We were out street tuning tonight and started to hear a loud valve train/ticking noise around 4000 rpm. We immediately headed back to the shop to pull the Valve cover off and inspect. By the time we got back to the shop the noise was prevalent at all rpm's. It is most definitely coming from the head and appears to be intake/driver side of the head. We tried to use a stethoscope to listen closer but the noise echoes through the VC and Head so it is hard to trace down precisely.

After inspecting the head we could not find anything out of place.
-Cam tower bolts tq to spec
-Cam Sensor bolts tq to spec
-Cam gear bolts tq to spec
-All lifters/rocker arms in place
valve springs/retainers in place and no noticeable cracks/wear
-no noticeably wear out of the ordinary

The car still idles fine and vacuum/afr are still where they were before.

The head is a headgames street head with Ferrea valves, double valve springs/retainers.

We are kinda stumped and have an idea of what we may think that it is but would greatly appreciate any insight. Thank you!!

 

Collapsed piston? Slightly bent valve? Have a similar issue with a car that hasn't been identified, but not as loud. Will be keeping an eye on this thread.

Props for the ultra clean engine bay.

 

collapsed piston? Its definitely in the valvetrain. Going to order new lifters tonight and see if that fixes the issue. (crossing fingers).

 

Good luck Tom, I have had a tick in my motor for over 3 years, and I know it is something in the engine...

 

I think he means collapsed lifter.

 

collapse lifter or lifter tick does not sound that loud. i had it before and its not that loud. hence "tick", a clock ticks, a clock does not sound like a hammer pounding away

that sounds like piston slap (spun bearing)
which i hope it isnt, but thats noticeably loud

pull the pan and check. its easy to check while ur waiting on new lifters.

 

Piston slap and a spun bearing are two totally different things. The engine had been running and we were tuning. If there were piston slap when the Pistons were cold then it would have dissipated once heated up.

I Really hope that it is not a spun rod bearing. Will pull the pan though and double check.

 

Sounds like i could be a collapsed lifter, I don't think its "knocky" enough for a rod. Its more of a tick. Hard to tell with cell phone audio. With the valve cover off try pushing on the rockers on the lifter side, see if you can collapse any of them..

 

I'm surprised nobody has heard of a collapsed piston before. Maybe if I said collapsed skirt? Shrunken piston?

Basically excessive heat changes the piston shape leading to greater than original clearances between the piston and the bore. This causes increased noise when the engine is running (like piston slap).

 

I've heard, but it doesn't sound like that.

Granted, like I said, its hard to tell with cell phone audio.

 

Quick update. Put new lifters in last night and fired her up. For the first 15-20 seconds the noise was gone.

Then it came back. Seems as soon as the new lifters pumped up with oil pressure that it started to happen.

The head is coming off tonight and I will try to keep this updated just in case anyone is curious.

 

valve to piston contact? but ordering new lifters is a good start. when my valve had the same noise it was my lifters due to bearing failure though.

 

Guessing your lifters were getting debris in them from the bearings and making noise?

We will be doing a leak down test first before pulling the head to see if we can find anything. Compression test last night was 150 across the board on a cold engine.

I don't think it's valve to piston contact bit it very well could be anything at this point. They are wiseco pistons with valve reliefs as well.

 

I had a tickng in my engine when I bought my car, was not that loud though. For some of the other people experiening a light tick, I re adjusted the tension on my timing belt and it went away. That does not sound like this is the case for the op though, hope it gets figured out.

 

Any updates?