Today I took my ride in to Midas to have the exhaust pipe connected to the header. Now I can hear the engine instead of the exhaust. My concern is the ôtick, tick, tickö that I hear coming from under the valve cover. I talked to a couple of guys I know and both say to drive it a while and see what happens. I have already spent everything I had on this engine (plus those pretty wheels/tires) and I cannot afford to break this thing right away. What should I be looking for to make me feel more at ease with this thing?
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Well to give you some comfort that tick tick is kind off natural on these engines. From 1 to 10 how loud is it? mine is about a 4. My wife's GEN III also has that tick tick But if you want to make sure consult with a good mechanic. Good luck <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

My '92 3.0 ticks like crazy if I don't change the oil regularly, or if I use a cheapo oil filter. Only does it occaisionally now, and if I rev it slowly to 3500 RPMs, and the let off, it stops. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> There are a bunch of posts on this topic if you can find them. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

My 2.6 with hydrolic lifters never ticked on me.

Do you have mechanical lifters? Either those need adjustment or you just have to do the "slowly revv the engine and back down" for the hydrolic lifters.

How do I tell the difference?

What oil you using?
I found the top end much quieter with Castrol 20w-50, and better still with Castrol 15W-40 Diesel-rated.

Worse when cold? Unless you bought a clearwater head with mech lifters (what you usually get when you order a non-jet valve head) or a caravan head from a junk yard, you have hydraulics. Rev to 3500 for 10 seconds, and kill the switch without taking your foot off the gas, OR remove the valve cover and replace the lifters, AND use a stock oil filter and the above suggested oils. Too late to shim the relief valve spring in the oil pump, unless you like major surgery...

welcome to my world... im still trying to figure out how to defuse the ticking bomb under my hood <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />. it all started as soon as i went to "high milage motor oil"... that craps coming out on the next change, and going back to the quakerstate 10/30w.

The engine definitely has hydraulic lifters. When I went to work this morning it was fine. Just before lunch I showed a couple of guys and it sounded great. Smooth, no ôtickingöàoooh, I was so proud. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" /> When I got home for lunch, though, it was ticking like crazy.

Pennzoil 10W-40 High Mileage is what I put in. The guys who built the long block recommended 20W-50, but I just thought that was a bit much.

As far as the HM oil, I have been using the 5W-30 since my Æ96 S-10 crossed the 100k mark. I havenÆt noticed any problems, but I am only at 135k now.

Pennzoil <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> Castrol GTX 15-40 diesel with OEM filter <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />