noisey lifter

[95shakinPF]

Now that I have survived the nightmare of replacing the exhaust manifold studs on my 95, Ive got another noisey issue!

At an idle I have a few lifters tapping when the engine is cold. Usually when its cranked 1 will tap for about 5 seconds then quit and another will take over for 5 seconds. It does this back and forth until the engine is hot and will finally quit.

I was wondering if you guys could suggest things to try as oppossed to replacing lifters.

 

Thanks!

[nunya]

thicker oil

[ahardb0dy]

what oil filter are you using? I tried a Napa Gold filter one time and the engine ticked like crazy, removed it and went back to a Nissan one and it stopped, now I either use Nissan or pure one which works good too.

[Precise1]

Same idea, try an engine flush. What weight oil are you running with what mileage motor? May be time to go thicker...

 

B

[nismothunder]

Well,you all got it,but try dumping a bottle of STP oil treatment in it,it'll stay up in the heads when the engine is off.Mine had some clakky-clak and stp did wonders for it.A bottle of Bars stopleak will do the same thing,but its thiner.

 

It your already using an oil weight like 15-40 or something then go to a 5w-30 to see if it helps.If the oils too thick it wont flow fast enuff to the heads.

[RJSquirrel]

SeaFoam in the oil, following the directions, and promptly change the oil/filter. You might need to do that a couple times to get everything cleared out. I like the Purolator PureOne filters. If that doesn't work, cleaning/changing the lifters is in order. Its not that difficult of a job since everything is on top of the heads, but it will take some time to get everything out of the way to get to them. If you are worried about the cost, you can attempt to disassemble and clean the lifters. If you do that its crucial to reinstall them in the lifter bore you got them out of, or you can smoke your camshaft in short order. There's a writeup over on nissannut that goes into some detail on this. You may only have to buy one or two if they are irretrievably clogged to solve the problem. Alkorahil can get you a good price on Nissan OEM parts for NPORA members.

 

Good luck.

[95shakinPF]

I prefer Wix oil filters but sometimes I have to settle with a fram if out of Wix. Last oil change I went with GTX 20/50 instead of the usuall 10/40. Mileage is actually just at 86,000. I havent tried any additives yet as I wondered which one to go with (waaaay too many choices!). Ive been told to try Marvel Mystery oil (or automatic trans fluid which is what I think MMO is anyway) in the crankcase for a few days then change the oil again. I figured I would check with you guys to see if someone may have tried something that did work.

 

Thanks for the replies. Im going to try the Seafoam idea along with a few oil changes and see what happens. Ill repost how she takes it!

Edited July 5, 2010 by 95shakinPF

[ahardb0dy]

I always use Mobil one 10W30 no problems

[Kingman]

I prefer Wix oil filters but sometimes I have to settle with a fram if out of Wix. Last oil change I went with GTX 20/50 instead of the usuall 10/40. Mileage is actually just at 86,000. I havent tried any additives yet as I wondered which one to go with (waaaay too many choices!). Ive been told to try Marvel Mystery oil (or automatic trans fluid which is what I think MMO is anyway) in the crankcase for a few days then change the oil again. I figured I would check with you guys to see if someone may have tried something that did work.

 

Thanks for the replies. Im going to try the Seafoam idea along with a few oil changes and see what happens. Ill repost how she takes it!

 

Napa Gold filters are made by Wix, and Fram filters are absolute garbage.

 

I had a pretty decent lifter tick on my old Pathfinder that seemed a little more pronounced than a usual cold start tick. Seafoam cleared it up almost completely.

 

ATF is highly detergent and can be used to clean almost anything out of the engine, only problem is that if you run it too long in your motor all the crap that comes loose will clog your oil filter. About 1/2 a quart of ATF in place of oil should do plenty for cleaning, so only run it in there about 250 miles and repeat again with a new filter. After 2 passes your engine should be sparkly clean inside.

 

20/50 seems really thick to be putting in a VG... we have some of the tightest bearing tolerances of any motor out there.

[MY1PATH]

Also (and this is for Everyone with a VG) look into adding ZDDP in your oil. It won't reverse wear but it may keep the rest of the lifters from getting loud as soon.

ZDDP is a Zinc based Anti wear agent that was removed from most oils in 2004 because it "can be harmful" to catalytic converters and other emissions components. (But its in your oil not your exhaust?!?! Yeh, stupid...) Anyway Older engines were dependant on this substance to reduce the wear in bearings and lifters and such.

 

Royal purple, Still contains ZDDP (I mix 2 qts in with Castrol GTX every oil change)

Schnieder fromula 3 is a good choice (I use 1/2 bottle every oil change, part of schneiders warnty agreement)

use formula 2 if breaking in an engine because Formula 3 is so wear reducing that it prevents break in.

 

there are other off the shelf items out there too like ZDDP max but I have not tried them.

[dhardison]

 

It your already using an oil weight like 15-40 or something then go to a 5w-30 to see if it helps.If the oils too thick it wont flow fast enuff to the heads.

 

I've got a couple that are a little noisy and the thinner 5w-30w synthetic works best for me. Thinner oil circulates faster through my lifters which obviously are a little clogged at 200k+. Plus synthetics hold closer to their true 5w viscosity when cold versus dinosaur oils.

 

Since my truck, like a lot of high mileage VG's, doesn't really burn or leak any oil between changes so I can get away with thin oil and it probably helps my gas mileage as a bonus.

 

Just what's working good for me these days.

[RJSquirrel]

2x to what Kingman says. I run Mobil1 0w-30, but it does tend to get a little bit cool around here in the winter. I have yet to find an engine that doesn't like the faster oil pressure build, even in the summer. The only deviations I've made were for 0w-50 in a pretty tweaked 4g63t I used to have, but that was only for summer use. At a minimum, go 10w30 or 5w30, especially with summer and look for cheap oil for a flush.