I was driving my car the other day and I began to here a ticking noise at idle and as I raised the rpms was wondering what the ticking could be it's only coming from the passenger side of the engine. I have a video of the noise
I was driving my car the other day and I began to here a ticking noise at idle and as I raised the rpms was wondering what the ticking could be it's only coming from the passenger side of the engine. I have a video of the noise
Most likely a faulty cam phaser but I wouldn't rule out a broken chain guide/tensioner causing a chain rattle.
Either way you'll have to pull off the passenger side valve cover to investigate further.
I just went through that. Cam phasers and guides/tensioners seem to be the most common. Wasn't my problem and I didn't fix it fast enough to save some cash. A rocker's roller quit rolling. That caused it to eat the cam lobe, then eject and pop the valve retainer. It was an intake valve, which is smaller. It still touched the piston and bent slightly. I found a reman head for $400, plus a gasket kit, head bolts, cam phaser bolt, balancer bolt and fluids and whatever else, I was in for around $700 after core return on the head. If I had stopped, when I heard it, I wouldn't have needed to pull the head. Point being, check it fast. Everything else in mine looked GREAT, the guides even looked new (225,000 miles). I didn't have the cash to change them, but the timing set and water pump will be done in April or May. Now that I have had it down, Taking the front back down will be easy. Catch it before it catches you!
Hey Raj:
Mine started ticking at 185,000 miles. The hydraulic lash adjusters wore out enough pop 3 of the rocker arms lose, disabling 3 valves. I replaced the the lash adjusters, rockers, chains, and later the cams all at once. Don't install new parts against old parts. I had to replace the lashes, rockers, and cams again in a about a year. Question: Do you have to pull the engine to pull the heads? Mine's a 4.6 GT.
I didn't pull the engine, cash was tight so I only changed the passenger side (drivers side wasn't having problems, but since I had it down, I wish I could have swapped that head too). I had plenty of room to work. The exhaust manifold was a pain to get off, you have to pull the bracket that goes from the engine mount to the block. That took a couple hours figuring out how to get to all the bolts. The rest was easy. It was time consuming, I spent 4 8 hour days out there. I could do it in 2 10 hour days now, and could have been faster then, but I really needed to be sure I got everything right, so I took my time. I didn't have any help, and didn't seem to need any. My neighbor was willing to pop out and help for a bit any time I needed though. I overtightened the cylinder head temp sensor and snapped it in the new head. It's hollow brass and really can't handle much, so watch that. The timing marks on the chain - at first they all appeared to be off by about 4 links. Keep rotating they will line up. Get it on the mark before you take it apart. The head was shipped on the mark too, so it was bolt on, no rotating needed. I left all 8 plugs out and rotated the motor a few cycles to be sure all was good before I put the timing cover back on, and again after everything but the plugs were done. It started right up and was good to go. I ran it a few moments, drained the oil and flushed the coolant. Refilled and changed the oil again at 500 miles, just being paranoid. Honestly, it was easier than I expected.
That's good news, Raj. It took me all weekend, 36 of 48 hours, to switch out the lashes, rockers and timing chains; not the heads. Well worth it though. There's a need to rotate the crank 180, then 180 degrees again to compress the valve springs and release the rockers on 2 cylinders, 2 and 8 I think, since it's an interference design. Pulling the heads would be way harder, and hats off. The car's nearing 200k miles and I'm paranoid about blowing a head gasket on a trip, since it's a first-year aluminum block. ...But I obsess. Thanks for the tip!
I wouldn't fear the head gasket. Mine had 225,000 when I pulled the head. The gasket looked perfect. It is like a 3 layer steel gasket, no corrosion at all. I'll get a pic and upload it this weekend. I did not pull the other head and I am not worried about it. I am worried about the rockers and such, but not the head gasket. I have the other head gasket, so I'll probably pull the head when I do the rockers and related just to have it all fresh. It would go much faster now than it did the first time. My goal is 500,000 of daily driving. Pulled off 357,000 daily driving miles on my 88 LX 5.0.