Lifter Tick

[Delta]

Vehicle in question is the S10 2.2 I4 5MT

So recently I've developed a very light lifter tick when cold and hot. It only last 30 seconds or so and goes away when you bump the throttle and doesn't come back till you shut off the vehicle. After a 5 minute restart it will do it. It has always had a knocking noise when first run, especially when real cold (below 30*F), but never a ticking noise. This all started when I changed the oil a couple weeks ago using Super Tech 5w30 Full Syn HM and a Napa Gold 1040 filter. Previous oil change was Rotella T5 10w30 and a AcDelco PF47 and it didn't do it. Oil pressure shows around 60psi stone cold and gets to around 25 when run a bit (both idle pressures). Is it simply a filter/oil issue or something sinister brewing and it's just a coincidence? Truck has turned into 1/2 daily driver with my new job and it has to get run hard to get going up the mountain roughly 3-4 days a week depending on weather.

 

[CharBaby]

Well then, I'd go back to the oil(Rotella T5 10W30) that you were using. Stick with what was working for you. Sleep well.

 

[ENGINEER60]

25 psi oil pressure at idle is not good and WILL cause lifter noise and wear.
I would do two things.
..............
First do a motor flush to get all the gunk out of the engine.
...........
Then change oil and filter using 10w-30 high mileage conventional.
5w-30 is way too thin for summer use on a old 2.2 and the high mileage 10w-30 is a much better oil.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
25 psi oil pressure at idle is not good and WILL cause lifter noise and wear.
I would do two things.
..............
First do a motor flush to get all the gunk out of the engine.
...........
Then change oil and filter using 10w-30 high mileage conventional.
5w-30 is way too thin for summer use on a old 2.2 and the high mileage 10w-30 is a much better oil.


From what I've read 20-25psi is normal for these motors.

I've done 4 oil changes in about 6K miles in this truck, and the last 2 have drained pretty clean considering.

I considered going back to a 10w30, but it seems so noisy in the winter. That and the oil pressure would stay around 30+ psi after a long (30 miles) run at idle and almost peg the gauge when driving. I used some leftover Rotella t6 0w40 at one point and I do believe it was the better running of the bunch. Thought about going T6 5w40.

So far the oil an filters I've used goes as following:

Castrol HM Semi Syn 5w30 - Fram TG3387
Rotella T6 0w40 - AcDelco PF52
Rotella T5 10w30 - AcDelco PF47
ST HM FS 5w30 - NG 1040 - Current

None of them made the lifters tick besides the ST/NG combo, so that's likely the variable. Just wanted to get some feedback.

Truck will smoke on cold start 50% of the time, probably worn valve seals. Not going to do anything with that at the moment.

 

[The_Nuke]

Not to be pedantic, but that engine does not have lifters. It has followers, which serve the same function basically, but aren’t technically a lifter.



The More We Know...

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
25 psi oil pressure at idle is not good and WILL cause lifter noise and wear.
I would do two things.
..............
First do a motor flush to get all the gunk out of the engine.
...........
Then change oil and filter using 10w-30 high mileage conventional.
5w-30 is way too thin for summer use on a old 2.2 and the high mileage 10w-30 is a much better oil.


Uh what? 25psi at idle is totally fine.

Motor flushes are pointless.

5w-30 and 10w-30 are the same thickness at operating temp, how does that have any relevance?

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
25 psi oil pressure at idle is not good and WILL cause lifter noise and wear.
I would do two things.
..............
First do a motor flush to get all the gunk out of the engine.
...........
Then change oil and filter using 10w-30 high mileage conventional.
5w-30 is way too thin for summer use on a old 2.2 and the high mileage 10w-30 is a much better oil.


That's plenty of oil pressure for a fully warmed up engine at idle.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: The_Nuke
Not to be pedantic, but that engine does not have lifters. It has followers, which serve the same function basically, but aren’t technically a lifter.



The More We Know...



It has lifters.

 

[Trav]

This oil filter is mounted sideways, suspect bad ADBV.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: ENGINEER60
25 psi oil pressure at idle is not good and WILL cause lifter noise and wear.
I would do two things.
..............
First do a motor flush to get all the gunk out of the engine.
...........
Then change oil and filter using 10w-30 high mileage conventional.
5w-30 is way too thin for summer use on a old 2.2 and the high mileage 10w-30 is a much better oil.


25psi hot at idle is more than adequate, you are completely off-base.

 

[Trav]

It was normal for the the old SBC to have little more than 7 psi at hot idle and they lived for decades like that.
10 psi for every 1,000 rpm and the engine will stay together.

 

[Audios]

I just had an Mini that had low pressure, light came on at 10 psi or below, spec was .8-1 bar, so about 12-15 psi or so, as a sort of general reference.

 

[Pajero]

My Montero has a lifter tick with certain motor oils. Much worse with Mobil 1. Tried Redline motor oil and the truck has no lifter noise. It's better than when it was new. Purchased Montero new and Mitsubishi's recommended OEM oil filter with BG MOA. An aftermarket product of all things. Which contradicted the owners manual. MOA did quiet the engine a bit, but this is a design flaw.

Respectfully,

Pajero!

 

[sloinker]

Lot of Hemi lifter ticks have been mitigated with Red Line oil but as your engine is a worn out smoker.....go back to what you used prior that didn't result in a tick.

 

[Delta]

Update sorta. Drained the oil this weekend and the pan was full of silver and copper. Apparently the low knocking sound when cold might be rod bearings combined with the lifter/rocker rick.

Pretty sure my temp gauge has been lying to me. Going up the mountain it has to pull some serious RPM's and I'm pretty sure coolant has been boiling over as one day there was puddle on the ground under where the coolant bottle is and coolant all over the bottle. Head gasket issues are common with these engines if I recall correctly.

Deciding what I want to do at this point, but for now my roadside is up to date, I'll just take it a little easier on the mountain. Might be totally wrong here, but the drain pan didn't lie. Didn't think to get a picture of it.

 

[OVERKILL]

If you have bearing material in the pan she isn't long for this world unfortunately

I'm surprised you haven't observed a marked drop in oil pressure; like 5psi at idle. Generally, significant bearing wear shows up that way.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
If you have bearing material in the pan she isn't long for this world unfortunately

I'm surprised you haven't observed a marked drop in oil pressure; like 5psi at idle. Generally, significant bearing wear shows up that way.


I've read sometimes the opposite happens. Either way, when I first bought the truck in 2016 the oil pressure was lower than it is now, no matter the oil. Fact I think it happened right after the first oil change, so apparently it was traded in like that and something was put in the oil. I'm just gonna drive it a couple days a week till it goes. Lucky for me there's a couple different vehicles with the 2.2 I can use if and when it happens.