OT hydraulic lifter 350 chevy engine

Waited a little too long for oil change. Do it myself and have been having vertigo. When I get under a vehicle or lie down everything goes into a spin. So....now oil is changed and lifter is clicking. Did it a little for last 10 years, but this is louder. Is tearing into intake and such or just covers. Any easy fix recommended. One time in the 70's I had a chrysler with this problem and seems like I used a coat hanger and hooked it out and popped in another one. All help appreciated. I am getting too old for this. Dave p.s. 18400 miles not burning oil.

In the past-when I had vehicles that used some oil-if the lifters got noisy, I would add 1 quart of ATF, and run it for 100 miles or so. After that, I would change the oil-it would usually quiet them down. Would be a little harder on a vehicle that does not use oil! Greg

There is a product called rislone. Put a qt of that with a oil change, the problem should go away. On some vehicles you can pull the lifter out through the pushrod hole in the head. Stan

what year 350? pre 87 [ the old real sb chevy] are adjustable if you dont have a flat lobe on the camshaft, the 305's were the main culprit for this but some 350's could have it happen also, if its a newer computer controled sb, i dont know, i dont own one, never will,

Had a 63 Pontiac 389 that had to haave a quart of Rislone with every oil change. Good stuff.

Isn't vertigo fun? NOT! Hope your camshaft has not gone flat on you. Small block Chevys have sometimes had problems with soft cams. When the lobe wears down, it ruins the lifter, making the contact end concave and also leaving way too much clearance in the lifter-pushrod-rocker arm-valve assembly. It also puts lots of metal shavings through the engine.

If you haven't tossed the old filter yet, you might want to cut the cover off to see if there are many metal flecks in it. If so, uh-oh! If you can identify the cylinder or cylinders that are ticking, you might want to remove the valve cover on that bank to see if one or more of the rocker arms is looser than it should be. Rocker arms can go bad too, and if you get really lucky, a new rocker arm and ball might fix the problem. Many years ago I saw where a pressed in rocker arm stud had pulled out a bit, and after the owner readjusted the rocker arm nut, it pulled out the rest of the way the next time he drove the car. That made a lot of noise! But it wasn't that hard to fix--we tapped the hole and put in a proper screw-in stud. It didn't even ruin the pushrod or rocker arm.

Rislone has dissolved gum in some engines and helped sticking lifters. Trying that is the easiest thing to do first. If the noise clears, you probably want to change your oil lots oftener.

Hopefully your camshaft has not gone flat, because the only way to fix that is to replace the camshaft and lifters, which is a pretty big job. And then too, you also have the problem of lots of metal filings inside your engine, which could cause many other problems. If the engine has many miles on it, I think I would consider rebuilding rather than just putting in the new cam and lifters. But that's just me.

And I hope your vertigo goes away. I have had Meniere's Disease for years and I know how really messed up I feel when I have vertigo episodes. They are awful! Good luck and take care.

You didn't say what year of outfit you're working on.

Are ya sure you're not hearing piston slap? Otherwise, just adjust the valves.

Allan

Just went through 2 cams in my 71 chevy truck. Be sure to use oil that has that zinc additive in it to protect the cam!!!!I have been using valvoline racing oil since most oils sold now don't contain the zinc. The racing oil does have the zinc but is more expensive. BTW, my engine problems started out with a small lifter tick and went way worse in short order.

Here"s what you do:
If you want to clean out the motor, drain all the oil out, re-fill it with kerosene and run the motor for about 10 minutes. Don"t let it get too hot. The kerosene has enough lubrication to allow this. Drain the kerosene out and refill with a heavier oil like straight 30 or I like 15W-40 Rotella-T for summer use.
Motors get excessive clearances as they wear and the heavier oil quiets them down,... not a big deal!

350 valves remained adjustable through the 5.7 Vortecs in '99 or so.

The GEN IV smallblocks (LS1) series AREN'T adjustable, though.

Thanks for refreshing my noodle. Forgot lot of this. Try the easy stuff first. Car is 91 fleetwood. Dave