engine rattle after oil change

[breeze12]

just bought a 99 sport 3.9 170k mi. oil was in need of a change but not extreme. after changing with castrol 5-30 engine started a kinda loud rattle while its cold and last about 3 to 5 minutes, then quiets down. does it every start up now; sound to be in the center of engine compartment and not so much in the fromt timing chain area. any advice or clues to source of noise.
thanks

[troy1]

what kind of filter are you using? Fram filters are known for drain back. 3-5min of rattling sounds bad though.

[breeze12]

thanks
no its a mopar oil filter, but something interesting happened. after reading post from different sites lucas oil treatment and marvel mystery oil seemed to help,well.. I tried lucas first, seemed to help a little,yet still very noticable. did another oil change with 10-30 and about 24oz of marvel mystery and it is almost silent. I dont understand it but it worked.

[overknight]

5-30 is probably too light for an engine with 170K. I've had good luck using Marvel Mystery Oil for stuck lifters. Possibly the combination of the 10-30 and Marvel is what helped. Unless you live in a very cold climate, I'd consider using 10-40 oil.

[breeze12]

thanks,
I think I spoke to soon. the rattle is back and seems to stay untill the vehicle is totally warmed up, then its quiet. I believe the noise to be lifters, due to the fact it eventually gets quiet. could it be the timing chain given that criteria? I will switch to 10-40 and see what happens, if no success I may look into lifters, anyone know anything concerning that job? thanks again

[wafrederick]

Try this if you want to,take the valve covers off and tap on the rocker arms lightly with a hammer.Tried this once and it worked.

[overknight]

This occasionally used to work on 1960's-vintage Chevy 250 and 283 engines. With the engine warmed up and running, I'd slowly tighten each lifter down until it bottomed (it would start to run roughly because the valve wasn't closing), and then loosen it and adjust it to the correct settings. The theory is by forcing the lifter completely closed, you forced out what was causing it to stick. I'd say most of the time, it didn't help, but occasionally there was a lifter that would quite down after doing this. I would add a strong CAUTION here: DO NOT do this on a non-free-running engine, i.e., an engine where there is a possibility of the valves hitting the piston if the timing chain/belt/gear breaks. I don't know if the 3.9 is free-running or not.

[wafrederick]

The 3.9 which is a 318 block with 2 cylinders cut off is a free wheeling engine.You cannot adjust the rocker arms,they are on a long rod with the rocker arms in the rod.