Intermittent Ticking Noise

[idi_econoline]

Remember, Ian, that if your brother could fix that Toyota, you can get through the issues on your IDI! Your basic knowledge is pretty solid, and expect me to lend a hand when that time comes.

And, yeah, that's what my buddy & I did: we looked at everything and did what needed doing. Finances still sore from the IP, injectors and all, but I SO love how my baby runs now.

Once you'll already have the valley exposed, removing the retainer and changing the lifters won't be that hard, and worth the piece of mind.

 

[Hydro-idi]

Haha thanks Rich and everyone else. My brothers toyota was actually pretty easy putting a new head gasket in. Didn't need a hoist to lower the head back on the block like the idi heads require lol. Again, thanks for all the help guys

 

[Hydro-idi]

Is there any clues to finding a worn rocker? I know a few of you are leaning towards my engine noise coming from lifters but I was just curious what I should be looking for in terms of normal rocker arm wear and wear that requires replacement. Thanks guys

 

[Hydro-idi]

Today after work I decided to see if I could get a better hear of this darn ticking noise. When I first started it up, it had no ticking once so ever. Than I drove back to my apartment and got out to listen to it better. It seems to tick really fast.....like each stroke of a piston...than will stop for a second or two than start back up again. It is a very inconsistent pinging ticking noise. I am just confused as to why this tick seems to disappear for a week or so when I make my run up highway 32 up a 7% grade with the foot to the floor for about 10 minutes or so. Very strange to me. Not sure why noise goes away when I work the engine hard.

 

[IHcornbinder]

THis is the exact same problem my 85' 6.9 has. I threw up a post yesterday about it. I have been through the push tubes, rockers and checked the vavle guides before i determined it was a bad lifter. Before i started driving it i was suspect of timing gear but as i started driving it i noticed that the knock (more of a loud valtrain tick) was actually non existant until the oil pressure got to the lifters. I just recived a new set and will be changing them as soon as i get the chance (probly the next week or two) and will let you know what i find. I really hope it hasnt worn the lobe on the cam.

 

[Hydro-idi]

THis is the exact same problem my 85' 6.9 has. I threw up a post yesterday about it. I have been through the push tubes, rockers and checked the vavle guides before i determined it was a bad lifter. Before i started driving it i was suspect of timing gear but as i started driving it i noticed that the knock (more of a loud valtrain tick) was actually non existant until the oil pressure got to the lifters. I just recived a new set and will be changing them as soon as i get the chance (probly the next week or two) and will let you know what i find. I really hope it hasnt worn the lobe on the cam.

Cool keep me posted on what you see during teardown. I am guessing this ticking noise...if its the lifters...is not really damaging to anything in the engine. I also hope my engine doesn't have a bad camshaft lobe. Not too sure how common but that is but I guess anything is possible. Where did you purchase your lifters from?

 

[IHcornbinder]

I was able to track down a lightly used set on ebay for $25 (free shipping yea). The only other cost is the manifold/valley pan gasket. That is $53 bucks under my account at Orileys. Aside from that I just need the time and a hand full of pain pills to get it done.

 

[Hydro-idi]

I am thinking, since our idi engines have roller hydralic lifters, they are less prone to camshaft lobe damages but don't quote me on that. Just makes the most sense to me.

 

[IHcornbinder]

These were from an 01 PSD. But they are a really common lifter. Chev 454 ive herd 455 olds (later models) and a bunch of other engines use the same roller hydro lifter

 

[Hydro-idi]

These were from an 01 PSD. But they are a really common lifter. Chev 454 ive herd 455 olds (later models) and a bunch of other engines use the same roller hydro lifter

Yeah I was also looking online and these lifters seem to be a universal product for many different engines. You don't see interchangeable engine parts too often lol.

 

[icanfixall]

Well... About interchangeable engine parts... We can run most every part in our idi engines in either the 6.9 or 7.3 blocks. About the only part that wont swap over is the pistons from either 6.9 or 7.3.. Funny thing too is the 7.3 psd engines are the same bore and rod sizes as our idi 7.3. Of course they will fit but lots of special grinding to the big end of the rod has to be done because the psd rods are 132 thousands wider down there. I have a set of the fordged psd rods I got for a song... I felt I could run them thru a Blanchard grinder to make them fot our cranks... I felt there would not be enough material left around the cap bolts so I didn't do it. Still have those 8 rods too. The were rebuilt by Ford. Turns out International made 2 differant rods for those psd engines. The fordegd rods are the ones everyone wants... The pm (powdered metal) rods are the less desireable rods that nobody wants. Reason they came out with the pm rods is they are nearly a finished product right from the mold. Very little machining needs to be done to them...

 

[Black dawg]

I have had a similar noise that goes away, and stays away after you give it a good work out. it took me several years to realize that it was caused by a buildup of oil in the intake manifold feeding cyl 8. I proved this by running rdt for awhile ,and the noise went away, till a little while after I reconnected the cdr.

 

[Hydro-idi]

I have had a similar noise that goes away, and stays away after you give it a good work out. it took me several years to realize that it was caused by a buildup of oil in the intake manifold feeding cyl 8. I proved this by running rdt for awhile ,and the noise went away, till a little while after I reconnected the cdr.

Hmm interesting. Because my poor old idi has an intake manifold that looks like an oil pipeline lol. I keep cleaning it and it keeps dumping oil back in haha. I have been wondering if that is the cause of my engine tick. So it's either the blowby issue or a possible hydraulic lifter issue. Although the Auto-Rx has helped my severe blowby and oil consumption, it is still coming out pretty good. I am hoping my second treatment clears things up more. It does seem like the tick is around those rear cylinders as well but cant be 100% certain on that.

 

[Hydro-idi]

Update:
After work today I decided to pull up that steep mountain on hwy 32. It is around a 7% grade. Pretty much kept the foot to the floor for approximately 10 miles up the hills and it topped 65 mph and wouldn't go much faster than that. Kept engine right around 3k rpm.
Now engine seems to idle very smooth again and the ticking noise has gone away. I am thinking that if it was a hydraulic lifter issue, it would be still be making the ticking noise.

 

[Hydro-idi]

Well after doing head gaskets, replacing lifters, getting cylinder heads rebuilt, replacing fuel injection system etc., I still have this intermittent ticking noise at idle when engine is up to operating temp. I could have sworn it was a bad lifter but noise seems to be back. I re-used pushrods and rockers because they were in decent shape. This is NOT a loud ticking noise and I can only hear it the best when underneath truck. Noise is ONLY noticeable at hot idle and has remained the same tone for years now (has not gotten louder). I just noticed it the other day when I got engine properly timed. I guess the timing was too far advanced for me to hear it before.
The cab mounts look good and the exhaust system is not rubbing on anything either so we can eliminate that as a possibility.
I had a quick conversation with Gary about it and we both think that one of the possibilities could be a cracked flexplate. Not sure how I could check that possibility without removing the transmission . What do you guys think and what else could it be???

This is not my video but my truck sounds similar to this at idle. This is the best example. Sounds like a light metallic ticking sound similar to someone typing on a keyboard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24DpUuIgkYs

Here's another video of what my rig sounds like at idle. Not quite as consistant but close. (at 0.53 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrWGQFuwwRE