Tick when cold

[PetesPonies]

The ATF is only cleaning. It is not specifically doing anything to the tick, just cleaning your engine. But these sounds can come from lifters that have gotten gummed up. You need to be real careful here. Add the ATF then get it out soon to get fresh oil in. But let's evaluate your finding. If it is truly better, more cleaning might help. But is it slightly better because the viscosity of the new oil is making the clearance less in regards to worn parts as was explained earlier?? I would drive it some more, few more days. If it seems to gradually be getting worse, then you probably need to change parts ( as the oil breaks down some and thins out, especially after a long run ). If you feel the cleaning really did something, you could try it again, but typically I would expect the cleaning to work or not work.

 

[shadow88]

Thanks for the info, I'm thinking after winter I'm going to replace lifters and push rods, this is something I've never done, but I'm thinking with the help of this sight and a few friends I'll get it done, again thanks

 

[4.0B2]

...you mean it's not suppose to tick?

this is the reason my 92 explorer 2wd is about to get a motor rebuild. Just maintenance basically but it needs lifters.

I've done the ATF thing before... in my case, it wasn't the cleaning that helped. It was just the fresh oil. The next oil change I didn't clean with ATF and got the same result after the oil change. Of course, using a "diesel" oil (Rotella), the inside of our motors are always pretty clean anyway.