Lifter Noise

[Ted_Grevers]

I think I have a lifter that is going bad. I've never had one fail before, and it is a subtle knock right now. The engine has 6000 miles on it. The reason I think it's a lifter, is that it is not a constant knock. At idle, you don't hear it, but under accelleration, you do hear it. Without pulling the valve cover, to check the tension on the rocker arms, anyone have any suggestions?

-Ted

[superbee70]

Are you sure its a lifter and not preignition "pinging". Pinging sounds like marbles being shaken in a can, and will usually only happen during acceleration, or if there is a heavy load on the engine.

[Ted_Grevers]

-=- originally posted by superbee70 -=-
Are you sure its a lifter and not preignition "pinging". Pinging sounds like marbles being shaken in a can, and will usually only happen during acceleration, or if there is a heavy load on the engine.

The strange thing is, it sounds like that sometimes when it is at idle, and just revving the engine also has a knock. I can't place exactly where on the engine the noise is coming from. Before, it didn't sound like this at idle. Now, I can hear it at idle.

It was the first time that I put 87 octane in the engine (has mopar MPI). It has run just fine on 87 for the past few days. It sounds like it has a collapsed lifter, I will probably go fill it up with 91 just to see if it clears things up over the next couple hours, but right now, I think it's got a lifter problem. $15 in fuel may be a cheap correction. Fingers crossed.

-Ted

[superbee70]

Lower octane gas will contribute to pinging also. Running higher octane is a way to "fix" it. Have you checked your EGR valve? you should be able to push the diaphragm up from the bottom. Mine locks up every once in a while and i will ping under load, i just take it off and spray it with some penetrant to fix it. Mine also has some engine noise at idle, usually goes away once it's warm. Every so often I'll get a noisy lifter but don't worry too much about it.

[DCRainman]

SOmetimes I get this in the morning but once the oil starts to run though things it really smooths out.