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IF the engine has a FLOATING oil pickup screen on the oil pump then most likely the float stay has broken or bent allowing the float to rise too high and it is hitting the crank counter weight.

Drain some oil from the engine to see if the clicking goes away. Mite have to drain as much as 2 qts but 1/2 qt should do it.

An easier way mite be to check the alignment of the dip stick with the float. If the dip stick stops in line with the float then maybe a longer dip stick can be used to temproararily push the float down enuf to determine if the clisking goes away.

The V8's are that way. In fact, from the factory mine had the dip stick hitting the top of the float by about 1/32".

Kev,

If the sound seems to be "deep in the block" you'd almost certainly hear it louder in the rear part of the oil pan, which would act like a resonator, plus would be the thinnest and least oil-insulated place for the sound to escape.

I really would concur that a mechanic's stethoscope would be very helpful with a problem like this. It's a good investment for pinpointing all kinds of clicks, rattles, squeaks and things that go bump in the night.

My first guess would be a valve train problem, even though the sound seems "deeper." Scope near each valve assembly. Could be a spring or a keeper, or of course a lifter.

With all due respect, the valve train looks in need of some attention. I've found that many problems can be located by simply cleaning and inspecting carefully.

I'm still a bit afraid the culprit might be a ring. The tranny fluid cure can clean things up and unstick them, but if you've got a broken one, it won't fix it.

Be sure to don your scrubs and gauze mask while using the stethoscope. That's how mechanics can charge extra when they use one.

Kev, it's tough enough sometimes to track down a noise when you are on-site, but maybe if you downloaded a short audio of the noise, it might stir some thoughts.

Guy, I do have a stethoscope, and have run it over just about the engine engine. Those noise does not appears to come from the lifters. I have run the stethoscope all over the valve train and the noise is not louder there, and every lifter has the exact same noise. So no "clackers".

Dave, in the video I posted above, you should be able to hear the noise. Also you can see the valve action while it is running.

Jim called with me a theory after talking to a Packard engine rebuilder he knows. One theory is the perhaps a rod bolt is grazing the bottom of the oil pan where the pan is very shallow. I guess the 288s and 327s use the same pan, but clearance is very tight on the 327 because of the stroke. So if the pan bottom is not convex enough a rod bolt could graze it.

For now I put that valve covers back on as I would have a chance to get back under there until after X-mas with work this week, and business travel next.

Since I buttoned up the engine for now to avoid a dust and dirt from getting in there. I decided to do a little bit of body work. So I roughed out the dent in the rear trunk filler panel. At some point the car was rear-ended and one of the bumperettes was forced into the filler panel causing a dent about 1/2" at its deepest, and the size of my hand at the widest. Since it is only a single panel there it was a matter of hammer and dolly work. You cant the hammer fully behind the dent because of the trunk floor is raised. So what I did was use a wide pry bar and flat dolly behind the dent. I was then able to push the dent out, while at the same time hammer the ridges in from the outside. This popped the entire dent pretty much out. But with a dent that deep, there is always going to be stretched metal, so I then used slapping file shrink down the metal and the high spots. Still needs a bit more work, but it is much better than it was.

Also here are some other pics I the car stripping I did last week that I forgot to post.

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if you suspect the pan to bolt connection, is there a way to run it with the pan dropped a bit to see if the noise stops. or maybe run it without the pan on it for just short period. idk, just shooting in the dark here.

i'm young and silly. LOL

Hank

Cli55er.
Most likely he can just run his hand across the bottom of the pan while it is running and will be able to feel the impact or use a very thin feeler gauge and watch for it vibrate or bounce a little bit. Just depends on how hard the rod bolt is hitting. Either way, it wil wear a hole thru the pan pretty fast especialy at high rpm or under heavy load conditions.

Extended Directors Cut of the klacking video with extra shaky camera work:

youtube.com/watch?v=obDMir3RAlA

About all I can offer is that seemingly the noise is at crankshaft speed, not camshaft speed so not related to valves.