bad ticking noise

[B.A.N.A.T.A.]

allright after installing my ms4 cam, double valve springs, and pushrods ive noticed a pretty bad ticking noise. you can hear it at idle and at higher rpms it just gets louder. at start up the oil pressure fluctuates with the rpms but when it settles down and gets a good rpm the oil pressure stays around 40psi. i havent got a tune yet so will that help or did i break a lifter? any help is appreciated

[josh110781]

i had to get my pistons fly cut with my ms3 cam. so its possible your valves might be hitting the pistons

[B.A.N.A.T.A.]

i was told by a guy at texas speed that i wouldnt have to, damn that sucks. how much did that cost you man.

[josh110781]

well when i first had my engine built i didnt have it done. some how i spun a cam bearing and had to pull the engine back out again and have it rebuilt. he noticed little marks on my pistons where there was a little carbon built up that the valves where just touching my pistons. so he sent them out to have them fly cut. i think it was about a hundred bucks

[B.A.N.A.T.A.]

thats not too bad as i could do all the work myself besides flycutting the pistons. i guess ill just have to look at my pistons.

[josh110781]

it could be something else but thats my guess since you got a higher lift cam then mine

[B.A.N.A.T.A.]

well thanks for the info bro, i just dont want to flycut them. id figured that i would have too, just seeing if it could be something else.

[BlackLT1Z28]

Could be that you didn't tighten a rocker arm enough. Or a rocker could be hitting the valve covers.

[DaddySS]

What are the cam specs? Did you measure the pushrods for proper preload?

[B.A.N.A.T.A.]

the pushrods are fine. i think i know what the problem is. i took the valve covers off and noticed that one of the rockers has came apart. the retainers were scattered all over. i looked at everything and all seems fine so i hope that was the cause of the problem. now i just got to find a place that sells just one rocker arm.

[Spaz]

sounds like a rocker may be a little lose? when we did my brother car (LT4 hot cam in his 95 impala) it sounded like a sewing machine after wards.

[Spaz]

the pushrods are fine. i think i know what the problem is. i took the valve covers off and noticed that one of the rockers has came apart. the retainers were scattered all over. i looked at everything and all seems fine so i hope that was the cause of the problem. now i just got to find a place that sells just one rocker arm.

get roller rockers. if you're going to do just one do them all... :D

[BlackLT1Z28]

get roller rockers. if you're going to do just one do them all... :D

Yeah, but installing rockers can be a tedious process.

[B.A.N.A.T.A.]

Im just gonna throw a new stock one back on (thanks to John) and see what happends then. Hopefully that will be all.

[B.A.N.A.T.A.]

allright i put the new rocker arm in and everything was fine. i started the car up this morning and the oil pressure is fluctuating very bad (10psi to 40psi). there was no ticking sound at idle, but when was driving at around 35 mph the ticking sound started. coming to a stop at a red light in neutral the oil pressure started to fluctuate again and the car cut off. started back up and drove home. average oil pressure is about 20psi right now. any clue of what this could be? maybe the o ring, need to run different oil for cam (mobil1 5w-30 right now). thanks for the info.

[oldguy]

If the rocker was trashed, it is possible you got a needle bearing in the oil pump. Did you find all of the pieces? If it still has the factory magnetic plug, drain the oil and check the plug for needle bearings