Technical Oldsmobile 303 ticking sound. Lifters ?

So ever since I bought my 51, it always had a very noticeable ticking sound that ONLY came when it came up to operating temperature. Im fairly sure it is valve train related... Would this be bad lifters ? Or something else. What do yall HAMBers think? Also if it is lifters, do yall know of any sources other than fusick? because those are priiicy...

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Had a bad noisy lifter in my 371, old time mechanic added a can of Casite Motor Honey and the noise went away in seconds, and never came back. Cost darn little to try.

 

Sometimes Mechanical Fuel pumps make the same ticking sound you mention , you can use a cutdown broomstick as a stethoscope to help pinpoint the source of the tick

 

It's lifters ... 303 - 324 Olds hereditary trait when they didn't get regular oil changes and didn't get warmed up to operating temp... don't try to flush it out - you'll break loose all the sludge in there.

 

We used to call it Olds Tickitis

 

After you get the motor up to temp and determine which side is making noise , you can shut down motor and remove that valve cover. After restarting motor you can rest a broom stick or something similar on each lifter and determine which one is making noise. When you rest the stick on the lifter it will quite it down and you will be able to determine which one it is. If you are lucky there are shims under the pedestals and you could remove one to take up the slack. If not you could remove some material off the bottom of the pedestals to take up the slack . Get out your manual before you start this procedure to find the proper preloads. 30 to 50 i think ? But double check my numbers . I have heard of others installing a longer pushrod to shut up noisy lifters as well.

Good luck

 

Chevy lifters fit right in, new lifters need fresh cam, and check push rod length.

Never have I seen or heard of shims under "pedestals" in an early Olds.

 

Sbc lifters are the correct length as well ?

 

Also I heard you could run new lifters with an old cam... But not the other way around..

 

not exactly, but correct length pushrods are easily determined and readily available.

 

How would I go about determining pushrod length ?

 

...a can of Rislone, SeaFoam or MMM is the first and easiest step to try.
Will it 'break crud loose'? My experience says it will dissolve the easy stuff like varnish which is likely what is blocking oil flow to the lifter. In the 'old' days we actually used diesel oil as a cheap flush and never had a catastrophic 'failure'.
Check with goatroper: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/members/goatroper02.13098/


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LOL 'New Olds lifters in a can'. In the '50s you could sit on the curb, close your eyes and pick out the Oldses driving by.
Master mechanic Red Mayfield waved off 'patching up' Oldsmobiles with noisy lifters, dragging starters when warm...His words: "Son, there's nothing more 'tired' than a tired Oldsmobile."
Tear down for overhaul. You could measure the cylinder taper with a ruler.
When 'fresh' they were a 'Rocket'. Hence, the 'title'....

 

Also can you use new lifters with an old cam ?

 

^^^^^^^^^
You could if you had any lobes left ... but you won't. Listen to Mike ....

 

I heard you could sand down the lifters with 500 grit sandpaper and then they would work fine after you break them in.

 

I would take new lifters lay a piece of 600 wet paper on a flat surface like glass add kerosene to paper and slightly sand face of lifter . This would help oil to stay between lifter face and cam lobe . Never lost a cam with this procedure .

 

Chevy lifters are taller base to push rod cup. 67
Cad push rods are the right lenght. The cheap way is to grind down the lifter end of the old push rod. There is vary little movement at the lifter end so the ball dose not have to be as slick as the factory finish.

 

Also what would cause the noise to ONLY happen when the motor gets warm?

 

When I got my 55, it was actually quiet! The old timers were shocked, as it was a common trait for Olds' to have lifter noise. They told me (never checked it out myself) that taking the lifter apart, and putting a 1/4-20 washer back in it would quiet them down.

 

The oil thins out at operating temperature.