Exhaust Manifold Gaskets/Lifter Tick

[JPVortex]

He likely dont want to have to pull the heads. But since pushrods and rocker arms are cheap I would atleast replace all of them. If there is any real problems with the rockers it’s because their rollers are hosed and the cam is likely done too.

Reread this and can you clarify a little please? Do you think that because the roller in the rocker is going bad, it’s taking out the cam? Just a little confused lol.

 

[Scottydoggs]

Reread this and can you clarify a little please? Do you think that because the roller in the rocker is going bad, it’s taking out the cam? Just a little confused lol.

you have a roller lifter, they can fail, and do squeak when going bad. once its gone bad the cam lobe is also killed, then you need a new cam, new lifters.

 

[rockola1971]

Reread this and can you clarify a little please? Do you think that because the roller in the rocker is going bad, it’s taking out the cam? Just a little confused lol.

meant lifter. Corrected. If you have to have the truck up and running, I would run it with new rockers and pushrods. If noise is still there then you will have to plan on pulling the heads and since you are already in there, replace lifters but I bet you will find that you have a roller lifter hosed and then will need to yank cam and replace it also. If you have a hosed lifter it just gets worse from here until fixed. When the roller goes sideways then you have a hell of a mess and it that mess ends up imbedded in all of your bearings.

 

[JPVortex]

you have a roller lifter, they can fail, and do squeak when going bad. once its gone bad the cam lobe is also killed, then you need a new cam, new lifters.

Ah gotcha, it does kind of sound like it has a bit of a squeak with the tick. Not a good sign that’s for sure.

 

[JPVortex]

meant lifter. Corrected. If you have to have the truck up and running, I would run it with new rockers and pushrods. If noise is still there then you will have to plan on pulling the heads and since you are already in there, replace lifters but I bet you will find that you have a roller lifter hosed and then will need to yank cam and replace it also. If you have a hosed lifter it just gets worse from here until fixed. When the roller goes sideways then you have a hell of a mess and it that mess ends up imbedded in all of your bearings.

Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like massive engine disassembly to me, not ideal. Definitely something I’d be confident doing but for a truck with 200k miles, rotted rocker panels etc not sure it’d be worth it at that point. And if I’m tearing down to the block I may as well pull the engine, and at that point I as well just put a lower mileage engine in. It’s a total rabbit hole. There’s also the question of if the heads and the deck would need machine work. Just something I can’t be bothered to do on my only vehicle.

 

[JPVortex]

Yeah totally not worth it to tear this engine down and replace everything.

Priced out CHEAP engine tech rockauto parts that I’d need, and the total is almost $700, and I forgot to add an oil pump to the list.

The list includes

Cam and lifters

Head gaskets

Head bolts

Timing set

Timing gaskets

Push rods

Rocker arms

And a good oil pump is +$100 at least


So, it’s not going to be worth it at all. First result for a 5.3 on marketplace is 65 miles away there’s an LM7 with 140k miles for $600 complete. I have an L59 in my suburban but can swap fuel rails, etc.

This is probably the part where I replace rockers and push rods and ride the hell out of it till it dies. Then I either get rid of the suburban or put a used engine in it.

It’s a damn shame really, picked the thing up with zero ticks, perfect oil pressure and everything. About a month after I bought it the tick started(around October 2024) and it’s been driving me crazy since.

 

[JPVortex]

Just something I'm now noticing while rewatching my own videos, it kind of seems like cylinder 2's exhaust rocker isn't getting nearly as much oil as the rest of the rockers. Kind of looks like it isn't getting much oil at all.

Hopefully I diagnosed the right cylinder as making all the noise, because the lack of oil is kind of suspect to me. You can see oil flowing down the surrounding rocker arms, but not a whole lot on cylinder 2 exhaust. May end up pulling that rocker too and making sure the hole in the pushrod isn't blocked up.

 

[JPVortex]

So new rocker and pushrod are installed on intake cylinder 4 the one ticking, and not good news. The thing still ticks and it’s getting ZERO oil up to the rocker, I ran it for about 30 seconds and no oil to it at all.

This lifter might not be pumping up at all.

 

[Scottydoggs]

well on the bright side of things, no better time than now to do a performance cam, other then needing a tune parts dont cost any more then stock stuff. stay with a smaller cam or you'll need a higher stall torque converter.

 

[JPVortex]

well on the bright side of things, no better time than now to do a performance cam, other then needing a tune parts dont cost any more then stock stuff. stay with a smaller cam or you'll need a higher stall torque converter.

Well goodish news, after a couple minutes of running and me slightly loosening the torque on the rocker arm bolt, oil has arrived! So the lifter is still doing something, maybe my torque wrench isn’t accurate, think there was too much preload. Still ticks just like it did before though, so yeah…