ADBV Working Intermittingly??

[Jelly]

Chevy 1500 Pickup
4.3L V-6
SuperTech ST3980 (PF52 Equivalent)
Pennzoil Long-Life 15w40

Ok, so here's the thing.

Haven't had the truck that long, and it did the same thing with the Purolator filter (PF52 equivalent as well) I had on before.

Say it's 60 degrees out. One day you'll go out and start up the truck. No noise at all...as quite as you could expect. Next day, you go to start it up, and you get the awful "tick-tick-tick" which I presume is "lifter tick".

Now, for the past few days, it's been below freezing both times I have started the truck, around 20F.

Same thing happens here. One day, you'll go out and start her up, and although the engine has a much harder time turning over due to cold temps/thicker oil, you'll get absolutely no noise!! (Which is VERY, VERY sweet considering I'm running a 15w40!)

Next time, it will make a heck of a racket, doing the "tick-tick-tick" thing for a good minute, gradually decreasing in volume.

Can anyone figure out what is causing this behavior?

 

[TR3-2001SE]

If it takes a minute for the noise to go away I don't believe it is the oil filter draining and refilling. My guess would be something is not getting lubrication to it some of the time at start up. My solution would be a quart of marvel mystery oil. I have had tappet noise like this before solved by this product. Usually they don't go away that quickly and are not so off and on like yours so it is hard to figure.

 

[jorton]

You could have been describing my f150 4.2 v6! And friday when I started the truck, for the first time it sounded like a stuck/colapsed lifter. The sound lasted for 5 or 6 seconds and then stopped. It's a pushrod motor but i don't know if it has hydrolic lifters.
When the fan engages it drounds out the start-up noises and then when it disengages, the motor has smoothed out.
Yesterday I took off the fl400s and put on an STP.
Joe

 

[Ken2]

Jelly,

To diagnose filter problems, I'd start with a new filter from the dealer. If that works OK, then you could try aftermarket brands to see which one compares favorably. There are often some compromises made between the OEM filter and aftermarket brands that don't usually make a difference...but sometimes do.


Ken

 

[Drew99GT]

Does your truck have the remote filter mount like othert 4.3s? If so, I doubt it was the filter. The location of the remote filter makes it hard for oil to get back to the pan through the filter. I took a Fram off my Dads 4.3L Blazer that sat for several days, and it was still full of oil.

 

[ZR2RANDO]

I have 2 s-10's with the 4.3 and the remote oil filter location that is positioned low as stated in the above post, the filter remains full of oil after shutdown. I don't know if the filter mount for the 4.3 on the 1500 is a remote mount. One of my vehicles does have a lifter that sometimes drains out overnight. When it ticks, it only does it for a couple seconds. The sound described in the problem statement above sounds more like a constricted passage that takes longer to start flowing at required volume. Maybe a couple short oil change intervals could clean up a little is one possibility, not a bad idea every now and then anyway...
good luck with it
Rando,

 

[RF Overlord]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jelly:
...the engine has a much harder time turning over due to cold temps/thicker oil, you'll get absolutely no noise!! (Which is VERY, VERY sweet considering I'm running a 15w40!)

Next time, it will make a heck of a racket, doing the "tick-tick-tick" thing for a good minute, gradually decreasing in volume.

---

I almost hesitate to bring this up, as I know how enamoured of thick oils some members are, but is it possible that given the temps you quote (20°F), that 15w40 is just TOO thick for your motor? Perhaps in the winter 5W- or 10w30 would be a better choice.

We use 15w40 Delvac 1300 in our 250kW Cummins emergency generator, and it pours like molasses at these temps...I can certainly see why an engine that was designed for thinner oil would have a hard time pumping something that thick up to the lifters, which would cause just the noise you're having...

Please don't flame me, I'm new here and I learn by asking questions...