[SBCRules]

I have a 95 Firebird Formula that ticks cold or warm, 5 times fast, every 10 seconds or so at idle. As the rpm goes up, the ticking happens more frequently. I assume it’s something in the valvetrain, but I would think that it would tick every rotation if that was the case. Does anyone have any ideas on what this could be? Any help is very appreciated. Video of the ticking, it occurs at roughly 3 and 14 seconds through the video.

 

[cocobolo95]

Try removing serpentine drive belt and run engine. If ticking stops, one of your accessories is making the noise.

If you run engine for more than a minute or two, with no belt on, keep a close watch on coolant temp gauge.

 

[SBCRules]

Thanks for your response. I ran it without the belt for a minute or two and there was no ticking. WoLudhiana you have any idea what accessory could be causing it? It sounds like it is closer to the driver’s side, if that is of any help.

 

[cocobolo95]

Turn each accessory by hand. You might get lucky and hear the tick. But otherwise, turn each one feeling for free movement, but with the feeling of bearings that are well greased.

If one pulley turns too easily, & does not feel like there's enough grease in there, it's a prime suspect. Don't forget to turn the pulley on the ac compressor. The front part, where the belt rides should turn freely.

Then do the same check with ignition on & ac turned on.This should lock the 2 halves of pulley together so your actually turning the insides of compressor. This should be hard to turn but should turn by hand.

 

[SBCRules]

Turn each accessory by hand. You might get lucky and hear the tick. But otherwise, turn each one feeling for free movement, but with the feeling of bearings that are well greased.

If one pulley turns too easily, & does not feel like there's enough grease in there, it's a prime suspect. Don't forget to turn the pulley on the ac compressor. The front part, where the belt rides should turn freely.

Then do the same check with ignition on & ac turned on.This should lock the 2 halves of pulley together so your actually turning the insides of compressor. This should be hard to turn but should turn by hand.

Ok I’ll try that when I get a chance

 

[SBCRules]

Turn each accessory by hand. You might get lucky and hear the tick. But otherwise, turn each one feeling for free movement, but with the feeling of bearings that are well greased.

If one pulley turns too easily, & does not feel like there's enough grease in there, it's a prime suspect. Don't forget to turn the pulley on the ac compressor. The front part, where the belt rides should turn freely.

Then do the same check with ignition on & ac turned on.This should lock the 2 halves of pulley together so your actually turning the insides of compressor. This should be hard to turn but should turn by hand.

Sorry for the late response, I have tried running the car without the belt again but this time while the car was warm, and the ticking still occurred. It didn’t really tick for the first minute from a cold start, so I think it is something internally. I have listened closely and also used a mechanic stethoscope and it really sounds like the noise is coming from the valve cover or upper cylinder head. Do you know of anything internally around this area that would tick like this?

 

[formula97]

Hey, we're you able to resolve this yet?

Asking cause I also had a ticking sound that drove me nuts for a while, till I finally found a shop willing to actually pinpoint where exactly where the ticking came from (3 shops I went to tried selling me a jasper engine....no way I was doing that!)

In my case it was the lifters, one or more was not staying pumped. I still have some faint tick once in a while but nothing like what I had before the lifters replaced...not saying that's what's causing your ticking but it is a possibility.

My thread about the ticking...

LT1 tick again

It never ends! I don't seem to hear it immediately on a cold start. I start hearing it 2 minutes into the warm up, hear it for a other 10 minutes before it starts to quiet down and become barely noticeable. I'm sure I'm just gonna be told to "start testing the engine apart until you find the...

www.ls1lt1.com

 

[SBCRules]

Hey, we're you able to resolve this yet?

Asking cause I also had a ticking sound that drove me nuts for a while, till I finally found a shop willing to actually pinpoint where exactly where the ticking came from (3 shops I went to tried selling me a jasper engine....no way I was doing that!)

In my case it was the lifters, one or more was not staying pumped. I still have some faint tick once in a while but nothing like what I had before the lifters replaced...not saying that's what's causing your ticking but it is a possibility.

My thread about the ticking...

LT1 tick again

It never ends! I don't seem to hear it immediately on a cold start. I start hearing it 2 minutes into the warm up, hear it for a other 10 minutes before it starts to quiet down and become barely noticeable. I'm sure I'm just gonna be told to "start testing the engine apart until you find the...

www.ls1lt1.com

I still haven’t figured it out yet but it is probably a lifter or something mechanical because it goes along with the rpm and seemed to start after an oil change. Thanks for the help.

 

[formula97]

Was the same filter used on the last oil change as the previous one? Also, I fill my new oil filter with oil just before installing it to prevent a dry start after the oil change...

 

[SBCRules]

Was the same filter used on the last oil change as the previous one? Also, I fill my new oil filter with oil just before installing it to prevent a dry start after the oil change...

No I replaced the filter but didn’t fill it with oil. I put in 5w-30 partial synthetic but it burned oil and would make clouds of blue smoke, so I recently bought and put in 10w-40 which stopped the smoking but didn’t seem to improve the ticking.

 

[formula97]

No I replaced the filter but didn’t fill it with oil. I put in 5w-30 partial synthetic but it burned oil and would make clouds of blue smoke, so I recently bought and put in 10w-40 which stopped the smoking but didn’t seem to improve the ticking.

Oops....I meant was the new filter the same brand or part number as the old one (of course you used a new one! 😁)

 

[SBCRules]

Oops....I meant was the new filter the same brand or part number as the old one (of course you used a new one! 😁)

That makes more sense lol. If I remember correctly the previous one was a Fram and I put on an ac delco.

 

[cocobolo95]

Have you tried a new set of lifters? Could be that will fix problem. If you were burning oil using 30 weight, then switched to 40 weight, this is just putting a bandage on the problem.

Unless your were burning oil because of pvc system malfunction, your engine most likely needs some serious attention.

 

[SBCRules]

Have you tried a new set of lifters? Could be that will fix problem. If you were burning oil using 30 weight, then switched to 40 weight, this is just putting a bandage on the problem.

Unless your were burning oil because of pvc system malfunction, your engine most likely needs some serious attention.

I am planning on changing the lifters when I have time and some extra money because that would be my guess for the ticking. I understand that the oil is not fixing the problem, and I will be looking into fixes for the oil burning after I fix some of the other problems I’m having.