ok, this sucks... i am only two days away from my very first mobil 1 experience... i am switching to m1 0w30 this weekend... i am trying to rid my rodeo of the 'TICK' and then yesterday, she must of found out what i was gonna do and got mad, because now she sounds like a clackety-clack-clack... i am thinking this may be the timing chain... ive done the searches, but can anyone distinctly say what the different sounds are like? does the timing chain slap the plastic cover on the front of the engine, and if so, wouldnt you be able to touch the cover and feel the slapping? and where do the different noises resonate from? how can you tell the difference in the noises? it would be great to have some distinct 'rules' as to how to define the 'TICK'... sorry to beat a dead horse, but i am stressed right now and am looking for some answers... thanks guys... this forum is great, chris 3.2sohcV6

I don't think I can help, but I'll tell you what I know.

If your sohc 3.2 is anything like my dohc 3.2, then you don't have a timing chain. You have a belt. I suppose the belt could start to come apart and slap the plastic cover; but I doubt it would make the noise you describe. Clackety-clack sounds like metal-on-metal contact. There is a hydralic tensioner that sometimes fails. I've never heard one going out, but it's suppose to sound like a rod knocking. Do you suppose that could be it?

Good luck trying to feel anything on the front of the engine with it running. There's not much clearance. Try using a piece of heater hose as a stethoscope to localize the noise. Place one end to your ear and the other end near various components (i.e. timing cover, valve cover, exhaust manifolds, etc.).

Hope this helps. Good Luck.

i'm glad you asked, because i have often wondered the same thing. that being said, changing the oil has temporarily eliminated some gnarly sounds coming from my sohc 3.2 on multiple occasions. just to give you a heads up though on the switch to m1...sometimes the ticking doesn't stop instantly. it's as if it takes a while for the new oil to get up there and do its thing, sometimes upto 500 or so miles. good luck.

ps-the 3.2 sohc uses a timing belt.

thanks for chiming in guys... yeah, it really doesnt sound like something hitting plastic, more like metal to metal, so im guessing it is just the lash adjustor... that is a relief, already had to do the timing 'belt' (thanks taro)once and dont want to have to go thru that again... i am gonna try my m1 this weekend and thanks for the heads up, ill be patient with it... im gonna do the seafoam method too, since it seems to be the miracle cure... happy trails fellas... anyone else wanna explain the tick sound, location, etc? please jump in.... thanks again, chris

side note: anyone know of any wheeling get-togethers in the st.louis, mid-missouri area, let me know? i am making summer plans

I have experienced that when my tensioner went out the timing belt was much louder ticking noise than the valves AND it would go away at around 1,700-2,500 RPM and higher (if I recall correctly) AND It'll always be there until you of course replace the tensioner.

If it's the valves then it should go away sometime during the day either when the engine has warmed up or has cooled down.. since I haven't really figured out and rhyme or reason for when they start making their noise.

So if the noise is constant and goes away when you rev the engine it's probably the tensioner. If it's the valves it'll be random.

If you can't hear it above 2000 RPMs, I would bet it's the T-belt tensioner.

That's what I noticed, when I changed the belt and tensioner, Voila! No more tick.

How many miles do you have on it? If you're over 60-75K+ on this belt, you might want to think about just changing it out anyway.

OK, how can you tell if a tensioner is bad. I recently did my timing belt amongst other things on my 2000 3.5 motor. There is a loud tap sound coming from the front of the motor. I haven't completely narrowed it down but it sound like it may be that. I noticed to compress the tensioner to put a pin in it, I had to use a bench vice and it very slowly compressed. Is this normal or too tight? Hopefully this even I can make it out there to tear the timing covers off and narrow the sound down more. Thanks,

as far as miles go, ive got 184k on my truck, as far as the belt goes, i dont recall exactly, but i had the belt changed in the area of 40-50k mi ago... as far as the tick sound goes... it really never goes away... it is pretty constant at any rpm and at any time of day, hot or cold.... highway noise drowns it out some, but it is still there... i did the m1 change yesterday and that helped a little right away, but by today the noise was just as loud as before... i am going to give it some time though, i know its not immediate... as far as the timing belt change goes.. if you have done it, what is involved? i will look into doing that this summer...

the tick is pretty constant... it fades in and out sometimes, but never goes away... it doesnt go away at high rpms like you say the belt noise would... but it is pretty constant which is unlike the valve tick... so i guess time will tell with the m1 and maybe a timimg belt change wouldnt hurt... btw, can i replace the tensioner by itself or do i have to do the belt too? or is it just better to do it all? thanks, chris

i did the old makeshift stethoscope trick and i narrowed down the tick... it is coming from the passenger side of the engine block, right around the area of where the spark plug wires meet the block... seems to be right between the second and third farthest plug from the firewall... is this where the valve lash could be resonating from?