TRAVIS75 Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Love my soob, hate that freakin tick. I've come to the conclusion that the tick isn't a lifter, my subaru just deep down inside wants to be a diesel :-\. All kidding aside, every since I put this used engine in my 89 dl non turbo, its ticked, good compression 170-175 across the board, but it ticks, not all the time, sometimes louder one day than the next. I've replaced the "mickey mouse" gasket/ring whatever. And no difference, i've tried different additives for oil, and for flushing, nada. Haven't tried seafoam yet, but thats next. Someone suggested a collapsed lifter. I'm no mechanic, nor genius. But if it were a collapsed lifter, wouldn't the tick be constant, and never go away? Also heard that the timing could be off, really don't understand how that would affect it...but ? It could certainly explain the pinging i get going up a hill, or on flat ground if i'm not running in a lower gear than I should need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zukiru Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 it's a sticky lifter. seafoam if you havent and you can try some ATF in the oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxy Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Sort out that timing soon as unless you like to repair engine internals pinging is after all damageing and I have seen rings broken from just that issue being ignored by a customer once.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Sort out that timing soon as unless you like to repair engine internals pinging is after all damageing and I have seen rings broken from just that issue being ignored by a customer once.. So what is pinging when the Timing is off? Thats the onlything I've never known.. Mine is fine, but I'd like more knowledge. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRAVIS75 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 Going to seafoam it this weekend I suppose, I did try the ATF thing, didn't make a difference. So is it the consensus then that if it was a collapsed lifter, then it would tick all the time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontiac6KSTEAWD Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Excuse my ignorance, but I have only heard this "tick of death" in videos on the forum. Could someone explain to me in a bit more detail as to what it is, what is causeing it, etc. To me it sounds like valve lash. I have heard ticking valves befor on SBC engines, 307's mainly. And it was a valve bridge that was causing the noise. I would imagine that Subaru doesnt use such flim flam technology, but I thought I would ask.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRAVIS75 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 I've heard of it referred to as the "tick of death" as well. I can't explain in great detail the internal workings of an EA82 or any other engine for that matter, LOL thats why I love this forum, because of the gurus that can. The noise is unmistakeable though, sounds just like any other engine does when its low on oil and the lifters start ticking, only its not necesarrily because its low on oil, like in my case. As far as the "tick of death", its been ticking for 2 years, and it takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Eventually I'm sure it will be the demise of this engine:-\. As I said before, i'll seafoam it and change the oil. Not going to hold my breath that it works, tried MMO ATF Lucas, etc...etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Its probably been ticking long enough that the lash adjusters are due to be replaced...its a fairly easy job and, I believe the parts are rather cheap.Its caused usually at first by the sucked in mickey mouse gasket..but then dirt will get in there and can permanently clog them. Once that happens then they should be replaced if the other methods of cleaning them doesnt work....or you can just turn the radio up louder. I always just ran mine tickin if the seafoam didnt work. I am sure someone else can step up to the replacement of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 (edited) The "tick of death" or TOD is, fortunately, anything but. It does not herald the end being nigh. In fact, no permanent damage will EVER result. You'll just have that crappy noise for eternity. The engine will still happily do 300k before it loses a major internal component. TOD is a symptom, not a problem. It is the result of air being inside the pressure chamber of the hydraulic lash adjuster (as opposed to oil, which is what it should contain). TOD has three primary causes: 1. Low oil pressure to the lifters. This is caused variously by either worn out oil pumps, leaking seals, or bad HLA banjo-bolt releif valve springs. 2. Aerated oil. This is the result of certain seals (the mickey mouse seal primarily) sucking air into the oil passages and sending it downstream to the HLA's. 3. Dirty lifters. Crud builds up inside the lifters and does not allow them to purge air bubbles or take in clean oil. The solutions are as follows and should be performed in the order given as it proceeds from least expensive to most expensive. 1. Check the oil pressure with a known good mechanical gauge. You shouldn't see less than ~ 15 psi from a hot idle directly off the pump. If you do then the pump needs to be replaced. 2. Reseal the pump to be sure it's not sucking air into the system. 3. Add some ATF, MMO, Rislone, etc to the oil - this is to clean the lifters - sometimes it works but often it's very temporary in nature as the true problem lies elsewhere. 4. Replace the cam case o-rings and check the banjo-bolt pressure releif valve spring in the cam carrier. 5. Replace all the lifters. If you do it in that order it will be cured. I can tell you that it is very likely that you will have to do #5. After they have been allowed to tick for a considerable amount of time the lifters are so worn they will not hold pressure anymore. GD Edited August 14, 2009 by GeneralDisorder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 how much oil does the thing leak? and you only replaced the one (mickey) gasket or did you do all 3 seals on the oil pump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmonkey51 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Recently I was having bad tick and had good luck with the Marvel mystery oil. I left it in quite a while. Then it came back for a while and I figured out it was the gas from the off brand gas station. It didn't matter that it was premium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykeys Toy Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 This actually looks like a thread that should be saved in USRM. I dont have an EA82 but the symptoms and solutions GD put up might save someone else a lot of time and money trying to track down the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Txakura Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I have had good luck with simply using Castrol high mileage 10-40... within minutes on the road the lifter usually shut up, if not, then within the first day or two after the oil change. It would come back, but that kept it away 95% of the time. the additives or modifiers in the Castrol seem to have slowed then stopped some leaky seals on my former engine too just try that at your next oil change and see if it helps without all the voodoo and witchcraft additives... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRAVIS75 Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Sorry about it taking so long to get back, I don't have the internet at home. It leaks quite a bit of oil in my opinion. About a quart every week or 2. Got so much crap under it, its hard to tell where from. I don't think it burns it, there are no abnormal colors to the exhaust. I didn't replace any o/rings or gaskets on the oil pump, I took it off of the engine that I blew the head gasket on, which never had a ticking problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Sorry about it taking so long to get back, I don't have the internet at home. It leaks quite a bit of oil in my opinion. About a quart every week or 2. Got so much crap under it, its hard to tell where from. I don't think it burns it, there are no abnormal colors to the exhaust. I didn't replace any o/rings or gaskets on the oil pump, I took it off of the engine that I blew the head gasket on, which never had a ticking problem. Hmm, well once you take off the oil pump I would have replaced the two o-rings and then of course the micky gasket. those two o-rings might be leaking since they were tamperd with by removing the oil pump. its best to just replace those aswell. Anyhoo, Also since you were in their how did the area around the cam sprockets look? Fresh/wet oil? There are two seals on each for each cam. one is pressed into the cam carrior cap and the other is a thin o-ring. Also the crank seal may be leaking aswell. A quart every 2 weeks seems a bit much in my mind. Mine still leaks a little oil (About 1/4 a month depending on how much driving I do) it doesn't leak enough to drip on the ground so thats pretty minor. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnieru Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 There is something I noticed when I changed mine. The gap in the sealing ring and the hole in the side of the lash adjuster have to be to the top. Otherwise they will bleed off and tick like crazy when you first start the engine. PITA to have to go back in and twist them lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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