Identifying 2013 6.2 Tick (attached video)

[thefrey]

The clicking or ticking sound is usually a lifter that sticking. Usually a bad check ball in the lifter.... Or it's full of crud keeping the check ball open. What happens is the lifter can't pump all the way up and that puts slack in your valve train. The sound you hear is the end of the lifter bouncing off the camshaft lobe or the push rod. Likely both at each end of the lifter. You may also hear the top of the push rod I mean against rocker, The rocker tapping against the valve stem. Considering on a 20 minute drive those little ticking sounds are hammering away thousands of times.... Not something you really want to ignore. It's best to replace all lifters at the same time and inspect for any bent push rods and whatnot. Great time to have the cylinder head gone over by your favorite machine as you will have both cylinder heads off.

Would oil pressure help at all to fix this? My guess is it’s a sticky lifter since sometimes it will be anywhere from very audible to quiet and sometimes you can’t hear it. I don’t want to consider new lifters since the last owner said they replaced them about 10k miles ago.

My idle oil psi is 15 and cruising is probably 22ish so I’ve thought about going for a melling high pressure pump to help

 

[rdezs]

Yes, low oil pressure can cause this. So can cheap aftermarket lifters installed 10,000 miles ago.... And it could simply be the o-ring on the pickup tube in the oil pan, or a weak oil pressure relief valve also in the oil pan.... Or worn out cam bearings will give you low oil pressure.... As will it gummed up oil pressure relief valve in the oil pump.

It's financially prudent to check the least expensive items first, which means dropping the oil pan and replacing the o-ring on the pickup tube as well as replacing or plugging oil pressure relief valve mounted in the pan. Replace that valve if you still have AFM, plug it otherwise

 

[rdezs]

.... Keep in mind if you're above 200,000 miles, it's not uncommon to be a little bit of everything listed above. And don't forget to pull out your oil pressure sending unit and lift a little screen out under it and see if it's plugged.... If it is your gauge will be reading low.

 

[thefrey]

Yes, low oil pressure can cause this. So can cheap aftermarket lifters installed 10,000 miles ago.... And it could simply be the o-ring on the pickup tube in the oil pan, or a weak oil pressure relief valve also in the oil pan.... Or worn out cam bearings will give you low oil pressure.... As will it gummed up oil pressure relief valve in the oil pump.

It's financially prudent to check the least expensive items first, which means dropping the oil pan and replacing the o-ring on the pickup tube as well as replacing or plugging oil pressure relief valve mounted in the pan. Replace that valve if you still have AFM, plug it otherwise

So the guy who owned it before me said he went to the GM dealer for lifters. So i can only assume they were new OEM.

I did just hit 200k. That is my plan right now is to start out by replacing the O-ring and pressure relief. Maybe i should only do that before going full send and tackling the oil pump as well as timing chain while I’m there. I just know dropping the pan is going to be fun since AWD.

The sending unit and screen is new (screen wasn’t in there when I replaced it) and my cold start PSI is 40 and it doesn’t go much above that. I’m 90% sure that it is reading correctly because my AFM turns on when the engine is cold but doesn’t turn on when it’s warm, which would point me to low pressure. I also do not own a pressure gauge and after having issues installing the sending unit I really want to avoid having to uninstall/reinstall to check with a manual gauge

 

[rdezs]

The dealer would have used only OEM stuff.... So that's a good start. Dropping the oil pan isn't that bad. The differential is easy to drop using a regular floor jack. If you've got the steering rack directly underneath the front of the oil pan, you'll need a 24 mm impact socket and a good impact gun. Four serious bolts that hold it. Take those out and it will simply drop a couple inches giving you room. The crossmember underneath the oil pan uses bolts with an 18 mm head and an 18 mm nut.

Once you drop the pan, this is what it looks like with the oil pickup tube removed



As you probably know, there's a whole category of things you can do "while you're in there"... When I would insist on is taking advantage of the best opportunity you'll ever have to change your power steering lines.:



So if the dealer worked on it, I'm assuming it still has AFM and they replaced the lifters. Logically that means they replaced the VLOM with the solenoids as well, as that's GM's procedure when removing it from the valley.

If it was me, I'd go ahead and drop the oil pan. As you have AFM replace that pressure relief valve in the oil pan that exists to protect the AFM solenoids. Not expensive. I would also do the front timing cover and oil pump, timing chain and tensioner. As you'll have the starter out, it's a good time to replace that crankshaft position sensor that's right above the starter in the side of the block. Genuine GM or AC Delco only. Same for the new camshaft position sensor you'll want to buy that goes in the front timing cover. Timing chain and tensioner kit.... Stick with one of the major names like Melling, Cloyes, etc.

With the dealer doing the lifters, and you having replaced the oil pressure sending unit and putting a new screen in, we can probably not worry about that for now and focus on getting the oil pressure up. Most likely that will make your issues disappear.

 

[thefrey]

The dealer would have used only OEM stuff.... So that's a good start. Dropping the oil pan isn't that bad. The differential is easy to drop using a regular floor jack. If you've got the steering rack directly underneath the front of the oil pan, you'll need a 24 mm impact socket and a good impact gun. Four serious bolts that hold it. Take those out and it will simply drop a couple inches giving you room. The crossmember underneath the oil pan uses bolts with an 18 mm head and an 18 mm nut.

Once you drop the pan, this is what it looks like with the oil pickup tube removed

View attachment 453414

As you probably know, there's a whole category of things you can do "while you're in there"... When I would insist on is taking advantage of the best opportunity you'll ever have to change your power steering lines.:

View attachment 453415

So if the dealer worked on it, I'm assuming it still has AFM and they replaced the lifters. Logically that means they replaced the VLOM with the solenoids as well, as that's GM's procedure when removing it from the valley.

If it was me, I'd go ahead and drop the oil pan. As you have AFM replace that pressure relief valve in the oil pan that exists to protect the AFM solenoids. Not expensive. I would also do the front timing cover and oil pump, timing chain and tensioner. As you'll have the starter out, it's a good time to replace that crankshaft position sensor that's right above the starter in the side of the block. Genuine GM or AC Delco only. Same for the new camshaft position sensor you'll want to buy that goes in the front timing cover. Timing chain and tensioner kit.... Stick with one of the major names like Melling, Cloyes, etc.

With the dealer doing the lifters, and you having replaced the oil pressure sending unit and putting a new screen in, we can probably not worry about that for now and focus on getting the oil pressure up. Most likely that will make your issues disappear.

The last owner did the lifters himself so i can only hope he did it correctly.

I appreciate the wealth of knowledge. Does it make sense to only do the only O-ring and pressure relief and see if that fixes any issues or should i do it all at once? Considering O-ring and pressure relief will be under $30 vs. oil pump, etc is going to be close to $500

 

[rdezs]

Nothing wrong with that approach. You can pull the front cover off later and carefully get the bolt out for the pickup tube at the bottom of the pump.