what oil?

ok i have that freakin lifter tick and its driving me crazy! one mechanic told me to go with a thicker oil and another said thinner. they are both reliable so far so i don't know who to believe. so which is it thinner or thicker? btw i read the FAQ and i don't have enough cash to get the lifters replaced.

I've heard switch to some lighter oil and drive the piss outta your car for 5-600 miles... then switch and go heavier... the lighter will help get the dirt and gunk from all the little corners and crevices and the thick should help with the rest...

Then again, I was told to make sure you have enough oil, and make sure it's not the injectors... as mine "pulse" really loud... and that's what my lifter tick turned out to be...

yeah my oil level has been fine. i just got an oil change from 30w to 10-40 and put some of that lucas stuff in it too. the tick was really bad before the change and then after it steadily started to fade but is still there. i called one of my mechanics and told him about it and he said i should get the 10-40 out and put in a lighter oil. but earlier my other mechanic said to go heavy so thats where i'm at now. thanks for the advice i'm starting to lean towards the thinner stuff now. anyone else got info?

oh yeah and he said it was a dirty lifter i'm guessing thats correct but if not let me know.

Well older dirtier oil does contribute to it, but hte underlying factor is that our stock lifters (pre-99) have entirely too small holes for hte oil to go through (1mm compared to the later 3mm) So thicker/dirtier oil increases audible ticking.

thanks a lot. one more thing though. in the FAQ its says something about switching to 3rd gen. lifters. so i can change out my old ones for 3rd gens without any problems?

I believe they are the same for all the DOHC 3S engines, so yes you can replace them without any problems. They run around $250-350 if I remember correctly. Check out the sites listed in that section of hte FAQ, and check out IPO's site too to find the best pricing.

I have a 99 with the lifter tick, and after trying all the diff weights of oil someone finally said to try switching to synthetic, "run the piss" out of it for the 1st 500 or so miles, and change it. Well it worked for the most part, when it's time to change the oil again it comes back ever so slightly, and now I'm in the synthetic oil tree, it would be foolish of me to switch back. Guy told me synthetic runs cleaner longer, somethin like that. Well, good luck.

Synthetic is much better.... but much more expensive... if you can afford it, I'd say it's worth it...