I just recently (4 days ago) did a dod/afm delete on my 5.3. It has 176k on the motor and it never had any issues until one day a few weeks ago it suddenly started misfiring. I pulled over asap and went to a shop. They told me that it sounded like a stuck lifter. After a mere minutes, the misfire went away. No more nothing. Back to being quiet as a mouse. It really freaked out and confused the techs. The techs said that it would be better to be safe than sorry and do a DOD/AFM delete before anything catastrophic happened. No problem doing, my buddy and I spent a day doing it and got it running. We used an AMS racing DOD/AFM delete kit and used AMS racing .560 valve springs. I used a a stock style cam, just meant for the delete. Before any of this the motor was quiet as could be. Surprising for a 5.3 with 176k. Now after the delete, it makes a ticking noise, constantly. The tick increases in speed under acceleration, and ticks at idle, something it never did before the delete. The lifters came presoaked and specifically said not to soak before installation, which was odd to me since i know its a common practice to soak the lifters before installing. New parts I installed include the delete kit, valve springs, spark plugs and wires (since they've never been changed), and I ended up buying a driver side exhaust manifold and installed a new driver exhaust manifold gasket and flange gasket. Any ideas as to how to source the new found tick or quiet it down at least? Its not MY daily, so I hear all about it from her when she drives it and how she misses how quiet it used to be.
DOD Delete now ticking
- Thread starter Hank_M
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Do you have a video of the current noise? You can upload to YouTube with public permissions and link it back here. That would help us a lot.
Did you use a pushrod length checker to make sure yours were right for that cam? Also, specifically which cam and lifters did you use? AMS offers several options with their kits.
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donjetman
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lifter preload could be incorrect because pushrod length is now incorrect.
Here's a video on how to check/set lifter preload:
Here's a video on how to check/set lifter preload:
I'll add that if the cam specs vary much from stock, then added valvetrain noise is to be expected and can usually be quieted significantly by carefully choosing the correct pushrods for each lifter through careful measurements and preload adjustments. I've also seen cam grinds that had minor surface imperfections that then made noise once installed.
But if it's a rhythmic loud ticking or chirping sound that seems to be at half crankshaft rotation speed (one tick for every two rotations of the crankshaft), then something else is wrong. The most likely culprits in that case are (in order of probability): 1/ Slightly bent pushrod that was reused and shouldn't have been. 2/ A defective lifter 3/ A poor quality aftermarket lifter tray that's letting a lifter twist slightly on the cam 4/ Loose rocker arm pivot bearing.
But if it's a rhythmic loud ticking or chirping sound that seems to be at half crankshaft rotation speed (one tick for every two rotations of the crankshaft), then something else is wrong. The most likely culprits in that case are (in order of probability): 1/ Slightly bent pushrod that was reused and shouldn't have been. 2/ A defective lifter 3/ A poor quality aftermarket lifter tray that's letting a lifter twist slightly on the cam 4/ Loose rocker arm pivot bearing.
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