Very Loud Engine Ticking, Video inside

[JuanoTejano]

If it is just lifter tick you really should try the 2twisty flush that I've recommended twice already before you spend the money replacing lifters, it completely took care of my lifter tick and it doesn't cost very much to try.

[CosmosMpower]

Did you do the Kerosene step? I'm just going to do oil/atf/fresh oil

[JuanoTejano]

No, I just let the ATF/Oil drain for a while.

[POS Racing]

Found the following quote from our lad CosmosMpower, kind of makes ya wonder if sythetic may not be a bad thing since he is now the one with a post named Very Loud Engine Ticking, Video inside.

Bah, no reason to put synthetic in a Miata, mine runs great on Castrol GTX. I recently tried GTX high mileage and it works even better, no more ticking even after about 1,500 miles like all the other oils I've tried.

The car seems to be doing fine the last 175,000 miles on the cheap stuff so I will Besides with the savings you could probably get a cheap junkyard Miata engine anyways (5 quarts @ 10 bucks vs 5 quarts @ $40 times 53 oil changes=$1,750 ) it's no vintage aircraft engine just my pos beater

[CosmosMpower]

Found the following quote from our lad CosmosMpower, kind of makes ya wonder if sythetic may not be a bad thing since he is now the one with a post named Very Loud Engine Ticking, Video inside.

LOL! I'm still not convinced that it wouldn't have happened running full synthetic the whole time. I may send some of the oil I drain out to Blackstone for an oil analysis to see what they find.

If you search the pointy board on the topic plenty of people have very bad HLA tick/knock even using Redline or Mobil 1 synethic as well as traditional dino oil or even blends. It seems the oil change interval and viscosity of the oil has a much bigger effect on this.

Hopefully tonight we'll see if the 2TWISTY flush works for me. Going to pick up 3 quarts of ATF and some 50 weight oil plus some clean normal 10W30 and cross my fingers.

[black roadster]

I have 175k miles too. I've used Castol High Mileage GTX for years with no issues. Changed every 3k. When I used Mobile 1 the car used oil between changes.

[Adam Payrot]

Mobil 1 is crap, not even a true synthetic

[CosmosMpower]

Mobil 1 is crap, not even a true synthetic

Not anymore anyways. We still use it on the S2000 since that's all it's ever used.

Got me some cheap ATF, 20W50, GTX high mileage 10W30, cheap filter and M1 filter at lunch. Hoping to bring the Miata back to quiet after work tonight, wish me luck.

[Adam Payrot]

You're lucky then (I was wrong about the not true synthetic part, looks like it's no longer Group III stuff), I put M1 5w30 and 10w30 in my RSX, and tried both in the S2k; both of the cars burned it off too quickly. Switched to Castrol in the RSX and it stopped burning it off, going to the German blend of Castrol once I get the S2k back up.

[JuanoTejano]

Let the car idle with the ATF for as long as you can or two hours then let it drain for 30 minutes, then when you start it back up with the new oil and filter it should only chatter or tick until the new oil gets to the lifters.

[cam76034]

Let the car idle with the ATF for as long as you can or two hours then let it drain for 30 minutes, then when you start it back up with the new oil and filter it should only chatter or tick until the new oil gets to the lifters.

I seem to recall from posts on miata.net that it was okay to drive it gently.

[CosmosMpower]

Well the GUNK engine flush did nothing. I drained out the dirty oil, changed a filter and poured in 3 qts ATF and 1 qt 5W20. Going to let it idle for a few hours as directed, hopefully that does the trick.

It hasn't stopped ticking yet in 30 mins but I'm not sure if it's supposed to gradually go away or not until you fill with real oil and change the filter afterwards.

[CosmosMpower]

Tick is GONE! Did the 2TWISTY flush and still was ticking. Changed the oil and the ticking was a little quieter. Took her out and warmed up the oil for a few minutes then gave it a few high RPM revs and magic, gone. Guess it was just a stuck lifter after all.

[sammm]

Nice.

[JuanoTejano]

Told ya.

[channelmaniac]

WOOHOO!

Great news

Those stuck lifters sure do make a hell of a racket, don't they?

Hearing it in person was the clencher.

RJ

[cone-cerned]

Good to hear. Now, how much do you want for that broken LE?

[CosmosMpower]

WOOHOO!

Great news

Those stuck lifters sure do make a hell of a racket, don't they?

Hearing it in person was the clencher.

RJ

Big thanks to channelmaniac

I knew a trained ear would come in handy, it sounded like it was from the top of the engine but the confirmation was nice. I was pretty nervous when it was still ticking during the GUNK and 2TWISTY process and even after I initially poured in the clean oil.

Also there was a WIX filter on the car, I don't recall ever buying a POS no-name filter but maybe I got lazy and just picked it up somewhere when I bought the oil. It's now using a Mobil 1 M-110 (the larger one) and GTX high mileage 10W30.

Going to do a detail and take some pictures/post it for sale when I get back from my vacation. Good to know I can leave with at least 1 car in good health (stupid Lotus is at the dealer with gimpy a/c).

[CosmosMpower]

Told ya.

Yep good call, driving it pretty hard finally did the trick after all that. Did yours just go away during the flush when you put in the fresh oil or did you have to rev it a little to get the clean motor flowing to stop the tick when you did the 2TWISTY??

[channelmaniac]

Draining the oil doesn't drain the stuff in the lifters... it takes time & some pressure to get all that ATF/oil mixture out and the good clean oil in there.

They have TINY passages that get clogged with crap, that's why you use the ATF - cleans those things out very well.

RJ