91 Explorer Valve lifter noise.

[Blazr2]

I have a 91 Explorer with the 4.0 V6 I got it cheap because it had valve lifter noise. I have tried just about every oil aditive sold. And I tried synthetic oil. The noise sometimes goes away when it warms up. Any sugestions? The engine has 146K on it.

[bigdoodle]

a quart of tranny fluid will quiet it down. synthetic oil has a tendency of splitting gaskets and seals on an older vehicle so be careful

[Blazr2]

Trany fluid..hmm that's interesting. I will ask others about this. I have put in an additive an old timmer recomended (Mystery Oil) Red in color. Can't list the brand name! It did better than anything else I tried.
Now that I think of it that stuff smells just like tranny fluid! He said trany fluid can also work on tire bead leaks. Causes rubber to swell I guess. He also said powdered Ice Tea can be used for radiator cleaner. Not sure about that one! but I wish I could have chated with him a little longer. He had alot of money saving tips for auto repair.

[Twist'n-Wrenches]

Drive it tell it blows the lifters to replace are worth more than the truck. Not to say that your truck is worth nothing it is the lifters are about $90 each. Lets see $90 times 12 lifters then tax and shipping and a new cheapy cam shaft $200 and head gackets $300 and new one time use head bolts $180 well you get the picture oh ya 11 hours labour yes I did this trick once. Next time it had a problem I got me a new heart for our Exploder 5.0 much better only took 100 hours to install never looked back Good luck

[Blazr2]

I gota reply from another forum on the net and this guy told me that new rockers and push rods would take care of the problem. How ever I do agree with you on the cost being to much to put into this vehicle.
I thought it might be a sticky or dirty lifter but I tried everything from motor flush to thickening the oil with additives and even though I had varying results, nothing worked. At times I thought I had the noise eliminated but it allways came back. My answer to this is to get rid of this vehicle. There is to many other things wrong with it and I just don't want to listen to this engine noise any longer. After all the $ I put into it I hate to let it go. I do like the vehicle it rides well is comfortable and has alot of room in it. But I guess its time to move on !

[Twist'n-Wrenches]

We liked ours well enough to convert to the 5.0 with an AOD auto in it that was the best thing ever. How ever there was a lot of work in doing it two weeks of evenings and weekends to get it going. If you do your own work like myself it is well worth the effort. You 5.0 or the 302 has been around for years and has proven itself as being realible. The 4.0 is of German origan that is why it is so expesive to work on. The 5.0 is North American also the aftermarket gives bags of good stuff to beaf these engines up for power and torq.