Fresh Reman Engine Ticking

Hydro-idi

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Hello all,

I just recently finished my engine swap. I will give you guys some history before I go into the symptoms. I bought a remanufactured engine on ebay about 10 months ago to have as a spare. I decided to get going on this project a few weeks ago & tore into it. All external parts were swapped onto new reman engine. Injectors were recently pop tested & matched, cylinder heads have been properly rebuilt, baby moose IP with about 500 miles on it, fairly new lifters with 500 miles on them. I did re-use the rocker arms & pushrods. I also installed one of Russ's torque camshafts during my build. Everything has been going smoothly & followed every little detail by the book. Went to fire it up for the first time this morning (after priming oil system....of course) and she fired off without much effort.
Engine has plenty of power and seems to run quite well. I monitored engine oil pressure and everything was A ok there. However, the engine has a very constant and noticeable tick/clicking sound from what seems to be the drivers side of engine bay. Not much noise underneath truck, but I can hear ticking sound best standing beside the drivers fender. Can even hear this ticking sound coming from tailpipe as well. If i shut engine down & restart, it takes about 30 seconds for the sound to re-occur again and is very consistent. It is also very noticeable at all rpm's & while driving truck. Sounds similar to an exhaust leak but I have none.
I pulled the drivers side valve cover and everything seems to be okay. Aside from this noise, engine seems to run great, but something is definitely not right. Any help would be greatly appreciated guys.
Here's a youtube video of a truck with the same exact ticking sound that my truck has on drivers side. I plan on posting my own vid soon. let me know what you think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24DpUuIgkYs
 

icanfixall

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It sounds like a failed injector popping too soon. Any hot injector lines on that side of the engine?
 

Hydro-idi

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Yes I have tried cracking open injector lines and its kind of hard for me to tell if it has gone away or not. Injector lines are not hot. I can hear this ticking noise from exhaust which tells me something is definitely not right.
 

Clb

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First thought' cavitating lifter( usually worse at first fire up then lessens) stuck valve?!
What exactley is a reman ( I'm serious, just your definition)?
Was the short block and top end done by same shop?
What all parts are new at time of machine shop work?

Thoughts possibilities....

Exh. Sound lends itself to a valve/turbo.
Valve clearence good?
Pushrods straight?
Lifters?
Cam breakin ?
 

Hydro-idi

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Lifters are fairly new with very little miles on them. All of the pushrods and rockers looked good as well.
Remanufactured engine was a short block. It included new 0.030 over pistons, new camshaft, looks like the crank was re-ground, etc. Rebuild looked to be in tip top condition. It even looked like the rods were new as well. Rebuilt heads were on my old engine and worked well. when I took them off again, I brought them back to the same shop (even tho they only had 500 miles on them) just to be on the safe side. They checked out A ok and hot tanked them for me. I wanted clean parts to go on my new engine.
 

Clb

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Did you get a bill of lading for the actual work done?
Lifters love to be spottless/clean.
Shot peening rods makes em purty but resizing makes em new.
Micro polishing journals after turning is best.

But back to the tick...
Any chance of an interference tic?
Pushrods relpaced on same lifter and rocker?
Cam broke in with proper lube?
Everything torqued to specs?
Have ya asked russ?

How much run time?
How manny heat cycles?
Longshot... #8 inj line???
 

Hydro-idi

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Ticking is consistent and very noticeable during idle and operating down the road. Engine has about an hour of run time on it. Oil has also been changed after 30 minutes run time. Haven't talked to Russ about the torque cam but don't think these cams need any special break in....with the lifters being hydraulic & all.
Everything was meticulously put back together & torqued correctly. Used plenty of assembly line on moving parts too. It's just how i do things.
The pushrods & rockers were all put back in order as well. Engine has a couple heat cycles as of now.
Would a bad lifter or injector cause a ticking noise coming from exhaust? Exhaust is also clear as can be until you romp on it.
 

Clb

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Cant listen to your vid now...
An exh. valve problem ( lifter- pushrod- valve seat- warped / bent valve ,could
Transmit to the exh. Pipe.
As an intake would go to the intake.
Everything else sounds good.
If all the mach. and Assy. Is up to *****???
Maybe run some snake oil of your choice thru it ( a bit of crud snuck in during assyembly???)

Have ya checked the throttle cable at #8 inj. Line for rubbing ( here I would do @IdIot if I knew how)
As he had the issue.
 
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typ4

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Roller cams don't require any "break in" like a flat tappet cam. I would isolate the noise first , it may be a sticking lifter, weak valve spring that may not have been caught .
 

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