SR20 Ticking..lifter??

SON240sx Automotive
1

lately my SR has had what sounds like a lifter tick, only on cold start …sometimes…or after a few laps on track…then it goes away.

so today i took the valve cover off and tried to see if i can notice anything …well i cant see much but i did notice some ware on the cam shaft on one of the sections.

my question is how can i know for sure what the noise is…and what can i do about it.

im guessing change the hydrolic lifter on that port…?

its such a wierd thing and only happening sometimes but i feel like its becoming more frequent …but it could be just me.

i just do not like starting my car and hearing a mad clicking for a while…

someone help!!

2

if its intermittent then i would say try oil pump before anything, maybe oil pressure to the head is not consistent.

3

i have the same ticking in my sr, and i’m also being led to believe its the lifters. mine is constant though, the whole time the car is running.

4

i got the same issue… its mostly like the oil pump is going

5

u have air in ur lifters… thats all

6

Okay so a few questions where is the oil pump on SR internal or external?

if it is air …how did it get there and how do i bleed it out?

and if i knew for sure it was a lifter ide buy a new one and change it asap …i just wanna know for sure before i tear it out and change it…ya know? if there is even any way to tell …

7

if its air u gotta take out the lifter and bench bleed it in a cup of oil…

8

I highly doubt your oil pump is going but its in the oil pan which is internal.

If i were you change the oil to a thicker i dont knwo what your putting in now but put 10w30. If it still persists then try bleeding the lifter which i dont know how to do. if then its still happening change the lifter.

9

yea i’m not too sure how air could get in the lifters. most lifters have little slots for the oil to be pushed out when the oil is being compressed, so i don’t see how air could get trapped in there. i’m new with sr’s though, so they could be different.

could it also be something with the VVT? or is that only on s14 blacktops?

i don’t mean to hijack your thread. i just have the same issue so maybe we can all figure this out.

10

SR oil pumps are on the front cover, not in the pan.

11

MY SR is RED top so its not that VVT problem.

i have the FSM manual for SR20 and looking for the oil pump…never checked oil pan yet though. hard to find things becasue its all Japanese…

right now i use 5w30 synthetic oil i was told to use it by SG when i did the swap but maybe ill change now. to 10w30…

i did hit the oil pan a few weeks ago at the track and did dent it but from what i see its not near the oil pickup at all and was very minor…so not sure to mess the pickup up.

not to sure what to do now…

12

oil pick up is in the pan, the oil pump is in the front.

i doubt your pan is dented, but that can cause this issue.

Id say check oil pump using an oil pressure with a gauge buddy, its good to have considering the abuse you put that thing through.

13

if the engine is oil starved the lifters can get air in them resulting in ticking. my old single cam did this under hard cornering if the oil wasn’t full. If your pan is dented I’d start there. the oil pickup on an SR is really close to the bottom of the pan.

Ask SG about switching to 10w30 before taking the advice of a faceless name on the internet. I’m pretty sure the FSM reccomends 5w30 in our climate.

14

well my oil pan does have a small ding in it. i’ve noticed the ticking since i bought the car, so maybe it had the ding in it before hand?

so then i just get a new oil pan? or be a bit ghetto and knock the dent out? haha

15

Alright well im going to go buy a oil pressure gauge today … and install it this week as soon as i get it… hopefully being the problem…is there any other signs you can tell for a failing oil pump?

i guess it works sometimes because if i take the oil cap off you can see oil splashing around…as well as alot of vaccume…

16

you figure this out yet, having the exact same problem with my sr. I dropped in 10w40 for a month in the summer cus i thought thicker oil would be better for the hot summer heat, ended up changing it out becuase i developed this intermittent lifter tick sound. Its there when i fire the car up, dissapears as soon as i drop her into gear when oil pressure picks up… and it comes on a few times when im cruisin, never heard it when i floor it,

any advice??, im leanin towards pump/pickup but just want to see if you solved your problem.

payce

17

Well mine is an on and off problem. i have not fixed it yet, mines not a pickup or a oil pump becasue im sure it would have gotten alot worse by now if it was those things it is just the lifter, it seems when the oil is a certain tempature it will do it for a while then stop…very odd…my car is going away for winter so i plan to get this issue fixed over the winter time somehow…

i wish i knew the 100% answer.

18

yea im in the same boat man, ill let you know if i figure it out!

19

i have the same problem. I have an oil pressure gauge. it only does it when the car isnt warmed up and only in first gear from 1500-2500RPM my pressure is at 6 bar when its cold so its not oil pressure.

20

U probably just got air in your lifters from all the track abuse man. When you do ur headwork in the winter, bench bleed all your lifters. That will get the old oil out and the air out too.

In case you don’t know how to do it, you simply take the lifter and submerge it standing up in a small cup or something. Needs to be completely in the oil. Then take an allen key or something and press down on the little opening thing on top of the lifter , some air will come out, keep pressing down on it, till all the air comes out , it will become harder to do, as air comes out.

Lots of vids on youtube on how to do it.