Tapping noise from engine?

[nismotunedgtr]

Hey guy's my '93 XLT 4x4 has 229k miles on her now. Run's very strong too. Only thing I notice is a tapping noise frrom the engine, it's always there on cold start's. Not constant though, goes in and out.

Here are three videos to hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8flScjZ-4k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd9cY8JT9N8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ZF108WPNA

 

[EMG7895]

Its just worn pushrods, doesnt hurt anything. Most do it well before 200K.

 

[nismotunedgtr]

Would I re-gain any lost power by replacing them?

Can I replace the pushrods and nothing else?

 

[snoborder42]

Mine does the same thing. Well it used to on almost every cold start. I tried several things to stop it, lucas oil stabilizer, the high mileage oil, synthetic blend oils. But then I found a fram high mileage oil filter, (and before everybody rips me for using frams, they work for me and my parents)

Anyway as soon as I started using the high mileage filter and Castrol GTX high mileage oil, that ticking stopped, mostly. Now it does it on 1 in 50 stars, if even that.

 

[Bwana Bob]

Mine does that, too. Its caused by worn pushrods and cam lifters. There is a overhaul kit available from Delta Camshaft: http://wwwdeltacam.com, but I haven't bothered with it.

I've been using Castrol high mileage oil, too. It seems to reduce the pushrod tap. Your results are probably due more to the oil than the filter.

Hey how about "Marvel Mystery Oil"?

I have noticed that after it turned 200,000 miles, my Ex has been using more oil. It used to burn about 1 qt. every 2500 miles; now its more like 1 qt. every 1000 miles. No puddles or visible smoke, though. Maybe I should go to a heavier grade of oil. (My buddy put 90W gear oil in his '92 Crown Victoria, but I think that's a little extreme!

Bob

 

[briwayjones]

It's typical and normal with the 4.0L OHV engines. It's not even necessarily because the pushrods and lifters are worn they just tap. Many start to do it around 50k.