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Marvel Mystery Oil and ticking valve train

AJMBLAZER

AJMBLAZER

Better to be lucky than good.
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At almost 120,000 the Tracker has a bit of a tick, especially when cold. On a cold morning when it's been sitting it ticks pretty good. Warm it up to operating temp and it's rare to hear it tick.

Guy I know with a similar 4cyl Tracker put Seafoam in his oil and drove it for a little while before changing his oil. Claims his tick is gone.

I was leery about doing that since Seafoam isn't an oil. Research lead me to Marvel Mystery Oil. I'm not usually a fan of "fix in a can" stuff but it seems to have good reviews and I've read and heard some people I respect say they've used it for this.

So, should I?

If so...what's the best procedure?

FWIW-I'm about 150 miles from needing an oil change. Another week or so.
 
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I've used Marvel for years on old motors that have been sitting. It frees up almost anything (stuck rings, sticking lifters, ect.) given a little time. 3-4 oz in the fuel tank and the rest in the oil. I've found on higher mileage pigs if you pull the plugs and squirt some in each cylinder and let it do its thing for a few hours before starting, it can clean up sticking rings. If the lifters are sticking you may want to pull the valve cover and pour some down the pushrod slots so it soaks the top of the lifters. let it set a few hours before starting.

I also use Sea Foam on my tow rig with good results. I pour 1/2 the bottle in the oil and run it around for a half hour, then I run the rest down the intake. Shut it off change the oil, clean and inspect plugs, ect.

EDIT: is a Tracker a pushrod motor or is it overhead cam with cam followers? My method may not apply to an overhead cam motor :dunno:
 
Okay, :doah: so no lifters. Well it will still help lube everything up, and help remove carbon. Maybe the tick is valves out of adjustment :dunno:
 
Dunno. Definitely becoming more common the last 10,000 miles or so. Runs decent enough otherwise. Only use synthetic and Wix filters in it.
 
A couple months ago my C10 started developing minor rod knock, especially after sitting in traffic. I changed the oil and added a bottle of Lucas oil additive. I didn't expect much because there was what looked like little gold specks in the old oil filter. The engine noise was still there at first, but after a couple days it was pretty much gone. It's still OK and I drive the truck 60 miles a day. I'm a believer in Lucas now.
 
Your NOT supposed to drive with Seafoam. Just let it sit there and idle for awhile then change with fresh oil. Try running thicker oil, or Lucas. Lucas works wonders.
 
An old timers trick (if it's hydraulic lifters) is to pour 1 qt of ATF into the oil and just run it like that. ATF is a high detergent fluid and will clean any sticky hydraulic lifters usually within a few miles of driving. The ATF will not harm anything and can be left in the oil. Now if this engine is a flat tappet engine then you need to look at doing a valve adjustment.
 
I run Lucas every oil change in my high mile 350. Hèlps with the tics and the engine just plain runs smoother with it in there.
 
Is this the dohc timing chain motor?

If so, there is a timing chain guide above the cam gears, that fails and makes noise. When it fails completely, the timing chain fails, and it is an interferance engine.

The guide is easily replaceable with the valve cover off.
 
I've also had many people tell me ATF will help. I tried it a few months ago in my car but it didn't seem to help too much. I might not have ran it long enough. I have even heard of people running straight ATF for a day or two ad then changing the oil. Idk if I'd recommend that though.
 
Many years ago, when I was in college, one of my friends came up with an obvious lifter problem.
We tried ATF, and something else, don't remember what. It seemed to help, and the lifter got quieter.
But the noise came back, along with vibration in the engine.

We pulled the valve cover, and it was obvious which lifter it was since that rocker arm was not moving as much.
The adjustment did not look like it had moved.

Don't remember which engine now, but we were able to pull the lifter without removing the head.
Discovered that the spring in the lifter had broken. Got a used, or new, again don't remember, lifter.
Took the guts out, put them in the old lifter so the wear pattern on the body would match the cam.
Put the old lifter with the new internals in, adjusted it, and it was still going strong when I left a year later.
 
454Sub said:
Your NOT supposed to drive with Seafoam. Just let it sit there and idle for awhile then change with fresh oil. Try running thicker oil, or Lucas. Lucas works wonders.
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Is this true? I've always followed the instructions on their website:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/using-in-crankcase-oil.html

As an after service additive into fresh oil, nearly fresh oil, or oil (used condition) that is NOT ready to be changed (based on mileage since last oil change), put the same amount of Sea Foam Motor Treatment into the crankcase as described above, and then regularly monitor your oil for color and clarity. Set a predetermined schedule for checking the oil condition on a mileage, timed, or event basis (like every time you add fuel, etc.) to determine when an oil service is necessary. Monitoring of the oil for color and clarity will tell you when it is time to do an oil change service. NOTE: Do not exceed 3,000 miles without changing the oil.
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I changed the oil last weekend and have seafoam in the crankcase right now!
 
Iv just heard from enough peoples to follow that. Seafoam thins the oil out a hella. Plus it has no lubrication quality. Just not worth the risk, I run mine for about 30min and change to fresh. I do it about once every other year or so.
 
I used to add a qt. of Marvel Mystery Oil to my engines at oil changes,especially in the cold weather or in engines with ticky lifters,it worked well to silence those that had noises due to stuck or dirty lifters....Rislone also works well too,but is not as good a lube as MMO is,ditto for Seafoam,most all additives for stuck rings or lifters are not much more than diesel fuel really,or stronger solvents....two of the best cleaners were Siloo "Hydra-Valvekleen" (out of bussiness now),and Solder Seal/Gunk had one si,ilar that worked well...

Be aware using any cleaner in a sludgy engine can cause other woes like scuffed bearings and plugging up oil passages when the crud gets loosened up and circulated thru the engine,and some engines blow up shortly afterwards!...best to add any just before an oil change with a new "cheap" oil filter so it'll hopefully trap the goop and then change the oil again,and use MMO to keep it clean ...using too high a viscosity oil will cause valve clatter on a cold start and until it warms up enough to flow to the valve train too....
 
a freind of mine put some marvel oil in my 4-wheeler and fried it, burns oil like crazy, now i have to rebuild it. he thought that crap was golden. if you want to clean out your motor i use full synthetic oil and i dont use pennzoil cas it has that yellow foam. valvoline or mobil 1 are the best. the only thing that goes in my oil is oil thats it nothing else. i got 250,000 out of a 1.6 corolla and sold the car cas the rest of it was worn out. look at the jug the oil comes in, valvoline offers a 250,000 mile warrenty. most oils you change at 3,000 mile full synthetic is 5,000 so the cost is about the same
 
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black dawg said:
Is this the dohc timing chain motor?

If so, there is a timing chain guide above the cam gears, that fails and makes noise. When it fails completely, the timing chain fails, and it is an interferance engine.

The guide is easily replaceable with the valve cover off.
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This sounds like valve train ticking. Coming from the top of the engine.
I had two of Suzuki's little V6's that were famous for their timing chain issues. This doesn't sound anything like their "sewing machine" noises.

454Sub said:
Iv just heard from enough peoples to follow that. Seafoam thins the oil out a hella. Plus it has no lubrication quality. Just not worth the risk, I run mine for about 30min and change to fresh. I do it about once every other year or so.
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That's why I was curious about my acquaintance's method. Seafoam is alcohol so I didn't like the idea of dumping it in the oil.

Think I may go diesel4me's route. Get a cheap filter, slap it on, refill with MMO, drive it for a few days and then do a normal change.

I always use Mobil 1 or Valvoline synthetic 5w30 and a WIX filter changed every 3000 miles or so. Not like this thing has cheap oil in it.
 
I had a guy stop by my dad's shop when I was younger and Lucas was pretty new on the market. He had a bearing leverage contraption that he would run to demo the product. The concept was a bearing with a huge torque lever and a gauge / scale showing the torque applied to the bearing. The bottom of the spinning bearing was bathed in a small tray of oil. He showed us that he could seize the bearing with the torque lever using any of our oils. On the last test he added a tablespoon of Lucas to our oil and he maxed out the gauge without getting the bearing to seize...pretty impressive.

We were sold, but then he asked if we had any trucks with engine noise and we did. It was a 70's big block in a mid duty GM with a loud knock. He added a quart of Lucas and we visited for a while, after about 10 mins, we noticed that the knock was gone.

Since then I have been using it in everything I ever owned and never had to tear an engine down for repairs. Right now it is in a 2001 Duramax with 210,000 miles, my K5 DD with a broken odometer, and our 51' Ferguson T-30 tractor with approximately 500,000,000 hours (give or take):haha:.

To finish my essay, Lucas works well and it is no gimmick.
 
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