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Hey all,
I have a 1999 Saturn SL1 with 155k miles, and a recently installed rebuilt head. After installing the new head I have had a loud tick, that seems to be coming from the upper end of the engine. My first thought was lifters; however I have tried 3 sets of lifters, all 3 make the same sound. I have tried my old ones (previous head had no noise), the ones that came with the rebuilt head, and I have installed brand new sealed power lifters, all of them result in a similar/same noise. My next process of thought was an exhaust manifold leak, I have taken the exhaust manifold off, inspected for cracks, and re-installed it carefully following the installation procedure, including proper torque pattern, and torque specs. I have also verified the lifters are getting oil by having the starter turned over and removing one lifter at a time. For what its worth it appears to be coming from around the 4th cylinder.
Video of noise: https://youtu.be/F7MbSNlb_OY
(Note: that since i took this video, I think the noise has quieted down drastically, so maybe its just a wear-in/break-in thing with the reman head.)
Any help is welcome, this noise is driving me bonkers! If you have any questions you need to ask, to help me with this, just ask, and I will provide any needed info.
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The head should have come “broken in.”
You said you checked the exhaust manifold. Did you re-use the original exhaust gasket? If so, this may be your problem. Exhaust gaskets only make a good seal once (because of their construction). I would replace the gasket with a new one and see what you get.
I’m assuming the valves aren,t the issue since they have been in and out so much, but the symptom has not changed.
Let me know what you find out. Good luck.[quote=”thisisbuod” post=136465]The head should have come “broken in.”
You said you checked the exhaust manifold. Did you re-use the original exhaust gasket? If so, this may be your problem. Exhaust gaskets only make a good seal once (because of their construction). I would replace the gasket with a new one and see what you get.
I’m assuming the valves aren,t the issue since they have been in and out so much, but the symptom has not changed.
Let me know what you find out. Good luck.[/quote]No, I put new gaskets on the engine for any part I removed/replaced, no reused gaskets.
ok…….
So we know the valve guides and seats are good. We know the exhaust gasket is good. The Hydraulic adjusters are getting oil.
When you got the new head it cam with a cam right?It is somewhat common, with certain families of engines, to have it sound like that for over an hour before it quiets down. I’ve heard a few that are noisy for hours or days. I’ve probably only heard less than 100 different engines start after head rebuilding or more, but it definitely seems normal for that kind of engine. I’m not saying it’s a good noise, but I’ve never seen any long term issues on any of the engines that sounded like that on startup no matter how long they sounded bad. I cant really think of any time the noise never went away eventually and it had to be diagnosed/repaired. I’ve also found with engines I’ve done a lot of, that the way the lifters are dealt with during assembly can make a huge difference in startup noise.
The first kind of engine I rebuilt many of (Kia DOHC 3.5L in 1st get Sedona/Sorento), I thought seemed too loud on startup. The new lifters came saturated in oil in sealed bags, and I just dropped them in. Then I tried manually pumping oil thru each one with a good oi’ fashioned squeeze trigger oil can, and it purred like It had never been apart. I always do that now, but some it doesn’t always result in zero noise. It depends on the engine and if the lifter design is conducive to pumping oil in manually. If you can seal the tip against an opening, those little oil cans make more than enough pressure to manually operate VVT camshaft gears.
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