ticking noise after UIM/LIM replacement 97 PA

[jbman987]

just performed the UIM and LIM replacement for my 97 PA. car started up fine and everything seemed to be okay. drove it home on the hiway for about 50 miles. again, everything okay. next day, went to start up car and got a ticking noise that was clearly heard from the engine. however, after a few minutes, it goes away. has done this 3 times so far and appears like it will happen every time i start it. drove it on the hiway again and got on it a little bit, but the ticking noise was there again upon next start. but it went away again after a few minutes. any ideas?

[inafogg]

sounds like a lifter maybe leaking down,& pumps up after its started.
dont no if its related to work done
assuming the oil was change after repairs
changing oil in a couple 100 miles & maybe a cleaner added may help

[enslow]

Use a stethoscope or long stick. Attach one end of the stick to your plugged ear and touch the other end of the stick to various parts of the engine. Begin with the valve covers where the lifters are, then move around to other parts such as the injectors, accessories etc. Be exteremely careful around moving parts.

If you hear the loudest ticking when the stick is attached to the valve cover, it probably is lifters. If you did your LIM and UIM yourself, you'd find doing lifters about as easy, if not easier. I'd probably change valve stem seals at the same time because they're right there.

[jbman987]

well, after some retracing of steps and further investigation, i discovered that there were two fuel injectors that were damaged at the very tip. figured out that we cracked the tips while replacing the o-rings. those new o-rings were pretty tight!!!

somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm guessing that fuel was dripping down there and washing oil away. this might be what was making the engine tick upon start up, and then going away in 2-3 min.

i replaced both injectors. replaced all spark plugs. changed the oil. i then fired up the car and got the ticking again. and again, after a few minutes of driving, it went away. however, after letting the car sit for a few hours, the noise was not heard after the next start. then after letting it sit all night, upon start the next morning, the ticking noise was there for about 3 seconds and then went away. it did the same thing the same night after sitting all day. so, it appears that the ticking is going away, but is still there nonetheless. i'll give it a few more days and see if the ticking completely goes away.

[enslow]

Did you inspect all injectors?

I can't see how the gasoline would have "washed out" oil from the lifters. If the gasoline was leaking internally it would drip directly into the combustion chamber, which is already below the height of the lifters. Gasoline may have been leaking into the combustion chambers, then leaking past oil rings and into the crankcase oil while sitting. This still wouldn't affect the lifters.

See if you can find the exact location of the ticking. Place a stick on one of the injectors while some one else starts up. I'm going to bet that you have another damaged injector, or you still have a sticking lifter that freed up when you changed the oil. Perhaps you had just enough gasoline dissolved in the oil so that the lifter leaked down faster? I'm not sure about that possibility.

[enslow]

Get yourself a fuel pressure tester and check to see if you're maintaining fuel pressure when you shut the car off. If you lose fuel pressure quickly after shutting it off, you've got a fuel leak somewhere, and I'd guess it's another damaged injector.

[jbman987]

i wanted to post an update. it's been about about 5 days. the car's been started numerous times, been driven over 400 miles (80% hiway) and i threw some motorkote in it. the ticking sound has gone away. it appears to be back to normal and is operating better than before. engine is smooth and with the motorkote am now averaging 35 mpg on the hiway and a little bit less around town. a big help besides the motorkote was the removal of an immense amount of sludge found in the lower intake manifold along with an intense cleaning. fuel pressure is solid and no more leaks could be detected. thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions. will let you know if anything changes.

[Smith1000]

My 97 Lesabre had a locked up engine from the coolant. After replacing the manifold, it took several days days for the clicking to stop. I ran some cleaner through it (Seafoam-I believe) and changed the oil once or twice. BNaylor had some good information on this on the Lesabre page. It is good to change the oil a couple of weeks after replacing the manifolds.

[happydog500]

Be thankful after you did the work, it didn't still leak.
I have to do mine all over again.

Chris.