Updates on Lifter noise...

[RickyCRX]

I'm about ready to drag this Blazer out and torch it!!

Anyways, as you all probably know, I've been having this lifter noise on cold startups. It usually quiets down between a couple seconds and a minute or so. While it is making the noise, you can hear a slight 'pulsing' in the exhaust if you walk to the back of the vehicle, as if the valve isn't opening enough (maybe?) because of the lifter not pumping up. Anyways, the problem ended up getting worse yesterday morning. I started it up and the noise was loud as ever. Normally I give it a little throttle and idle up to 1500-1800rpm and the oil pressure goes up to around 60+ and it quiets down faster. This time, I brought it up to ~1800 or so and within a couple of seconds the SES light came on. I figured at that point I wasn't going to drive it, so I jumped in the S2000 and drove that to work instead.

Yesterday afternoon I changed the oil even though I had only done it 1000 miles before; just as a precaution in case the extended warranty company wanted to complain about anything, I at least wanted to have clean oil in the engine. Anyways, I had it towed to the dealership this morning to see what they say about it. Hopefully it's just a lifter problem and the fact that the valves weren't opening properly was causing the fuel mixture to be wrong to set the SES light. Anyways, I will let you all know what ends up being the problem after they diagnose it today.

This Blazer only has 130k miles on it and I've had all sorts of problems -- I'm almost wanting to say that it's a lemon, but every time it is something different.

Has anybody heard of lifter problems like this on these 4.3's? I thought the '98s were pretty reliable/stout engines.

Ricky

[biglouie_underpressure]

not an exhaust leak?

[OBI WAN]

These are torque to set lifters that are prone to making noise. Could be it lost its torque, one collapsed or completely normal for a roller cam and lifters. I never heard one that didnt make noise of some sort, so without hearing yours??

[RickyCRX]

Well, this is a really loud noise. When I say loud, kids walking down the street 4 houses down from me turn and look when I start the Blazer in the morning.

It's definitely from the top end, and a loud tick tick tick noise. It's definitely *not* an exhaust leak; I had a leak on the driver's side exhaust manifold gasket that I fixed earlier last year, so I know exactly what that sounds like.

I almost wish I had tape-recorded it and turned it into an mp3 file or something before having it towed to the dealership yesterday.

Also, they did diagnose it as lifter noise. Yesterday afternoon they were just starting to pull the valve covers and intake off to see how many are bad.

[biglouie_underpressure]

well atleast you know the problem.Make sure you change them all.

[RickyCRX]

Further developments...

I just went by the dealership this afternoon to see the damage. Apparently there are a lot of issues with this thing.

1) One of the valve covers has a crack on the inner lip of it... Not a big deal, but still annoying -- probably the dealership that sold it to me broke it when they pulled the heads before I bought the vehicle.
2) One of the studs for the rocker on the front driver's side cylinder was bent, causing the rocker to get excessive wear on the edge of the surface where it's supposed to slide to open the valve. Consequently, the valve stem top is worn unevenly as well.

Basically, the bottom line is, this thing needs a complete top end rebuild... The heads need to come off for a valve job, the lifters need to be replaced, the rockers need to be replaced...

Oh, and to top it all off, the threads where the screws go into the distributor for the cap are messed up. Somebody used a coarse thread screw instead of a fine thread -- the screws basically just pulled the threads right out.

Let's hope the extended warranty covers some of this. Basically, they accepted responsibility for it when they accepted the policy through this dealership that I bought everything from. *sigh* What a pain.

I'm really fed up with this thing.

In 11,500 miles of my ownership since March/April of '04, the following things have had to be replaced or failed:
1) Fuel pump (failed the day I bought it after I drove 250 miles to get home... left me stranded at a restaurant down the street from my house, requiring a tow)
2) Rear differential (left me stranded, requiring a tow of ~150 miles)
3) Transmission rebuilt/new torque convertor
4) Upper/lower balljoints, upper A-arm bushings
5) Radiator replaced (again, they put a new one in when I bought the vehicle)
6) Upper thermostat pipe corroded from dex-cool and was leaking... replaced.
7) Wiper motor control board replaced
8) Rear hatch glass 'pop' button on rear hatch not working
9) A/C compressor & pressure switch replaced
10) Oil cooler lines are seeping
11) Transmission cooler hose came off on the highway, causing me to lose 5 quarts of fluid, requiring me to call for somebody to get me somewhere to get new fluid and put the line back on...on Christmas eve, of all days.
12) Belt tensioner pulley was making a 'snapping' noise and had to be replaced.
13) Center link on steering was replaced right after I bought it, too.
14) Now this top end engine problem.

I honestly think after this I'm going to cut my losses and sell this thing and get a newer ('03 or newer) V8 Toyota 4Runner. I've averaged almost 2 significant problems per month for the short time I've owned this vehicle. I just can't take it any more.

[12sws27]

yotas suck!

[Mikz86TA]

Probably runnig a heavy weight oil because he couldnt read fu*kin english! 5W30....thats what it needs and should have. If you follow what the engineer says it requires, you will have no issues. Ignorance and neglect equals bad luck.
Move to china douche

[12sws27]

so I jumped in the S2000 and drove that to work instead.
ricky"CRX"? this is what happens when a honda owner that doesnt know his ass from a hole in the "exuast" buys some ragged out POS with out giving it a good look over b4 he buys it

[Mikz86TA]

Yup X2. Sorry bud, these run on gas...not rice

[LS1SLEEPER]

Yup X2. Sorry bud, these run on gas...not rice
hahahahahahahaha thats funny :rice:

[texan]

Wooooo hoooo. After about oh many months maybe about four i finally got the damn lifter noise to shut up. Changed the oil again and added a qt of tranny fluid and its finally quiet. Now the only problem left is the constant leaking of coolant. I have to fill up the over flow and radiator with the ole garden hose about every other day. Everyone says the intake manifold gasket, and some say the water pump. I hope its neither which im sure its one of them. Its a 98 4.3l with about 81,000 miles. I cant tell where its coming from just that i know right when i fill it up it starts leaking at a slow drip somewhere in the center front of the engine. Im so damn lost and i cant find any help, someone plz assist me...

[4.3CPI]

Thanks for the heads up. My dad has a 2000 Chevy Express van with the 4.3, and recently his lifters strated clattering louder every time he starts it. Nice to know what to expect upon teardown.

It almost sounds like a reliability problem like GM's notorious early 80's 305 camshafts that wiped out lobes.

[Mikz86TA]

Startup clatter is from using the wrong weight oil in most all cases. 5W30 like it says to use only. My dads 4.0L in his Mountaineer does the same thing.
Most coolant leaks happen after shutdown. Thats when the cooling system is most pressurized and vulnerable. Check about every 5 min after you get dont with a drive where it has reached operating temp. Look around the end tanks on the radiator at the seams, waterpump has seep holes just behind the pulley area of the snout, all hose ends, around the thermostat housing, radiator drainplug and manifold to head seams.
Also check coolant and oil for signs of coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant

[texan]

Well thank you for the reply. Yea either way im scared ****tless that its either the intake gaskets or the water pump mostly. The only thing is, i cant see a damn thing well anything small around this motor. Im not dogging domestics by any means but it just seems to be so much easier to spot things under a honda hood. Sorry i got side tracked. Ok so when looking under the hood what exactly should i be looking at and where. Seriously all of yalls help is very much appreciated. So when checking the water pump and/or intake manifold gaskets give me the detailsplz. Oh yea merry xmas.

In regards to the lifter thing, i think your right about the oil thing. I changed the oil with 5w-30 then added a thick thick lucas oil thing (about a qt) and its stopped for a day, then realized that adding the lucas oil made up for the thin viscosity of the 5w. Then recently changing the oil again with 5w and adding a qt of atf, i do believe it freed up the clog in the lifter. Wow sorry about the pointless story, i guess it was meant for those who have the lifter problem to start with the basics instead of jumping into a teardown.
So once again, if i can get as much info as yall can provide to help me, it would mean alot. Thanks again. ps i did not proof read so sorry if it didnt make sense

[Mikz86TA]

Yeah, a little trans fluid is an old remedy for a sticking or grit in the hyd lifter. The best thing is to use just a good 5W30 oil. With my pops Mountaineer, the place where he got it had a shop do a service on it. The idiots just used the Pennsoil bulk 10W40 they had on it. Made noise even after warmup. He changed the oil to the proper weight and no more noise.
Well, in checking for water leaks its basically easy. 1st with the motor cold, check around the enginebay and block from the top and underneath for any wet areas. If there are some, make a note of them. Those are not what you are looking for since water would be dry/evaporated. Those are probably oil leaks if you have some. Then run the engine up to operating temp for a few minutes (200+*F). While doing so, run the heater and be sure there isnt the smell of anti-freeze in the truck. Shut off and look around under the hood. Where the heater hoses go into the waterpump, manifold and firewall. Where the upper radiator hose goes from the radiator to the manifold. Where the lower radiator hose goes from the radiator to the waterpump. There is also a short bypass hose near the front of the block from the manifold to the waterpump. And the base of the thermostat housing on the manifold where the upper rad hose goes to. Some rare instances is also where the heads and manifold meet. There is also seep holes on the waterpump snout just behind the pulley. Those leak when the waterpump seals go bad inside. Rellace the waterpump in that case. If you dont see any leaking, try every 5 minutes since the cooling system is pressurized.

[chad]

I'm about ready to drag this Blazer out and torch it!!

Anyways, as you all probably know, I've been having this lifter noise on cold startups. It usually quiets down between a couple seconds and a minute or so. While it is making the noise, you can hear a slight 'pulsing' in the exhaust if you walk to the back of the vehicle, as if the valve isn't opening enough (maybe?) because of the lifter not pumping up. Anyways, the problem ended up getting worse yesterday morning. I started it up and the noise was loud as ever. Normally I give it a little throttle and idle up to 1500-1800rpm and the oil pressure goes up to around 60+ and it quiets down faster. This time, I brought it up to ~1800 or so and within a couple of seconds the SES light came on. I figured at that point I wasn't going to drive it, so I jumped in the S2000 and drove that to work instead.

Yesterday afternoon I changed the oil even though I had only done it 1000 miles before; just as a precaution in case the extended warranty company wanted to complain about anything, I at least wanted to have clean oil in the engine. Anyways, I had it towed to the dealership this morning to see what they say about it. Hopefully it's just a lifter problem and the fact that the valves weren't opening properly was causing the fuel mixture to be wrong to set the SES light. Anyways, I will let you all know what ends up being the problem after they diagnose it today.

This Blazer only has 130k miles on it and I've had all sorts of problems -- I'm almost wanting to say that it's a lemon, but every time it is something different.

Has anybody heard of lifter problems like this on these 4.3's? I thought the '98s were pretty reliable/stout engines.

Ricky

My 93 Blazer is doing the same thing with the same noise comming from the exhaust. It always goes away after it warms up.

[Mikz86TA]

From the exhaust could be a simple loose heat sheild or flange. Could also be a muffler or cat going south. Where about under there is the noise?