94 camaro 3.4l slight ticking under hood...?

[Elite Shadow MB]

ive replaced the head gaskets, 2 lifters in motor that was bad..the rest of the block looked good and been rebuilt not to long ago. replaced the low level oil sensor and oil pan gasket but...
when i cold start my car it has good pressure till my car is warmed up pretty good then it drops to almost 0 unless i am pushing on the gas. when the motor been running awhile i hear the lifters more when i hit the gas. so my question is that the oil pump going bad and needs replaced?

[Elite Shadow MB]

or is it the valves need tightening?

[Elite Shadow MB]

ok i think i figured out its a rod bearing on the crank shaft. i noticed one did slightly move from side to side. i dont think its the piston itself. but can anyone tell me if the rod bearing on the crank being loose, cause any damage to piston shaft and if so, what will it look like.

[3.4 grape o wrath]

Anytime you replace the camshaft or lifters on a 3.4 you have to replace both as a set. The 3.4 has a flat tappet camshaft which needs to be broken in when new. When doing the break in a special camshaft oil additive must be added. The cam and lifters will have a wear pattern after they are broken in, if you swap in new lifters you can damage the new lifters and cam. You can easily check the end play in the rod bearings with a feeler gauge but you need to look up the tolerance and see if it is within spec. The 3.4 is normally a very noisy engine and suffers from piston slap when cold. I believe the 3.4 only has 15 psi oil pressure at idle it will be higher when the engine is cold though until it is up to normal operating temp.

[Firebird_Ben]

Very good information to know, actually.
Thinking about a rebuild of the motor in what was to be my parts car, but with gas prices and costs of driving anything 'nice' too much, I am going to be miles ahead by just doing a quick rebuild of it and driving it for awhile.
Any decent cams out there to be had for a 3.4 that might bring some 'driving excitement' back to my V6 bird? haha.

[steveo]

lunati makes some great cams for that v6 for $150, you wont be dissapointed, but you'll need new springs n stuff too.

[3.4 grape o wrath]

Check out this link for some good camshaft info. Some of the camshafts listed here are no longer available. One thing to look out for when your buying a cam is the camshaft sensor lobe. Some will have it and some won't. I ordered a custom grind from Delta camshafts they are very helpful and prices are great.
60° Camshafts

[Firebird_Ben]

Thanks, all! Granted I understand that my LT cars will always be faster and all, but what's the harm in wanting a 'fun' daily driver that can get mid to upper 20's or so on pump gas for a work beater? Haha.

[steveo]

with a few well placed mods and not a whole ton of cash, that 3.4 can take on a stock LT1 no problem. dont sell it short, there are whole communities of people that modify those things

its just not popular to modify them in an f-body platform -- it's too damn heavy. it needs v8 torque to really haul, and it's difficult to massage out of that little engine

[Firebird_Ben]

Thanks for the advice and the heads up! I really appreciate the assist.