iamdub
Full Access Member
Mine ticked for a couple of seconds ever so often. Not at every cold start, probably 4-6 ticking "spells" at startup over the course of a 5K-mile oil change interval. Like Ken, I bought mine with just under 150K (146K) and it's now a few miles from 190K. I'm sure the PO used conventional oil, but I use synthetic exclusively. The first couple of oil changes after I bought it, it had fewer and fewer ticking spells. By the third or fourth oil change, the spells had ceased. I attribute this to the cleaning agents in the higher quality oil gradually removing small amounts of sludge in the sensitive AFM lifters.
I wouldn't trust the oil life monitor. I stick to a 5,000-mile schedule because that's a good time to rotate the tires so I handle it all in one shot while it's up on jack stands. If I went by the monitor, I'd have 15K-mile OCIs and considerably dirtier oil, which is likely to lead to some build-up of crud and return of the lifter ticking.
I hope you drive for a lot more than 2.5 miles at least a few times a week. That's not enough to properly warm up your engine and oil (especially during the winter months). This, coupled with too long of OCIs, can greatly reduce your engine's life.
What oil do you use? I agree with the other knuckleheads about using a REAL cleaning additive. Clean out the sludge and note any changes, stick to a regular OCI more realistic than what the OLM tells you and use a quality synthetic oil. And drive that thing more than just 2.5 miles after a cold start twice a day. The engine needs the full heat cycles to burn off the water vapor that builds up in the crankcase as well as to prevent sludge.
