Hey guys, I have a quick question. Every so often on initial start-up for a second or two I'll get a loud rapid ticking. I'm not exactly sure what it is, I'm assuming it's valvetrain noise, it could possibly be a relay I do remember a while back at random I'd get kind of a loud ticking from the engine bay when I would just flip the key to ON. It seems like this only occurs during the winter and on the nice cold days. Any ideas, is this something I should be really worried about?

I change my oil at least every 3000 miles with 10w-30. Last time I did let it go for like 3100 miles. It's not even been 2500 since my last change. I have the P90a head. I was wondering also if I should add some seafoam or atf to my oil before the next change?

 

hydrolic lifters. Thats what the A stands for. They have to build pressure, thats why it stops when the oil starts flowing, my 84 would do that everymorning when it was cold.

 

I wonder if using a different weight oil in the cold weather would help, then change it out in the spring.

 

I used synthetic and it helped quite them a little bit, but its so dam expensive.

 

you think thats bad... i can hear my SX's cam grinding on startup until oil pressure is up (about 2.5 seconds) i guess that head drops oil fast haha. w/e im not worried about it.

 

its the lifters but they shouldnt be making noise, it happens when they get old though, they get gummed up or they leak down over night. a heavier oil might help but it might be over kill at the same time.

sure its an older car but its still got better tolerances than a domestic car of the same age.

also with a p90a head, if you find lifters for em, buy em theyre only going to be harder to find as time goes on.
i wonder if lifters from something else would work though

 

Like I said it's really only in the cold temperatures. That's why I was wondering if maybe it'd help to add some seafoam or atf to my oil and drive it for a couple of miles before I change it.

 

Lifters can leak down when sitting. I would not worry too much about the ticking. I don't really suggest switching to a thicker oil in the winter. But, a thicker oil will build pressure a little better.
Have you tried Lucas? It helped my old Ford a lot when it was making lifter noise. It pretty much does the same thing. But, helps engine start up because it's sticky, and prevents leak down and dry starts.

 

early p90a heads where solid lifters while the mid to late p90a where hydrolic.

 

Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure if mine is hydraulic or not. I had the valve cover off, but that was a while ago and I'm a n00b when it comes to the whole hydraulic/solid difference. Like I wouldn't be able to tell you which is which cus I've never messed with them. My car does show it's a 7/83 so I'd assume it's a hydraulic. It's fairly low mileage just a little over 97k so that's why I was wondering if maybe using some ATF to help clean would work. Maybe some built up slude or gunk in there, but I'm not sure. Everything looks fairly clean from what I remember. Anyway here's the couple pics I took when I had the cover off.







What do you guys think, does that look like it's in fairly good shape, or does it look like it could still be cleaner? All I know is that that looks super clean in comparison to the first 300ZX I pulled the valve cover on. The lifters and everything where just completely coated in sludge.

If I had to guess I'd definitely say it's hydraulic seeing as there doesn't look like there are many bolts/nuts to loosen for adjustment other than the head bolts and the few on the cam.

 

Those are hydraulic.

 

Ticking lifters seems to be a common issue on these motors. It sounds like it generally just comes from them needing to be cleaned out. Doing a search on HybridZ I found someone showed how to take them apart, clean, then reinstall and they said it solved their problems. I've seen some said they've used just ATF and it's helped. So maybe I'll try that first. If no dice I'll live with it for a while until I'm about ready to do the engine swap and then pull the lifters when I don't need the car for a few days. Just to be safe.

 

Before your next oil change, run some Seafoam in your oil for a while. From the looks of it your engine is not too dirty. I would not recommend this on an engine that was really gunked up. It can cause a stroke situation. But, it couldn't hurt yours.

 

thats alota dark brown they might be getting kinda gummy.
i would suggest the ATF but be warned, it may cause more oil leaks.

its a cheap engine flush, i did it with my maxima alot before the timing belt broke. i bought the car off a lot so i didnt know anything about the history and the oil was almost always black even right after new oil and the ATF in the transmission was really black too so several times i filled each up with atf, ran it for a little bit and let it drain for a good long time. it fixed the transmisssion and improved the color of the oil in the motor.

when the timing belt broke it was alot cleaner than expected, but it did cause a minor main seal leak.

 

ATF shouldnt be ran in the oil very long though its a quick run and then you switch. ATF has ALOT of good detergents in it so thats why it cleans motors good but should be driven on it.

 

I have seen worse buildup. Looks like some burnt oil in there, but no sludge from what I can see in the pictures. Hard to tell though.

This is my original engine no rebuild, and old oil after flushing with Seafoam. Again, like the ATF, I wouldn't run it long.

 

Why nobody has suggested Royal Purple is beyond me. Follow the instructions on their site about switching to Royal Purple, once you have done this your engine should be cleaner inside and you can go up to 12,000 miles per oil change. We are not dealing with engine oil of the 1970's here guys.

Check out the FAQ's on their site as well...

http://www.royalpurple.com/rp-faqs-wu.html

 

I am sad to say I have never tried it. I have not been financially enough ahead to make the investment in oil.
I do not mind changing oil every 3-5,000 miles.
No matter haw well the oil neutralizes acids, or cleans deposits, the impurities are still being put into the oil at the same rate, and I on;y trust a filter so far.
Granted, a filter is technically most efficient at filtering out harmful materials when it is clogged. But, oil pressure suffers, and ruptures can occur.


From what I have heard from friends, it's great oil.

 

I wish I had pics of the lifters from my 300ZX. Like I said those were horrible everything was complete gunk. Clearly before I got ahold of it, the oil was barely changed.

 

So basically skip the ATF/Seafoam idea, put some Royal Purple in and just change it like normal every 3000 miles for a while and I should be good? I may do that.

 

I would still run some ATF through. I remember seeing that thread on Hybridz about cleaning the lifters and I think to really get them cleaned, you'll need to take them apart. I doubt there's any oil or cleaning agent that will remove as much gunk as doing it by hand.

I think this is a pic from that HBZ thread...

 

Yeah I found that thread on HybridZ by search ticking hydraulic lifters. I'll run some ATF through before I change my oil then switch over to synthetic and see how that goes.

 

I can't really say don't use ATF in the engine...I know it's not meant to be in there but it does seem to be a multitasker...hell I use it in place of fork oil on my bike...T-5 manual trannys use it...this list goes on and on. I'd say give it a shot, you never know. I'd pull the lifters though, rebuild them and then soak them in oil before they went back in the car.

 

Well I picked up some Royal Purple. I'll probably change my oil this weekend or something. Dump some ATF in run it around. Would I be better off running it kinda hard? Then drain it and fill er' up with Royal Purple oh and I got a K&N Oil Filter, I could have probably gone with the cheaper purolator, but I stay away from Fram.

 

Get it to operating temp, and take it easy. I would not run too hard.