Have the temperatures been different on the days that the tick was present than on the days that it wasn't?

 

its done it with the motor cold and also warm. and its hasnt been been below 70's to see how it acts with cold outside temps.

 

Ok. In my experience, a stuck lifter says stuck...

 

tips on a quick fix..or tear it apart? i just dont understand why it wouldnt do it all the time if it was a mechanical problem.

 

Have you tried any of the cleaners (seafoam, etc) in the oil to see if it'll have any affect?

 

not yet, guess ill do that first and report back when i get a chance to do it. thanks homie

 

It's worth a try. Might dissolve some varnish in the lifters and allow them to pump up properly. Who knows.

 

What does a lower temperature do to a lifter that would make it do this? That's what happened to my truck, it was like 30° the morning it started instead of 60. The cleaner helped immensely though

 

I was trying to see if it was colder on the days where the tick occurred. Colder temperatures tend to cause things to stick that otherwise wouldn't had the temperature been higher.

This can happen with injectors as well. My parents old Cadillac STS did this in Chicago one winter about 10 years ago. Injectors froze up. A shop charged them $300 to tow the car in & toss a 500w flood light under the hood pointed directly at the top of the engine for 15 minutes and then it would start right up. Dad watched it all and couldn't believe it. It was -20F or something crazy like that not including the windchill.

But yeah, tarnished/varnished/shellacked up things that typically move can become stuck in colder temperatures. Sometimes it takes extreme temperatures, sometimes it doesn't.

 

Its been rather hot in ohio, high 80's and 90's, and it still did it. So i dont think as of right now think its weather related. I drove it 4 times today and it didnt do it once...its trying to drive me crazy.