Ticking is driving me crazy (no pun intended)

[JDS60R]

Ask them to check for piston slap when the head is off. Also for rod bearing and wrist pin noise. The upper bearing cap on the big end of the rod gets beaten up when someone does a Seafoam treatment with slightly too much liquid.

Eventually Seafoam will sell its product in an actual foam format so the inexperienced will no longer run into these issues.

[crh]

Ask them to check for piston slap when the head is off. Also for rod bearing and wrist pin noise. The upper bearing cap on the big end of the rod gets beaten up when someone does a Seafoam treatment with slightly too much liquid.

Eventually Seafoam will sell its product in an actual foam format so the inexperienced will no longer run into these issues.

I stand corrected. The only thing that they did was the Lucas treatment; it was performed as, coincidentally, what JRL has outlined on these forums a few times; the procedure for this, when we discussed what was being done the other day, sounded familiar for that reason... I *just* now looked again at the list of things they did (it was all comped except for the lifter job P&L), and although I THOUGHT they did the SF, they didn't... everything else they DID do as per my outline. Sorry.

Are you saying that a well-done SF treatment is worth the effort at this point, with another head going on perhaps tomorrow? It sounds like even a perfectly-executed SF treatment can possibly expose some of the internal of this motor to unwanted effects either immediately or down the road... would you do an SF treatment on this motor with competent and experienced mechanic doing the honors? I'll ask them to check these components you outlined in any case... it can't hurt, eh?

[JDS60R]

Are you saying that a well-done SF treatment is worth the effort at this point
No - they will clean the piston tops when the head is off- no reason to do it.

It sounds like even a perfectly-executed SF treatment can possibly expose some of the internal of this motor to unwanted effects either immediately or down the road.
No -not true. A well done SeaFoam treatment yields the positive results the product is known for.

I'll ask them to check these components you outlined in any case... it can't hurt, eh?
Right- have them check the bottom end and piston slap while the head is off. This is done by rocking the pistons to find slap and turning the crank back and forth by way of the crank pulley while holding the piston down with a finger to find excessive play in the rod bearing or wrist pin.

There is also no need to take the head off to due this. I place multiple microphones on the block in different areas and record it on my computer from a cold start. This way I can compare the sounds (volume/pitch and rate) and locate the knock. Its a 1 hour job.

[hanzbe420]

dude add another quart of oil, when u start the car the oil isnt reaching the lifters. it happens to many volvos in the morning that's just piston slap, I am telling u add some more oil so your dipstick is full! Anyways this fixed it for me.

[jblackburn]

I used to have a pretty clicky top-end. New camshafts and I'm assuming cleaning sludge buildup, etc out of the passages in the head and it runs EXTREMELY quiet now - no valve noise at all.

Actually what I would do is an ATF flush - through the engine.

Drain the oil. Fill the motor with 5.5 qts of ATF and let it run for 20-30 minutes. DO NOT DRIVE OR REV THE ENGINE OR YOU COULD DAMAGE THE BEARINGS, but it can idle just fine with no damage. Shut it off and repeat if you want. Then fill it with a good detergent oil (Mobil1 is my favorite). This will pretty much alleviate any oil pressure issues by cleaning all the crud out of the engine - ATF has lots of detergents in it. It's a tried and true old-school mechanics trick.

Piston slap is generally a much deeper noise and less ticky. I've never heard it on a Volvo engine - only the top ends are usually noisy.





4.0 Jeeps and 3.1 and 3.4 liter V6 and lots of V8 GM engines are widely known for this.

Vs starved lifter noise

[Volvo4251]

The old '98 V70 I had used to tick like crazy from time to time, it was always worse in the winter time. So during the winter months, 10W-40 was put in. The mechanics suggested a thicker viscosity not only for the winter season, but for the ticking as well. It definitely helped, although it still would tick from time to time. It's just one of those things that happens on a 5 cyl. Volvo... and moreover older 5 cyl. Volvo's as well.

[Fish stick88]

Well, brilliant idea I have had the lifter noise for(probably forever) but more so in the winter. I'm going to try and run some ATF before I run new oil... How'd it work out for you? nothing at all now?