Noise

[Cool_The_Slain]

For quite some time I have occasionally gotten a sound from (I think) my engine, or at least something forward of me, when accelerating, usually in the 2000 to 3000 rpm range. It is kind of a rattling/very fast ticking. Over the past 4 or 5 days it has become more frequent to the point of happening almost every time that I accelerate from a stop or slow speed. If anyone has any ideas on what it could be, I would like to know.

[Anonymous]

Are you good on oil? That sounds like lifter clicking, which happens on all 3.4s when they are cold and badly when it is low on oil.

[Anonymous]

Its probably lifter tick. If you switch to synthetic oil it might help. Dont worry about it though, its common on this motor.

[Anonymous]

I know on my motor all lifter click STOPPED upon the switch to mobil 1. it also saved me $600 in cams when i did the rebuild. they looked brand new. It would do it when cold out for like 2 minutes, and also when it got more than 1/2 qt low, but only after i ran it past 6k. then it was BAD.

[Streetrodder83]

I have noticed valvetrain noise on most OHC engines I have worked on. Switching to synthetic may not be the best idea. Due to the fact that most of these engines have high miles on them, meaning seals and such aren't sealing as well as they used to. Also switching to Mobil 1 can really cause problems, it does such a good job of cleaning out varnish and other deposits that it can start to make an engine consume oil. Part of the problem is the colder weather, the oil doesn't flow as readily to the parts of the engine, making lifters slower to pump and less oil to the areas to cushion valve train noise. If it is something that is making severe noise after the engine has warned up, it may warrant some concern. See if it is something you can hear when it's idling, you may be able to locate the source of it.

[Cool_The_Slain]

I have already switched to mobil 1 synthetic at my last change... I don't really know what lifter tick sounds like, but the best example that I can think of for this sound is if you took a bunch of ball bearings and dropped them on a table in rapid succession, and it seems to be in time with the engine. It is most frequent for about 5 minutes after I have started it, so basically when it is cold.