Valvetrain ticking stopped with oil switch.

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I was running Valvoline Synpower in my Chrysler 2.5 v-6 and it had about 5,000 miles on the oil. I just switched to PP 5-30 and the ticking has stopped. Do you think the PP did it or just putting new oil in it stopped it? Is PP know fo making the engine quieter?
 
Had a similar experience with the same oil in my Chrysler 2.7L v-6. About 2k into the run, I developed an occasional lifter tick. The still happens once in a while, especially if the engine is started while it's still warm. It never happened until I ran that Synpower 5W-20. The engine had about 45K miles on it at the time.
 
Had similar experience when switched from M1 0W40 to PP 5W20 in '00 MB E430. As a bonus, the MPG improved from 18.5 to 19.5 for mostly city driving, according to built-in trip computer.
 
Also happened on my girlfriends, moms car, 05 corolla(with synpower). Last oil change, friend of the family used conventional and it is quieter.
 
Originally Posted By: strombony
According to Pennzoil, 7 out 10 drivers percieve their vehicle to run smoother after an oil change.


Haven't used pennzoil in a while, but I use the PP 5w20 on my brother's 07' F150 w/5.4 and it runs very "smooth". I'll probably use the PP on my girlfriends corolla and her mom's corolla from now on.
 
Maybe it was the oil filter.
A sudden change is not because of any oil cleaning - there is not enough time yet.
So, probably a better valved anti drainback valve in the oil filter, or maybe the same but functioning properly.
 
Just FYI:

1. Same orange canned Fram filter used.
2. Same weight for both oils 5-30w

The wife clued me at at first as she thought something was wrong with her car as the ticking was that loud!. It was really loud to me also. After the oil change I did she commented that it went away. I checked and sure enough it did. I just wonder if some additive was used up in the Synpower or something that caused it to be loud.
 
Originally Posted By: ZZman
Just FYI:

1. Same orange canned Fram filter used.



JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats is most likely the problem right there.
 
Originally Posted By: strombony
According to Pennzoil, 7 out 10 drivers perceive their vehicle to run smoother after an oil change.


My vehicle runs smoother after I wash it ...
LOL.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: strombony
According to Pennzoil, 7 out 10 drivers perceive their vehicle to run smoother after an oil change.


My vehicle runs smoother after I wash it ...
LOL.gif



Mine isn't smoother ..it's more powerful and throttle response goes up. Sometimes ..unleashing those hidden horses under the hood isn't a smooth transition. You can't just pen them up, then release them, and expect them to behave.
21.gif


All fun aside, my jury is still out on how one oil can alter acoustic or mechanical harmonics other than with viscosity. I've never observed a smoother anything ...or a quieter anything without viscosity playing an accompanying role in the performance. Now I've surely felt "tight" or "sluggish" with going way out of bounds (with something like a 20w-50 in a 5w-30 spec'd engine) and I've surely felt "easier" or "freer" with lighter than spec'd oils ..but mostly I experience "no apparent difference".

I'd surely like a plausible explanation for such observations.

That is, unless you're using Castrol Quietrain® with Acousticsolve® Simply amazing.
 
There are so many rotating and recipricating parts under the hood, kinda hard to say it was the crankcase oil you heard.
 
I'm thinking the spring tension in hydraulic lifters are calibrated for a certain oil viscosity range; going too thin could cause the lifters to bleed off the thin oil and thus causing a tick caused from excessive clearance.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I'm thinking the spring tension in hydraulic lifters are calibrated for a certain oil viscosity range; going too thin could cause the lifters to bleed off the thin oil and thus causing a tick caused from excessive clearance.


This I could go with, but frequently we hear report of mismatches in what produces noise and what quiets it. That is, the VI of the fluid and the visc of the quieting fluid should work in the opposite manner compared to the previous fluid.

It's a curious occurrence. Not that I doubt any of the reports, per se~. It's just hard to reason.
21.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I'm thinking the spring tension in hydraulic lifters are calibrated for a certain oil viscosity range; going too thin could cause the lifters to bleed off the thin oil and thus causing a tick caused from excessive clearance.


I would agree with this. Wonder if the oil sheared down to a lower viscosity?
Also Fram oil filters have actually been rumored to making ticking noises sometimes ,I know it sounds odd, but maybe something comes loose in them not sure. I have heard other people mention this after they isolated the noise coming from their oil filter. Switch it out and it would be gone.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I'm thinking the spring tension in hydraulic lifters are calibrated for a certain oil viscosity range; going too thin could cause the lifters to bleed off the thin oil and thus causing a tick caused from excessive clearance.


There is much more viscosity variation from cold to hot than there is between brands of the same grade. If viscosity were the cause then the problem would go away (or return) with temperature change.
 
Seriously guys, it was a valvetrain ticking noise. It did stop after changing the oil.

Even though PP claims to clean engines 46% better than conventional oil in their ads I don't see a cleaning connection here in such a short time.

The oils were the same weight to start so do you really think the oil might have sheared down and my valvetrain is sensitive
to that?

Or as I mentioned earlier, could some additive been depleted that might have been keeping the valvetrain quiet?

** MY car is the 2.5 V-6. I checked my Haynes manual and it says it has a combo rocker arm/valve lash assembly. The book does mention that they can become clogged and to replace them if you hear tapping noises.
 
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I have had 2 mopar 3.8L V6 engines that developed clogged lifter ticks. Both were cleaned by a 2000 mile run of rislone. So I would believe the PP would clean those over time but not immediately. I have switched 4 vehicles to PP now and all were noisier for 2 OCI's then became very quiet. PP actually cleaned a Honda engine very nicely in 20,000 miles.
 
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