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The 2.9 Tick!


proz07

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Ok so its common i get it. Heres what im having, the motor is super quiet under 2300 rpm and runs like a champ. after about a minute over 2300 rpm the motor gets the highway tick of the lifters and then about a minute under it goes right back to nice and quiet. I have checked the oil pressure at idle warm, 2krpm and 5k rpm and by the FAQ it is low but not insane.





I hooked up at the pressure switch with a $20 setup i made from lowes.



Now heres the deal i just changed the oil as i had no idea how old this stuff was probably 6-7 years im sure the truck was sitting. well i added 1 qt rotella 15w40 and the rest 10w30. still knocking and reproduced in those conditions. Now iv read of the different oil and its leaking from the cam bearings but I have verified when I removed the driver rocker cover i get good oil flow at idle out of the rockers. so i assume its good there and assume my issue is low oil pressure however why only above 23-2500rpm for over a minute and then clears up again when under.

Now iv read of people shimming the pressure relief valve in the pump or changeing the pump but i get good flow i just need more pressure Im tempted to shim the relief but if its not hitting the max press is that going to increase my 2500+RPM oil pressure? seems that where the issue is as low rpm its perfectly fine. Since im going to be changing this motor out end of 2017 i dont really want to spend a few hundred on pumps and cam bearings. I have no problem with a few gaskets and some time to experiment though right now.

any thoughts? iv also read about the lucas oil treatment.... right now since the truck was sitting i added all fresh fluids, MMoil to the gas and a 1/4qt of ATF to the oil to try and break up and possible clogged lifters or passages which so far seems i dont have any.

Z
 


Rustbucket350

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I would check the pushrods and rockers for wear. It's not really the lifters that tick, it's the increased gap between the pushrods and rockers due to wear that causes them to slap together.
 

proz07

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I would check the pushrods and rockers for wear. It's not really the lifters that tick, it's the increased gap between the pushrods and rockers due to wear that causes them to slap together.
Yeah i understand that, it seems people say due to the loss of oil pressure that collapses the lifters. So perhaps the low oil pressure is causing it in the upper RPM i just think it'd do it more often like in the lower rpms.

maybe once i check the passenger side rockers ill find more of a gap in a lifter or two. if not ill pull the pan and see about shimming the oil pump to bump up the pressure or just changing it all together but id hate to change it and not fix it as its wasted money cause ill just pull the motor at that point and start the 5.3 swap.

Z
 

Rustbucket350

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Your oil pressure seems ok, at least to me anyway, and as long as you have enough oil in it, I wouldn't bother with the pump. These motors have a strange oiling system to the pushrods and if they aren't well lubricated, they will wear out. Honestly, I think they'll wear out even if they are well lubricated just by the design. Luckily, you can get pushrods for cheap and I believe they sell inserts to repair the rocker cup. Unfortunately, the 2.9 uses a flat tappet cam unlike the roller cam in the 4.0 so you can't really just replace a lifter and call it good if a lifter is bad. It may wear in fine but make sure you use plenty of assembly lube and do a break in to create a wear pattern before driving it.
 

proz07

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Your oil pressure seems ok, at least to me anyway, and as long as you have enough oil in it, I wouldn't bother with the pump. These motors have a strange oiling system to the pushrods and if they aren't well lubricated, they will wear out. Honestly, I think they'll wear out even if they are well lubricated just by the design. Luckily, you can get pushrods for cheap and I believe they sell inserts to repair the rocker cup. Unfortunately, the 2.9 uses a flat tappet cam unlike the roller cam in the 4.0 so you can't really just replace a lifter and call it good if a lifter is bad. It may wear in fine but make sure you use plenty of assembly lube and do a break in to create a wear pattern before driving it.
well ill take a look at the pass side before i go to the pan for sure but if i do go to the pan ill pull the pump to at least inspect it. then reseal and if it doesnt wjork ill just run it till it mines gold or I get to the swap. whichever comes first.

Z
 

wildbill23c

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FYI the 2.9L V6 uses 5W-30 oil. I have noticed a huge difference with my 88 B2 after putting the right oil in it. It still has the rattle to it at startup but after about a minute it quiets down a lot so you barely even notice the rattling.
 

proz07

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FYI the 2.9L V6 uses 5W-30 oil. I have noticed a huge difference with my 88 B2 after putting the right oil in it. It still has the rattle to it at startup but after about a minute it quiets down a lot so you barely even notice the rattling.
Ou haven't read my post. My issue is 1min after sustained 2k+ rpm it's perfectly fine at startup. I may try the oil swaps though just to see as I have it laying around and I'll just reuse the oil in a lawnmower if it doesn't improve.
 

wildbill23c

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Ou haven't read my post. My issue is 1min after sustained 2k+ rpm it's perfectly fine at startup. I may try the oil swaps though just to see as I have it laying around and I'll just reuse the oil in a lawnmower if it doesn't improve.
Let us know. Had oil changed in my B2 a couple weeks ago when I had tires put on and after the oil change and proper oil put in there is a huge difference in the clattering noise, yep its there for about a minute at most then its gone.

Have you pulled your valve covers and taken a look in there? Could be covered in sludge which would make all sorts of racket as oil wouldn't be allowed to circulate properly. Its not oil pressure related, rather the lack of oil reaching those components properly.
 

proz07

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Let us know. Had oil changed in my B2 a couple weeks ago when I had tires put on and after the oil change and proper oil put in there is a huge difference in the clattering noise, yep its there for about a minute at most then its gone.

Have you pulled your valve covers and taken a look in there? Could be covered in sludge which would make all sorts of racket as oil wouldn't be allowed to circulate properly. Its not oil pressure related, rather the lack of oil reaching those components properly.
Already pulled drivers, it wasn't bad just looked high mileage. I'll be pulling the passengers to verify and reseal the covers as they leak everywhere.

Z
 

Rustbucket350

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I've replaced lots of different valve cover gaskets and the 2.9 is one of the single worst I've ever seen. You can do it though and as a side note, my 2.9 leaked oil from about every seal to the point where I drained one single quart from the pan and only then did it start to tick. Plus I checked the oil weekly so it literally sprayed oil. I have no idea what the difference is between the 4.0 and 2.9 valve covers and gaskets is (they look almost identical) but I replaced every oil seal on the 4.0 on a stand and it doesn't leak a drop. Go figure. If you're planning a swap I'd put some thick oil in it as the pressure looks good, which means the pump is working, and if it ticks, turn the radio up. The valve lash on these is self adjusting so it's not going to do anything but make noise and wear out already worn parts.
 

wildbill23c

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I've replaced lots of different valve cover gaskets and the 2.9 is one of the single worst I've ever seen. You can do it though and as a side note, my 2.9 leaked oil from about every seal to the point where I drained one single quart from the pan and only then did it start to tick. Plus I checked the oil weekly so it literally sprayed oil. I have no idea what the difference is between the 4.0 and 2.9 valve covers and gaskets is (they look almost identical) but I replaced every oil seal on the 4.0 on a stand and it doesn't leak a drop. Go figure. If you're planning a swap I'd put some thick oil in it as the pressure looks good, which means the pump is working, and if it ticks, turn the radio up. The valve lash on these is self adjusting so it's not going to do anything but make noise and wear out already worn parts.
Ehh don't put thicker oil in, that'll cause the ticking to get extremely bad. Put 5w-30 in it like its supposed to have and run it till it dies. Course it will run for many years like that, just get a good stereo system installed so you can't hear the rattling, it'll all be fine LOL.
 

Rustbucket350

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Actually you're right. I used 10w-30 in mine.
 

wildbill23c

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Actually you're right. I used 10w-30 in mine.
Everything I've always had was 10w-30. When I had the oil changed in my B2 a few weeks ago the shop said its actually supposed to be 5w-30. Surprised me, but it has quieted down the valve train a lot in mine.

Been driving my truck lately can't get the B2 out of the driveway with the 18" of snow we have. No 4WD really sucks right now.
 

proz07

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OK, so currently still not fixed... what ive done so far is sealed the rocker covers so they no longer leak like there nothing there. I drained a qt of oil and added a qt of ATF. Then did a 60mi trip to the store to try to clean out the motor a little. seemed to quiet down once thined down from the ATF but honestly no its still there. During that I developed an intermittent high hang idle that wouldnt come down. checked for leaks, none checked IAC nothing, Pulled TB to clean and check nothing but i heard what sounded like air in the intake and found i have a sticking injector that i may try to clean out tomorrow. But i then changed the oil to 5w20 and although seems better its still there, Ill be honest it seems to go away faster but thats probably due to the lower viscosity oil. Ill try to clean my injectors tomorrow and then get a oil pan gasket to pull the pump and try the shim.

Z
 

proz07

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ok so pulled and semi cleaned my injectors and seems to have fixed the high idle after driving for now, ill still probably seafoam or run inj cleaner through it when the tank gets low.

But I dont want to do too many variables at once to verify what the issue is. I have changed the oil to 5w20 and been running that way for 3 days for the most part fine but i havent tried to go on the highway yet. Most RPM below 2200 and 55mph, the rpm obviously running through the gears gets up there but no tick with that.

Here are the oil pressures with 5w20 hot.

Idle 9psi



2krpm 30psi



and 5krpm 38psi



Now i made a video but its taking a minute to upload so ill post it later but it shows the oil press levels off at about 3krpm which leads me to believe thats the oil pressure bypass and shimming it will increase the oil pressure overall however im not sure it will increase it where i need it in that 2200-3200 rpm range for highway. More to come on that as im just driving it side roads right now to try to get more miles on the motor as it was sitting for years and im sure after the ATF its still shedding gunk into the oil and ill be changing the filter and shimming the pump hopefully next weekend.
 

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