Silverado 5.3L tick on startup.

[stchman]

I have a 2013 Silverado and it has ticked upon startup in cold weather since I have pretty much owned it.

I have tried, PP, Mobil 1, and even God's choice AMSOIL Signature Series. All the oils had that 10-15 second tick upon startup.

I recently changed my oil using Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 and the tick has been gone ever since. A few weeks ago is was ~6F and the engine stared up with no tick.

 

[delirious]

Glad to see you found an oil your truck likes.

I have used Pennzoil High Mileage for the 4 years I've had my jeep and no matter what temperature always had cold start lifter tick. I figured it was my lifters were really bad.

Then I decided to try some different oils just to see if it improved. Switched to Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w30 and the cold start lifter ticking went completely away after the first 1500 or so miles. I thought maybe it just cleaned up gunk or something so after it I switched back to Pennzoil High Mileage and sure enough the cold start lifter tick came back. Switched to this current full of Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30 and it is completely gone again.

It's certainly amusing.

 

[Doublehaul]

Wow...nice job fixing it with oil. The tick is generally considered a design flaw with the 5.3 requiring lifer removal to repair. If you look on youtube there are step by step videos to fix the issue. If i remember its due to sludge or varnish collecting...cant remember...havnt done one in a long time.

 

[FastLane]

Its most likely carbon. Fog a can of throttle body cleaner through it and take it for a hard drive on the highway.