Tick, tick goes the poncho.

I must be the barer of bad news. I get in the poncho t start her up today and it goes smooth. Except for the ticking. It ticks quiet on idle and when I push in the accelerator pedal the ticking gets louder. I am on my way (in a few minutes) to adjust the timing. Where should I look for the ticking? It sounds like it is from the passenger side of the engine.

 

Could be a collapsed lifter or an exhaust leak

 

If exhaust leak, would this be from the manifold or the actual pipe?

 

Sounds like a lifter, was that the first time you started it in a while? Maybe overdue for a oil change? Whats the eng oil press when the tick is happening?

Brad

 

Slack in valve train possibly. Worn pushrod, bad rocker or lifter as stated. Finding exhaust leak pretty easy could be manifold or donut. if Nothing there, then use screwdriver as stethoscope on valve covers to determine which side tick is on.

 

Haha, you almost fooled me.

I thought I had to Delete yet another " GM killed Pontiac" Thread...

 

You can easily find an exhaust leak with an 24" piece of 3/8" hose. Stick one end up to your ear and fish the other end around the manifold at the gaskets, heat riser or other joints. Anywhere gasses can escape. When the end of the hose passes over the leak you will hear it distinctly at the other end with no burned fingers.

I'm not one for the mechanic in the can but my buddy let his 65 Pontiac sit for almost a year. When we got it running again the lifters would not pump up. We added a can of Rislone and took it out on the freeway. It took about 2 exits before they straightened. When he got back it purred like a kitten.

Usually an exhaust tick will be around the head to manifold connection. Each tick represents one cylinder firing and leaking but check everything with the hose. It doesn't cost anything.

 

I had a tick in my 440 a few months ago, thought it was the valvetrain. Turned out a wrist pin had come out and was hitting the cylinder wall. Had to tear everything down and sleeve it. If you can't find the problem anywhere else you might want to check into that.

 

Original 316? Make sure you're getting oil to the top of the engine. pull your passenger's side valve cover and make sure oil is coming out of the pushrods and the rocker stud. These engines send oil through the stud from a passage inside the head. Of course it could also be a collapsed lifter or an exhaust leak. Should be able to check the lfters and rockers with that cover off.

 

It is the original 316. Well I found an exhaust leak when adjusting the timing. The tick started after sitting for a week without being started. Was fine before that. We are going to change the oil this weekend, get new valve cover gaskets and check the lifters.

 

I was awaiting the "oh geeze... not this shit again" picture...

 

Ya found an exhaust leak... but it wasn't the sourse of the noise?

 

If it's late enough V8 the rockers were oiled through the studs, it was a tiny little hole that recieved oil from a gally in the head. they were proned to plug up, pull your valve covers and look for a dry rocker. the studs are pressed in so not an easy job to clean.

 

My guess would be .Loose valve guides. Only a guess. Happened to a friend of mine.

 

Nope, it was not the source of my noise. I'm going with something in the head. A lifter or rocker arm. Going to check right now. Will be back with pictures.

 

I hope you find the problem and it's a simple one. Just thought I'd note that my 56 Pontiac originally came from Bakersfield.

 

Wow, same exact colors and body style (cept the hardtop damn you!). It looks nice with duals and good paint.

 

Took off the covers and a few of the rocker arms were loose. My mechanic walked me through tightening them and backing off to stop the ticking and it took out a lot of the "clanking/ticking" on the passenger side but we did the same for the driver side rocker arms and the ticking remained the same.

If it is a collapsed lifter, how can I pinpoint it exactly?

All the rockers were getting oil. There was no lack of oil coming to the top at all. My oil gauge is below 1/2 though in the car if that means anything. I'm going to try some new valvoline oil and a little atf and see if that cleans things up.

 

Here is audio of the noise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbLjWWPW2tg

 

just pour the dextron over and down your push rods and let it sit over night. I used to use brake fluid but it's not my car.

 

I had a 56 that would do the same thing after sitting. Marvel Mystery Oil cured it every time

 

You need to measure the height of each rocker stud. These very early Pontiac V-8s were prone to having their press in rocker studs slowly work their way out of the cylinder heads. You could adjust the 'tick' out, only to have it come back again the next day. I believe the earliest 'stud pinning' kits were developed in response to this particular problem.

 

I'm taking the liberty of posting this PM as the info may also be useful to someone else in the future.
Originally Posted by 56Ponchorelli
How would I fix the problem you spoke of?

This happened to our family '56 Ponch way back in 1963, I wuz still just a kid, but still vividly recall being present and getting a first hand look at it when our mechanic finally located the problem. I wasn't around while it was being fixed, but I believe he installed a 'stud pinning kit' that was commonly available back then.
All it was was a long drill bit, and 16 'pins'. A nut was screwed on top of the stud to protect the threads, and the stud hammered back down to its correct height and a hole is then drilled through the stud boss and stud, and a pin tapped in the hole to permanently secure the stud in place.
(added) This is easier to do with the heads off the car, but was commonly done in car, just got to be careful to catch and clean up any drill shavings.

 

It's probably a collapsed lifter. If you want to know which one, just use piece of hose or pipe and listen to each one with the valve cover off, at idle. Or push down on each rocker with a rag or a piece of wood . The clacking should go away when you find the right one.
I wouldn't pin the studs. You might block off the oil feed to the rocker ball. You could put later rockers on it, with the hole in the pushrod seat to get oil to the pivots.
I'd change the oil to a fairly light grade and then rev it up to about 2000 and hold it there. It's never gonna pump back up at an idle.

 

What oil weight should I try? I was going to use the 20w50 VR1 valvoline but am thinking it may be too thick?

 

I don't know if these 'stud pinning kits' are still available after all this time, they were available through JC Witney for at least a decade.
On oil, in old cars like this used only for summer cruising, straight 30w seems to be the trick, allowing you to get the best handle on oil-pressure, and on any usage issues, which the 'newfangled' multi-vis oils might tend to mask.
I have used 40w in high mileage, low oil-pressure engines, and while it brings the gauge reading up some, it seemed result in the engine wearing out even faster in my experience.
You do however need to use a 'vintage' type oil that contains ZDP (zinc), or use a zinc additive, to protect your 'flat tappet' cam and lifters from excessive wear.
The most commonly available modern 'low-emissions' oils are designed for roller lifters and have eliminated the zinc package.

Jessie J.

 

my 287 does the exact same shit and i raplaced two lifters and its a little quieter but sound like i still have some bad lifters. My noise is coming out of the passanger side too. I changed the oil fron 15-30 to 5-30 and it seemed to help a little. Can anyone pm me if they know some good additived for oils to stop the lifter noise. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Andy

 

Yes, it might be only a collapsed or 'bad' lifter, that is why I said first "You need to measure the height of each rocker stud" if it turns out that they are pulling loose (very common to these engines) Then- the only thing that is going to cure the problem is securing them in place in some way. Pinning, converting to screw-in studs, or replacing the heads. No amount of magic oil additives, or even a different set of rockers is going to fix pulled loose rocker studs.

 

I was thinking about maybe 10-30 or 10-40 .
You can add some GM EOS if you can find it, or do a search on this forum for zinc additives. BG Products, maybe?

I'm looking for 55-57 2 dr Pontiac like yours to put a 455 in. Kind of a fake Junior Stocker. Do you know of any?

 

I sure don't. I saw a 55 wagon on crazedlist.