Lifter tap at start up. Seafoam or.....?
 

I am 95% sure I have a lifter sticking or leaking down. Is there a difference? When I start the car after it has sat overnight and it is completely cold sometimes I have a taping coming from the engine. Understand the noise is pronounced taping not a light tick. It usually goes away in 30 seconds or less but has taken as long as 5 minutes to go away. Once the noise goes away it does not come back until it has sat overnight.

I put some Seafoam in it and ran it for about 20 miles and changed the oil and if anything that might have made it worse. After reading the Seafoam website I have now added the other half of can to the new oil and I will run it for a few hundred miles and change the oil again.

Anyone got any better Ideas short of replacing the lifters? Would running lighter or heavier oil maybe help? Would synthetic help?

I put the engine in the car and could do the job but I really just do not want to. Sitting on an engine stand this would be a piece of cake but doing this in the car just seems like a major pain.

If it makes any deference I put the engine in the car about 7000 miles ago and this problem is just now surfacing. It was a used engine with who knows how many miles on it. The claim was 105,000 but it had been pulled from the car when I bought it. It does not burn any oil and I changed the oil pan gasket when I put it in so i can say the engine actually looked pretty clean inside.

I have yet to find anything in a can, including Sea Foam, that fixed anything for any useful length f time. From what you are describing, the lifter is leaking down, and the engine has to run a while before it pumps back up. There is also a possibility that some rocker arms are not adjusted properly. You could try a light weight synthetic oil such as 5W30 or 5W40 to help the oil circulate faster when the engine is cold. However, it won't be a permanent fix.

Yeah I have my doubts about the "Can" Fix but I am just tired of putting money into this thing. I am figuring a set of lifters, and all the required gaskets would run about $200 with me doing the work.
I paid $1300 for this car knowing it had rod knock and would need the engine replaced and it had some other issues but I was ok with that. I now however have all total right at $4200 in a 99 V6 with 160,000 miles on it and that is just parts. I did all the work. I could have bought a decent car for that and not had to work on it. I was just hoping someone may have a helpful idea short of lifter replacement because I think if it comes to that I will put it on Craig's List and sell it just making sure it is heated up and not taping when someone comes to look at it

The lifter could blead down like that for 5 years. Its anoying but I would not spend real money to fix it. If I was pulling the intake anyways I would swap the lifters.

The blead down can be a small amount of dirt. I would try Mobil one 5W30 with a mobil one filter. I have seen a few cars that came around after a few oil changes. If I don't use mobil one in the wifes 3.4 it will tap every morning. With Mobil one it only taps on the real cold morning.

Don't be so down on the money you spent so far. When I was looking for a V6 I want to find one under 4K. I found several that looked good but where not well maintain. Just cause you spen more money on a car does not mean it will last. Had you spent 4K on a 02 you could be looking at a head gasket issue or a tranny. Now your talking 5-6K in a car.

Fwiw, a few years ago I bought a 91 that had been sitting for a couple of years. I changed all the fluids, Mobil 1 engine oil being one of them. I had one noisy lifter that went away after about a minute after start up. A little less than a month later, the lifter quieted down completely and never spoke up again. The lifter was obviously gunked up and the synthtic oil cleared it up. I was glad the noise went away, but knowing how synthetic cleans, not totally surprised at the result. I'd say give synthetic oil a chance to work through the engine and see (hear) what happens.

Here is what I have done to fix my issue.

Replaced the lifters. Took me 2 days to get it all done. All ticking issues are gone on my 3.4L 1995 Camaro.

Cost:
Lifters, $75.00
Gaskets, $42.00
Water Pump, $53.00
Oil Change, $19.00
Water Temp sensor, $14.00
Cam Pos Sensor, $33
New Fluids, $18.00
Upper and Lower Rad Hoses $40.00

I also cleaned all of the parts to a like new condition, and spent about $15 at the carwash doing so.

Runs better now than it has in a LONG time. :icon_deadhorse:

A quick fix is not any fix at all, just a postponement of the inevitable.

Good for you, a little work and you saved a bunch of money, and your car is happy.

Not exactly happy.

Forgot that you need to assemble front side, i.e. water pump etc. Then start engine, leaving on stands, accelerate through drive cycle, dismantle top intake, remove valve covers and re-tighten the rocker arms. The tap is back, and somewhat worse. Re-torquing in the morning. Will re-post the additional fix tomorrow. Should have remembered this from High School Shop class.

Gee, I taght you posted it was running better than it did in a long time. Premature joy?