Constant ticking @ top of engine... lifter?

[Ronnie t]

Always worth checking/double check manifolds, they all get to a point of air leak somewhere

Well, if it goes away after it kicks down and idles, most likely it's exhaust manifold/s

 

[Ronnie t]

Well, if it goes away after it kicks down and idles, most likely it's exhaust manifold/s

I'm in way over my head hear with y'alls knowledge base, I'm just trying out site as a newbie, peace!

 

[Rocket Man]

Always worth checking/double check manifolds, they all get to a point of air leak somewhere

I assume you’re talking exhaust manifolds? Due to broken bolts that are so prevalent? Please explain, that’s kind of a blanket statement. And I have to disagree on the part about all of them regardless. Broken exhaust manifold bolts is a known issue with these engines but there’s plenty of them running around with broken bolts that don’t leak.

 

[Just Fishing]

Looks like you figured it out, a stuck lifter.
Being on #1 that should be really easy to try the hammer method to unstick it if not too bad.

With that amount of sludge, i would tread very carefully with any sort of crank case cleaning agent like seafoam.

I might try seafoam down the intake/smoke out the neighbors method in hopes of cleaning up carbon that might have gummed rings.

But once you have it fixed up, do some oil changes at 3k miles using a quality full synthetic to slowly remove the gunk.

I hope you get it unstuck w/o having to pull the heads!

 

[iamdub]

I'll check out the VLOM once I get in there regardless. I think I do have the updated one, after some more reading and comparing.

Valve cover pic, as requested, showing not-unexpected coating and varnishing. The passenger gasket looks halfway ok, but the driver-side one is cracked in a few places:
View attachment 374574

I've seen worse, but that's still nothing to ignore. Even at 183K, it doesn't mean it WILL look like that. If there's hard carbon and varnish on the valve covers and insides of the heads, then it's in your entire oil system. A tiny piece of that carbon could be stuck in that #1 lifter, keeping it from pumping up. I'm not a fan of using harsh chemicals to quickly break up carbon deposits. This is exactly how chunks do damage. Tons of smoke out the exhaust doesn't necessarily mean it's breaking up and burning carbon. Most of that is just the Seafoam burning. Using detergents in high quality oil to dissolve the deposits to a liquid state, or at least very small/fine particles to carry them to the filter and out through an oil drain is safest.

This is mine at around 190,000ish miles: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/growing-up-doesnt-have-to-suck.93510/post-1330358

 

[Professor L Gee]

Looks like you figured it out, a stuck lifter.
Being on #1 that should be really easy to try the hammer method to unstick it if not too bad.

With that amount of sludge, i would tread very carefully with any sort of crank case cleaning agent like seafoam.

I might try seafoam down the intake/smoke out the neighbors method in hopes of cleaning up carbon that might have gummed rings.

But once you have it fixed up, do some oil changes at 3k miles using a quality full synthetic to slowly remove the gunk.

I hope you get it unstuck w/o having to pull the heads!

I hope so too! I planned to get back to it this afternoon, but we had a ton of rain come through which ruined my plans.

There are two hammer methods I've seen/heard of.
One was to remove the VLOM plate and use a solid metal rod of some sort in the oil passage (I assume?) to unstick the lifter. This seems most common.
I did read about someone using a hammer on an extension on the rocker arm above the pushrod in order to get the lifter to bounce back into place, but this one seems less likely to work...

 

[Professor L Gee]

I've seen worse, but that's still nothing to ignore. Even at 183K, it doesn't mean it WILL look like that. If there's hard carbon and varnish on the valve covers and insides of the heads, then it's in your entire oil system. A tiny piece of that carbon could be stuck in that #1 lifter, keeping it from pumping up. I'm not a fan of using harsh chemicals to quickly break up carbon deposits. This is exactly how chunks do damage. Tons of smoke out the exhaust doesn't necessarily mean it's breaking up and burning carbon. Most of that is just the Seafoam burning. Using detergents in high quality oil to dissolve the deposits to a liquid state, or at least very small/fine particles to carry them to the filter and out through an oil drain is safest.

This is mine at around 190,000ish miles: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/growing-up-doesnt-have-to-suck.93510/post-1330358

See, now I'm jealous of your valvetrain.

 

[iamdub]

See, now I'm jealous of your valvetrain.

Just gotta let the detergents in GOOD oils do their thang. They do work and are certainly worth the extra cost.

I think you should try to unstick that lifter. If it works, disable AFM then stick to using quality synthetic oil and a good filter. Change the oil when it gets dark, whether it be 2,000 miles or 5,000. It getting dark means it's dissolving the crud in the engine, suspending it and carrying it out when drained, just as it's supposed to do. As the insides are cleaned, it'll take longer and longer for the oil to get dark. Eventually, you'll reach a point where you can stick to a regular schedule that's convenient for you. I change mine every 5K. It's excessive, especially with how the oil looks after 5K, and I can go much longer. But, I rotate the tires at the same time I do oil since I already have it up off the ground and I wouldn't go more than about 6K on a rotation. 5K is a little more careful maintenance and just an easier interval to remember since multiples of 5 is easier than multiples of 6.

 

[skpyle]

Just gotta let the detergents in GOOD oils do their thang. They do work and are certainly worth the extra cost.

I think you should try to unstick that lifter. If it works, disable AFM then stick to using quality synthetic oil and a good filter. Change the oil when it gets dark, whether it be 2,000 miles or 5,000. It getting dark means it's dissolving the crud in the engine, suspending it and carrying it out when drained, just as it's supposed to do. As the insides are cleaned, it'll take longer and longer for the oil to get dark. Eventually, you'll reach a point where you can stick to a regular schedule that's convenient for you. I change mine every 5K. It's excessive, especially with how the oil looks after 5K, and I can go much longer. But, I rotate the tires at the same time I do oil since I already have it up off the ground and I wouldn't go more than about 6K on a rotation. 5K is a little more careful maintenance and just an easier interval to remember since multiples of 5 is easier than multiples of 6.

This. Nothing truer...

 

[pwtr02ss]

Excuse the teenage text/tiktok speak, but that sounds "lifter af". Have you always ran full synthetic and performed oil changes regularly? If not, you could have some gunk built up and the high quality detergents in the HMFS oil began breaking down the gunk. A tiny piece could've gotten stuck in a lifter, keeping it from pumping up. I've seen this fixed by a few hard WOT runs to use the higher oil pressures to force its way in. Not suggesting you try this, but not not suggesting it, either. If the lifter has actually failed, it will need replacing.

This is pretty much what happened to me. Never had any lifter noise and then I did a Mobil 1 oil change and it broke some gunk loose. That randomly lifter thing was accompanied by the oil pressure sensor screen getting clogged up, twice...

My lifter would stick but then eventually start working again. It did this if I drove it on the interstate for a period of time. I'd pull over and it would pump back up.