Re: Top end clatter / lifter tick?
 

Pete I emailed you about the ticking this was the exact sound mine made too from sitting for several months. Maybe it wasn't smart of me to have kept it idling and giving it a bit of throttle while parked but as I was making videos of it it went away within about 20 seconds. it got quieter and quieter and disappeared while idling.

I searched my phone but Ive deleted them. with 17k photos and videos on my phone I must have deleted them trying to free up space :(

Re: Top end clatter / lifter tick?
 

If it is lifters they will need more RPM to load up.
Hold at 1500-2000 RPM for a few minutes or till noise goes away.

Pete

Re: Top end clatter / lifter tick?
 

Thanks Myles. Got the videos, and here they are:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B83...ew?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B83...ew?usp=sharing

Based on comments here, it sounds like running the engine with a bad chain tensioner may not be a good idea. I'd like to try holding at 1500-2000 RPM under no load to see if that may free a stuck lifter, but I only want to try that if there is low risk of doing damage as a result of a chain tensioner issue.

Would a tensioner tend to seize or bind up after sitting unused for a while? My first instinct was to blame a lifter, since they can bleed down and wouldn't pump up again if their check valve were frozen.

Does anyone have a recording of an engine with a bad timing chain tensioner? The noise in my car definitely sounds like valvetrain clatter, and as people have pointed out, it is timed to the camshaft speed.

--Colin

Re: Top end clatter / lifter tick?
 

First try easy stuff like belt tensioner then try the 1500-2000 rpm for about 30-45 seconds if sounds starts to quiet down your on the right path.

If it's chain tensioner issue it should not hurt anything the worry is if a chain guide is bad/broke now you have metal to matel.

When the LT5 sits for a while lifters do/could bleed down.

Try above let us know outcome.

Pete

Re: Top end clatter / lifter tick?
 

Well, this is anti-climatic, but I just started the car... and the noise is gone. Right from startup, the engine sounded fine with a normal idle.

It's been almost a week since I last started it, and it's 37 F ambient here today (perhaps a little warmer than that in my garage.) I don't know if it was the higher temperatures in the last several days, or if the Marvel Mystery Oil actually helped, but I'm quite happy this resolved itself!

I'm sorry I don't have more information about the nature of the problem, but I think we had some good discussion here and I'm quite relieved that this didn't turn into another big car project (as I already have enough of those.)

Colin

Re: Top end clatter / lifter tick?
 

Happy to hear it! That makes 2 of us. Perhaps as these cars age and sit this will become more of a common issue us owners will find as we fire them up.

Re: Top end clatter / lifter tick?
 

Great....actually super........thanks for the Feedback :handshak:

I am buying a case of Marvel Mystery Oil :D