my car is ticking!!!!

[nino]

got the motor all back together and started up fine. but now it is ticking. ok, you say, lifters- it will go away in about 5 maybe 20 minutes. well the mechanic let it idle for hours on a lift to break the gears in. still ticking. he did say that when he tightened down the lifters (i think he said lifters) he had to turn them around 4 complete times for them to be flush. and he said he thought that was a bit much. any suggestions
remember my original problem was that i had a broken valve guide. machine shop supposedly fixed that and that i do have the SSM power pack with quite an unusual cam. any help would be appreciated.

[Only4U]

stick a long metal shaft of some sort to your injectors. put your ear on the other end of the shaft. if it grows much louder to that ear, it's your injectors that are ticking. that's normal.

[Magnus]

could be loose rocker arm.. or collapsed lifter.. or hopefully just an exhaust leak.

Everything has torque specs.. just tighten it to spec and be done with it... there are no "4 turns" kinda deal or rocker adjustments that need to be done..

If he torqued down the rockers with either valve open then his specs would be off and needs to be retightened.. he should know that though as a mechanic.

[nino]

well the car is still ticking and my mechanic called the machine shop to get some ideas. he was told to try "shimming the lifter rail" (i think thats what he said. i should start paying attention, but all i want him to say is "ok come get it"
what does this mean? what have i gotten my car into. i have to admit the longer it is out of commision the more i think about never racing again. :mad:

[apiccola]

What did you have done to you car?

[nino]

here is some help i got from tom at SSM:
Nino,
I'm really sorry to hear about all your problems.
Ticking is usually related to several things.
If its in the valvetrain, its usually owed to lash due to inadequate
lifter
preload. Do this, listen carefully and feel the valvecovers with your
hand,
you can get pretty close to where the noise is coming from this way. Is
the
noise related to the location of the guide repair? If it is, I suspect
that
somehow the repair has affected the spring height which may now be too
tight
and coil bind is occurring. Thats easy to see if you turn the engine
over by
hand with the valvecover off, watch the spring compression, if the coils
bind up you'll see it. If the noise is elsewhere, not at the repair, I'd
think about improper lifter preload. Did you replace the rocker arm
bolts? I
think the ones on the GM3800 are torque-to-yield one use types. Really,
find
out where the noise comes from, if its one valve, all the valves, the
repaired guide valve, etc. A noise like this is usually pretty easy to
resolve, you just have to find it first.
Also, could the valve guide failure have caused a bent pushrod? Was the
affected pushrod checked for straightness? A bent pushrod will usually
cause
a ticking.
Also can get ticking from an exhaust leak if the header gaskets might
have
been damaged or improperly installed.
This one sounds stupid, but have you checked to see if the oil level is
proper?

oh man, what have i done?????

[toast]

What are the specs on your cam nino?

[nino]

to be honest i dont remember exactly but i think 216/224 .48 at 114
sorry its late and i cant think right now

[toast]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by nino:
to be honest i dont remember exactly but i think 216/224 .48 at 114
sorry its late and i cant think right now<hr></blockquote>

Ok, i was thinking about getting a cam for my car. I am going to leave the heads alone but i wanted to get something halfway desent that sounded good nad so you car well really sounds good and that is the sound i am looking for. Anyways this cam was suggested to me 206/212 114, just wanted to know your thoughts about it. It does not have as much lift like your cam does but it does have the same duration. I just want something that sounds like your car with a nice proformace increase without driveablty problems or A SES light.

[Big Tymer]

tick tock tick tock

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

[nino]

toast, this thread is was not intended to be about my cam, but if i can, i would like to help some people out here.
for all you "i am getting cam" people. if you do not know what you are getting into, i suggest you look into the troubles that my car has given me. my car might just be bad luck, but i hope nobody would have to go through what i have gone through. since my "cam" went in i have dished out approximatly 2-3 grand in repairs. i figure that is why no new times have been posted for me in the timeslip page in the last year.
i am not telling people to not follow their dream, i am just asking you to know what the hell you are getting into. i was the same like you a year ago with the attitude of getting the power pack. i am not dissing tom, but i really wish i knew what the hell i was getting into. i wish you all the best of luck. and i pray nobody else has to go through what i have.

[Tiago]

nino, not dissing you or anything but just saying....

the reason you are having so much trouble is because you don't know what is going on like you said. You can't even explain the problem because you don't know about it. I don't reccommend people mod their cars as much as you have without having a mechanical understanding of the car, how everything works, and risks and problems involved. You went into this "blind" and it costed you alot as you said. you are at the mercy of a mechanic always, which $$$ adds up...

with that said you should always know that when you mod a car that much it will never be as reliable as it was stock, problems will arise! so be prepared.

:D

[nino]

tiago, you are right
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> i guess i should have known about this before i got the power pack- just shows my ignorance. <hr></blockquote>
thats from may 14, 2002

i got the powerpack in february 2002. and i am the first one to admit that i am not a mechanic.
i was trying to search for my post about anybody can buy the cool mods if you have the money and that is what i have done, but i couldnt find it.
i would hope somebody would remember me constantly complaining on here that people should know what they are getting into. i am just fortunate enough to have a good job that allows me to pay for all things necessary:mods, installation, and repairs.
i really wish i could have found that post. i know i mentioned on here that me getting the power pack pushed me over the limit. engine mechanics is NOT my thing. and that is why i just wanted to warn people who are like me and cross the same threshold as i have.
remember the days when everybody said they where getting the power pack? now everybody says they are getting a cam. i should be lead example of what can happen if you do not do the work yourself. am i not proud of my car? no! i am very proud of my car BUT i am at the mercy of my mechanic. and that is not cheap. so what i am saying is for the other not mechanically inclined out there- if you have no idea how it works or can install it yourself, just be careful and be willing to spend a lot of money.

that being said......
update on my car: SES light is still there and will prolly be there for ever! thats just a side note for toast- i expected it with my specs. now the ticking noise might be coming from the balancer????? my mechanic doesnt think the lifters are making the noise. he put in mystic 15 45 oil and the ticking was still there. he found an exhaust leak, but the car still sounds sweet as hell. on his own, my mechanic repainted my heads and valve covers. looks really good. i hope to have the car next week, but who knows-its only been a month and i thought it was a simple blown valve seal!
sorry for rambling

[nino]

and once again more mechanics from different cites have compimented tom at ssm on his work. again another mechanic tells me he has not seen p/p done so well. i will email tom and of course tell him, but i just want you guys to know that his power pack is well worth it!

[Tiago]

[img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] :D