Re: Loud clicking from my '52

Posted by Jim Kavanagh On 2018/10/23 23:43:48

I dropped the pan when I did the lifters a few weeks ago, just to seal the engine (the crank is not striking the pan - checked for that). The pan was very clean, no gunk at all. Additionally, the lifter galleys were also very clean.

I believe the engine was rebuild in 2012 because I found the car listed in an auction at that time (long before I bought it) which said it had been freshly rebuilt. Doesn't really mean it is true but I believe it because of the condition of the engine I have noted in anything I have done to it sense. Based on the auction description at the time, there are only about 4,000 miles on the car, including my own, since the rebuild.

I have a mechanical oil gauge under the hood along with the warning light in the dash. Oil pressure at idle is just at 30 lbs., which seems good. It only increases to about 35-38 under acceleration though, and I would generally expect more variance. But it seems sufficient.

Since this developed, I have tried running Rislone, which has not helped. Originally I thought this might be that a valve was hitting the head, because I did not check the clearance between the two when I replaced the lifters since I did not change or re-seat any valves, and I lacked the tool to do the measurement. But, with compression between 100 and 105 across all eight cylinders, I don't think this could be the issue.

What I find confusing is that the noise is not present when the engine is cold. I would generally think most things that cause ticking or knocking in the engine (like bearings or wrist pins) would be more noticable when cold, rather than when things heat up and expand.

I really feel it is in the valve train. Is it safe to take a feeler gauge or a step gauge, maybe at .003 or .005 and insert between the valves and lifters with the engine running (and ticking), to see if it eliminates or lessens the ticking at one of the valves?

I did pull the valve covers and did not notice that the tick was substantially louder, but the whole area is hard to get to without taking out the heater, etc.

I am also wondering what a cam bearing might sound like when failing.