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Need some advice on ticking noise

AbramJ

AbramJ

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I'll make updates to my actual build thread, but thought my question would get more exposure here.

I did a lot of work this week to get my Suburban running again and now it's making this ticking noise. My brother and I are pretty sure its one of the lifters not getting oil, but I wanted to see what you all think. I'm guessing to know for sure I'd need to remove the valve covers and take a look.

Engine is a 350

View attachment 20210306_151821.mp4
 
Try removing just the belt to the ac condenser
to see if the noise gose away if not put the belt back on.
Then remove the belt to the alternator
then
same if the noise is still there
squat near the front tire to see if the noise is still there.
My sons truck sounded similar to your noise
mine is a "cracked flex plate"
 
That’s a pretty solid tick. What all was done recently?
 
Bent77 said:
That’s a pretty solid tick. What all was done recently?
Click to expand...
Today I installed a new fuel pump, new vacuum advance, all new rubber fuel lines, new gas tank, new sending unit, and the carb I had rebuilt.

Also within the last year was new spark plugs, wires, and new cap and rotor.

The truck has been sitting for some time until about a year ago when I was kind of forced to get it running again. It ran terribly then because the fuel system was messed up, covid happened and I no longer needed to have the truck running.

Two months ago I needed to move the truck for a day so roofers could replace our roof. When I moved the truck from the drive way it was fine (as fine as it could run with the fuel system messed up) but when I moved it back to the drive way it started the ticking

Now I have the time/money to work on it again and replaced all the fuel components. When we fired it up today it was still ticking.
 
A stuck lifter will make it miss on that cylinder. Looks like it is idling rough. Pulling the valve covers would be my next step.
 
If it sat a long time some sludge may have got sucked up into the oil pump screen,that may account for it sounding normal at first...after it got some goop pumped to the lifter gallery it may have starved a few for oil pressure and aren't pumping up fully..
I've had engines that sat a long time take up to a half hour to stock ticking..
Took that long for the oil to thin out and get into the lifters..seen this several times on salvage yard engines my friend installed too,it took some quite a while to quiet down..

Perhaps a "flush" with a quart of diesel fuel in the oil and letting it idle 5-10 minutes,then dumping the oil and putting fresh oil and filter on may cure it if its the lifters...
 
Sigh. I went out yesterday to start the truck and try to listen to it some more and couldn't get the darn thing started. It'd crank, but not fire. It was getting fuel.

My brother stopped by after work and with his help we were able to get it running. He said it felt like one or more of the cylinders wasn't firing. The ticking noise was still there and after a few minutes of trying to listen we heard what sounded like something hitting the inside of a valve cover. We shut the truck down and my brother went home.

I went out this morning and pulled the spark plugs to see how they looked. Consensus, not good.

2-4-6-8
20210309_104918_HDR.jpg
20210309_104922_HDR.jpg

1-3-5-7
20210309_110839_HDR.jpg
20210309_110849_HDR.jpg

Thoughts and recommendations?

I'll try to get started on removing the valve covers today too and will post pics if I get that far
 
the left one in the last picture is oiled up from something. Possibly not getting fuel due to a stuck or non functioning valve. That would be the hole to start with.
 
I went ahead and pulled the passenger side cover off, being the easier one. I'll be completely honest, this is somewhat unfamiliar territory for me here, but I can tell the rockers on cylinder 6 are not supposed to be so loose. There should be little to no movement, right?
20210309_114953_HDR.jpg
20210309_115004_HDR.jpg

View attachment 20210309_115137.mp4
 
ktmoutfront said:
I am not going to say I called it, but I did.:whistle:

Here you go.

Click to expand...

I know, I know.

I'll get the other cover pulled this week and look at that side. Fingers crossed nothing is bent/broken.

Isn't it funny, just when I think I've got the time and money to fix what I thought was the problem the truck says ", nuh uh, you gotta fix more"
 
I would pull the push rods on the really loose ones to check for bends. The other thing to look for is if the rocker arm studs are pulling out. After floating the valves a couple of times, I had to tap and install threaded studs.
 
Also look over the springs, if a spring is broken it will be obvious. and put a straight edge or a level across the top of the rocker studs make sure they're the same height. they are just pressed into the head and sometimes come loose. Either of these failures could cause loose rockers. What transmission do you have? The vacuum modulator may be leaking and oiling down the last 2 spark plugs on the passenger side. vary rarely the left side too.
 
Gap on those plugs look way too wide!.. .035-.045 is the gap a SBC will run best with...GM tried using super wide gap plugs in 1975 with up to an .080 gap and it proved to be too wide,led to cold start flooding and fouling issues and misfirirg..
Engines that sit awhile often develop stuck rings and will foul plugs upon the first start up sometimes..it may take some time for the rings to free back up..

The above suggestions about the rocker arm studs and push rods,valve springs are good,I bet after a proper valve adjustment and all the parts are correct it'll run much better..
 
Yup Bob is right those gaps are way to big. Gap the the new plugs at .035". This will work best with an HEI. You will need to inspect your cap and rotor for cracks and arc tracing.
 
Well he drivers side was worse, I can post pics/video I in my build log. We followed the video ktmountfront posted and tightened all of the rockers.

We fired the truck up and everything looked like it was running right, oil pumping out and nothing flying off. We noticed some of the rods (3) were not spinning as fast as the others, does that mean the rocker is too tight? Or is that not really an issue?
 
to tight can be an issue, it could cause damage at worst, and early valve float best. I didn't watch the video, so forgive me if I re cover the method. the rockers you suspect are to tight, set to top dead center, loosen till you get just the tiniest up and down movement on the push rod, retighten slowly till movement is just gone then go 1/2 to 1 turn more. Or what you did on the rest.
 
Now that he has learned the right way to adjust them, we run the engine, back a rocker arm off to where it is loose. Tighten to just not ticking, then go another 1/4 turn. Done.
 
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