Intermittent lifter noise just started. LS 5.3

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Nov 14, 2012
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Minnesota
Hey all!

I have a 2007 GMC Sierra Classic with almost 190K on it. Just the other day, it started to have an intermittent lifter noise. It is coming from cylinder 1 or 3. I have always used synthetic oil since new....was hoping to avoid this issue. The oil pressure is in the normal range.

So the question is, does Seafoam or any other product like it, actually work? Or just a waste of time and money?

Thanks, Matt.
 
Probably worth trying. Mystery Oil would be my choice.

Does the engine have displacement on demand? If not, some people have driven with lifter noise for quite a while without doing any damage, depending on how bad it is.
 
It's a straight 5.3 without the DoD garbage! I'm hoping since it just started, a product will actually work. I will give it a go and see what happens.

I will report back with good or bad news! Lol
 
You may try doing an oil change with Red Line. There are quite a few testimonials where it has cured lifter tick in Hemi's. It cleared the lifter tick on my 3.2L V6 Mercedes engine with low miles and always ran on M1.
 
Are you sure it's lifter noise and not a hairline crack in the exhaust manifold? If you've used synthetic and changed it at a reasonable rate, it's probably not a sticking lifter. If it is lifter noise (try a mechanic's stethoscope to see if you can find the noise) it's more likely a DOD lifter getting ready to fail and wipe a cam lobe.

If you're not inclined to dig around the exhaust or with the stethoscope, skip the Seafoam and try Lubegard Bio/Tech, it's a very stout additive that has helped others with sticky lifters. There is also Hot Shots Secret Stiction Eliminator specifically designed to address issues with gummed up oil in small crevices, as long as you realize there's not much in it other than Hot Shot's "Secret" sauce and you're essentially diluting your engine oil's additives. If you search the Oil Analysis forums, I had a VOA done on the Lubegard HD Engine Protectant (same product as Bio/Tech but larger size bottle), along with a bunch of helpful emails from Lubegard directly about the product in that thread.
 
had good results with marvel mystry oil with lifter tic in my sorento. also have 5.3 that tics once in a while but always goes away
 
Rislone recently cleared up a very loud lifter in my pickup. I recommend it over anything else.
 
I have a 2006 sierra with the 5.3. I had that lifter tap intermittently for about 2 years before I fixed it. I've tried many oil flushes and additives, high mileage oils, regular oils, amsoil, stabilizers, etc. I even know of someone who put all new lifters in his and had no change. I've heard a parts store person tell me it couldn't be fixed. But I fixed mine. The issue isn't in the lifters at all. The issue is the silicone o-ring that seals the oil pick up tube to the oil pump. Once it wears out, it's like drinking through a straw with a hole in it. It's about a 5-6 hour job with a 4WD like mine.
 
Could be the early stages of Lifter Roller failure, Nothing to do with AFM. The OP has a '07 Classic which has a LM7 or a L59 Flex Fuel Gen III engine that never had AFM!!

But definitely check for missing exhaust manifold bolt heads! These manifolds DO NOT crack but they sure will thermally expand/contract & break bolts!

The Oil Pump pick-up tube o-ring can suck air a odd times....Especially cold!
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by clinebarger
Could be the early stages of Lifter Roller failure, Nothing to do with AFM. The OP has a '07 Classic which has a LM7 or a L59 Flex Fuel Gen III engine that never had AFM!!

But definitely check for missing exhaust manifold bolt heads! These manifolds DO NOT crack but they sure will thermally expand/contract & break bolts!

The Oil Pump pick-up tube o-ring can suck air a odd times....Especially cold!


For whatever reason, the vast majority of lifter roller failires that I have seen were in late '07+ engines, with AFM, and usually on cylinder 1. Actually, I can't remember working on any roller failures on pre-'07 trucks. (of course that doesn't mean it can't happen)

Exhaust manifold bolts do spontaneously lose their heads, but usually only the ones in the far back.

I recommend getting definite diagnosis of this noise before messing with any oil additives.
 
Originally Posted by Deerslayer
I have a 2006 sierra with the 5.3. I had that lifter tap intermittently for about 2 years before I fixed it. I've tried many oil flushes and additives, high mileage oils, regular oils, amsoil, stabilizers, etc. I even know of someone who put all new lifters in his and had no change. I've heard a parts store person tell me it couldn't be fixed. But I fixed mine. The issue isn't in the lifters at all. The issue is the silicone o-ring that seals the oil pick up tube to the oil pump. Once it wears out, it's like drinking through a straw with a hole in it. It's about a 5-6 hour job with a 4WD like mine.


After reading online and YouTubing, I'm thinking that stupid o-ring may be the culprit .
 
Originally Posted by LocoEngr
Originally Posted by Deerslayer
I have a 2006 sierra with the 5.3. I had that lifter tap intermittently for about 2 years before I fixed it. I've tried many oil flushes and additives, high mileage oils, regular oils, amsoil, stabilizers, etc. I even know of someone who put all new lifters in his and had no change. I've heard a parts store person tell me it couldn't be fixed. But I fixed mine. The issue isn't in the lifters at all. The issue is the silicone o-ring that seals the oil pick up tube to the oil pump. Once it wears out, it's like drinking through a straw with a hole in it. It's about a 5-6 hour job with a 4WD like mine.


After reading online and YouTubing, I'm thinking that stupid o-ring may be the culprit .


This could be a bad idea, and I haven't tried it..
but if you overfill the oil enough that the O-ring on top of the pickup tube is fully immersed, and the cold start tick goes away, then that could be a good indication. Of course you will want to drain the excess oil out before driving it at all. I just pulled that idea out of my [censored], so maybe don't even try it. Let's start with paying close attention to the oil pressure in relation to the noise.
 
Based on what I saw when I took my oil pan off, it would take a lot of extra oil to reach that high up the tube. My oil pressure was idling between 35 and 40 before I changed the o-ring and now it runs between 50 and 60. It's been about 6 weeks since I fixed mine and I haven't had a lifter tap in it yet. As far as oils go, valvoline maxlife kept the tap to a minimum better than anything else I tried.
 
Originally Posted by Deerslayer
I have a 2006 sierra with the 5.3. I had that lifter tap intermittently for about 2 years before I fixed it. I've tried many oil flushes and additives, high mileage oils, regular oils, amsoil, stabilizers, etc. I even know of someone who put all new lifters in his and had no change. I've heard a parts store person tell me it couldn't be fixed. But I fixed mine. The issue isn't in the lifters at all. The issue is the silicone o-ring that seals the oil pick up tube to the oil pump. Once it wears out, it's like drinking through a straw with a hole in it. It's about a 5-6 hour job with a 4WD like mine.


In your opinion, what's the hardest part of this job? Did you have access to a lift?

Crazy how a $2 part can cause so many issues!
 
Locoengr, I don't think that any of it was really hard except for maybe a few hard to get to pan bolts. The oil pan on these trucks is a bit tricky since the 2 lower bell housing bolts go in to it. I had to remove the cross member and I had to unbolt my front differential and lower it enough for the pan to clear everything on the way out. You have to drill out 2 rivets in the old pan gasket in order to remove it and I temporarily zip ties the new in place till I put the pan back in. There is a pretty good video on YouTube about this procedure.
 
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