Lifters help

My lifters start ticking after the trucks warms up. My question is can I drive my truck like that? I drive 30 miles to work and was wondering if driving that far would mess up the enigma


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Engine*


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I don't know, I think I like the name enigma for your truck.

It shouldn't hurt but normally the ticking stops when the engine warms up.

But mine doesn't start ticking right away. It only starts ticking once the engine is warm


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If you have the standard lifters for the truck, they are hydraulic and maybe they have started to stick. You could put a half a quart of ATF in the crankcase and drive it for awhile and see if that loosens them up from their gumminess. Some people go to mechanical lifters to get rid of the hydraulic ones but that requires adjustment to keep the valve lash within a narrow range. Maybe that conversion has already been done to your truck and if that is the case, maybe it is time to adjust them. There is a way to clean the hydraulic lifters but it requires some disassembly and soaking them in solvent. How many miles are on the engine?

235k miles


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I'd say new lifters are in your future

Yikes. At 235,000 miles it could be likely that your oil pressure isn't up to the job of keeping the lifters pumped up enough to keep them quiet.

Your main bearings may have excessive clearance, such that when the engine warms up, the pressure drops to the rest of the motor.

Valve clatter would be a likely symptom.

If you can get an oil pressure gauge on the motor it might help diagnose a potential loss of pressure issue.

Don't let people scare you - after all the BS that happens to these motors and people saying these motors crack heads and overheat and this and that - they are actually really good motors. Yeah some of that stuff happens but they are old and who knows what hell people put them through.

At that kind of mileage it is very likely that you just need lifters, very very easy to change and not too expensive ($30-ish for a set of

Not a terrible idea to check the oil pressure always better safe than sorry - but if it were that low due to wear the motor might have a knock by now or you'd see the oil light come on at stoplights or if the idle dips lower.

Make sure your oil light works, the sender turns it on when oil press is below 5 PSI.

I just put new lifters in my 4x4 and it runs like a dream!