99 sl2 lifter noise

glennco1 · #1 10-06-2006, 10:42 AM

My wife has a '99 SL2 with 97,000 miles. After a recent oil change I noticed the lifters were making some noise. I assume this is typical for the DOHC with this many miles. How have you folks dealt with it? My assumption is that it is normal and I should just leave it.

thoughts?

SilverCloudR/T · #2 10-06-2006, 01:37 PM

Noisey lifters are never good. Is it a ticking sound? Make sure the oil level is at full. Sometimes right after a oil change, the lifters will be a little noisey because the oil hasn't properly circulated yet after being completely drained. My SL2 was doing that at 87,000 but it was just low on oil. I changed it with Mobil 1 and now it's completly happy once again (no noise) and I re-gained some lost power. Good luck.

saturnspeed_12 · #3 10-06-2006, 07:58 PM

could have a stiff/stuck lifter. it happens to many cars. quite a few cars can keep going on it, but some can cause damage. the other thing is make 100% sure its full of oil and if anything replace the oil filter.

if this problem happened right after the oil change and was quiet before, that usually throws a red flag right there. but what kind of oil filter did you put on?

glennco1 · #4 10-10-2006, 03:25 PM

thanks for the replies:

I think there was a little bit of a noise, even before the oil change, and frankly it's not that loud.

I used a fram filter this time around, I noticed somewhere that the saturn filters are actually fram.

Some motors, like the old Jeep 4.0L get a little bit of a lifter tick at some point, and it sticks for the life of the motor, and I was hoping it was the same for the DOHC used in the SL2s. Am I to take it that this isn't the case?

thanks again

sierrap615 · #5 10-13-2006, 02:13 AM

true the saturn OEM filter is a FRAM relabeled, but i am not a fan of FRAM. they lack filter element surface area and i have heard storys and poor manufactioring quality(one guy said he found a cigerette butt molded inside the filter :shugs: )

but i don't see how that would cause a tick imedittely after the oil change, i would think more the oil itself, did you change brands or viscoity? also have you double checked the oil level.

glennco1 · #6 10-13-2006, 02:22 PM

Actually, this was my first oil change on this car. My wife was taking it in, but I started to get so fed up by shops that I decided to start doing it myself.

She hadn't been checking her oil, and the level was actually down below the 1 qt low mark when I changed the oil. This has got me thinking that the ticking might be coming from the timing chain. Isn't this the typical area where people start hearing sound when they let the oil get too low? Then again, I've heard that a bad fuel injector can sound a little like a stuck lifter, or a bad timing chain.

thoughts?

thanks again

saturnspeed_12 · #7 10-16-2006, 11:09 AM

yes, fuel injectors can sound like lifter tick. its just the injectors ticking becuase they are opening. they can get very loud. doesnt mean they are bad.

but yes, i dislike fram to the fullest. there are many issues with them, and even a few guys have put them on their car and started getting lifter tick. replaced filter, and it goes away. not saying thats your case, but still.

the only filters i use are ac delco, motorcraft, wix/napa, puralator, and k&n. i have never had troubles with any of those.

but yeah, might want to check closer at the injectors. they can be pretty noisy. you will probably have to put your ear on the valve cover and listen, the get closer to the injectors and see how it sounds. then take a long screwdriver and lay it against the injector and listen to it tick. see if its similar to what you hear.

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