Lifters making ticking noise

[phasmid123]

Hi All,
I have a 91 EB that makes ticking noise when engine's turned on. A friend told me it's probably the lifters making noise from dirty engine and flushing the engine with detergent should get rid of the noise. Is this true? Also, is it just an annoyance or I should seriously consider replacing the lifters? Much obliged!

 

[Glacier991]

If your Explorer is running fine otherwise, it is just an annoyance. I'd love to tell you adding some engine flush would likely help, but odds are it might do more harm than good and won;t likely help. Short of replacing the hydraulic lifters the best advice is live with it. If you are really worried you might check your oil pressure with a gauge. (The one in the dash is a joke). Low oil pressure can cause it too.... meaning new pump. But it's likely just system wear. Not harmful.

 

[midgetwith9arms]

if you have alot of miles on it then its saying "i need to be overhauled", bc my old 92 sittin at the house does it and it has like 190k miles on it.

 

[410Fortune]

Try a can of seafoam in the crankcase before your next oil change. Follow directions on bottle.
Sometimes it will cure the sticking lifters/poor oiling.

Also check the torque on the upper intake manifold, if it is loose you have a vacuum leak. 91-94 are notorious for this.

Search for both of these on this forum for more info

 

[trucku]

I had some ticking noise last year. It was not the valves. I was using lucas oil stabilizer and had too much viscosity for engine (10W40). I lived with it till this summer. I went to right viscosity 5W30 mobil1 synthetic and no additives. The noise went away after some driving..about a month or so.
http://www.jonko.com/forum/diagnosis/noise_engine_tap.htm

 

[MazdaGreg]

I used to have ticking lifter noise as well. If you change the oil more frequently, sometimes you can cure that. I'm talking once every 1000 miles or so. Use a lighter weight oil also, like a 10:30 or 5:30. I don't know if i'd go with the 5:20 because that could be a bit too thin for 4.0l