Exhaust Manifold Gaskets/Lifter Tick

[JPVortex]

I almost recommended this, because have been doing it at different times in my shops career, but I had been told by another member here, that info is too old school for these "new fangled" vehicles. I did not want to argue so have bit my tongue a few times when this topic came up. But, @rockola1971 is correct. The transmission fluid will do about the same but is not recommended for a full "tour of duty" oil change interval. Grab some Dexron and do it.

Thank you! I'll give it a shot, worst it should do is not work and I'm out $5 for a quart of Dex III and 20 minutes.

There are some places online that advise against it, saying it won't do anything and regular motor oil has more detergents than ATF, but then a lot of people say it works and quiets lifters. So it's a bit of a 50/50 shot.

I'll put in the MotorMedic Valve medic for a bit, then add the atf and run it right before the oil change, and finally I'll change the oil and add the LiquiMoly MSo2.

 

[rockola1971]

Does it matter what type of ATF? I have some ATF +4 just sitting around from an old Chrysler I had. Do you drain out a quart or just overfill it for that 20-30 minutes?

Ive always used Dextron. Never owned a Ford and the only Dodge I ever owned was a manual tranny and shortlived. The old tranny fluid works in the fuel tank too for cleaning fuel injectors. Just dump a quart into a half tank of gas and go. May smoke some but no big deal. Works great on carbs for motorcycles, lawnmowers, etc.

 

[OR VietVet]

Well, I hate to say it but I did some reading and it turns out that today's oils have more detergents than ATF does. The oils are dealing with a combustion process and transmission fluid isn't. The articles I read say that the additives do an all round better job than ATF. In essence, it would be better to add a quart of new oil before the change, than adding the ATF fluid. All articles referenced that the ATF method did work 50 years ago but oil detergents have passed the ATF by.

I have to admit that the articles made sense.

 

[JPVortex]

Well, I hate to say it but I did some reading and it turns out that today's oils have more detergents than ATF does. The oils are dealing with a combustion process and transmission fluid isn't. The articles I read say that the additives do an all round better job than ATF. In essence, it would be better to add a quart of new oil before the change, than adding the ATF fluid. All articles referenced that the ATF method did work 50 years ago but oil detergents have passed the ATF by.

I have to admit that the articles made sense.

Yeah thats kind of the vibe I was getting when I was looking into it. Glad to see that you were seeing the same thing that I was. May end up skipping it, could end up being a waste of time.

 

[OR VietVet]

The engine cleaner additive could be worth a shot. May be better than nothing but don't cheap out on it if you do it. Do the research first.
For oils and fuels and cleaners, I always check out what Lake Speed Junoor has to say at you tube.

 

[JPVortex]

The engine cleaner additive could be worth a shot. May be better than nothing but don't cheap out on it if you do it. Do the research first.
For oils and fuels and cleaners, I always check out what Lake Speed Junoor has to say at you tube.

Just worried about what something super harsh is going to do. Was going to get the 5 minute MotorMedic flush, but reading about motor flushes scared me. Always the possibility of breaking down the sludge and having the pickup screen pick it up, and clogging it, that wouldn’t be good.

I think I’ll continue with the MotorMedic ValveMedic(seems to be less harsh than the quick flush) and the LiquiMoly MSo2 and see what happens. From there if that does nothing I may run a more expensive engine flush, from LiquiMoly or maybe Amsoil.

 

[JPVortex]

So another thing I was thinking about this tick, how common is rocker arm failure? I had the valve covers off a few months back, and some had slight side to side movement but no up and down movement.

Could the trunnion bearing in one of them have play in it and I'm not feeling it? Causing the tick? Do I need to remove the rocker arms to see if the trunnions have play?

 

[JPVortex]

So little update here. First of all I changed the name of the thread to Exhaust Manifold Gaskets/Lifter Tick, as the conversation has moved more toward the tick at this point.

So I put the valve medic in and drove it around for a good 45 minutes. No change in the tick.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, I know the general rule is 10psi per thousand RPM for oil pressure at warm idle, which means I technically have enough oil pressure, BUT most healthy gen 3 engines I see warm idle at around 40-45psi, that's not the case for me. At warm idle I'm right around the 30psi mark on 10w40 oil, on 5w30 it's around 28psi. The pickup tube oring has already been replaced by me a few months back. I replaced the factory turqoise/greenish? oring with a Felpro 72401 and it did NOT make any difference. I did notice the new oring didnt feel super super tight going in, didn't take much pressure for it to pop in. Another suspect is oil pump, the mechanical gauge I have installed is right at the plug for the oil pump, where you would prime it. So that 30psi is what's at the pump, not accounting for drop off as it travels through the passages to the valve train. Could this be causing the tick? Lack of oil getting to the top of the engine? If I have to drop the front differential and the oil pan again for the oring, definitely will be putting an oil pump into it.


Here's the video of the pressures and such, sorry for having my finger of the mic during most of it lol.

 

[Marky Dissod]

Could this be causing the tick? Lack of oil getting to the top of the engine?

Unlikely. Check by removing the valvecovers, starting the engine, and proving or disproving your hypothesis.
You may find some other explanation - something loose?
(I've NO gottdamnt clue why valvecovers can't be at least partially clear.)

 

[JPVortex]

Unlikely. Check by removing the valvecovers, starting the engine, and proving or disproving your hypothesis.
You may find some other explanation - something loose?
(I've NO gottdamnt clue why valvecovers can't be at least partially clear.)

That would be a bit messy! Especially with oil slinging all over the coils that usually need to be removed to get the valve cover off.