OCI's. Right now the current fill of Castrol Edge 5w30 Syn is about 1K from needing changed, so I guess no reason to save it. Should I stick with 5w30 or try something like 10w30? I've got a good stock of RT6 that I keep for the Jetta, but I imagine 5w40 would not be too good in the 3400.

 

[Merkava_4]

The reason I suggested dino is because it's never been known to cause noise like synthetics sometimes do.

If the dino makes everything quiet, then you could switch back to a different synthetic later on. If you don't like PYB, you could try some Mobil Super 5000 in 10W-30.

 

[jeepman3071]

It is a different engine, but the Jeep 4.0 is known for lifter noise. PYB is the quietest oil in my engine so far, and mine is pretty dirty inside from previous owner neglect. I would try some PYB 5w30 and see how it does.

 

[Ram01]

PYB 10w30 will work better

 

[tig1]

Weak lifter. Not a big deal. No oil will cure it. You will have to live with it.

 

[Zaedock]

I have the same engine design in my wife's Maxx and have run 5W30 conventional to the OLM. We had to sue GM for other problems, but the engine has always been quiet.

You could try another 5W30 oil next time, but personally, I would continue with M1 and run it out to the OLM.

 

[Delta]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll have to do some experimenting, it's probably going to be traded of in a year or so, but for the time being I'd like it to be quieter.

 

[71Chevyguy]

Are you still under power train warranty on your vehicle? I ran into this problem at work once and it sounded like a bad lifter. The vehicle was at 99,9xx miles. We had it towed to the dealer so she doesn't flip 100k and the dealer actually did some head work on it and that fixed the problem. It was the rear head and they said that is usually the one to go. I believe there was a TSB out for that issue on the Made in China 3400 engines. Honestly don't remember if it was the valve guides or what the problem was in the head but it created wear and I think made the rockers tick when warmed up. It doesn't hurt to give the dealer a call and ask if you are still covered if you are under 100k. I believe it was an 07 so it had the 100k power train warranty. Not sure if the 08 was also covered or not, might be a good-will thing since the know of the issue. Never hurts to try. The person who bought it never had any issues with it after the repair so it seemed to have fixed the issue.

 

[Delta]

We bought an extended warranty (up to 100K) for the vehicle, but nobody can "replicate" the noise. Tried to get them to leave it overnight for a cold start, but refused. We'll be taking it to get looked at a dealership up where I'm from in Hagerstown before years end when we're on an extended trip up there. I have seen the TSB for the lifter tick/tap and IIRC it was for the 08's as well.

 

[Delta]

UPDATE:

Just wanted to let you all know that after a 3K run so far on Rotella T5 10w30 (XG3387A filter) the tap has quieted down almost 90%. I did do a change at 2500mi in to replace the Purolator filter. The noise started to dissipate after a few hundred miles on the first run. So for now this will be the diet I'm sticking with.