Update Chevy 454 Lifter Clik Clak

A month or so ago I posted my 2001 Chevy 454 Vortec w/ 30 K miles (RV engine) had developed a slight lifter clik clak upon startup that eventually went away after maybe 10/15 mins. At that time it had 10W 30 Mobil 1 plus a quart of Lucas Synthetic Stabilizer and I had added a quart of Rislone detergent which seemed to help some. Soooooooooo I changed oil to Castrol Syntec 5 W 30 (5W 30 is what mfgr recommends instead of 10W30), a pint of Marvel Magic Mystery (snake) Oil, AND A NON DRAINBACK OIL FILTER then I drove to Texas.

Im happy to report that shortly AFTER the oil change and ever since THE INITIAL START UP CLIK CLAK IS GONE .........Wonder what made the difference??? 5W 30??? Marvel Magic Oil,,,,No more Lucas Syn Stabilizer??? The Rislone previously there cleaned the lifter???? The anti drainback oil filter?????? None of the above lol

PS the daughter is wearing us out runnin here n there in Austin. Broken Spoke Honky Tonk,,,Moontower honky tonk,,Whole Foods Market,,Salt Lick,,,,,Top of some mountain with view,,,,,,,kayaking,,,,......Were more used to Square Dancin n Bluegrass festivals n naps n rest periods with ONLY one activity per day...

John T

Thats good news . When I was a Harley mechanic in the AMF years the factory would pay two hours labor to remove and clean any noisy lifter problem. Take out all four and clean in thinner then put back. This would usually work to gid rid of the noise,but I can't say I ever saw any debris being washed out when I did this. It was critical to have them air dried and then bottom out and come up four turns off the bottom.You would hold the dry lifter and see if it held air pressure with the thumb only if it collapsed then you replaced it.The factory never asked for any old ones back either. Then upon start-up it they would pump back up and no noise. I never really did figure out why or what you really cleaned. [All 60 weight oil so the "bad " ones were probably servicable anyway]]But back then they would warranty a valve job at anything over 500 miles due to aluminum shifting and settling in the heads.But being a pushrod motor the heads had nothing to do with the lifters.Hydraulics are great when they work right.So many sets of aftermarket solid lifters sets were sold back then and most shovelheads were owner converted and adjusted like a Sportster. Just free spinning pushrods was enough lash. Glad yours got quiet whatever it was doen't really matter as long as the noise is gone.

If you did not use an anti drainback filter previously, that may have helped. AND, it is better to run the manufacturers recommended viscosity. Today's engines have such close tolerances that some of the heavier oils just will not circulate properly. I have had lifters stop clacking by adding either M.M.O. or Rislone, and I have had to go so far as to remove the lifter, disassemble it, clean it, and put it all back together.
The good news is, The noise is gone!

Good to hear its gone.

My money is still on the anti-drainback filter.

If it were me I would run the visocity recommended, but that is up to you.

Your mileage may vary!!! (seems appropriate as we are talking about engines)

Rick

There once was a Siloo product named Hydra Valve Clean for noisy hydraulic lifters resulting from dirt (not wear). It is the only snake oil that I have ever recommended to anyone for anything.

I do not know if it is still available but the stuff worked like magic.

Dean

I DID indeed change to the recommended 5W 30 versus the 10 w30 that was in there. It was prob a combination of all 3 things I did that helped...

Thanks, fun chat

John T

I don't know about your 454 but in our 1980 gmc trucks 1 had a 427 and 1 had a 366. We used them hard in hot weather and a guy that worked on them told us to use 15/40 oil we put that in both and in a month the lifters we making noise . We changed back to 10/30 and in less then an hour the noise was gone. If it calls for 5/30 use it if it calls for 10/30 use that . The extra additives in my opinion are a waste of money if the oil needed it it would already be in there. We still have 1 of the trucks with 160000 miles on it and it uses very little oil. When using them at night and we would open the hood the manifold would be cherry red.

"If it calls for 5/30 use it if it calls for 10/30 use that"

That's EXACTLY what I did

John T

John T. Did you dang near get washed away on Sunday?
Hope you weren't near the ACL Music Festival. Hear tell it was a quagmire. LOL!
Later,
John A.

Well John, It will probably start back up again in a few months, and then you will have to use the scientific method. Change just one thing at a time until you get the desired result. Then you will know what actually made the difference, and you can get paid a lot of money for your research, LOL.

Much good feedback about Hydra Valve Clean for sticky lifters, and they say it is avalible at NAPA stores.

I read it wrong, you did go back to 5w30. I remember the first conversation well a month of so ago, as I did the same thing with my 454, putting an old PF25/35 filter on it instead of the newer style.

Glad it is working and running like a top now.

Rick

2 things.

I had a 3 liter '88 Ford V8 that would rattle after an oil change for a several seconds. I never was a dry filter guy, always filled the filter with oil prior to installation. Used paraffin oil.

One day I switched to the same viscosity but Mobil 1 synthetic and never had a knock on the initial startup after an oil change. Been on synthetics ever since and nar a rattle.

I was a heavy oil guy all my life figured heavy oil kept the oil pressure up at idle when hot.....was not smart enough or educated enough to know that you didn't need much oil pressure at idle. Did ok. When I was able to afford current ('05 and up) engines I read in the owners manual that the oil pumps were designed for thin oil. So I bit the bullet and followed instructions. No problems. Live and learn.

Mark